A Day at Rutland Water

4th July 2024

Time for our annual pilgrimage to Rutland Water to see the Ospreys so after the long walk to the hide just need to settle down with tea and sandwiches to hand and wait to see what comes along. Surprisingly instead of high water in front of the hide there was a large expanse of mud which boded well for the support acts. First up was a Goldfinch and a male Linnet.

There was also a cracking male Pied Wagtail and lots of juveniles so they had obviously been successful somewhere suitable nearby.

There were about seven Little Egrets around this end of the reservoir and eventually one flew in to feed in front of the hide. It is amazing to recall that 35 years ago I got up at 4am and drove up to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water with my son Mark to see our first Little Egret!!!!! Now they are widespread.

There were a few Common Terns around but noticeably no juveniles.

This is an adult shaking the water off after diving in after a fish.

And this is a sequence showing a male bringing a fish for his female.

The large expanse of mud had attracted three Green Sandpipers which initially were favouring a different area, but eventually made their way down closer to the hide. These are adults returning from their breeding grounds in Scandinavia.

There was also a pair of Great Crested Grebes building a nest and hopefully going to provide us with some humbugs.

But the biggest surprise today was the Lapwings of which there were about 10 present, mainly juveniles, but also one or two adults. These are juveniles with short crests and orange fringes to their wing coverts.

I always think of Lapwings as being a rather genteel bird but today I saw another side of them with a number of quite aggressive scuffles. Luckily no Lapwings were injured in the making of this sequence.

And were there any Ospreys? Yes of course, but they will have to wait until next time.

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!