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.
EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
20th April.
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Common Terns on raft . Looked at the Tern raft and saw four birds, took the image and only three?? Houdini Tern. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Red Kite, whilst we were watching for an Osprey . This single bird flew across the Reservoir. |
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Grey Heron when we moved to the Bridge. This bird was wading in the shallow water at the side of the feeder stream. |
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Goldfinch Near to Bird Feeders. Adult Male. Several birds were visiting the feeders and managed to catch this on on its way in. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Chiffchaff. This bird flew into a Willow tree next to the bridge, so I very carefully picked up the camera for a record shot. |
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I then very carefully shuffled to my right and managed to get some more images without so many leaves in the way. |
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Cock Pheasant under the Bird Feeders. This and the following image just shows the variation in colours we encounter. |
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This bird was by Little Owl Site No.9 whilst we had our tea. |
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Kestrel. This bird appeared whilst we had our first bit of tea in the area where we usually see the Ospreys. |
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Little Owl Site No. 5. This image was taken on our outbound journey. |
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This on our return and looks to be the same bird, its sitting on what remains of the stump after the tree blew down. |
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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. |
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Lambs Near Little Owl Site No. 6. These lambs were initially using mum as a trampoline. |
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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. |
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteLOL... You set out to see certain species and you see nothing you intended to photograph but other interesting ones!
how come this is my story too??!!!!
That is why I decided recently not to expect anything in particular so all the birds I come to see are a good surprise!!! Now how more positive this can be ;-)))))
Ok, jokes aside, your post is delight, the flights are wonderful, the female kestrel is gorgeous! Fantastic shots too of the acrobatic gull and I enjoy seeing the LO's are doing good :)
Raining today here, I hope your weather has improved!
Take care and enjoy the rest of the week :)
Hi Noushka,
DeleteTrue as to what you say, seems a really good idea so any bird you see is a total surprise, will try this tomorrow. I cannot remember going to Eyebrook during the Osprey season and not seeing an Osprey.
So glad you enjoyed the post, must admit my favourite being the Chiffchaff, they are such a delightful little bird.
Our weather has been disgusting the last two days and have had to tolerate some snow, only two weeks ago we were seeing Butterflies, think they will have all gone South.
Thanks for the visit and have a good rest of the week, all the best John
Thank you John, this is an amazing collection of shots. Loved them all but did enjoy seeing the diving tern, and the feather pattern on the kite's wings is really something.
ReplyDeleteHi Denise, just finished looking at your blog in Texas, mind you are really getting about, loved the Butterfly bench. Terns always amaze me, you are waiting for them to crash land into the water but always manage to pull out of the dive and skim the surface. Red Kites are a really beautiful bird, wonderful to watch in flight using the V tail as a rudder to change direction with. All the best and have a good rest of your trip. John
DeletePerfection John. The diving Common Tern are beautiful, and the Goldfinches are fantastic. But, the best was, the Grey Heron, special bird.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob, Common Terns are such acrobatic birds and you are convinced they are going to hit the water at times. My favourite is the Chiffchaff, lovely little bird. Thanks for the visit. All the best, John
DeleteCould have sworn I'd already posted a comment on this post, John! Must have forgotten to hit the 'publish' button.
ReplyDeleteSome super images here. I particularly like your Kestrel images (better than mine!) and your Heron images. I look forward to hearing how you got on at Rutland Water this evening.
See you soon - - - Richard
Hi Richard, must seem familiar with the images!!, a good afternoon out but the weather again let us down. Good afternoon on duty. Saw another new Little Owl on my wway back in the dark so no image and also saw the Barnie in the usual tree. All the best, John
DeleteThe photo of the fish floats on the raft is a very nice picture :-)
ReplyDeleteThe diving fishing pier is really fantastic. Again, the red Wouw has a beautiful look on the photo. What is also a beautiful bird. Blue heron pretty sharp and the Putter is already so beautiful. The little fish are very funny :-)
The field lark is fantastic in flight. The Tjiftjaf could clearly explain your footgraphs. The beautiful female pheasant is always great to see. The pictures of the turf are great!
I'm a little jealous of your beautiful little stone owls :-) Great to see this again.
The lambs have grown alot and jump on the back of mama hahaha ...
A very nice and fun varied blog.
Kind regards,
Helma
Hi Helma and thank you for your visit. To be fair we had a wonderful afternoon even though the weather was far from perfect. The lambs were a delight to watch jumping over poor mum. The Chiffchaff is a delightful little bird, we have them in the garden but never get an image whilst they sit up in the trees calling away. We were hoping the kingfisher would come and help itself to the little fish but it was not to be. Glad you enjoyed the Little Owls, they are real beauties. Hope the back is still getting better. All the best, John
DeleteFantastic shots! So many to admire. I love the Heron so statuesque, and Red Kite's feathers so lovely and you have captured the hovering Kestrel so well. The Chiffchaff is sweet and Little Owls always a delight! Etc. Etc!!
ReplyDeleteWent a walk with dogs down fields late afternoon and so many birds singing their heads off. Wish I knew what they all were! M
Hi Margaret and glad you enjoyed the visit, my favourite is the Chiffchaff, they are such a pretty little bird. I have the same problem with singing birds, never sure as to what call in from which bird. All the best, John
ReplyDeleteHi John!! Beautiful array of pictures.. Love the goldfinch, and little owl and so cute the lambs.. Happy week.. :-)))
ReplyDeleteHi Ana and thank you for the visit, you seem to be having much better weather than us at the moment. Glad you enjoyed the images, the lambs were a delight. All the best John
ReplyDeleteHello John, some great captures in this blog. A Red Kite you do not get to see every day. Wonderful. The Kestrel in flight is stunning and ofcourse the LO is Always lovely.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Roos
Hi John: Like you I never fail to be impressed with the aerial acrobatics of terns. I could swear sometimes that they have a choreographer off in the wings somewhere!
ReplyDeleteHi Both, terns never fail to amaze, I'm sure they are going to have a disaster and then somehow get out of trouble. All the best. John
ReplyDelete