Fogbound Finale

 My week of liberty is now drawing to a close and with the unwelcome spectre of work looming ever nearer I decided to pay a call on Eyebrook. The forecast had suggested a foggy start before it began to lift sometime in the morning, they were way too optimistic! When my stepson dropped me off I could barely make out the shore of the res and by the time he picked me up it was only slightly better. Seems I used up all my birding luck on that Baird's which is apparently still showing well today.

Is that a cow or am I talking bullocks?

On my mist blighted wander around the res I heard Marsh Tit at the bridge and also Golden Plovers at the inflow. From the viewing area at the sharp end all I could hear was the wet splatter of a nearby cow doing a Donald Trump and by then I knew it was not going to be a good day. The foggy shroud did eventually lift a little allowing me to see several Pintails near the island feeding with the Wigeon. There was time for a false alarm too though a potential juvenile Scaup turned out to be a female Tufty. Overall a mixed week then with three American waders close to home but not a massive amount to back them up. Happily for me a family meal in the pub helped to ensure that the day ended on a good point.

Tufted Duck

Scant Reward

It was a dull morning in almost every respect today as under the grey skies I managed to find very little  of interest. I braved the X4 again but only as far as Upper Benefield from where I took my familiar walk to Deene and Deenethorpe before ending up at Weldon.

Speckled Wood and Kestrel

Plenty of Skylarks on my way to Deene but little else, there didn't seem to be much on the move. In the churchyard I was surprised to find a Speckled Wood, it really wasn't the day for insects. The Merlin app had something of a mad five minutes suggesting that Common Crane, Pink-footed and Brent Geese were in the area, unfortunately they weren't! What was on view at the lake were four Black Swans and two Egyptian Geese and a large mixed flock of Greylags and Canadas.

Egyptian Geese and Black Swans

On my way to the airfield I heard several Siskins fly over but there was a driving experience taking place and the sound of car engines drowned out pretty much everything else, I can only hope that those taking part had a more exciting experience than I did. Closer to Weldon Park Wood and I added Redpoll to my meagre haul, there was a Marsh Tit on the edge of the wood itself. Rather than walk along the A427 I took the footpath across the fields towards Bears Lane. At the lane I heard more Siskins but the star of the show was a Peregrine circling and gradually getting higher, a large flock of racing pigeons feeding in a nearby field was perhaps attracting its attention. Somewhat footsore I had a rest in the George at Weldon before catching my bus home, predictably it was late but by this point I didn't care.

Peregrine

Brought Back Down To Earth

 After Tuesday it was always going to be a bit of an anti-climax whatever I decided to do, I just didn't expect it to be quite so bad! Once again I misguidedly put my trust in the good people at Stagecoach and once again that trust was misplaced. My bus to Wellingborough eventually arrived some twenty minutes late which did not impress my fellow travellers at all who for the most part were heading to work. It was a discontented and frustrated group of passengers that filed on to the bus, this was apparently the fourth time this week that a tardy bus has made people late. An angry woman sitting in front of me was talking to an irate woman to my left, from what I gather Stagecoach will be receiving more than a few complaints in the immediate future! I didn't join in as my commute mercifully doesn't require Stagecoach's erratic services, it's only my leisure that they take some of the pleasure out of. 

Stonechat and Spitfire

Eventually the bus pulled into Wellingborough and I was glad to get off, the fetid air, a miasma of farts, yesterday's garlic and a melange of deodorants and perfumes made even the traffic tainted air of Welly town centre seem fresh. I made my way down to the Embankment from where I followed the Nene towards Ditchford. A pair of Stonechats were present in a field on the edge of town, this area is quite a reliable wintering spot for them. It pretty much went downhill from there as on my stroll between here and Ditchford Lane I saw nothing other than a Spitfire to keep me entertained. On my return trudge I noted that a growing number of large gulls were gathering at Chester House Lake and I stopped to go through them. To my eyes I picked out a first calendar year Caspian and a similarly plumaged Yellow-legged Gull. While taking some record shots my camera stopped working and appears to have developed a terminal fault, one further shovelful of what was becoming an ever increasing pile of s***! My bus ride home was relatively punctual by recent standards and I took the opportunity to look at cameras on Ebay.

Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls....possibly!

A Gift From Amy?

 Birding like football is a funny old game, one day you're left trying to turn sows' ears into silk purses and the next you don't even have to try. This morning Alan Shorrock and I paid a call on Eyebrook hoping that some of yesterday's appetising fare was still on the menu. Sadly both the Whooper Swans and the Avocet (which was apparently ringed in Yorkshire*) were no shows but it was not a total blank. A 1st calendar year Caspian and an adult Yellow-legged Gull were seen out on the res between the island and the dam though both were too far away for even the dodgiest of record pics. A female Scaup and the three Red Crested Pochards were similarly distant as they fed with the Tufted Duck flock off the plantation shore. Gun fire coming from the neighbouring Nevil Holt estate sent many of the birds into panicked flight and we chose that moment to beat a retreat.

* Actually the bird was rung in Lancashire at Conder Green on the 16/8/22, thanks to Peter Dillon Hooper for the info.

Ringed Plover and Dunlin

Next stop was the dam area at Rutland Water where Rock Pipits were the hoped for target, the shoreline between here and Normanton Church has been productive in the past. Fishing boats seemed to have scared many of the ducks away from the general area and we concentrated on the shoreline instead. Four Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin were the initial results for our efforts while several Meadow Pipits feeding on the shore caused several false alarms. A series of calls announced the arrival of more Ringed Plovers and after several attempts to count them we arrived at a total of around thirty. Mixed in with them were five Dunlins and most of the birds once they had settled for a bit started to have a snooze.

Baird's Sandpiper

One wader feeding on the water's edge attracted our attention and for a while had me scratching my head. Roughly Dunlin sized but more slender it had a more energetic way of feeding and seemed to be longer winged than its chubbier cousins. It disappeared after several minutes though luckily we managed to relocate it a few minutes later feeding away from the shore in the company of Ringed Plovers. At times stint like but clearly bigger its scaly looking upperparts brought to mind the walking Weetabix from last month and it dawned on both of us that we had stumbled across a Baird's Sandpiper!. Alan let Phil Rogers know who in turn put the news out allowing others to get in on the act. We watched it on and off for about two hours and were joined by several more birders including Tim Appleton, the former reserve manger of Rutland Water. This was a site first record and only the fifth for Leicestershire and Rutland as well as being my fourth. We left as others were arriving though sadly the bird seems to have flown just after two p.m and has yet to be relocated. It goes without saying that our find was toasted once we got back to the Samuel Lloyd, Shozzer enjoyed a pint while I enjoyed several more!

More Baird's Sandpiper

Killer End To The Morning

 Clearly my timing was off when I ventured out to Eyebrook yesterday because today was evidently the day to be there. Whooper Swans, an Avocet, two different Marsh Harriers and two Scaup entertained any birders present so it was a pity for me that I was not one of them! I chose to wander around Wicksteed Park in Ketrin instead and enjoyed a wonderful sunlit stroll with very little in the way of wildlife to distract me. Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and several Siskins passed overhead suggesting that migration was in progress while both Cetti's Warblers and Chiffchaffs were singing around the fishing lake.  A single male Common Darter was the only insect on show and it wasn't long before I gave up and headed into town.

Great Crested Grebes and Moorhen

Ketrin town centre of all places saved the day and that is not something that I ever expected to type but it was true, however unlikely that might seem. A check of the regular Peregrine site initially looked unpromising until an adult bird arrived and landed giving me a chance to grab a pic or two. Several minutes later it was joined by a vocal immature bird which I think was probably a female. The constant calling caught the attention of passers by and several stopped to look upwards. Eventually I began to get peckish so I wandered off in search of a full English breakfast, I certainly didn't envy the adult having to listen to the persistent cries of that very noisy youngster.

Peregrines

Still Breezy

 A bright and breezy morning visit to Eyebrook failed to produce anything too exciting but delivered a few highlights to make the trip worthwhile. Water levels remain low but an increasing amount of ducks are beginning to arrive with Wigeon Teal and Tufted Ducks in particular present in numbers. I carefully went through several large Tufty flocks but couldn't find anything amongst them aside from the two duck and one drake Red Crested Pochard which had been reported earlier. At least ten Pintails were in the bay north of the island but this species always seems to be late to come out of eclipse and consequently they are still in yucky ducky mode.

Lapwings, Ringed Plover and drake Pintail

Despite the amount of exposed mud around the res there were few waders about other than Lapwings and a single juvenile Ringed Plover south of the island. Interesting gulls were sadly lacking too with just one adult Yellow-legged Gull at the island. A small flock of Siskins and a couple of Marsh Tits were at the bridge while the resident pair of Stonechats were favouring vegetation at the inflow. Insects were fairly scarce with just a single Comma, two Willow Emeralds and five Common Darters being seen. The mature Willow Emeralds are looking beautiful now as they have acquired a bronzy sheen and also some blue colouring, they're a late season treat for autumn ode hunters. The need to do shopping and chores brought my birding to a close but I'm off this week so should be able to squeeze a bit more in later.

Comma, Willow Emerald and Common Darter

County First

 Storm Amy has been venting her fury on the country over the past twenty four hours or so though I think we have probably suffered less than those counties to the west and north of us. Despite the blowy conditions Alan Shorrock and I ventured out this morning in search of an American visitor which has been gracing the nature reserve at Pitsford Reservoir for the past couple of days.

American Golden Plover

A juvenile American Golden Plover first appeared at Clifford Hill on Tuesday but was seen to fly off  during the following morning, initially I thought I'd lost my chance to catch up with this rare visitor but it or another was then picked up at Pitsford Res on Thursday morning. Cue an anxious wait until this morning when I was finally able to get over there and give it a go. In bright though blowy conditions we were able to get decent scope views of my first county and fourth ever AGP from Bird Club Hide as it fed out on the mud in Scaldwell Bay. Several record shots were taken before we moved on to the James Fisher Hide from where the bird showed more closely but the light was awful. On our way to the hide Red Admirals, Speckled Woods and Common Darters were noted, Al saw a Migrant Hawker too but I didn't manage to see it. Other birds observed before we left included several Great White Egrets, three Ruff and half a dozen Pintails.

Red Admiral and Common Darter

A brief stop at a lay-by on the A5199 allowed us to get distant views of a Pectoral Sandpiper at Hollowell Res which was my third of the autumn but first in the county this year, we probably could have tried for closer views but didn't make the effort. Shozzer wanted to visit Titchmarsh NR in the hope of seeing the Glossy Ibis which has made its home here and we headed down the A14 as light rain began to fall. We failed in our efforts to see the ibis, apparently a barking dog scared it off from the scrape in front of Peter Scott Hide just before we got there. Other birds which were not disturbed by the mouthy mutt included a Water Rail, a Green Sandpiper and at least ten Great White Egrets. By now I was getting fed up with the wind and persuaded Alan to trade bird watching for beer swigging and we ended our day at the Duke's in Woodford where a pint went down very well indeed.

Great White and Little Egret