22nd July - cloudy untill late afternoon, then sunny, hot 26C, light NW

Willey; this morning first thing there were 12 Mistle Thrushes feeding on the 'brown' pasture to the west and a further 3 feeding in a field to the east, a total of 15 is a good number,

Rutland water; a strange cloudy morning seemed to have resulted in not a lot happening locally so after lunch I decided to visit Rutland Water - Egleton reserve.  The hoped target bird of a Glossy Ibis was showing well on Lagoon III.  This seemed to be the area were most bird activity was occurring with Green (4) and 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Ruff, several Snipe and Lapwing.  Many Gadwall were present, along with Tufted and Mallard a single Pochard, several Egyptian Geese and numerous Grey Lag and Canada Geese,  A couple of Red Kite were flying around and a single Osprey flew past.

While there news came of a juvenile Purple Heron near the Fish ponds in the north arm, just round the corner from me, so I went to see it.  It was catching small fish on the far side next to a Willow tree, also a Lamb was busy feeding on the Willow leaves whilst standing in the water.