A VISIT TO EYEBROOK.

Richard and myself had our normal Thursday visit out on the 20th of April, our initial thoughts were for a visit to Ketton Quarry and some butterflies  but as time went by the forecast changed from sunny and warm to cloudy and cooler with a chance of rain so we opted for Rutland and the Egleton Centre, but once underway and we ran into rain we had to think again and decided to visit Eyebrook Reservoir instead as we would not be over far from the car if it rained and we still had a good chance of seeing some Ospreys.

So we got underway with my turn to drive and headed through our Little Owl sites and saw a bird at Site 5 in the fallen tree but this was the only bird seen on the outward journey. 

On arrival at Eyebrook we had a drive around looking for Red Kites but non were seen so we headed for the area where we had seen the Ospreys previously. We saw no Ospreys but saw my first Common Terns of the year which is always good, they are such acrobatic birds. We then spent some time at the Bridge over the inlet brook hoping to see the Kingfisher, but this was again a vain hope. We managed a few birds and then visited one of the stockades  for bird watching. After this we returned to our original area and had the first half of our teas. We had a reasonable afternoon with the birds but no Ospreys arrived, I think this is the first time I have visited Eyebrook in the Osprey season and not seen at least one bird, never mind.

After this we retraced our steps through our Little Owl Sites and stopped at Site 9 for the other half of our tea and upon arrival no bird was evident, but after a short time a bird appeared in the nest hole so we were delighted with this. Hopefully the female is sitting on eggs. After the remainder of our tea we carried on through our remaining sites and saw a bird again at Site No. 5, most likely the bird we saw earlier but at our last site to visit, Site No.1 we saw a Little Owl, this was a super end to the day as we have not seen a bird at this site for a considerable time.





EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
20th April.

Common Terns on raft
.
Looked at the Tern raft and saw four birds, took the image and only three?? Houdini Tern.  

 They are such wonderful birds to watch in flight, they are so agile, this bird in a vertical dive and pulled out just above the water.

Black-headed Gull.

These are around in reasonable numbers and tend to chase the Ospreys hoping to steal a meal, I have never seen this happen however.

Red Kite, whilst we were watching for an Osprey .

This single bird flew across the Reservoir. 

Grey Heron when we moved to the Bridge.

This bird was wading in the shallow water at the side of the feeder stream. 

Goldfinch Near to Bird Feeders. Adult Male.

Several birds were visiting the feeders and managed to catch this on on its way in. 

Small Fish to the side of the Bridge.

looked over the bridge and saw these fish they were about 25 mm. long, you would think the Kingfisher would have been tucking into them. Mind that's probably why we didn't see it, it was still full from earlier.

Skylark.

This bird was gaining height and singing away to our left, it then flew across towards us and I couldn't resist an image. 

Chiffchaff.

This bird flew into a Willow tree next to the bridge, so I very carefully picked up the camera for a record shot.

I then very carefully shuffled to my right and managed to get some more images without so many leaves in the way. 

Cock Pheasant under the Bird Feeders.

This and the following image just shows the variation in colours we encounter. 

This bird was by Little Owl Site No.9 whilst we had our tea.

Kestrel.

This bird appeared whilst we had our first bit of tea in the area where we usually see the Ospreys.  

LITTLE OWLS.

Little Owl Site No. 5.

This image was taken on our outbound journey. 

This on our return and looks to be the same bird, its sitting on what remains of the stump after the tree blew down. 

Little Owl Site No. 9.

This again taken on our return journey, we stopped for our tea and after a short time this nosy little beggar had to have a look to see who had turned up to disturb his peace. 

Lambs Near Little Owl Site No. 6.

These lambs were initially using mum as a trampoline.

This then changed into a game of King of the Castle.




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

ANOTHER OSPREY DUTY WITH A NEW VOLUNTEER PARTNER.

As Richard has decided this year to only do some fill in duties with me and any others where no one is available I had a trip to Lyndon and the Ospreys on my own, this seemed really strange having only previously carried out duties with Richard.

My trip over was completely Little Owl less even though the weather was not that unfavourable.

On arriving at the centre for about 16.15 hrs, I booked in with Kayleigh and was told that Maya had laid a fourth egg that morning, lets hope they manage to raise all four young. I then headed down the site so as to be able to call in at both Deepwater and Tufted Duck hides, neither were that productive so I eventually arrived in Waderscrape Hide at 16.55 hrs and the previous volunteers could go and as they were leaving my fellow partner in crime, Jan arrived, an absolutely delightful lady with a wonderful sense of humour and a good knowledge of birds which is always a help for me.

On arrival I was told that 33/11 was away on a fishing trip so it was keep an eye out for his return. On his return the trip was hardly worth the effort as he brought back a very small fish. he ate a small amount and then took the remainder to the nest and the female took this to the T post and the 33 took over incubating duties.

After a small flight around the bay and a return with some hay for the nest, 33 was removed by the female from his duties { he can cover 3 eggs but 4 is a little over size for him } and he eventually went on another fishing trip and after a short time returned with a Pike of about 1 1/2lbs, this he took to his favourite tree and certainly was struggling with the fish as it bounced about. He was still having his supper when we finished our duty at 20.00 hrs but would have given some to the female when he had his fill.

It was up to the car park and away as it was nearly dark and a check for Little Owls on my return. I saw a bird at site No 9 and new bird in the headlights near to Site 5, this is a site we must watch out for and try to find the bird again. 

RUTLAND WATER.
13th April.

Mute Swans in field on the way To Deep Water Hide.

Mostly Mute Swans with two Canada Geese and three Greylag mixed in. 

Cormorant in Dead Tree, Tufted Duck Hide.

We have a dead tree to the front of the hide about 150 metres away and also one to the front of Waderscrape Hide, both always have Cormorants in when ever you visit. 

Canada Goose, Tufted Duck Hide.

Couldn't resist and image even though it was a reasonable distance away.  

Teal Drake, Tufted Duck Hide.

Still about the reserve in reasonable numbers. 

Mallard Drake, Waderscrape Hide.

Such a common bird but so beautiful, we can all ignore them but its only when you take an image you can take in the beauty. 

Greylag Goose, Waderscrape Hide.

This pair arrived in the channels to the front of the hide and disturbed a Water Vole I was trying to get an image of. The Vole appeared a second time and I missed it again??. 

Canada Goose, Waderscrape Hide.

They are such a proud looking goose, this one is on the edge of Manton Bay.

MANTON BAY OSPREYS.

13th April.

Osprey duty 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs, a most enjoyable but cool evening until the wind died down. 

Male Osprey 33/11 with the first fish he returned with
.
Not the best of images but the birds are a very long distance away from the Hide. You can just about make out the fish. Have just checked the distance at 370 metres. 

 Female Osprey on T post with the small fish.

She then transferred to an adjacent tree to finish the fish.  

And then had a quick flight around the bay.{awful images} 

She then went out of view for a short time only to appear carrying a large lump of hay. 

Female Osprey dumping hay on top of 33/11 whilst he was sitting on the eggs. 

Female Osprey having taken over from 33/11 who then went away on another fishing trip. You can see the hay she had just deposited to her right.

33 away fishing. 

Female Incubating, you can see the heap of hay to the front of her. 

     
Male returns with a nice sized Pike but was having a struggle 

in keeping it still.

So a quick fly around to see if he could get a better place to land.

Not a much different position than previous, but he got stuck into his catch and was still feeding when we finished our duty. 




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

Sorry for the poor quality of the Osprey images, being a late duty the sun was to the front of me and the light was going.