A Winter Visit to Rutland Water

14th February 2023

We normally go to the Lyndon Centre on the south bank at Rutland Water in July to see the Ospreys but today was a winter visit to the Egleton Centre on the west bank to see what we could find in the way of water birds and waders. Unfortunately the fog was a little slower to clear than forecast, but it eventually cleared up into a bright and sunny day. There are 27 hides at Egleton but due to the fog we only managed to visit 15 but a wonderful day was had by all.

A quick look at the feeding station by the visitor centre revealed all the usual suspects but nothing out of the ordinary. But it seemed fairly clear that this male Reed Bunting was waiting around for its photo to be taken, In a couple of months the brown edges to the feathers on its cap will have worn off and its head and bib will be completely black.

Water birds were represented by the usual Heron and Cormorant, both of which came particularly close.

There is an Osprey nesting platform on Lagoon 4, which as far as I am aware has yet to be used by Ospreys, but looks as if it is going to be home to this Egyptian Goose.

Grebes were represented by Great Crested and Little Grebes, both of which looked good on the flat-calm water.

Of the ducks, this male Gadwall was dabbling close in and allowed some shots of this amazing vermiculated plumage.. They really are under-rated. There were also a few Shelduck present and this male looked ready for the breeding season.

The Shoveler Hide certainly lived up to its reputation with plenty of birds and plenty of courtship action with the breeding season just round the corner.

This male was certainly applauding the performance as three Wigeon paddled by totally disinterested.

This is a fairly common view of a pair of Pintails up-ending, but on this occasion turned out to be two males.

But the duck stars of the show today were the trio of Smew, one male..................

..........................and two females

At this point one of the females decided it was time for a change of scenery and took off providing some opportunities for some flight shots.

Waders included Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Snipe and Curlew, although the Snipe coudn't even be bothered to wake up, although had one eye open.

But the main wader entertainment today was from the flock of several hundred Golden Plovers which were very impressive on the ground................

........................but then took off for a flying display.

Just how wonderful is that?

And finally the raptors. A Peregrine flew in and landed on top of the camera pole on Lagoon 4 which is 200 yards away from the Dunlin Hide so more of a record shot. Still wonderful to see.

But the surprise of the afternoon was the unexpected appearance of a Barn Owl in front of the Harrier Hide. Again a bit distant but apparentlyt it does come closer, so on the list for a future visit.

Well, what a wonderful day and now looking forward to our trip to Lyndon in July, but a return trip to Egleton before then is always possible.