Rutland Water - 19/9

A relatively quiet day today. I started out in the North Arm and the 1st notable observation was the return of the 13 Barnacle Geese that have frequented RW for at least the past 3 winters. These are generally considered to be feral but no-one has ever proved this conclusively to my knowledge ! Whatever the facts they are always a welcome sight. Apart from these returning birds I spotted a couple of eclipse Pintails in amongst the thousands of Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Wigeon and Mallard. Good numbers of Little Grebe had gathered by the fishponds dam as they do every year at this time. I was also pleased to see the 1st Meadow Pipits of the autumn with 2 feeding in the weed on the shore. The only other notable bird here was a 3rd CY Yellow- legged Gull. A brief trip to the Hambleton bakery mean't I got to see a good number of pheasants in the field adjacent to the building. Finally, I had a look in South Arm III, where the water level is probably at the lowest I've yet seen it, and I found single Redshanks and Curlew on the shore along with at least 25 Little Egrets ( this is the time of year when they flock ). A last look at the island in South Arm III and I was rewarded with a group of 2 Dunlin and 2 Ruff feeding. Obviously wader migration is now slowing down but the number of Chiffchaffs is still pretty high with at least 6 noted today.