Cattle Prattle

 Mr A Shorrock and I decided to once again shun the dubious delights of the county and make the relatively short trip to Rutland Water. We began at the north arm before moving on to the dam and enjoyed the sunny conditions even if the wind was a tad nippy at times.

GWE's and Blackwits

At the Burley Fishponds a growing flock of Great White Egrets had assembled with over thirty fishing in what seemed like fairly shallow water. Waders were scarce but we did find three Black-tailed Godwits and a couple of Green Sandpipers. On the main water a pair of drake Red crested Pochards were noted and at least half a dozen Pintails were also present. Two adult Yellow-legged Gulls showed in the same area and a Curlew was heard.

Pintail and Red-crested Pochards

The dam though busy with people was quiet for birds and we struggled to find much of note. Two more Y-l Gulls were found and Shozzer picked out a flock of eight Goosanders. I enjoyed watching these attractive ducks but eventually we had to concede that they were the only gig in town and so moved on. Next stop was the excellent Cross Keys in King's Cliffe where I enjoyed several pints of good beer.

Y-l Gulls and Goosanders

Blatherwycke Lake was the final point of call and it turned out to be a decent one at that. Two Mandarins were at the eastern end but had little else to support them. At the western end of the lake I picked out an adult Cattle Egret on the SW shore. As I watched this bird Alan found a juvenile feeding amongst cattle a little further away. Over the next hour two more were found and we ended up with a total of three juveniles and an adult. More than content with our haul we decided to pack things up and return home.

Rubbishy record shots of Cattle Egrets