Anyone know Rutland Water well enough to give some info?

[nigpd]

Thanks to a recommendation on here, Rutland Water seems a great place to go while I'm staying up in Melton Mowbray.

Armed with my trusty 600mm, I'd like to see if I can get some pics of Ospreys one evening or early one morning.

Does anyone have any experience of Rutland Water and where the best spot(s) would be to try and capture that amazing Osprey shot?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Comfortably Numb]

I've walked from hide to hide a couple of times.

There is a visitor centre though, & they have remote cameras showing the Ospreys. I'm sure the would tell you where to go on the day.

HTH

 

[michael23]

Hi Nigel, it's a while since I have been, so I will point you towards the leicester and rutland thread over on birdforum, unless of course someone knows it very well on here.

 

[nigpd]

Thanks for your help guys

 

[simonjs]

There is a nest in Manton bay see http://www.ospreys.org.uk/, you should be able to see the nest from either the Lyndon or possible the Egleton reserves. A map of the reserve is availabe here http://www.rutlandwater.org.uk/about-the-reserve/map-of-the-reserve/

 

[nigpd]

thanks for the tip Simon

 

[rob-nikon]

I went for the first time a few weeks back, the osprey nest in manton bay is visible from the waterscape and shallow water hides. The nest was further out than I expected it to be and we could only get shots at a distance (nest on pole). I think it's down to weather conditions and luck if they come near the hides, the ospreys can fish anywhere and probably go quite further away from the nest. the waterscape hide is manned by a volunteer who is very helpful and had a couple of scopes to look through to give a better view of the nest. Both the Lyndon and Egleton reserves are open from 9am to 5pm but you can stay later. We stayed until sunset with no problems at the Egleton reserve, you can drive between the two reserves as I don't think there is a footpath linking them. The reserves are both quite large, the distances between hides are usually about 400m so you can walk quite far. The distances between hides are shown on the map in the link

We were advised to check out the hides north of the Egleton Visitors Center, the grebe hide was quite busy. The highlight of the visit was seeing my first barn owl at sunset from the snipe hide. We watched it hunt but it was too far away to get any good images, my friend did get a few as it flew over the hide we were in. The Harrier hide probably gave a better view, its the hide we plan to visit at dusk when we visit again.

 

[nigpd]

thanks Rob. I'm there again next week so I'll check it out