Winter marvels at Rutland Water

On Sunday it was the first West Midland Bird Club trip of the new year, to our usual January destination of Rutland Water. As always we were on the lookout for Red Kites from the coach in the vicinity of Kettering and Corby, and we saw good numbers of them patrolling the roads and surrounding fields! A nice surprise also was two groups of Grey Partridge in the fields from the coach.

Our first stop was at the dam end of the reservoir to look for anything that might be out on the water. There had been reports of a Great Skua, Great Northern Diver, Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes recently but we didn't have much luck with those, perhaps because there were quite a few small fishing boats out on the water. We did see plenty of Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebes, Wigeons, Cormorants and a Little Grebe but that was about it!

View near the dam (HDR).

Then it was off to the main nature reserve at Egleton. We started with a look out over the lagoons from the viewing gallery in the visitor centre, finding plenty including Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Stonechat, Linnet and Stock Dove. More excitingly there was a Great White Egret, the first of a few we would see that day (or maybe just one very mobile individual?!) sneaking along at the back of one of the lagoons. 

Great White Egret.

There was also a gull provoking much discussion; as it resembled a Herring Gull but with mucky yellow legs some had suggested it might be a Yellow-legged Gull. I'm not a gull fan particularly but its small dark eye and very white head dredged up something about Caspian Gulls from the depths of my brain. I couldn't remember what colour their legs were but with the help of Andy H's ID app we ascertained that it was indeed a Caspian Gull, hurrah.  

View from the visitor centre (HDR).

We then headed off around the reserve, and from the various hides (the names of which I can never remember!) we added to our lists Greylag and Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Snipe, Curlew, Redshank, Little Egret, and Goosander. There were also gulls aplenty - Herring, Lesser and Great Black-backed, and Common. In the woods and bushes around the lagoon and field edges we found Siskin, Redwing, Fieldfare, Goldfinch and Long-tailed Tit among others. Another of the day's highlights was two lovely redhead Smew in the corner of one of the lagoons; they were perfectly lit by the low sun, which illuminated their deep crimson crowns in a most pleasing manner.

View of the reserve (HDR).

View of the reserve (HDR).

We ended the day as we normally do, looking out for Barn Owl hunting over the marsh as the sun set. Sadly there was no sign of one this time - in the past we've often seen one, but perhaps it's not around any more. We did enjoy watching the various waterfowl, waders and gulls coming into roost though, and one birder (not from our group) helpfully pointed out a first-winter Mediterranean Gull to us. We also had two more Great White Egret sightings - the same bird as earlier, or a different one/s? And it was as always lovely to watch the changing light and cloud patterns as the sun set. All in all we'd had a good day and my year list is looking fairly respectable already, with a few species I don't always get every year :o)

Great White Egret again.

Changing light over the reserve (HDR).

Changing light over the reserve (HDR).

Changing light over the reserve (HDR).

First trip of the year - Rutland Water

Yesterday I was off on my first proper birding trip of the year, on the annual jaunt to Rutland Water with the West Midland Bird Club. Last year's trip had included such delights as Black-Throated Diver, Barn Owl, Black-necked Grebe and Black Redstart so we had high hopes for today.

From the coach en route to our destination we spotted several Red Kites, looking marvellous in the low sun of the early morning. I also was given unexpected gifts! Andy, ever the bargain-fan, had picked up a copy of Rob Hume's 'Life With Birds' in Poundland for me, and Phil had brought in loads of old copies of Bird Watching magazines for anyone who was interested - he'd saved me one with an article about drawing birds :o) Many thanks Phil and Andy! 

We started as usual at the dam where, although we didn't reach the giddy heights of last year's triumvirate of 'birds whose names start with Black', we nonetheless still saw a Red-necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebes and Goldeneyes a-plenty, as well as the usual Mallards, Tufted Ducks and Cormorants.

Onwards to the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre, where we had a quick peer over the fields adjacent to the car park and found a few Redwings on the ground while a friendly Robin watched us closely and a pair of Egyptian Geese flew over.

Watchful Robin.

We then spent some time in the centre, enjoying the heated viewing area - mmmm. Here our lists expanded considerably, with the addition of ducks galore (Pochard, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon, Goosander, and loads of Pintail - apparently present in the highest numbers ever recorded at Rutland Water), as well as Curlew, Little Egret, Shelduck, and Lapwing. 

Then it was back out into the cold to investigate the feeders, where we saw Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Dunnock, Blackbird, Moorhen and Reed Bunting. No sign of the Marsh Tits spotted by some other members of our group earlier though....we set off for the hides around the older lagoons to see what else we might find. This turned out to include more Red Kites, Song Thrush, Common Gull, Stock Dove, Kestrel, Redshank, Green Sandpiper and four lovely Smew - a male and three females. Not too shabby! We stopped off at the feeding station again and had better luck - two Marsh Tits visited frequently, and a flock of Long-tailed Tits descended and engulfed the feeders for some time!

Couple of Long-tailed Tits, a Blue Tit and a Reed Bunting tuck in.

We then went to wait in hopeful anticipation for the emergence of a Barn Owl; while we waited a few Canada and Greylag Geese flew over, a Buzzard perched on an Osprey nesting platform, and a Green Woodpecker popped up in front of the hide. A keen-eyed member of our group found a Brown Hare lying low in the rough grassland; it had flattened itself down and was well-camouflaged, but we could see its eye peering out! I enjoyed checking in on the hare every few minutes to see if it had moved (I really like hares), it was still in place when we eventually left the hide so perhaps that was where it was going to spend the night. Alas, the weather grew increasingly dank and drizzly as the afternoon drew on, and this probably put off the Barn Owl, as we did not see one. The changing light as the sun set and the weather passed through was rather lovely though:

Out there, a hare is snuggling down for the night.

Strong start to the year at Rutland Water!

Yesterday kicked off the West Midland Bird Club's new year of field trips; this one was our annual outing to Rutland Water in Leicestershire. We usually see loads of great birds there and this was no exception!

Our first stop was at the dam, where it was still very frosty:

The dam at Rutland Water.

View towards the dam.

As well as the usual ducks and loads of Great Crested Grebes, we managed to pick up on an elusive Black-throated Diver from the north end of the dam, then from the south end Black-necked Grebe, Black Redstart, Kingfisher and Red-crested Pochard! The highlight for me was the Black-necked Grebes - a close-knit group of 4 in stunning winter plumage with the sun bringing out the contrast between the black and white plumage and bright red eyes. They were good and close too, not always the case with these birds! There were also large numbers of Little Grebes around which allowed for a nice comparison.

After that we went to our main destination, the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre, already feeling we'd got our money's worth from the day! On the feeders outside the centre were several Marsh Tits along with Great and Blue Tits, Chaffinches and female Pheasants. We made our way round checking in at some of the hides, picking up Golden Plover, Snipe, Smew, Goosander, Goldeneye, Pintail, Green Sandpiper, Redshank and Egyptian Goose among others. We also saw a mobile and fair-sized flock of Siskin, Lesser Redpoll and Goldfinch tucking into Alder seeds, and had lovely views of a Treecreeper - one of my favourites! I was very glad of my wellies as the paths were underwater at a couple of points. 

In the afternoon we sat in wait for the Barn Owl to emerge. While we waited, we saw hundreds of Common Gulls, a small flock of Curlews coming in to roost, and a Stock Dove chobbling around on one the islands. We were keeping our eyes on the distant Barn Owl box across the marsh, which had a promising-looking white blob on the front of it! As it was so distant though it took us some scrutinising before we accepted that it definitely was the Barn Owl! We were left in no doubt when it took off and started flying around :o) After a few circuits though it had obviously had enough, or maybe already found its dinner for the day, as it retired back into its box; the light was going too so it was home time for us too. What a smashing start to the year!

Waiting for Barn Owls.

Not many photos this time, and I wasn't able to do any sketching - however I'm hoping these are matters which will improve very soon, when I start using my new Nikon ED50 scope - just waiting for the eyepiece to arrive now! I will be able to get a much better look at birds for sketching, rather than just quick glimpses through Andy M and Mike P's scopes (thanks guys!) and am hoping to have a go at digiscoping too......can't wait!

1. Mute swan (Cygus olor)

Here's the first drawing, copied from a photo of a posing male mute swan at Rutland Water a while ago. 

Mute swan sketch.

Mute swan at Rutland Water, 24/01/2010.

I spent about 20 minutes on this. Misjudging the amount of space on the page and the size of the bird I'm drawing seems to be a developing theme, resulting in this case in a tail-less swan, oops. Sorry swan. I think I probably also made the body a bit too long, and have gone to town a bit on the shading to try and distract you from this!

This is a male mute swan from its deep red-orange bill with large black knob, and from the behaviour. Supposedly the bill is the best way to tell apart male and female, but I remember going to a talk once by Jan Harrigan of Wychbold Swan Rescue, who reckoned that because illness or injury could cause the bill-knob to deflate and appear rather wan, the only foolproof way to tell the sexes apart was by the head shape. I can't remember what the differences were now though and a quick Google has not revealed anything! Has anyone else heard this?