That Damn Yankee

 Last Sunday a drake American Wigeon was found at Eyebrook Reservoir but it was a little too late in the day for me to do anything about it. Since then I've been crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that it might stay until this weekend. Yesterday I played the fair weather birdwatcher card and opted to stay at home rather than brave the rain but the wigeon was reported and things looked set fine for today's visit.  This morning was dry and sunny but that proved to be rather a big problem when Shozzer and I arrived to look for it. Most of the wigeon were gathered on the Leics bank southwest of the island and were backlit by the strong sunshine and thus were silhouettes ,we in addition to all of the other hopeful birders failed to connect with the bird. Though the dip was undoubtably a disappointment it didn't ruin our day as there was other stuff to entertain us.

Whooper Swan and Pintail

On arrival we looked from Sam's Dyke and were pleased to see a juvenile Whooper Swan drop in from neighbouring fields and stop to preen in the shallows, it didn't loiter for long but was a welcome sight nonetheless. A look from the island bunker was unproductive but from north of the island we saw at least eight Red Crested Pochards, five were off the plantation shore while three were on the Leics side. Two Great White Egrets were present around the res and there were over twenty Pintails at the inflow. Several Stonechats were flitting around the vegetation at the sharp end and there were Siskins present in the trees around the bridge.

Red Crested Pochards

On the way back around the res to give the wigeon another try I was happy to find ten RCP's snoozing in the shallows on the Leics bank and was able to get several pics of them. A return visit to the island bunker produced my bird of the day as a scan of the surrounding area produced sightings of a young dark-bellied Brent Goose, this was my first site record. Its stay was brief unfortunately and it flew off soon after its discovery landing briefly on the water before being lost to view. Last bird of note was a female Scaup seen from Sam's Dyke before we moved on to the Samuel Lloyd for a pint.

Brent Goose