Trip reports

Own Transport Trip to Rutland Water

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Tuesday, 1 September 2009

Eight of us enjoyed the visit to Rutland Water on August Bank Holiday Sunday. A good variety of waders (including curlew, dunlin, greenshank, ruff and green sandpiper) could be seen from the hides. A visit to the new hides surrounding Lagoon 4 provided 6 species of gull, including yellow-legged, and a female red-crested pochard was hiding in amongst hundreds of tufted ducks on lagoon 3. Osprey put in an appearance before lunch, but the highlight of the day for the lucky three who were having their lunch in the car park was the sight of an osprey coming low over their heads, being pursued by a pair of hobbies! We paid a quick visit to Lyndon reserve (tree sparrow and marsh tit) before leaving. Three of us stopped off at Deadmans Hill (Sandon) on the way back in order to add marsh harrier to our trip list! In total 73 species were seen and a further 5 heard only. There is a link to the list from the RSPB Local Group page of the web site: www.roystonwildlife.com.