Wakey Wakey

 My brother David, John Barn and I spent the day wandering around two sites in Leics and Rutland on the hunt for interesting birds. Although it stayed dry for much of the time there was a cold wind blowing which made for a sometimes cold and unpleasant experience. Despite the biting wind we were treated to a selection of interesting wildlife.

Smew

We began at Eyebrook where Smew continue to be present in good numbers, fourteen were reported by others though we managed a more modest total of about six drakes. Attempts to locate any of the reported Scaup failed though many of the diving ducks were tight up against the opposite shore. Three Pintail were the most interesting of the other wildfowl on site. A trio of Great White Egrets were seen at various points around the res and there was a flock of about ten Siskins at the bridge.

Kittiwake

Satisfied that we had seen everything that Eyebrook had to offer we left and made the short journey to the dam at Rutland Water. There was no luck with either of the two reported Great Northern Divers but luckily that was our only failure here. Another birder alerted us to the presence of an adult Kittiwake flying along the dam, it continued to patrol the area throughout the length of our visit. The same birder then found the reported Slavonian Grebe close to the opposite shore, I had clear if distant views. After this we didn't manage to find any other birds of note though our day was not quite finished yet. An Otter swimming fairly close in treated us to some sustained views as it fed energetically. After ten miutes or so we left the Otter to carry on with its fishing and headed back towards Corby. One plus point for me was that I'd actually managed to visit Rutland without getting rained on - long may that trend continue! I didn't take many photos today, distance was one factor but the main one was that my replacement battery ran out of charge after only a couple of pictures.