Wednesday 26 June 2019

The power of nest boxes!

Hello

Yesterday (Tuesday) was pretty wet in the morning but dryer in the afternoon. Three Ravens were noted in a sheep field near Naseby and birds in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir in the evening included the summering Yellow-legged Gull and four Little Egrets.

Today (Wednesday) I took a fairly early morning walk adjacent to Lamport Hall and discovered a singing male Common Redstart in hawthorns close to the footpath which borders the southern edge of the parkland. I assume this is a bird already beginning it's journey south, and probably downed by the recent spell of wet weather. Other birds noted in the county today included a Grey Plover and two Green Sandpipers at Ravensthorpe Reservoir and two Cattle Egrets again at Stanwick Pits with another one reported at Blatherwycke Lake this evening.

The nest box season is over for many birds already this year with perhaps Robins, Wrens, Spotted Flycatchers, owls, sparrows and Stock Doves being the remaining species still using them. In some years Great Tits can second brood and both House and Tree Sparrows can occasionally triple brood! Specialist Swift boxes will be in use for a little while yet and late Starlings and Kestrels will be a similar story. In South Northants Chris Payne's fourteen tit boxes at one site propelled 84 youngsters into the big wild world (all Blue Tits and Great Tits) and over a hundred young tits flew from erected boxes at Greens Norton and Bradden. The tit boxes at Pitsford Reservoir were also well used with over seven hundred nestlings fledging from them!

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Swallows
maturing nicely with
virtually no room left
in the nest!

Incubating adult Robin.

Both images taken by
Chris Payne.



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