Friday 17 April 2015

Cool Friday birding

Hello

Plenty of time out and about today in a cool wind and sometimes quite grey conditions.

The first venue was Newnham Hill on the outskirts of Daventry, and a pair of Ring Ouzel soon showed themselves in the grass fields there. The male even sang a little. Other birds included a Wheatear, a Raven, a Fieldfare and a few common summer migrants.

Next was a walk around Borough Hill CP at Daventry but this proved to be very quiet with no birds of note, so we moved on to Daventry Country Park which provided six Common Terns, a Little Ringed Plover and a Green Sandpiper.

On our way back home we stopped off at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, the best bird being a singing and showy Lesser Whitethroat. A wander around part of the Harrington Airfield complex failed to locate any Wheatears or Ring Ouzels and I can't think of a single bird worth mentioning!

An afternoon visit to Brixworth Water Treatment Works was good for Swallows and common birds but nothing out of the ordinary so on to Pitsford Reservoir where the cool wind and air-borne insects attracted two very fine if distant adult Little Gulls off the Sailing Club, which were in the company of a single Black Tern.

A gang of Reed Buntings occupied the garden this afternoon in loose company with a couple each of Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrow.

Regards

Neil M



Very distant images
of the adult Little
Gulls at Pitsford Res

Rather closer views of
first summer Black-headed
Gulls present at Pitsford
Res today, showing the
variation in plumage at
this age.

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