LAGOONS GALORE

A change is as good as a rest is the old expression, so for a change the Bird Club trip visited Rutland Water.


Rutland Water Nature Reserve is managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust in Partnership with Anglian Water.
Created in the 70s it is an important wildfowl reserve, and is a credit to all involved.
Over the years the sanctuary has evolved for not only the wildlife but also those who wish to enjoy it. Comprising of around a thousand acres the lagoons have been purposely made with the wild life in mind. There are nearly 30 hides in which to view the area, not including the visitors centre.

Sunday turned into a gorgeous day weather wise, a welcome relief for those who have been suffering from SAD so long.
The usual guys Bob, Mark, Wendy and myself met our good friend Tim Newton and later Richard Barford joined us.

Tree Rat

Brown Tree Rat

Adjacent to the Visitor's Centre is a bird feeding area this is the best site for Tree Rat along with various other passerines. A Muntjac quietly moved around but disappeared as the lady came to refill the feeders. This area also had a purpose built photography hide, not a bad idea when you consider how many Trust Members carry a camera these days.

Redhead Smew

Male Smew

Tim was paid large sums of money, we are talking footballer numbers here, as our team leader. Slowly we made headway to the Sandpiper hide overlooking lagoon 4. A treat in the bright sunshine were a party of Redhead Smew supplement by several  iconic males absolutely wonderful ! I guess these were the highlights of the day.

Shoveler

Male and female Pintail

Now I don't know how Mark does it, but he has the knack of finding a needle in a haystack, lucky for us, with  great number's of waterfowl mulling here there and everywhere Mark found the only American Wigeon on site, Well Done.
Eurasian Wigeon, Shoveler, Goosander and Pintail all made an appearance along with Sparrowhawk and Red Kite.

First Primrose for the year

One of a party of Siskin

We  ambled around many of the hides picking only the best as advised by our expensive trip leader. We were seeing lots of incidental stuff and I could not help but feel a yearly pass would be very beneficial.

Robin

It's no doubt that good weather helps to make a nice day out but good friends both human and feathered make an exceptional day out.