The dust settles and a pair of Garganey 30th May 2008.

Crap shoot of a male Garganey

Crap shoot of a pair of Garganey

Nice shoot of Plover Hide

After running around like a headless chicken on the Tuesday at Rutland Water, today it was at a more leisurely pace.
The Marsh Sandpiper was still showing from Harrier hide and distantly from the visitor centre and had a constant stream of admirers.
Checking out other parts of the reserve, I first received a text message from Jim Graham to tell me that a pair of Garganey had been found on the scrape at Wanlip Meadows LRWT, and then Steve Lister phoned me that a Marsh Harrier had dropped into the reedbed on lagoon 3.
Walking over to Shoveler hide, I joined Steve in the hide, and it wasn't long before the Marsh Harrier reappeared over the reedbed.
The bird looked like a first summer/female bird as it slowly quartered the reedbed.
Hopefully in the near future, this will become a regular sight in Leicestershire, if the numbers of breeding birds in the UK continue its steady improvement.
Following further directions via a phonecall from Jim Graham, I drove back to Leicester to check out Wanlip Meadows for the Garganeys.
Viewing from the footpath next to Wanlip Lane, I quickly picked up the pair of Garganey which were feeding on the scrape. What was notable about the male was that the bird was now moulting into eclipse plumage.
Joined by Allen Pocock and John Hague we then watched the birds for the next half an hour as there feed on the scrape.
Over the last few years Garganey has become a regular visitor to the Soar Valley, and is always nice to see this delightful little duck.
On the way home, I picked up John's spare Nikon 4500 Coolpix, as mine had recently become faulty and hopefully get it fixed in the next few weeks.