Rutland Water – 10/8/11

A red letter day today. I began at Green Bank where most of the waders from Monday were still present – 5 Greenshanks, juvenile Ruff, at least 4 Green Sandpipers and a single Common Sandpiper. On a whim I decided to try the field behind the hedge. What a good decision ! As I scanned the new fence I spotted a 1^st winter male Stonechat perched up on one of the fenceposts and caught a brief glimpse of another bird behind it. This mystery bird soon revealed itself as a juvenile Whinchat, a species I had been searching for at Rutland Water/ Eyebrook for 2 years !! Magic. Associating with the 2 chats were a pair of juvenile Whitethroats ! I managed a number of digiscoped pictures of the Whinchat as it showed superbly and, indeed, was still around 4 hours later. The rain started as I walked back to the car but I didn’t notice it ! The North Arm was something of an anticlimax after that although 3 Curlews, at least 6 Little Grebes and a pair of Ruff added some interest. A return to South Arm III in the afternoon meant that I located 3 Dunlin on the island but nothing else of interest.