Hallowet

 Nothing spooky about today's trip over to Rutland Water in the company of my brother this morning but there was plenty of rain to contend with. Indeed it was the threat of rain that caused David to choose Rutland over other sites as the reserve has plenty of hides in which to shelter. Needless to say viewing conditions were at times a little on the tricky side and far from being a treat! Thankfully those pesky clouds did eventually move on and blue skies prevailed.

Shovellers, Wigeon and Teal.

Lagoon one hosted a cream crown Marsh Harrier which spent most of its time sheltering on one of the islands. A trio of Dunlins were keeping company with a flock of Lapwings and we saw the first of what turned out to be many Great White Egrets. Making our squelchy way along to the next lagoon produced fleeting views of a Stonechat braving the gusty conditions and a small selection of ducks. Visits to the other lagoons added a few waders such as Snipe, a Curlew and Golden Plovers to our list while the most attractive of the wildfowl were a brace of drake Pintails. By now the deluge looked as if it might be about to ease a little but not before a squally gust sent rain crashing against the sides of Shoveller Hide with the force of waves breaking on a stormy shore. David took the brunt of this watery assault receiving a bit of a soaking for his troubles but the improving weather and the strong wind at least gave him a chance to dry out afterwards

Pintail and Golden Plovers.

Crake Hide is normally a little on the dull side but today it delivered quite a spectacle to gawp at. Great White Egrets are becoming a feature of winter birding nowadays but the sight of thirteen in one small area was pretty special, I've never seen so many in one spot before. A chat with one of the volunteers revealed that over thirty had been seen from this hide in the recent past and that a total of forty one were present around the reservoir. Hard to believe that sightings of these graceful herons used to attract the attentions of the twitching fraternity, fair to say that those days are long gone! We headed back to the car park with a reasonable total of species, a plan to stop at the dam was foiled by a large flotilla of boats sailing in the area.

Great White and Little Egrets.

We did play a brief visit to Eyebrook on the way home where the rain made an unwelcome though mercifully brief return. Not a huge amount to report other than a Whooper Swan in the bay north of the island. It spent most of the time kipping while we were there though it stuck its head up a couple of times. I managed to grab a couple of record shots from the car and that was the final act of our birding day.

Whooper Swan.