I didn't bother going out yesterday, there were things to do and some ex work mates to catch up with, but today I joined Alan in taking a trip over to Rutland Water. Our main target was a Red-necked Grebe which has recently been reported from the south shore near the dam. The weather forecast was promising in that it looked as if it might stay dry and it was pretty mild too..
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| Red-necked Grebe |
With little or no wind the surface of the reservoir was calm and this coupled with some up to date info from another birder meant that finding the grebe was quite straightforward. We and a trickle of other birders had reasonable views of it feeding some way off the shore and I managed to get a couple of record shots. Other birds seen or heard in the general area included Curlew, Oystercatcher and Raven though sadly it looks as if the Great Northern Diver(s) has departed. After a while we opted to move on and head towards Eyebrook.
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| Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swan |
The first birds of note here were a trio of Pink-footed Geese which were initially on the res but later flew up into a field on the northern side. At the inflow the long staying immature Whooper Swan was noted as it fed in the stream. From the gate near Hollyoaks I had distant views of four Smew off the plantation shore, two adult and one immature drake and a redhead, just north of the island another redhead was feeding and she was much closer. A check from the island viewing bunker did not produce any sightings of Scaup though I did find a pair of Pintails. I had a lunch date at the George in Weldon with my wife so couldn't hang around and we left a little after one.
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| Smews |
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