Rutland.

Took a quick walk after lunch around Rutland water, and while sitting in grebe hide a bird caught my eye. I managed to get a quick photo before it flew in to the distance.

As I have never seen this type of duck before I done a bit of research when I got back and found it was a Fulvous Whistling Duck.

I thought this can not be a migrant, and unfortunately it is possibly an escapee from somewhere as it has been seen over the past few days.  

New Brighton.

Decided to head for Burton Mere this morning but just after the tunnel I seen the sign for New Brighton and though I might as well try for the Laughing Gull.
Glad I did in the end after parking near the pontoon there was no sign but just round the corner there it was sitting on the beach.

It tended to fly between the small model boat pond and the pontoon, coming quite close to me on the model boat pond before flying back to the pontoon.

One passer by asked what all the fuss was about and when we explained about the Laughing gull and where it is from she said well it looks like all the rest and still didn't understand the fuss.

When leaving a gentleman said that he had seen the Snow Buntings earlier down at the far end of the promenade, but they flew when a man let his dog run past past them. (Not that 4 people with binoculars, scopes and cameras where watching anything).

I thought well a quick look wont hurt and yet again glad I did, I was there 2 minutes when 3 Snow buntings turned up on the rocks.

After a quick drive to Burton mere the Long eared owl is still present in its usual tree, but a bit further in making it almost impossible for a photo.

The first Avocets have just arrived at Burton and are visible from the visitor centre also.

All in all a good morning out.

RSPB Framton Marsh.

Took a drive to Framton marsh this morning and what a great place it is, it seems to have a multitude of habitats all in one reserve.

Plenty of Brent geese about must be over 500 easy they tend to spend their time flying between the lakes and feeding on the fields next to them.

Brent Geese at Framton marsh.

Brent Geese at Framton marsh.

Around the site a lot of Black tailed godwits were feeding away and don't seem that bothered by human presence, allowing me to get a bit closer than usual.

Black Tailed Godwit at Framton Marsh.

Black Tailed Godwit at Framton Marsh.

For most of the day the air was filled with the sound of Lapwings and Skylarks, the Skylarks would land no more than a few yards away unfortunately behind the reeds next to the path.

Lapwing at Framton Marsh.

Lapwing at Framton Marsh.

Skylark at Framton Marsh.

Skylark at Framton Marsh.

Wigeon must number in the thousands showing around all lakes and forming large flocks, they even attached themselves to the flying Brent geese.

Wigeon at Framton Marsh.

Wigeon at Framton Marsh.

Another great bird although overlooked was showing well today the Meadow Pipit, quite a few landing on the fences and paths allowing a close approach before flying 20 yards or so away.

Meadow Pipit at Framton Marsh.

Meadow Pipit at Framton Marsh.

Meadow Pipit at Framton Marsh.

The only bird of prey I seen today was the Kestrel, however a Marsh Harrier and Merlin had been spotted over the salt marsh.

Kestrel at Framton Marsh.

Kestrel at Framton Marsh.

Other waders around the site included Golden plover, Knot and Redshank.

The Redshank tended to be quite close to the pathways and the Golden plover was well out of range for a photo.

Redshank at Framton Marsh.

Redshank at Framton Marsh.

The highlight for me today was the Yellowhammers a great looking bird and these two were quite friendly coming to the feeders next to the visitor centre.

Yellowhammer at Framton Marsh.

Yellowhammer at Framton Marsh.

All in all a fantastic day will be returning as soon as possible for another look round.

Below is a few more birds I managed to grab a photo of today.

Blue Tit.

Coot.

Teal.

Mallards.

Shoveler.

Rutland Water

Woke up this morning debating whether to go out or stay in due to the dark sky's and chance of rain, in the end I headed to Rutland for a few hours.

I decided to leave the camera in the bag unless a chance came a long and then I would use it, today was about seeing how many different species I could find.

Below is a list of the 56 species in order that I spotted them.

1. Robin
2. Fieldfare
3. Black Headed Gull
4. Jackdaw
5. Carrion Crow
6. Pied Wagtail
7. Wood Pigeon
8. Red Kite
9. Blackbird
10. Pheasant
11. Tree Creeper
12. Mallard
13. Blue Tit
14. Chaffinch
15. Dunnock
16. Great Tit
17. Willow Tit
18. Sparrow Hawk
19. Canada Goose
20. Greylag Goose
21. Teal
22. Coot
23. Lapwing
24. Cormorant
25. Moorhen
26. Shellduck
27. Great Spotted Woodpecker
28. Shoveller
29. Tufted Duck
30. Mute Swan
31. Goldfinch
32. Long Tailed Tit
33. Smew
34. Great White Egret
35. Pochard
36. Green Woodpecker
37. Gadwall
38. Great Crested Grebe.
39. Golden Eye
40. Grey Heron
41. Redshank
42. Egyptian Goose
43. Starling
44. Song Thrush
45. Red Wing
46. Magpie
47. Wigeon
48. Pintail
49. Kestrel
50. Curlew
51. Wren
52. Little Egret
53. Rook
54. Reed Bunting
55. Collard dove
56. Common Buzzard

I got lucky with the Smew as I saw the Great white egret land from a distance and headed round to a hide that I thought might give me a view. The Smew was around 100 yards from the bank usually anything less than the Hubble telescope and you can not see them.

Smew at Rutland Water.

The Egret was easy to find in the reed bed but after 30 minutes of waiting for a better shot I came to the conclusion that he was not going to move.

Its a record anyway 

Great White Egret at Rutland Water.

Hopefully the weather will be as stated on the forecast for Tuesday and we will have some sun, must try and get the day of work and head out again. 

Red Kites at Fineshade Wood.

Took a quick trip to Fineshade woods near Corby this afternoon, weather was not very nice and very dark sky's.

The woods has a nice visitor centre and is mixed conifer and broad-leaf would be fantastic on a sunny day.

There was an abundance of Goldcrests and Treecreepers in the tree tops and an a few Marsh Tits around the lower levels.  Around half way round a trail I decided that I had better head back before the rain came and on exiting the woods a total of 5 red Kites were soaring overhead with one bird coming quite close. This was a wing tagged bird with white on both wings and the number 17, with a quick research on the internet it looks like this bird was released in the Midlands in 2011.
Will definitely return on a sunny day, as my camera is best suited to around ISO 400 not 3200+ that was needed today.

Red Kite at Fineshade Woods.

Red Kite at Fineshade Woods.

Red Kite at Fineshade Woods.

Rutland Water

Decided a quick walk was in order this afternoon, so headed to Rutland water.
Really overcast today and some of the water is still frozen.

I got a surprise as soon as I arrived, I had just past the gate and out the corner of my eye a Muntjac was feeding near the pond, I was waiting for a better shot but a blackbird landed next to me then flew in panic startling the Muntjac.

Muntjac at Rutland Water.

With all the clouds it was not the best day for taking pictures, but still managed to get a few. 

A pair of Egyptian geese landed in a near by field quite near to the visitor centre.

It was introduced as an ornamental wildfowl species and has escaped into the wild, and now successfully breeding.

Egyptian Goose at Rutland Water.

Finished with a cup of coffee at the visitor centre and managed to take a few last pictures.

Pheasant at Rutland Water.

Pheasant at Rutland Water.

Reed Bunting at Rutland Water.

Taylor Park.

Had a quick morning walk around Taylor park today, and quite a few birds around despite the weather.

Around 20 Canadian geese, 1 Greylag, 2 Great crested grebes (mating pair) 10 Tufted ducks and the usual Mallards, Coots and Moorhens.

 Arrived to a Dunnock singing near the car park another great sounding bird and slightly overlooked.

Dunnock at Taylor Park.

Was nice to see a breading pair of Great crested grebes courting will have to keep an eye out for the chicks when they arrive.

Great crested grebe at Taylor Park.

Quite a bit bit of fighting going on today between the Moorhens and Coots at one point 6 birds were involved in the squabble.

Moorhens at Taylor Park.

Coot at Taylor Park.

After a quick lap of the lake I returned to the car to the sound of Canadian geese and Robins.

Canadian Geese at Taylor Park.

Robin at Taylor Park.