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Rutland Water was created n the 1970's
and is one of the biggest man-made reservoirs in Europe. 
for a map of the area. Nine miles of the western shoreline is a nature
reserve run by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. There are
two parts to the reserve. On the south-west shore is the Lyndon Reserve,
with a visitor center, hides and a nature trail. Better birding is to be
had, however, at the Egleston Reserve, on the western shore, with 11 hides,
and a visitor's centre with a heated viewing gallery. This reserve is home
to the British Bird-watching Fair each August (
to visit the Fair's website). |
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We spent a relatively long time at Rutland Water, walking to several of their hides. Right beside the entry is a blind overlooking a bird feeding area. As these two photos show, it wasn't only the birds that got to eat! YUK... rats all over. The wardens told us that it was quite a dilemma. Since it was a nature area, they didn't want to poison the rats, since the birds might take the bait. On the other hand, they felt that they had to do something, since there were far too many of them about. Since our home base is Alberta, the largest rat-free area in the world, we were particularly fascinated and horrified, since we had never seen rats "in the wild" before. |
| There were lots of birds to see at Rutland
Water, including a Great Spotted Woodpecker and our first
(Red-breasted) Nuthatch of the trip. It was a fitting end to a marvellous
birding vacation.
to see our bird list for the entire trip. More time with English birders
would have extended the list immeasurably, since there were a lot of birds
that went unidentified as we scrambled for our field guide. After a last
visit to relatives near Luton, we boarded the flight for home, looking
forward to our return some day to visit some more great United Kingdom
hotspots. |
Back to Leighton
Moss RSPB Reserve, Lancashire
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