Rutland / Great Grey Shrike
Ahhhh, a much better day today after a brilliant course on GCN ecology in Peterborough.
I headed straight over to Rutland, as there was potentially plenty of interest on the mosiac of waterbodies there that characterise this brilliant site.
First up were the Osprey, at least two were seen soaring over Lagoon 2 towards the South Arm.
There are plenty of hides dotted along the periphery of the waterbodies, each presenting a different perspective of the reserve.
Migration was in full swing here and there were hundreds of Sand Martin prospecting the sand bank as seen from the Redshank hide. A few House Martin and Swallow were on the move, my first sightings of these globetrotting hirundines of the year.
A feature over the last day or so were Little Gull, and there were at least a dozen around Lagoon 3, the majority of these adults feeding on their elegant undulating flight. A single adult bird was seen from the Sandpiper hide.
In the woodland, around six Brambling lingered high up in the birches, with three Bullfinch that made a typically abrupt appearance (an adult and two female).
From the Sandpiper Hide my second ever drake American Wigeon was out feeding on one of the large islands with a few Eurasian Wigeon, a very smart duck despite its ancestry. An Osprey fed on a recent catch on the top of a platform.
Wandering in and out of the hides was a real joy, you never knew what would appear next. Other notable species were two pair of Pintail, and a male Sparrowhawk.
Here is a photo of a male Palmate Newt caught in the bottle-traps during the course.
I headed straight over to Rutland, as there was potentially plenty of interest on the mosiac of waterbodies there that characterise this brilliant site.
There are plenty of hides dotted along the periphery of the waterbodies, each presenting a different perspective of the reserve.
Migration was in full swing here and there were hundreds of Sand Martin prospecting the sand bank as seen from the Redshank hide. A few House Martin and Swallow were on the move, my first sightings of these globetrotting hirundines of the year.
A feature over the last day or so were Little Gull, and there were at least a dozen around Lagoon 3, the majority of these adults feeding on their elegant undulating flight. A single adult bird was seen from the Sandpiper hide.
In the woodland, around six Brambling lingered high up in the birches, with three Bullfinch that made a typically abrupt appearance (an adult and two female).
From the Sandpiper Hide my second ever drake American Wigeon was out feeding on one of the large islands with a few Eurasian Wigeon, a very smart duck despite its ancestry. An Osprey fed on a recent catch on the top of a platform.
Wandering in and out of the hides was a real joy, you never knew what would appear next. Other notable species were two pair of Pintail, and a male Sparrowhawk.
Here is a photo of a male Palmate Newt caught in the bottle-traps during the course.
Heading south from Rutland, I made tracks over to the amusingly named Hanging Houghton, a small hamlet within rural Northamptonshire where a Great Grey Shrike had been present for a few days.
Ostensibly a farmland area with a limited presence of trees, the Shrike was seen opposite to the large barn where a flock of Yellowhammer were present. The GGS remained on top of a tree making diagnostic darting flights in pursuit of insects on what was a cool day.
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