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Sunday 14 August 2016

TWO VISITS TO RUTLAND WATER.

I decided to have an extra visit out on Sunday afternoon the 7th of August, it seemed an age since I had seen the Ospreys so after lunch I got away as quick as possible and made my way straight to the Lyndon Centre. On arrival it was a very quick chat with Kayleigh then down to Shallow Water hide quick pace arriving at the hide at 13.50 hrs only to meet up with Monica, this time without her husband Tony. This couple Richard and myself meet up with a reasonable amount, I met up with them also during the Winter when visiting Cossington Meadows for the Short Eared Owls.

It was a very windy afternoon and the Ospreys were tending to stay perched and mostly keeping out of the wind. I never saw the adult female or 33 and only two juveniles were easy to see, as to where the third bird or adults had hidden themselves difficult to say but neither Monica or myself could find them. Another gent in the hide thought he had seen another bird somewhere over towards Heron Bay but this never materialised.  After about one and a half hours I left the hide and headed back towards the car park and home, Monica had been on site since 06.30 hrs and was intending to stay until at least 18.00 hrs and later if the wind dropped.

My next visit was for an Osprey duty on the 11th of August, Richard arrived to start the shift for 13.00 hrs and I turned up for about 13.30 hrs to find even though the weather forecast was not good, a reasonable number of people in the hide.  When I arrived Richard had been seeing a Marsh Harrier to the front of the hide not far away but it never returned during my shift, but never mind, always another day, Whilst on duty we had all three juveniles and the adult female in the bay so that was good for the visitors. We had a very busy afternoon with people visiting most of the time, we also had some very helpful visitors, so when we were answering questions they kept an eye on the birds and kept us updated as to the whereabouts which made it a lot easier when new people entered the hide. What was nice was the number of children we had visit and the questions they were asking, obviously taking in all we had told them. We even had a couple from Sardinia { we wondered if they were Mafia }. After a busy but interesting shift, I decided to go to Eyebrook Reservoir for my tea, and here saw two Ospreys and a Marsh Harrier, all were at the far side of the water but still wonderful to see with the bins.

On my return journey I saw a Little Owl and Site no. 9 but the only decent image I got was by driving down the road and taking a quick image only to find later on I had wound the lens into 210 mm, what a fool but never mind at least I saw the bird.

The Kestrels have at last gone but we still see them occasionally flying over the garden.



RUTLAND WATER
SHALLOW WATER HIDE.
7th August.






Juvenile Osprey.

I only saw two Juveniles during the afternoon, no sign at all of the third bird or adults. 



A quick splash and then away back around the bay. 



Dip the feet in the water. 






Fly round the back of the nest. 



And up onto the camera post. 



Juvenile Common Tern.

Several Juveniles kept landing on the posts and fence, some still being fed by the adults. 








Great Crested Grebe.

Several birds were swimming to the front of the Hide. Someone in the Hide {Monica} did a count of the birds in the bay, and came up with a figure of 62. 



A quick dive. 



And up with a fish. First time I have ever seen a Grebe catch a fish.  









A Cormorant land some 100 metres away amongst a flock of Gulls .





OPSREY DUTY.

Waderscrape Hide.

11th August.



Juvenile Osprey T6, the wanderer that everybody thought was lost. 



 Juveniles have the white edge to the feathers.











Juvenile Osprey T8. T7 flew down to a dead section of tree and sat close to the Adult Female for most of the afternoon. 












Adult Female, taken to be an un ringed Scottish bird. 






She did a lot of calling whilst flying around 



And then headed towards the Lyndon Centre.
 
 



Little Egret.

Last week we had the G.W.E., a much larger bird.   









Juvenile Moorhen.

If you remember I posted an image of a very small Moorhen chick a week or two ago. This I take it is one of them, still in the pool to the front of Waderscrape Hide.






Migrant Hawker, our garden.

This was chasing small flies around one of our Giant Redwoods and eventually landed.









Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed as much as I did in getting the images.


21 comments:

  1. Super sequence with the GCG with the fish, John. I've never witness this before either, although I have with other grebes.

    See you Thursday!!

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  2. Hi Richard, strange how we have never seen a G C G catch a fish. Enjoyed very much the last busy duty.
    See you Thursday. John

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    1. By the way, John, I hope that the lovely couple from Leicester who, it seems, you and Barry were speculating might be Mafia (I'd like it to be clear that I wasn't involved), don't read this post. Her origins were in Sardegna, but the Mafia is a Sicilian organisation and, to the best of my knowledge and experience, Sardegna is relatively free of organised crime. Her brother, who was visiting, lives in Modena, more noted for its balsamic vinegar than organised crime!

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    2. Whoops, if they get in touch, I'll say that Barry made me write it, I'll also make it clear that you had no involvement. Mind not over keen of balsamic vinegar.
      John

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  3. Fantastic John images, the one I love was flying Osprey, right on. And at the end there was a juvenile Osprey, beautiful.

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  4. Hi Bob, Thanks for the interest, just been on your blog regarding your fostered racing pigeon. The Osprey's won't be with for much longer, it all seems to have gone so quick and without much of a Summer either. All the Best. Regards John

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  5. Brilliant phos John! Always a pleasure to stop by.

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    1. Hi Denise, thanks for the visit, had a super time getting the photo's, glad you enjoyed the visit.
      Regards John

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    2. I came back to thank you for the visits and comments you make on my blog. It also gave me another chance to look at these wonderful photographs.

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    3. Hi Denise, sorry for late in replying but did not get home that early last night, you are getting some wonderful wildlife images yourself. Regards John

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  6. Stunning captures John. And great the Ospreys are still around. Love to read all about it. Thanks.
    Regards,
    Roos

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    Replies
    1. Hi Roos, thanks for the visit, I was on site at Rutland yesterday and the Ospreys are still about and will probably be for another week or two. All the best.
      Regards John

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  7. Gorgeous action photos, John! I love your photography!

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    1. Hi Linda, thanks for your visit, glad you have enjoyed the images, I have some wonderful times going out and getting them. Again thanks for the visit.
      Regards John

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  8. Super blog like last week. Lovely shots of birds in flight! Specially like the fishing Grebe. You did well to capture that. Still no sign of little owls, just pigeons and magpies to look at. M

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    1. Hi Margaret, glad you managed the comment alright. The Grebe was a real bonus set of images, as I said I have never seen a Grebe catch a fish, I'm sure the Little Owls are still around, we are finding the same at lots of other sites, and then seeing Juveniles so they have been about all the time.

      Regards John

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  9. Wonderful place.. great set of pictures.. Congrats and regards..

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  10. Hi Ana, thanks for the visit, it really is a wonderful place to visit this time of the year. Really enjoyed your last post, the railway station is unique. Regards John

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  11. Also a very enjoyable entry here, again a ball with the Ospreys.... now, I am starting to feel seriously jealous!!
    That Grebe with the fish is quite extraordinary, not your daily picture! LOL!
    Congratulations :)

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  12. Hi Noushka, Rutland is a really special place to both Richard and myself, we have had some excellent times watching and photographing the Ospreys, we are on duty on Thursday but not sure as to whether we will have any birds to watch, went yesterday and only the adults and T8 at the nest site, The grebe was a real bonus, I have never seen a Grebe catch a fish, pure luck. Regards John

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  13. Hi Noushka, Rutland is a really special place to both Richard and myself, we have had some excellent times watching and photographing the Ospreys, we are on duty on Thursday but not sure as to whether we will have any birds to watch, went yesterday and only the adults and T8 at the nest site, The grebe was a real bonus, I have never seen a Grebe catch a fish, pure luck. Regards John

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About Me;


Titus White:
Hi I am Richard Peglers friend Titus White, and those who follow Richards posts will understand the name and reason for it. I have been birding with Richard for 3 years and a volunteer at Rutland Water on the Osprey Project for 2 years. My early images were taken on a Nikon D80 with a 70 - 200mm lens. I updated the lens to a 70 - 300mm VR lens but still was not happy with the results. Eventually when Nikon announced the D7100 I decided to change so upgraded the camera and also invested in a Sigma 50 - 500mm lens.
I first met Richard through Arthur Costello as I was having the occasional visit from Little Owls on our land. We eventually found the Little Owls through another contact about 100 metres away. Photo's will follow on future posts.
I have recently upgraded my camera to full frame, this is a challenge I am at the moment enjoying trying to get the best out of the beast.
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