Saturday, 16th August, 2008.
THE BIRDFAIR, RUTLAND WATER AND EYEBROOK RESERVOIR.
Leon and I had both been looking forward to this trip for a very long time. Neither of us had been to a Bird Fair previously and so we did not really know what to expect, but we were to be pleasantly surprised!
Since our last ‘Other Sites’ entry we have been to quite a few places but because of the loss of my younger brother I never felt like maintaining the blog. We usually meet at ‘The Green Man’ on Putney Heath, which is a readily accessible place for our small party. This is where we were to meet today; John and Leon are already there when I arrive. John is another of our friends that we made acquaintance with at the London Wetland Centre, Barnes. We have done several trips with him and he is a very knowledgeable ‘birder’. I stuffed my gear into the boot of Johns’ car and, just after seven, we set off. I could have gone to sleep straight away! Like a child, I had not slept much last night in anticipation of what was to come!
We were expecting the weather to be a little inclement but were pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite a bright, but not sunny, day. The journey should take us about two and a half hours, which would give us plenty of time to have a nag on the way up.We stopped for breakfast at a Happy Eater about six miles from the Bird Fair site. The service was brilliant and our food arrived in record time! Most unusual for a Happy Eater! It had only taken us just over two hours to get this far and that was without going mad; the traffic was just as you would want it, free flowing and not much of it. Whilst here, Leon started to ‘phone Terry, our friend who now lives in Yorkshire, as we were going to meet him, his wife and some friends, once we reached the site. He couldn’t make contact straight away so tried every ten minutes or so, without having any luck.
Since our last ‘Other Sites’ entry we have been to quite a few places but because of the loss of my younger brother I never felt like maintaining the blog. We usually meet at ‘The Green Man’ on Putney Heath, which is a readily accessible place for our small party. This is where we were to meet today; John and Leon are already there when I arrive. John is another of our friends that we made acquaintance with at the London Wetland Centre, Barnes. We have done several trips with him and he is a very knowledgeable ‘birder’. I stuffed my gear into the boot of Johns’ car and, just after seven, we set off. I could have gone to sleep straight away! Like a child, I had not slept much last night in anticipation of what was to come!
We were expecting the weather to be a little inclement but were pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite a bright, but not sunny, day. The journey should take us about two and a half hours, which would give us plenty of time to have a nag on the way up.We stopped for breakfast at a Happy Eater about six miles from the Bird Fair site. The service was brilliant and our food arrived in record time! Most unusual for a Happy Eater! It had only taken us just over two hours to get this far and that was without going mad; the traffic was just as you would want it, free flowing and not much of it. Whilst here, Leon started to ‘phone Terry, our friend who now lives in Yorkshire, as we were going to meet him, his wife and some friends, once we reached the site. He couldn’t make contact straight away so tried every ten minutes or so, without having any luck.
FIRST SIGHT OF RUTLAND WATERPhoto: Leon Rusk
GLIMPSES THROUGH THE VEGETATION
The Bird fair site is big, very big, and having arrived we had a good fifteen minutes walk from the car park to the actual venue. Leon had still not been able to make contact Terry so we hoped to either bump into the other group or hope that Terry ‘phoned us. We decided that the best way to ‘work’ was to just go round the site and take things as they came. We did this because none of us had any specific ‘targets’ for the day.
Leon and I were surprised at the amount of stands just dedicated to ‘birding’ holidays there were. You could go to almost any country in the world with all arrangements and ‘birding’ itinery supplied. The company that Leon, Terry and Liz would be going with to the Scillies later in the year had a stand there; Leon would introduce himself a little later in the day. Whilst in Marquee 4. we saw Simon King signing autographs for people in a very long queue. We tried the Zeiss binoculars at their stand and were knocked out by the quality. Until you have actually looked through a pair of these amazing glasses you just cannot even dream of how good they are! A pair of these was added to each of Leon and my wish lists straight away; John already has a pair!We bumped into another of our friends Gill, who wee knew from Barnes WWT, in the next Marquee; she was working on Simon Kings’ stand. We informed her that Terry and Liz were about and promised to point them in her direction the next time that we saw them.
Leon and I were surprised at the amount of stands just dedicated to ‘birding’ holidays there were. You could go to almost any country in the world with all arrangements and ‘birding’ itinery supplied. The company that Leon, Terry and Liz would be going with to the Scillies later in the year had a stand there; Leon would introduce himself a little later in the day. Whilst in Marquee 4. we saw Simon King signing autographs for people in a very long queue. We tried the Zeiss binoculars at their stand and were knocked out by the quality. Until you have actually looked through a pair of these amazing glasses you just cannot even dream of how good they are! A pair of these was added to each of Leon and my wish lists straight away; John already has a pair!We bumped into another of our friends Gill, who wee knew from Barnes WWT, in the next Marquee; she was working on Simon Kings’ stand. We informed her that Terry and Liz were about and promised to point them in her direction the next time that we saw them.
GLIMPSES THROUGH THE VEGETATIONPhoto: Leon Rusk
CLEARING WEATHER?
In the next marquee John was having a word with a chap about his ‘palm held’ when Leon spotted Terry and his merry band a little further on. Clearly delighted, he skipped off to meet them. I stayed with John to hear about the equipment. John has one and I was amazed at the amount of information that can be kept, ready for use in the field, on such a small item. One of these was added to my personal wish list.
Terry joined us, hardly able to stop himself from laughing; Leon, the master of all things technical, had been trying reach him on his home ‘phone number!We all made acquaintance with one another, had a quick chat, and departed in our own directions, arranging to meet up again later. It was good to see Liz and Mark again; we had been to see Hawfinches in the New Forest with them last year as well as visiting their home patch, Titchfield Haven. Terry was going on about a bag that he had seen that was going quite cheaply (unlike the monstrosity that we saw for £120 just because it had ‘National Geographic’ on it!); it could take quite a bit of gear for a day out and was quite compact. We convinced Liz that maybe he should have it as it was very modestly priced!
Terry joined us, hardly able to stop himself from laughing; Leon, the master of all things technical, had been trying reach him on his home ‘phone number!We all made acquaintance with one another, had a quick chat, and departed in our own directions, arranging to meet up again later. It was good to see Liz and Mark again; we had been to see Hawfinches in the New Forest with them last year as well as visiting their home patch, Titchfield Haven. Terry was going on about a bag that he had seen that was going quite cheaply (unlike the monstrosity that we saw for £120 just because it had ‘National Geographic’ on it!); it could take quite a bit of gear for a day out and was quite compact. We convinced Liz that maybe he should have it as it was very modestly priced!
CLEARING WEATHER?Photo: Leon Rusk
THE BIRD WE CAME TO SEE!
Well, we covered just about all of the site with Leon eventually introducing himself to the people running the trip to the Scillies with Terry, Mark and the two Liz’s (in no particular order!). There were lots of places to eat and all seemed to be fairly reasonable. You could get just about anything to do with ‘birding’ at the Fair and I hope to be able to go again soon.
We met with the other party again to say our goodbyes. Terry had actually bought the small bag and both Leon and I thought that it looked very sweet.
John, Leon and I were now leaving the Fair and were moving on to Lyndon Nature Reserve that is managed by the Leicester and Rutland Wildlife Trust. We had one particular target that we wanted to see …. the Ospreys!
John, of course, knew the way and it was not long before we arrived at the Reserve. On the way we caught glimpses of Rutland Water through gaps in the roadside vegetation. Leon and I knew it was big but didn’t really get the full impact until now! The chap in reception knew his stuff and John, who knew the site well, had soon wheedled the information we needed from him.The various hides are situated so that you can view a variety of different habitats: we all agreed as to how well this had been done and the quality of the views. We had only been there for a few moments before we got our first view of the Ospreys ……..
We met with the other party again to say our goodbyes. Terry had actually bought the small bag and both Leon and I thought that it looked very sweet.
John, Leon and I were now leaving the Fair and were moving on to Lyndon Nature Reserve that is managed by the Leicester and Rutland Wildlife Trust. We had one particular target that we wanted to see …. the Ospreys!
John, of course, knew the way and it was not long before we arrived at the Reserve. On the way we caught glimpses of Rutland Water through gaps in the roadside vegetation. Leon and I knew it was big but didn’t really get the full impact until now! The chap in reception knew his stuff and John, who knew the site well, had soon wheedled the information we needed from him.The various hides are situated so that you can view a variety of different habitats: we all agreed as to how well this had been done and the quality of the views. We had only been there for a few moments before we got our first view of the Ospreys ……..
THE BIRD WE CAME TO SEE!Photo: Leon Rusk and Terry Burton
MR BURTON DIGISCOPING
absolutely magnificent! We spent quite some time totally enraptured with birds; Leon tried to take some photos and was rewarded with at least one fairly good shot. There were some chaps in the hide who thought that they could see a Little Stint further along the reservoir so we decided that we would soon move on and try to locate it.
Terry had ‘phoned and asked for directions to the site. We waited until their party turned up so that we might share some time with them once again. I must say that Terrys’ bag looked lovely! Really. I wish that I had got one for myself.
After a while we moved along to the ‘Shallow Water’ hide; this was the area that the chaps had thought they had seen the Little Stint. We spent quite a long time here and, although there was a good selection and number of birds, we were not to see it. Time was getting on so we all took a slow walk back to the Visitor Centre where several of the group quenched their thirst with ice lollies.as the day had become quite warm. It was here that we said goodbye to Terrys’ group after having various arrangements for meeting up in the future.
Terry had ‘phoned and asked for directions to the site. We waited until their party turned up so that we might share some time with them once again. I must say that Terrys’ bag looked lovely! Really. I wish that I had got one for myself.
After a while we moved along to the ‘Shallow Water’ hide; this was the area that the chaps had thought they had seen the Little Stint. We spent quite a long time here and, although there was a good selection and number of birds, we were not to see it. Time was getting on so we all took a slow walk back to the Visitor Centre where several of the group quenched their thirst with ice lollies.as the day had become quite warm. It was here that we said goodbye to Terrys’ group after having various arrangements for meeting up in the future.
MR BURTON DIGISCOPINGPhoto: Leon Rusk
SOFT RUTLAND COUNTRYSIDE
John had earlier suggested that we might pay a quick visit to Eyebrook Reservoir on the way home as we might see some more waders; a good plan so why waste it! It did not take long to get there as John had been there before and knew the way. Again, it was a lovely place that John had chosen but the now worsening weather seemed to have put the birds off. There were many Canada Geese on the reservoir but, apart from a solitary Common Sandpiper, very little else. John pointed out a small bird on top of a mid-water post that turned out to be a Common Tern, how very small it looked! We drove to the other side of the reservoir ‘just in case’ and to look for a Little Owl that John seemed to remember from a previous visit. We had no luck with this but did get some great views of some Common Buzzards. We were guided to them by their cries. There was a youngster in a tree on one side of a field and what would appear to be one of its’ parents on the other side. The older bird seemed to be trying to encourage the younger to fly across the field by calling it. The youngsters’ replies seemed very mournful. We stayed for some time watching them but as we felt some rather large raindrops, the first of the day, we decided to make our way home.It had been a fabulous day, spent with old friends and new, that would live long in the memory. We had only a few drops of rain all day which came as quite a surprise as it was forecast to mainly wet!
SOFT RUTLAND COUNTRYSIDEPhoto: Leon Rusk
BIRDS SEEN: Coot, Moorhen, Swan, Mallard, Crow, Rook, Little Egret, Swallow, Sand Martin, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Common Tern, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Jackdaw, Curlew, Black Tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Buzzard, Osprey, Ruff, Shoveller, Teal, Dunnock, Green Sandpiper, Redshank, Greenshank, Tufted Duck, Kestrel, Dunlin, Wood pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Starling, Magpie.
