WE HAVE HAD SOME AWFUL WEATHER THEN HOPEFULLY A CHANGE, BUT NOT FOR LONG.

The weather with us has been dire and I have had three trip out with a mixture of very dark clouds, rain, sleet and snow then eventually some sun but this was interrupted by a very sharp downpour of rain.

My first trip out was to Rutland Water on the 11th of January for a try to see the Smew of which fourteen had been recorded as being on Lagoon 4.  So I headed for the Volunteer Centre to cut down the walk to the lagoon, parked the car and had a quick chat and got under way to Plover Hide, where no Smew were evident. I then got under way to visit Sandpiper Hide to see if I could locate them, but meeting up with a gent walking the other way from Sandpiper Hide who told me they were not anywhere to be seen from the hide I turned round and headed towards Eyebrook Reservoir. The light was awful and it had started to drizzle with rain, so it was a quick visit to Eyebrook and then onto home.

Little Owl Site No. 6.

Having visited this site on numerous occasions, it was excellent to pass by and see this bird sat in its normal position keeping out of the wind and rain. 

Red Kite Between Little Owl Sites 6 and 7.

Took this image quickly in the hope the bird would come closer, this was not to be as it circled and went farther away. 

RUTLAND WATER.

LYNDON CENTRE. 

This was my second visit out on the 18th of January and I decided to visit the Lyndon Reserve as some waders had been reported at Shallow Water Hide  so after a steady walk down the site in the sun!!! calling in at Deepwater Hide, Tufted Duck Hide, Waderscrape Hide and eventually Shallow Water Hide. Very little was seen unfortunately so I decided to head back to the car park and then onto Eyebrook. The sun was still shining but by the time I arrived it had clouded over and started raining, so I parked in my normal spot and the rain changed to sleet and then we had about 20 minutes of very heavy snow which eventually turned back to sleet. This eventually stopped but by this time even though the sun was showing on the horizon, the light was going and so I decided to go home. 

Osprey Nest, Waderscrape Hide.

Still empty and awaiting the return of the cameras, the nest and cameras will be looked at in the next week or two. Its not that long before we will have the birds returning hopefully for another successful season.

Cormorant, Tufted Duck Hide.


This tree is normally covered in the birds but only two were visible today.

Red Kite, Near Stockerston Village.

Awful image but shows an orange wing tag which indicates this bird was tagged in Yorkshire.

A QUICK VISIT TO THE LYNDON CENTRE AND THEN ONTO EYEBROOK.

I decided to have another visit to the Lyndon Centre as it was reported that Goldeneye were showing at Teal Hide. I drove over to Rutland and passed the Little Owl sites but again none were seen unfortunately.

Teal Hide is very close to the centre so on arrival I was in the hide in a matter of minutes and upon opening the shutters I could see some Goldeneye but about 100 metres away but with the noise of the shutter opening they were all moving away from the hide so it was a case of sit tight and wait to see if they came any closer. initially only one Drake came any closer but never as close as I would have wished.

So after about half an hour I decided to have a visit over to Eyebrook as a Merlin had been reported the previous afternoon, again no report for me. I have never seen a Merlinn but as they say 'live in hope'.

The sun was out for a reasonable time but rain returned later in the afternoon, will this weather ever pick up.

One good point from all the rain and bad weather, Rutland Water has really come up in level so hopefully by the time the Ospreys return it will be full.

  

Mallard Drake, Teal Hide.


This bird swam by about 50 metres away whilst I waited for the Goldeneye to decide to come closer.

Goldeneye Drake, Teal Hide.

This bird was the first to start to venture back towards me and this image was taken whilst the bird was in excess of 100 metres away.

A little closer and a stretch and shake.

This taken at about 70 metres, I think they are a really delightful duck. No signs of any courtship displays, give it another month. 

A second bird then came in that bit closer, the females were much farther out into the reservoir.

I must have had about 30 ducks away from the hide but the above were the only ones that came that bit closer.

Cormorant, Teal Hide.

This bird flew then flew by so a quick change of settings and hope for the best.

EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.

  

Red Kite, Between Stockerston and Horninghold Villages.

This bird has a small white wing tag indicating it is an East Midlands tagged bird. {local}

Cormorant and Lapwings, the Island point.

These birds sat on the point of an area they call the island, the water level has again dropped from being full two weeks ago. Looks like a Golden Plover to the front. 

Another Lapwing arrives.

Red Kite, Opposite Stoke Dry.


I had just parked when this bird flew by being pushed along on a brisk wind.

Same bird.

These two birds were seen whilst I stood on the bridge crossing the entrance stream, {the Eye Brook} entering the Reservoir.

This bird flew virtually directly over the top of me.

This bird then flew by from the right but a reasonable distance away.

In total I had seen ten Red Kites during my visit, some of which however were much to far away to even consider trying for an image. 

Teal Drake and female. Entrance stream.

With the Garganey Duck, Teal are the smallest of our ducks.

  

Hen Pheasant, Under the Bird feeders by the Bridge.

We always take images of the Cock Pheasant but the Hens are also a beautiful bird.

Blue Tit, Near the Bird Feeders.

Hardly in pristine feathering but still a beautiful little bird. 

Great Tit, by the Bird Feeders.

About in reasonable numbers picking up seed where others had dropped it. Only about 18 metres away, why can't some of the other bird come this close. 

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

A VISIT TO LYNDON AND THEN ONTO EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.

Whilst visiting the LROS bird reports I saw that a Great Northern Diver was showing at Teal Hide at Lyndon, so I decided to have a quick visit as the hide is very close to the car park. On arriving the wind was blowing very strongly, and a tree had been blown down in the car park but I thought get down to the hide and see what if anything was about.

It seems very odd to visit the centre when its all closed down for the Winter months, but it will soon be open and busy again with the return of the Ospreys.

 I could  see plenty of Tufted ducks, all a long distance away, and that was about it, no sign of the Northern Diver unfortunately. The odd other bird would appear so I decided to hang about for about three quarters of an hour but still nothing much turned up so eventually I decided to head towards Eyebrook Reservoir to see if anything was visible. 

I was most surprised as to how the reservoir has risen in level over the past two weeks but has still to go I would estimate another 1.2 metres which over the area is a considerable amount of water.

Little Egret, Teal Hide.



This bird suddenly appeared from the right of the hide, so it was a quick adjustment and shoot.

Tufted Drake, Teal Hide.

This image has been very heavily cropped, I however find Tufties to be a beautiful little duck.

Several groups of a similar number were sitting  well away from the hide.

Female Tufted Ducks, Teal Hide.

Distinguished by the white blaze round the bill, showing well on the bird to the right. 

Mallard Duck, Teal Hide.

Again another bird that just suddenly came into view, another quick change of settings.

View from Teal Hide towards Lagoon 3 at Egleton.



A 600 mm lens is not the best for taking landscape images as this, but it gives some idea of the distance the Tufted Ducks were away prior to me cropping.

The large house on top of the hill is Burley House, this has been converted into {very expensive} flats. {Not to be mixed up with Burghley House of horse trials fame that is near Stamford}

EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.

Its only a short drive from Lyndon to Eyebrook, my thoughts were to go and see if any Red kites would behave and come that bit closer. This did happen but the shots would have been directly into the sun and not even attempted.

The reservoir has risen in level and is full which has taken away the mud flats and lots of the normal birds appear to have moved on or gone onto the far side of the water. 

Buzzard Being Harried by a Raven.

On arrival I headed towards Hallaton looking for Red Kites only to see this encounter about 200 metres away to my right over the fields.

Unfortunately getting farther away, but with the Raven is still in pursuit. The Buzzard then dropped and eventually was out of sight behind a hedge, but must of then changed direction as it suddenly came back into view appearing over the hedge farther along the road, about 150 metres from me and landed on the top of a telegraph pole.

So I drove very slowly along the road keeping my fingers crossed the bird would not fly away, this image taken at about 100 metres away. It was a case of then trying to get that bit closer,  Buzzard are I find such a nervous bird and will not let you get that close.

 I got to within about 60 metres and turned the car sideways on so I was across the road, stuck the camera out of the window  and had a go. The bird was getting a real beating from the wind and this probably helped me as it was more concentrating on staying on the post than of me trying to get some images.

The bird moved a little squarer to where I was sitting, I think as to get a little respite from the wind more than me. I sat and watched it for about another five minutes before it eventually flew away. Luckily its a very little used road.




After this the clouds appeared and the light was awful for about an hour, then the sky cleared, but it started to get dark!!!!!!

Cock Pheasant, Our Garden.


This pheasant had a visit to the smaller Owl Box and sat on the roof for several minutes.
Update on the Barn Owls. We still have a bird in the large box that I believe to be the young male.


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

TWO TRIPS TO RUTLAND.
ONE IN DULL WEATHER AND ONE IN SNOW.

My first visit was on the 21st of December and was unfortunately a rather dull afternon. On arriving at the Egleton Centre I was greeted by Holly Hucknall who was for  last year one of the Information officers on the Osprey project and she was with Ken Davies who is one of the Education Officers for the Project, he also had some family members with him. So it was decided we would have a walk around together, the more eyes looking about the better.

The first hide we visited was Redshank where  nothing much was to be seen, everything was on the far side of the lagoon and not really worth attempting an image.

So onto Grebe, looking for Siskins that were seen earlier but unfortunately not by us. Once we opened up the shutters the area on the far side of the lagoon was crowded with ducks but to far away for anything like a decent image. Managed a Moorhen image at about 50 metres away and that was all. But with Kens scope we saw Red Head Smew, the American Wigeon which is still in attendance and with the bins a fleeting glance of a Marsh Harrier which are always a bonus to see.  

From here we visited Osprey Hide and then onto Shoveler Hide where we suffered with the same problem and even worse, birds all much to far away, we saw some Pintail ducks at Shoveler but they were at a silly distance, I took some image but no good, they are such a beautiful duck.

We then ventured to Buzzard hide and then onto Crake where we saw two Water Rail, both out on the mud but at a distance of about 60 metres but it was good to see them. 

We then parted company as Holly had to report back to the Volunteer Centre as this is where she is going to be working for the next Year., and I headed back for the car park after a most enjoyable afternoon.       

  

Female Blackbird, Car Park at Egleton.

Having parked the car and heading towards the centre to book in, this Blackbird suddenly appeared in the hedge bottom at the entrance, most unusual marking.   

Moorhen, Grebe Hide, Lagoon 2.

 Took this image as this was the only bird that was relatively close, about 50 metres away, everything thing else was on the far side of the Lagoon, including Goosanders,  female Red head Smew, Marsh Harrier and the American Wigeon.

Water Rail, Crake Hide.

By the time we arrived at the Hide, the light had become awful , but I could not miss these two birds messing about in the mud, The Reservoir is getting very low and the birds are moving that much farther away. The following images are at a distance of approximately 60 metres. 

Really digging down deep in the mud.

A muddy beak.

The second bird, with a not such a muddy beak. All these images are with the birds 50 metres away.

Second bird having had a deep dig and muddied up.

Male Goosander, Buzzard Hide.

The light was getting worse but you have to try, this is one of two birds that eventually got closer together as below. Distance of about 150 metres.

RUTLAND WATER, EGLETON. 
SNOW ON THE GROUND.

This visit was a week later on the 28th of December and after a precarious trip over part of the journey {Rutland is renowned for snow falls,  mind nothing like our poor friends in America} 

It was really a case of a quick visit as a chance of more snow was on the forecast, so I had a quick walk around  and got away home reasonably early to be sure of getting home. I had a lovely walk around but most of the birds are still such a long distance away.

With all the rain that is forecast for the next few days in England, hopefully with the pumping from the Rivers that Anglian Water carry out, the Reservoir will start to fill up, at the moment the Osprey nest I monitor is on dry ground. 

Upon leaving the car park I suddenly noticed some lambs in the field alongside the access road, still in December, Spring has sprung very early this year.

Osprey Hide.

Mute Swans on small snow covered island.

Image from Grebe Hide.

Image taken towards Lax Hill, the temperature was barely above freezing at 1 degree.

Pair of Mallard Ducks. Shoveler Hide.

This pair were in the shallows as the Water Authority have been pumping water from the main Reservoir  into Lagoons 3 and 4.
Another bonus being the snow and rain we have had has started putting some water into the Reservoir.

Shoveler Drake, Shoveler Hide.

This bird was just over 100 metres away but managed to get the beautiful coloration, helps having some sun.

Lapwing, Crake Hide, North Arm 3.

We are not seeing many Lapwing at the moment so I was pleased to get this image from the hide. A certain lady has been asking for Lapwing images.

Wigeon Drake, Crake Hide.

With the water level in the main Reservoir rising slightly in the week due to the current weather, still a shortage of birds, they seem to have moved out onto the main body of water.

Lamb.

As I drove out of the car park I suddenly saw this little one with mum, felt like putting the heater on full and inviting it into the car. Very early for lambing.

I then spotted this second lamb, venturing out without mum.

Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did in the getting of the images even if it was so cold on my second visit.