A Birdfair warm-up...

What with the hordes (myself included) descending on Rutland Water next weekend for Birdfair you can bet there's going to be a fair few photos like this doing the rounds on the blogs next Monday:

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Manton Bay, Rutland Water 12/8/12

Obviously there'll all be much better than this speculative digi-scoped effort but I thought I'd get in first. It seems strange that, having not been for nearly 10 years, I'll end up going to Rutland on consecutive weekends, but I'm not complaining at all. What's maybe even stranger that it's taken me so long to catch up with an Osprey in the UK. I guess I've only really been actively birdwatching for a couple of years but given their relative success as a breeding species here now I thought I might have come across one sooner. Nevermind, this makes up for it at last! This is the adult male (trust me) perched up on one of the numerous telegraph poles dotted around Manton Bay.

Yesterday's Birdfair warm up was a long-promised trip for the folks, ever since they 'discovered' bird watching in time for retirement. So amid threats of blowing the inheritance on extravagant birding trips to far flung corners of the corners of the globe (which, despite protestations, I REALLY hope they do), we hit the A1 for the relatively easy journey north to Rutland Water.

Heading for Manton Bay we checked out a few of the hides before making our way to the ones with views of the Osprey nest. It was pretty busy in there but we squeezed in and were soon enjoying watching three of the Ospreys. One of this years juveniles flew close by the hide in front of us and had a pop at fishing (unsuccessfully) before flying off down the reservoir. Shortly after that, the adult female followed but instead of heading down the lake, began to circle high before drifting south and disappearing off out of view. That was pretty interesting and I think a good few people wondered out loud if that was IT for her...ie the beginning of her long return migration south. Conditions were certainly good for it; warm and hazy conditions with a light north-easterly. This prompted some pretty endless questioning from Mum about migration ("but what about her CHILDREN??!") Bless, guess we'll see, I wonder how many will be left by next weekend?

After that we ducked round to the Anglian Water Centre in Egleton, which was already busy in the throes of pre-Birdfair tent-putting-up. We had a walk about here before stopping in one final hide (Lapwing) for a view of the reservoir. I think I was trying to turn a Common Tern into an Arctic when Dad pointed out a bird flying across the water, maybe 200m off our spot, in the middle of the res. Got my bins on it and "...Black Tern!". I'd never seen one before but I was 99% sure of it. It was a real rocker of a bird; fast and agile with something almost 'falcon'-like about it...a much surer flight style, the ash dark, slender wings. Views in the scope highlighted a few points:

- very little evidence of forked tail
- relatively long and slender dark 'tern' bill 
- it also made several stooping 'dips' to the surface, not like the plunging dives of Sterna sp

The black breast/belly was really apparent and there was quite a visible contrast with the paler vent/rump. Confusingly, there was also a clear white forehead patch, as on Little Tern (but not so extensive) However, checking the Collins book it says that white head feathers can already appear on moulting adults in June. According to Birdguides there were countless reports of Black Terns over the weekend, on cue I think and no doubt aided by the winds. Really excited about seeing this bird, a lifer too! A good omen for Birdfair next weekend?!

Didn't manage any pics but here's some pretty nifty youtube footage of a Black Tern and a White-winged Black Tern together, just in case you were wondering about the difference ;) :

Rutland 12/8/12:

Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Yellowhammer, Blackcap, Woodpigeon, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff (h), Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Tufted duck, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Greylag Goose, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Black-headed gull, Common Tern, Little Egret, Osprey, Shelduck, Water Rail (h), Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Magpie, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler (h), Willow Warbler(h), Chaffinch, Greenfinch, House Martin, Sand Martin, Pochard, Gadwall, Great Black-backed gull, Little Grebe, Lapwing, Hobby, Green Sandpiper, Black Tern, Rook, Pheasant.

('h' indicates 'heard only')