Rutland Water & Welney – Thursday 5th June 2015
Blue 33 On Camera Pole & Maya On Nest
The White Buzzard Of Welney
Sorry for the delay in posting this entry so late but we’ve been out and about quite a few times in the last week and I’m only just beginning to catch up with myself.
Make Broad Bodied Chaser
When we left home at 9.55am it was bright and sunny with a gentle breeze and the temperature was 20˚C. On the way to Rutland we saw 3 Jays, 4 Kestrels, Partridges, Brimstone Butterfly, Large White Butterfly and a young Roe Deer. As we entered Rutland Water we heard a Cetti’s Warbler and saw a Pied Wagtail.
General View
Yellowhammer
It was 12.05pm when we arrived and the temperature had risen to 22˚C and even the gentle breeze was calmer. We collected the mobility scooter from the Lyndon Visitor Centre and set off. Last year we only managed one hide but we only had about 2 hours with the scooter, this year we had 5 so I thought we would probably manage all 5 hides but in the end we still only managed the one hide although Jan did have a quick look in the Deep Water Hide on the way back. 
Why did we only manage one hide? The hide we visited was the furthest from the Visitor Centre, we spent quite a while in the hide but the biggest reason is we took our time getting there and quite frankly we were rewarded in not rushing. We saw plenty both to and from the hide and even when we stopped for our picnic lunch there was a lot of Butterfly and Damsefly action around the bench we chose. We were both surprised that given the distance between the Visitor Centre and the Shallow Water Hide, the furthest hide (it took us about 30 minutes to get back) that there were only 2 benches along the path.
Holly Blue
We started to see birds, Wren and Whitethroats almost immediately leaving the visitor centre and even though the main intention of our visit was to see the Ospreys there really is plenty to see just walking (or in my case riding) along the path.
Des Res With A Nice View
Our visit to Rutland last year was Osprey less because one of the roving Ospreys had kicked the eggs from the nest and the two usual Ospreys Blue 33 (male) and Maya (female) abandoned the nest which remained empty for the remainder of the year. This year the 3 eggs had hatched and although Blue 33 was forced away from the nest by 2 younger Ospreys he had returned and re-established his supremacy over the nest and we were rewarded with some wonderful views of both birds in and around the nest site in Manton Bay.
Just A Few Mute Swans
There were plenty of other birds to see from the Shallow Water Hide but the most exciting thing was when Blue 33 clashed with a Buzzard that had come a little too close to the nest. It was a real talon clencher of an exchange, something to be witnessed rather than photographed. By the time we got to the hide the heat had become quite oppressive and Jan was beginning to suffer, she’s not a great lover of heat so it was really nice to sit in the cool of the hide with a cooling breeze blowing in from the reservoir. It was probably that, that encouraged us to stay longer than we anticipated (oh, and of course the Ospreys).
When we had returned the scooter just before the visitor centre closed it was time to decide what we would do next. I think we both secretly wanted to stay overnight in the area but that was a bit too expensive for us so we decided to head across the Fens rather than battle the rush hour traffic around Peterborough to make a stop at the Wildfowl and Wetland Centre at Welney. We knew it would be closed but we hoped that we might see a Water Vole in the pool by the car park, have a look across Lady Fen and take a sound recording of the ambient noise there.
Blue 33
It was some journey from Rutland Water to Welney, we saw three Red Kites which is not overly surprising as Peterborough was one the release centres some years ago. Sadly we also saw 2 dead Badgers in the road in two different locations.
Blue 33 & Maya On Nest
Fortunately I was doing the map reading and Jan was driving (I think even Jan would admit that map reading is not one of her greatest skills), I admit to making one small mistake but given the complex nature of our route across the Fens on back roads that wasn’t too bad a result.
Great Crested Grebes
When we arrived at Welney the wind had increased which made the sound recordings unuseable and we had no sightings of a Water Vole but when we were at the side of the visitor centre overlooking Lady Fen another birder joined us and we were having a chat. I think he said he ran The Essex Birder Group on Facebook and that he had recently moved to the area. He told us a tale of a White Buzzard that had been see frequently in the locality.
Common Tern
We both left the centre together and headed back to our homes along the same road, we hadn’t got very far when we noticed he had stopped by a roadside dyke and then out of the dyke and onto a post flew the White Buzzard. He wasn’t very far from the bird and we pulled up a bit further back so as not to disturb it. It stayed on the post for a good length of time before it took off and we followed it down the road before flying off into the distance. 
General Views Of Rutland Water
Lady Fen WWT Welney
I’ve never seen anything like it before. In our experience you only have to stop the car near a raptor and look at it and it will fly off but it didn’t seem to phase the Buzzard at all. When he had been talking the birder had said at first he thought it was an Osprey because of how white it was but it was clearly a Buzzard but it’s chest and head were nearly all white. Quite an experience but it wasn’t quite over because between Welney and home we were to see another 6 Kestrels and an immature Hare running along the road before we got home around midnight.
Setting Sun Over The Fens
When we went to bed it was such a nice feeling, so tired but it had been a wonderful day out seeing such beautiful wild creatures. It didn’t take us long to get to sleep.
What we saw:
2 Ospreys (Blue 33 & Maya) 3 chicks in nest
5 Buzzards (including the White Buzzard at Welney)
3 Red Kites
10 Kestrels
Sparrowhawk
Common Tern*
Mute Swan* & cygnets
Greylag Geese*
3 Jays
Red Legged Partridge
Pied Wagtail**
Cetti Warbler (heard several)
Tree Sparrows**
Greenfinch**
Goldfinch**
Chaffinch**
2 Yellowhammer
3 Whitethroats
Wren
Coots*
Moorhen**
Great Crested Grebe**
2 Spotted Flycatcher
2 Chiffchaff (heard only)
Black-headed Gulls*
Gadwall
Mallard & chicks*
Mistle Thrush (1 seen & several heard)
Blackbirds*
Magpies* (including 2 fledglings at Welney)
Swifts**
Swallows*
House Martins**
Crows*
Rooks**
2 Little Egret
Lapwing**
Blackcap (several heard)
Tufted Duck (several pairs)
Blue Tit**
Great Tit**
Young Roe Deer
Leverett
2 dead Badgers by Roadside (in separate places)
Common Blue Butterfly**
Holly Blue Butterfly**
Orange Tip Butterfly*
1 Small Skipper
Peacock Butterfly**
1 Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
Large White Butterfly**
Brimstone Butterfly**
Wood White Butterfly*
Wolf Spider**
Variable Blue Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Male Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonfly
Red Damselfly
Red Soldier Beetle
Red Tailed Bumblebee
Brown Banded Carder Bee
Garden Snail (largest I’ve ever seen)
Various other unidentified insects
* = Too many to count
** = Several
Keep your eyes peeled and good spotting.
No comments:
Post a Comment