Sightings over the week West to East.....26th Feb to 3rd March 2009.


Six Scaup at Rutland dam

Tawny Owl at Great Easton

Record shot of a Short-eared Owl at Great Easton.

Over the last week I have checked out Albert Village lake on a number of occasions and nipped over to Eyebrook Reservoir and Great Easton for the owls.
Sightings at Albert Village have included an adult Caspian Gull and an adult Yellow-legged Gull but no sign of any of the recent white-winged gulls.
It seems that later in the week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) is probably the best days to visit this site as the gull numbers seem to increase over the week until the Sunday when the local tip is closed.

Moving onto Eyebrook Reservoir which I hadn't visited for a couple of months I finally connected with the long staying Green winged Teal at the inflow end. Other sightings on the reservoir included two nice looking drake Smews by the island, a flock of 50+ Dunlins at the inflow end and at least 30+ Tree Sparrows at the bird feeders.
The last destination of the day was the fields just east of Great Easton which now seem to be the wintering capital for Owls in Leicestershire.
Over the last few months up to four Short-eared Owls have been recorded in the area along with the resident Little Owls, Tawny Owl and Barn Owls.
So over the period of an hour in the late afternoon after visiting Eyebrook I saw three Short-eared Owls quartering the fields but surprisingly no other Owls in the surrounding area.
The final sighting of the day was of a Little Egret flying along the River Welland towards Great Easton village which may or may not have been in the county boundaries?

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