Just for a change we visited the South Shore of Rutland Water nature reserve yesterday (Friday). The conditions were not ideal and we were glad we took gloves, scarves and wooly hats! The main reason for visiting this part of the reserve is, of course, the ospreys. We could see one parent bird on the eggs on cctv but we had a better direct view of the other parent perched on a dead branch and in the air.

In addition we saw a red kite and a buzzard being mobbed by a crow as well as a yellowhammer, blackcaps, a white throat and a pair of small birds we could not at first identify.

On consulting the field guide back at home it turns out that we had spotted a pair of linnets. The pictures are not great quality as they were taken against the sky but as it was a ‘first’ I thought it was worth blogging.