3rd - 7th August - Rutland

Another year, another holiday cancelled following carrying it over from last year.  The trip to Madagascar now a distant dream.  In its place we found a cottage just outside Braunston-in-Rutland, in Leicestershire to be exact.  The property had its own grounds and two sizeable ponds and was in easy reach of Rutland Water.  I had never been to Rutland and the closest to Leicester has been travelling through it.  I had always wanted to visit Rutland Water, as this was the site of the Bird Fair for many years and of course a very successful Osprey Project.

Rutland is a landlocked county in the east Midlands bordered by Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north east and Northamptonshire to the south east.  North to south it is only 18 miles and the widest part east to west is 17 miles and is the smallest historic county in the United Kingdom.

It rained when we arrived and the following day was dry but with limited sunny periods, it was possible though to enjoy the grounds in the afternoon and watch the Swallows drinking and bathing in the water of the main pond.

The following morning, the 4th August we woke to much better weather, calm conditions and clear blue skies.  Laying in bed we were able to open the french doors and watch the swallows as they skimmed over the pond.  The swallows would splash into the water as they looked to bathe, but one splash involved a steep dive not what you would expect, and then it was followed by a whistled call, a Kingfisher.  I was only able to get a distant record shot as it returned to the bush.

We saw the Kingfisher on and off through the week, mainly hearing more than see it.  However I was never able to get a better shot than this one which was a disappointment.

Once finally up I took on the challenge of trying to capture the swallows as they skimmed the water.  It was as if the swallows knew and when I positioned myself they would either disappear or move to another part of the pond.  I was not to be put off though and managed to get some shots.

We had decided that we would spend the day around the property and this allowed to spend sometime walking around the pond and the surrounding area.  There were plenty of thistles and ragwort in flower and these were attracting the butterflies.

The most numerous was the Gatekeeper, many flowers having two or three attending them

Joining the Gatekeepers was a very smart Small Tortoiseshell. It could be seen in the same area all day and on others days subsequent too.

A surprise was this Small Skipper.

As the morning warmed up the dragonflies started to be seen, with a large Emperor cruising around the main pond, while around the reeds and reed mace were a few darters, this individual, a Common Darter settled on the patio near to us.

I spent some time walking around the pond looking for the dragonflies and it turned out to be quite successful.  As well as the Common Darter I was able to pick out a Ruddy Darter, differing from the Common by the slightly deeper red and the all black legs, the common having a yellow stripe on the legs.

This one a female 

There were also several Damselflies.  An Azure Damselfly

A Common Blue Damselfly

White-legged Damselfly

As well as the Swallows and the Kingfisher there were a few more birds around.  Both Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker could be heard calling from the woods behind the property and a Buzzard was using the trees alongside the road to watch the surrounding fields.  Rooks and Jackdaws could be heard and seen over the distant fields.  Through the morning I could hear the familiar calls of a Raven and eventually one appeared flying over us.

The swallows kept coming and going over the pond and high above us.

Later in the afternoon the flocks of swallows returned to dip into the water and I tried once again to get that killer shot as they dip their beak to drink.  Once again not what I was after but of interest I think.

The light reflections were of the Boathouse in the water.

Another striking reflection that took my eye was that of the grass and reed mace alongside the pond being reflected in the water.

Walking around the ponds once again there were some more opportunities to capture the dragonflies and butterflies that were present.

A green-veined White

The colourful but tiny Mint Moth

Another opportunity to capture the beauty of a Small Tortoiseshell

The White-legged Damselfly.

And a male Black-tailed Skimmer

The one disappointment through the day was a stunning male Banded Demoiselle that kept avoiding the camera.

The next day, Thursday, Thursday dawned sunny and bright, although the forecast was for rain sometime in the afternoon.  The swallows were dipping into the pond and the Kingfisher was heard but not seen.  We decided on a trip to Rutland Water, specifically the bird watching centre managed by the Leicester and Rutland Wildlife Trust and Anglian Water.

The reserve occupies shore line and shallow water lagoons along 9 miles of the western end of Rutland Water and covers a total area of 1000 acres. It was created in the 1970s with the construction of the reservoir. There are over 30 bird watching hides and nature trails from two visitor centres at Egleton and Lyndon.

We arrived at the Egleton Centre and walked north along well laid trails that wound through farm and woodland.  We passed several hides along the way as I was heading for Lagoon 4.  At the first hide the Sandpiper Hide there was little action and in fat we were taken by the amazing view across the lagoon and up towards Burley House.

We left the hide and walked west towards the Dunlin Hide, this passed an area left to wild flowers where Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers could be seen on the thistle heads and in amongst the grass stems.  As we approached the hide I found a Small Copper on one of the thistles

The Dunlin Hide was much the same with distant views of eclipse ducks and Mute Swans battling our for territory as they under went their moult and couple of Little Grebe.  I decided to try the furthest hide, the Plover hide, along the way on the bank of the lagoon there were more butterflies, the Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, but also several Damselflies and darters.  This a Common Blue Damselfly.

From the hide there was a lot more to see, the island in front of the hide was covered in Black-headed Gulls, Common Terns and Lapwing.  To the left on the bank of the lagoon were several Egyptian Geese.

Then for some reason everything went up, I scoured the sky for any justifiable reason but couldn't find one.  The largest flock was of Lapwing.

But the Common Terns too were flying around, mostly in pairs, calling.

As the flocks began to settle back on the island and the banks I noticed, two brick red geese happily sitting on the ground.  I had seen the recent reports so was hoping to catch up with them, Ruddy Shelduck.

The Ruddy Shelduck originates from Southern Europe, North Africa and South and Central Asia (with some populations wintering in South East Asia). It is a large rusty orangey brown duck,  It is currently in Categories B, D, and E of the British List but is potentially also occurring in Britain as a vagrant from established naturalised populations on the near continent 

This year has seen a minor influx of the birds, these three seen here are immature birds

The weather was changing and clouds were gathering away to the west.  I was keen to get to the Lyndon Reserve to see the Ospreys so we decided to miss out on the other lagoons and hides.  The reserve is huge, but at this time of year the birding not so special.  I would imagine this is an amazing place come the winter with huge numbers of Wildfowl.

We drove around to the Lyndon Reserve which came over as a lot more relaxed than the Egleton centre.  From the visitor centre we walked west, heading for the Waderscrape hide from where you can view the Osprey nest.  Despite the fact that the young had now fledged they still hang around the nest site.  As I left the car park I saw a Banded Demoiselle high in the Hazel bush.  After failing to get one yesterday around the pond is what good to finally get one settled.

The Rutland Osprey Project is one of the most pioneering projects ever carried out in Osprey Conservation.

In the mid-1950s a population in Scotland began to slowly recover, however it was estimated that it would be approximately another 100 years before breeding ospreys would naturally recolonise central and southern England.

In a first, to help re-establish the birds to central England, the Rutland Osprey Project started translocating birds in 1996.  They were aware that migrating birds would stop off at Rutland Water so they went about carefully collecting 64 osprey chicks from Scottish nest sites and releasing them in Rutland between 1996 and 2001. A further 11 female birds were translocated in 2005. The first breeding pair of ospreys successfully raised a single chick at Rutland in 2001, and 25 years later, there are now approximately 26 adults including up to ten breeding pairs in the Rutland area.

2021 has brought another major milestone with the 200th chick, which hatched on a nest situated nearby on private land. The team hope she will return to Rutland to breed when she is mature.

The nest we could see from the hide had successfully fledged two juveniles. One is present here, the male just having brought in a trout and the juvenile was tucking in.

Osprey are the only bird of prey that feeds exclusively on fish, they are also found on every continent except Antarctica.

The adult female remained around the nest also

 

Here you can see the red flesh of what must have be a sizeable Trout.  The juvenile bird is a female and is already larger than the adult male who keeps his distance.  The other juvenile is a male and he had gone AWOL on our visit but we were informed later in the week taht he had returned to the nest site.  That is the trouble with kids, when you think they are gone they come back.

Interestingly another bird that is beginning to colonise and spread across the country is the Great Egret.  One could be seen along the shoreline, while distant the yellow bill quickly distinguishing it from the commoner Little Egrets.

The egret slowly made its way toward the nest and just as it was behind the nest from where we were looking the adult female flew off the "T" bar and chased the egret away.  It moving away and starting to fish all over again distantly once more.  The Osprey returned to the "T" bar.

From the reeds in front of the hide a Water Rail called, expecting to see an adult bird if anything appeared it was a surprise to see a small black puffball of a youngster.  It didn't stay out to long, the call probably a scolding from the parent.

It was then back to waiting once again for some more action.  A dead tree in front of the hide was covered with Cormorants, but Helen spotted a Stock Dove entering a hole and then a little later appearing to look out.

The pair then appeared on one of the dead branches.

A close up of the pair once they came out of the hole

Back to the Ospreys, the adult female moved to the nest to provide some video for the hide and visitor centre

Things then really went quiet so we decided to head back, the wind had picked up and the sun gone.  Walking back to the car park we came across this male Kestrel hunting from the overhead wires.

Just before we reached the car park I spotted a Comma resting on the nettles by the side of the footpath.

As we headed back to the property the rain started and the rest of the afternoon and evening it fell down.

It wasn't much different when we woke the following morning and the heavy rain persisted for most of the morning.  By late morning though we decided to head out and visit Stamford, just over the Rutland border in Lincolnshire.

Once dubbed “Britain’s top place to live”, Stamford is a pretty market town in Lincolnshire.  With cobbled streets and perfectly preserved Georgian architecture.  Much of Stamford is built on Middle Jurassic Lincolnshire limestone, with mudstones and sandstones which is the material of choice for the many buildings and gives the town its character. The place name Stamford was from the Anglo Saxon and means stony ford

The town prospered under the Normans with a strong economy based around its wool trade. The production of the woollen cloth known as Stamford cloth or haberget, continued for centuries and in "In Henry III's reign... was well known in Venice.".

We arrived on Friday and there was a bustling street market, with plenty of tourists about, but what we did not expect was the loud shrilling calls of Peregrine Falcons.  As we walked around the town we were treated to some amazing air displays as the adults teased the resident feral pigeons that seemed to huddle on the roofs to get out of view.

One such display took place over the water meadows of the River Welland shown here, the Peregrine swooping and banking as it set terror through the flock of pigeons.

The good weather we were having in Stamford stayed with us through the afternoon and I decided to spend some time on the jetty by the pond back at the property in the hope that the Kingfisher might show.  

Unfortunately I only heard the Kingfisher but I was treated to some really nice close ups of the Banded Demoiselle at last.

In addition to the demoiselle there was a very nice White-legged Damselfly.

Saturday was a little better with possible showers forecast which fortunately we missed, we spent the day visiting the Falconry and Owl Centre and the Barnsdale Gardens, highlight for me was this lovely Spectacled Owl, I just love the expression it has.

We were booked on an Osprey Cruise in the evening in the hope of being able to get a little closer to the birds of prey.  As we headed back to the property we decided to circumnavigate Rutland water and pulled into the Normanton car park.  Here a view of the water looking west.

When the twin valleys of the River Gwash were flooded in the mid-1970s, Rutland Water became Europe’s largest man-made lake set in England’s smallest county.  Construction was completed in 1975 when filling commenced and was completed in 1979 creating by area the largest reservoir in England (Kielder Water in Northumberland exceeds it for capacity)

Sixty-four sites in and around the Northamptonshire area were investigated before the twin valleys of the River Gwash were chosen. The second choice was the Chater valley, less than a mile away to the south. The main reasons for choosing this site were the availability of clay within the reservoir area to build the dam, the nearness of the River Welland and the River Nene to supply the water required, and its central location to the area requiring the water.

Nether Hambleton and most of Middle Hambleton were demolished and their wells were plugged as part of the ground preparation. Their neighbouring village of Upper Hambleton survived, and now sits on the Hambleton Peninsula. The Gwash makes a net input to the lake but its flow downstream is maintained. Most of the stored water is extracted from the River Welland  between Tinwell and Stamford and from the River Nene upstream from Peterborough, a city which is a major user of the water.

Because much of the valley is clay, material for the dam was extracted from pits dug within the area that would be subsequently flooded. The clay dam is 35 metres high, and around 1,200 metres long. At its base, it is up to 810 metres wide, and the finished structure has been landscaped to blend in with the environment.

There was a concerted campaign against the proposal, especially from those farmers who considered that they were about to lose their land and livelihood. The fertile land which was about to be flooded has been farmed for thousands of years.

Here on the south west shore a road that leads down to the reservoir and breaks up as it disappears into the water, a memory of what used to be.

Another special story from the construction of Rutland Water was that of St Matthews Church at Normanton, seen here almost floating on the water.

Normanton Church is the county of Rutland’s most famous landmark. Yet it could all have been very different.

The valley had to be cleared and so Normanton Church was deconsecrated and scheduled for demolition, but the general public had other ideas and their protests were successful. When it came time to flood the area, it became obvious that the church would be partially submerged once the high-water level was reached. This would mean the gradual erosion of its lower walls and foundations. A hastily formed trust was organised with the aim of rescuing the building from a watery demise and various proposals were considered.

Finally, it was decided that the lower level of the church should be filled with rubble and topped with concrete to create a new floor. This would be approximately 60 cm above the water level. The church would become a small island once the reservoir was filled, and so a causeway was built connecting it to the nearby shore of the lake and an embankment was constructed around the building. A layer of boulders was then put in place as a defensive breakwater.

Now it is lovingly maintained, regularly visited, universally admired and a location for that magical wedding on the water at Normanton Church.

The weather gods were good to us and it remained dry for our "cruise" on the water, although they could have done something about the breeze that kept things cool and whipped up the water which would have made it difficult for hunting Osprey.

As we set off a very distant Osprey had many passengers searching the skies to pick it out, there was no luck a round the dam area, the place the Ospreys prefer to hunt so in an effort to provide Osprey sightings we headed to Manton Bay, the site of the nest we had watched earlier in the week.

As we cruised there were some sighting of interest, namely this gull. It screams first winter Caspian at me, the sloping white plumaged head, the heavy bill, and long legs all being diagnostic

As is the pale under wing

Here again the pale underwing and those long pink legs.

But I am not a lover of gulls and my identification skills of this family struggle with the various different age plumages, I can not categorically count out a second third year Great Black-backed.

Common Terns followed the boat, their white plumage contrasting with the dark grey brooding sky.

We were not able to go far into Manton Bay and were left with very distant views of the nest site.  One adult was present along with both immature birds, the male having returned.  We were further away on the boat than would have been the case if we were in the hide.  

Leaving the nest site there were some amazing cloudscapes playing out as the sun started to sink for the evening.

One of the guides with us and myself picked out an adult Yellow-legged Gull on one of the buoys and just as he was about to point it out an Osprey was picked out flying overhead.  I had packed the camera away and so missed out on the gull but did manage to get the Osprey overhead.

Then just as we approached the dock another was seen, again distant and flying away from us.

I wasn't able to get the fishing views I hoped for but knew I wouldn't see, but did manage one, possibly two, gull year ticks from the cruise.  After disembarking we had a lovely dinner in the Finches Arms in the saved village of Upper Hambleton on the peninsula.

We still had one day left, but Sunday morning dawned very wet and with little chance it would change.  We had to leave early Monday morning so decided to head home on the Sunday, which in hind sight was the right decision.

It had been a very "British" holiday.  Rutland and the surrounding countryside is beautiful, and the property we had rented along with the grounds, lovely, but you need a good run of weather to enjoy it and unfortunately we did not get that.