An Afternoon at Rutland Water - 24th November, 2023

Largely due to the situation at home, I have not been able to get to Rutland Water as much as I would have liked to this year. However, on this day, the weather was forecast to be sunny, if a little chilly, and the situation at home was relatively stable.

I managed to get away late morning and took my usual cross-country 'owling route' with no expectations of seeing an owl, and this turned out to be the case. It's makes me sad to reflect on past travels on this route when, occasionally, the out and back journey would result in Little Owl sightings just reaching double figures, over the 17 Little Owl nest sites that I passed. Virtually every one of these sites has decayed to the point that they are no longer habitable. 

By one of my old sites, however, I was lucky enough to spot two distant Red Kites, one of which came a little closer to the point that I had stopped at.

Red Kite (Milvus milvus) - Skeg Hill

I pulled into my usual picnic spot for a late lunch. This is a location where at one time, while sitting in my car, I could monitor three of those Little Owl sites.

Nothing more of interest was seen before I arrived at Rutland Water - again, this route used to yield good sightings of farmland birds, and I have noted a worrying decline in this aspect too.

Having parked in the Visitor Centre car park at the Egleton side of Rutland Water, I checked in by Tree Sparrow Hide to sort out my camera settings, just finding a Blue Tit as a subject.

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) - from Tree Sparrow Hide

I had made up my mind, as my daylight time was going to be limited and the best prospects were towards the far end of the trail to the north, I would make my way directly to the northern end of the reserve and work my way back.

As I ascended the ramp to Plover Hide, which overlooks Lagoon 4, I was closely observed by some sheep. Here's one of them.

Hebridean Sheep (Ovis aries) - by Plover Hide

I had Plover Hide to myself, and found plenty to entertain me although most was rather distant, and the direction of the sun was unfavourable.

Most impressive from this location was a line of a few hundred Golden Plover, interspersed with a few Lapwing. The first image, below, shows a part of the line with the lens at 400mm.The second image is a heavily cropped image of a smaller section of the same group.

Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) - from Plover Hide

Much closer, and on the edge of an island opposite the hide, were some Wigeon which were resting, and a male came drifting by.

Wigeon (Mareca penelope) - from Plover Hide

Wigeon (Mareca penelope) (male) - from Plover Hide

Unfortunately distant, I spotted a pair of Pintail. I'd have loved to get a closer shot of the handsome male of the species.

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) (male + female) - from Plover Hide

A Lapwing was slowly moving around on the island in front of the hide.

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) -from Plover Hide

A drake Shoveler drifted into view.

Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) (male) - from Plover Hide

I now felt that it was time to move on. Bittern Hide was next on the list. By the access track to the hide I found a few Shaggy Ink-cap fungi.

Shaggy Ink-cap (Coprinus comatus) - near Bittern Hide

There were no birds visible in front of Bittern Hide (which overlooks Lagoon 3), where I found myself alone once more, and I was on the verge of giving up when a smallish bird of prey flashed by and headed into some distant trees. By the time I found it in the viewfinder and took a few shots, it was far too distant to ID. As it had come from the direction of Shoveler Hide (which also overlooks Lagoon 3, but with a much broader outlook), I hurried there to see if anyone had spotted it and could ID it for me. I was immediately told it was a Peregrine. Here's the best that I could muster - not good enough for an ID shot, but what is visible fits Peregrine.

 

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) - from Bittern Hide

I spent a while in Shoveler Hide, which was almost full with people, as there were birds to be seen, although nothing of great note, and most being beyond the useful range of my lens or sitting on unattractive artificial structures. Here are a few birds that I did photograph.

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) (male) - from Shoveler Hide

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - from Shoveler Hide

Gadwall (Mareca strepera) (male) - from Shoveler Hide

Keen to see more of the reserve before dusk, I called in at the empty Buzzard Hide (also overlooking Lagoon 3, but with a very narrow field of view) and found little in view except a close-by Cormorant.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - from Buzzard Hide

I decided not to spend time here, and popped over to Smew Hide (Lagoon 2), only to find the view was directly into the bright low sun, and seeing what was out there was virtually impossible, so left again without hesitation.

At Crake Hide, which gives views onto the narrow north-west end of Lagoon 4, I found one other person in attendance. There were good views of Cormorants on the far bank opposite the hide and a Great White Egret a little further away on the far bank. 

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - from Crake Hide

Great White Egret (Ardea alba) - from Crake Hide

At one point, the egret flew and joined the Cormorants.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) and Great White Egret (Ardea alba) - from Crake Hide

I spent some very pleasant time chatting with my companion, but when a third person arrived it was my cue to depart as there were still other hides I wished to visit before I departed.

My visit to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon 4 was a very quick one as everything was very distant, and the light was failing fast. Nothing was photographed from here.

It was now time to start making my way back to the car park, calliing in at three hides as I did so.

I cannot remember whether it was at Osprey Hide or Grebe Hide that I photographed this Moorhen.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - Rutland Water, Egleton side

The last hide visited before returning to my car was Redshank Hide. The main item of interest here was a Great White Egret.

Great White Egret (Ardea alba) - from Redshank Hide

My final shots were of a gull that flew past. I am not sure what the ID of this gull was, and neither ObsIdentify nor Merlin can help with its ID. Germán, in Spain, has now advised that this is a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull, which ties in with one of the suggestions from ObsIdentify.

probable Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) (juvenile) - from Redshank Hide

Having got back to the car, I had a short errand to run in Hambleton before heading home, by a faster route, rather than the countrified one, as darkness rolled in. 

It had been a highly enjoyable afternoon out, even though nothing particularly exciting had been seen.

 

If all goes according to plan, my next post will cover the second half of November, which included four short trips out, as well as some garden observations.

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature. Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard