It was forecast to be a windy day so we were looking for a reserve with some hides that we could shelter in. Titchwell Marsh has 3 hides, Frampton Marsh has 3 hides, Rainham Marshes has 4 hides, but Rutland Water has.........28 hides!!!.....and that's not counting the 7 hides at Lyndon, so off we went. It was a little disconcerting to see on the approach road to Rutland Water that there was still some overnight snow left on the verges but we duly arrived, had some breakfast and set off on our hide hike.
The habitat in front of the hides is fantastic with plenty of islands and margins for the birds to feed. Unfortunately some of the hides were fairly quiet, presumably because the birds had moved to other parts of the reserve where there was some shelter from the wind. Many of the usual suspects were present including Cormorants, Egyptian Geese and Curlew.
There were surprisingly few Little Egrets, probably no more than the 3-4 Great White Egrets that were present, although always distant and mainly seen in flight.
Duck were well represented with plenty of Wigeon, Shoveler and Teal.
The Wigeon were quite restless providing some opportunities for some flight shots.............
.............and the Shoveler spent most of their sifting the shallows
On one lagoon there was a pair of Goosanders, spending most of their time fishing by one of the sluices.
Then another male flew in and it all kicked off!!
One of the more sheltered bays had attracted four Pintails, one of my favourite ducks..........
........although the highlight today was the Shelducks feeding quite close in to the hide allowing some of my best close-ups of this superb duck.
So well done to Rutland Water NNR for providing so many hides in a storm, and I am sure we will be back on a calmer day.
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