AN EVENING AT EYEBROOK AND AN OSPREY DUTY.

I decided to have a quick visit to Eyebrook reservoir on Sunday evening {the 20th} as a White Winged Black Tern was still in residence, a bird I have never managed a decent image from, in fact any image from. So I got my wife's tea and my pack up and got under way for about 17.45 hrs. 

On arrival I could see the bird sat on a marker buoy not far from the Stoke Dry side of the reservoir, much to far away to even think of taking an image. It was a case of sit it out as the bird was very active and hopefully will come that much closer to me, firstly the bird came no closer but also with the flight of Terns it was up and down and all over the place in flight, I had some reasonable images of nothing and some very poor images of the bird invariably to the edge of the image. I had a look through another gents scope and wow what a stunning bird with its white flashes, white tail and red beak.

After this I eventually moved to the top of the reservoir for a look for the Barn Owl, this did not let me down other than the fact it was virtually dark but I still had to try for some images, I also talked with another gent who told me where the nest site was but this will be kept under wraps and left in peace.

Then on Thursday I had an Osprey Duty where the young birds are really coming on very well, the female leaves them sitting in the sun and only tucks them under her wings at night or when it rains, unfortunately we have had a few thunder storms over the last couple of days but they have come through these fine.

I was on duty with Barry and Shelagh and we had a very busy early part of the shift but later on it was the opposite.

We had another good afternoon watching the birds and had another intruder Osprey late afternoon , it was thought to be a recent arrival bird 2AA/16, and was totally ignored by 33.

  


EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.

Black Headed Gull.

Having tried to get images of both Common Terns and the White Winged Black Tern, I finished taking the easy option, far less acrobatics with these.

Female Barn Owls,Near Entrance Brook.

It got to about 20.00 hrs so I headed up the Reservoir to look for the Barn Owl and after a bit of a wait she turned up, sorry for the quality but she was a very long distance from me and it was almost dark.
Taken at ISO 10,000 with - 1.00 EV. 

  

After finishing with the Barn Owl I looked up and decided on a quick image of the moon.

RUTLAND WATER.

OSPREY DUTY.

  

Mallard chicks, Tufted Duck Hide.

I had a quick visit into the hide on my way down to duty and out in the bay to the front was mum with eight ducklings.

Female Mallard, Tufted Duck Hide.

Mum bringing up the rear, not sure as to what had happened to the back of her head.

Pair of Mallard, Shallow Water Hide.

This pair were swimming by as I opened the hide window, beautiful ducks.

Male Reed Bunting, Waderscrape Hide.

This bird was appearing every few minutes with his beak full of food for the nest that was about 10 metres to the right of this perch point.

Tufted Duck Male, Shallow Water Hide.

He appeared following a female Tufted, Such a small duck but with a real sheen to its head.

Female Tufted Duck, Shallow Water Hide.

Here showing utter contempt to his advances. 

Male Osprey on Camera Post and Female on nest.

At the start of my duty and all was at peace in Manton Bay. 

Then the Male went on a fly about. 

And suddenly dived into the water. 

Then it was head up and a small flap of the wings. 

Starting to come out of the water. 

A little more. 

And clear. 

Having got clear he had a small fly about and then back in the water which he eventually did three times.

So after three baths, he had a fly about to dry, did the Osprey Shake, {that I missed an image from} and then returned to the nest .

Moorhen Chick, Waderscrape Hide.

This youngster and three siblings were about in the channels to the front of the hide most of the afternoon. Without webbed feet they seem to have to work very hard to get nowhere.
 

Chick with mum. 

Osprey Intruder into the Bay. Waderscrape Hide.

Suddenly both the adults on the nest were mantling and to start with we could see no intruder then Shelagh spotted this bird very high above the nest. 33 never put up a chase so the height must have put him at ease. Unfortunately due to the feathering its possible to see the blue ring but no number.
It was thought by the experts to be 2 AA a 2016 bird that was seen in Portugal in 2016, 2017 and earlier this year and has recently arrived home at Rutland Water.

Then a quick swoop and away towards the visitor centre.

Great Black-backed Gull, Juvenile.


This bird flew past the hide late afternoon, do tend to chase the males when returning with fish in the hope they drop the fish. They have increased in numbers resident on the reservoir over recent years.




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

Update on the Barn Owls, I have seen two birds and I saw a female leave the large box last night, so keep everything crossed.

IN FOR A SURPRISE.
MORE AN "OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST " POST.

As I was running a little late, I decided to have trip to Eyebrook Reservoir rather than Rutland Water as I would not have a long walk before seeing anything.

On arrival I was met with people everywhere, must have a real rarity about I thought. I eventually found a parking spot near the entrance to the trout fishery and asked a gent as to what was going on. The Lancaster is doing a fly past in recognition of the 75 th anniversary of the Dambuster raid he told me, Eyebrook was one of the reserviors they practised on. Its the most people I have ever seen at the reservoir and shows the respect people still have for this wonderful old aircraft. Prior to its visit to Eyebrook it had visited Derwent Reservoir and Derby to fly over the Rolls Royce factory. 

Apparently it should have done the fly past on the Wednesday but was cancelled at the last minute due to the wind strength, so the RAF sent two Typhoon fighters in its place that flew very low down the reservoir putting the fear of god into the fisherman in boats.

After that I settled in my normal position to see if any Osprey decided to visit, I saw four before leaving, none of which came over close unfortunately.

We also had a visit from a White Winged Black Tern which again was perfectly visible through a scope but with the camera and its aerobatics was impossible to get a decent image from. I will have another try as we have two of the birds arrived.

  

Lancaster  Bomber, R.A.F. Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

I was at virtually the opposite end of the reservoir to where the plane came into view, this image was taken when it was about halfway down the water, what a sight and wonderful sound of the four Merlin engines.

Getting closer and noisier.

Sitting in the centre gun turret is George " Johnny" Johnson, this 96 year old is the only remaining veteran of the raid and was taken along for the trip to commemorate his actions all those years ago. He apparently had the most "exhilarating and wonderful time," lets hope we can do such things if we ever reach his age.  

Flight crew and Johnny.

It appears the first officer has got the side window open.

The plane did three circuits of the reservoir, by the time I took this image I had motored to the other end of the reservoir and arrived in time to see it turning in for its return trip.

And that was it, all the excitement was over and this wonderful old aircraft was on its way back to Lincolnshire and its base. Most of the people and television companies departed leaving a much more peaceful reservoir to us daft bird watchers, but having said that I had numerous people asking about the Ospreys so I may have done some good as some were then going to visit the Lyndon Centre and visit the nest hide.

Male Osprey, Opposite Stoke Dry. 

This was the first of four birds to visit, flew past us reasonably fast with the wind behind  it and went fishing towards the dam.

Second male to visit, he had a short fishing session on the far side of the reservoir.

 

 

And then likewise headed down the reservoir to fish.
I had two more birds visit but at the distance away I decided to wait for them to return with a fish bu never saw them again.
 

Grey Heron.
This bird flew just over the reeds at the edge of the reservoir.
If only the Osprey would come that close, I live in hope.

Black Headed Gull.
These birds were flying about with the Terns, they all seemed to be flying very fast and difficult to get a decent image from, plus they would not come very close.



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

Update on the Barn Owls, I saw two birds on Monday evening so fingers crossed he has attracted a mate.

AN EVENING AT EYEBROOK RESERVOIR AND AN OSPREY DUTY.

After seeing the Barn Owl on my last evening trip to Eyebrook, I decided to have another visit but later in the day. So after getting my wife's tea I headed away with my packed tea to see what if anything was about.

On arrival I could see plenty of Common Terns around the rafts. So I settled for my tea and kept a watch out for anything happening.

After a short time two Ospreys appeared on the far side of the reservoir, this even for me was pushing the distance so left the camera on the seat and finished my tea, my thoughts being they may fly closer on the return but unfortunately I never saw them again.

EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
7th May.

Common Tern,. Tern Raft.

A bird I am always very fond of, such acrobatic flying. After being on site for a while a lady arrived and was talking to a gent , they then came and had a chat, they ring the young terns. Apparently they ringed 39 last year from two rafts, not bad going.

  

 We had a continuous movement of birds all the while I was on site.
The raft was 232 metres away from where I was parked.

Bird caught in flight, just over 120 metres away.  

Immature Black-backed Gull.

This bird suddenly appeared, initially it flew over the Tern raft but then it flew back up the reservoir, turned back and flew by me about 120 metres away. My they are a big beast indeed. 

It eventually landed about 50 metres short of the Tern raft and caught a fish. The yellow effect on the water is the reflection of a field of oil seed rape on the far side of the rervoir.

After a short time it decided to be away. 

This bird has a wing span in excess of 1.8 metres so very difficult to miss. 

Whilst taking these images another gent joined me trying for some shots, we then spent the remainder of the evening together watching for the Barn Owl that unfortunately did not appear, always another evening.

OSPREY DUTY.
MANTON BAY, 
WADERSCRAPE HIDE.
10th May.

This week I was able to carry out my Osprey duty at the Lyndon Centre and had a duty with Shelagh, we had a very busy afternoon as we have all three eggs hatched and mum is feeding the young on a regular basis and the weather was reasonable, a little windy but not over bad.

We had several intruder birds into the bay but all were seen way by the male and peace soon returned to the nest.

Sedge Warbler, Waderscrape Hide.

These delightful little birds were darting around in the reeds all afternoon, but with us being so busy with visitors it was difficult to pick up the camera. We seemed to be monitoring as to what the birds were doing or explaining to people about the Ospreys and moving the scopes. It was a wonderful afternoon.

 

Male Osprey, 33/11, Waderscrape Hide.

Just having a quick snack on a roach.

Female Osprey, Waderscrape Hide.

Here sitting up alarmed as we had an intruder in the bay. 33 was straight onto the job, dropped the fish on the nest on the way by and up into action.

This time it was an immature Great Black-backed gull. We had three further intruders, all Ospreys and all three were sent away.

  

The victor returns but before landing on the nest he has a trip around the field behind the nest.

And pick up a lump of hay for the nest. 

Here the female is feeding the young and the male is sitting on the camera post. When the female had finished feeding he shot in and stole the fish.

And was away to his favourite perch on the fallen tree and had a feed for a few minutes, but then we had an intruder so he returned the fish to the nest and got on with his job.

 

33/11 returning with a fish.

33 bringing a fish to feed the three young in the nest bowl.

Canada Goose, Shallow Water Hide.

After finishing our duty I had a quick visit to Shallow Water hide.
This goose swam by about 30 metres away.

 It then came slightly closer.

It then proceeded to have a bath, a much more sedate happening than last weeks with the Greylag Goose.

 

This was the end of the bath and then the bird flew away.

Mallard Drake, Shallow Water Hide.
This bird decided to have a stretch and a good flap of the wings.

Beautiful duck which after this flew away, all the birds have done this today!!!! 

Whitethroat Male, walk back to the car park.


This bird attracted my attention as it was singing its head off. In a bush where I have seen them before.






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