Filey, Fairburn, Paxton Pits, Ouse Fen and Rutland Water

 Grandads taxi has been about a bit in the last few days. First place I visited was Filey Dams.

The tufted duck family are doing well and the young carrion crows are still begging for food.

An oystercatcher dropped in for a bathe

This common sandpiper did not look very well!

Lapwings were close to the hide

young mallard were busy feeding

a green sandpiper was busy preening

a barn owl came out of its box

After a couple of pleasant hours at Filey Dams it was time to go and collect granddaughter and bring her back to York.

Wednesday I went to Fairburn Ings to buy something from the shop and spent about anhour down the Lindike end, still no sign of any progress with opening the hide.

a peregrine was perched on one of the pylons. On the water were lots of geese, 2 great white egrets, common sandpiper and ringed plover. Lots of butterflies about.

 

Thursday and after dropping my granddaughter off at Cambridge I went to Paxton Pits Nature Reserve.

 

I had a nice cup of tea in the visitor centre before setting off to explore this reserve. As it was my first visit a followed a route suggested by one of the volunteers on duty. The reserve has a large colony of cormorants and the trees that form their nest site are covered.

a few common terns were fishing but not many other birds to bee seen or heard. I disturbed a pair of green woodpeckers and this stoat ran down the path towards me.

RSPB Ouse Fen was my next stop, another place I had not visited before. I was standing at the viewpoint when a local birder walked up and joined me looking over a patch of water. He was telling me how quiet it was bird wise and he had hardly seen any birds. He told me where he had seen a water rail so I followed the path on my right and then turned left to walk along a path with water on both sides.

Not brilliant pictures due to the sun and distance, but it was certainly an active water rail and not bothered about coming out into the open. Time to go to my hotel.

Friday morning and on my way home I called in at Rutland Water.

A very large site and one that I could not explore fully in the couple of hours I had to spare. Steve in reception was very helpful and so off I set to explore lagoons 1 to 4. Plenty to see including great white egrets, little egrets, avocets, osprey  common terns

not brilliant photos due to the height of the vegetation in front of the hide.

this black tailed godwit was not an Icelandic one, like the ones we get at Blacktoft but one that had been born on the Nene washes. From another hide I had distant views of a kingfisher

lots of ducks close to a hide.

I added greenshank and ruddy shelduck to my year list. A reserve I will visit again when I have more time.