Friday 2 January 2015

Ring-necked Duck

Hello

Out and about in the county today in sunny but cool conditions. My apologies but I forgot to document the fact that yesterday Eleanor saw a Short-eared Owl at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell in the evening, flying around the southern border of the complex.

I went to have a look at the female Ring-necked Duck at Billing Gravel Pits this morning, as viewed from the Billing Garden Centre site. I asked permission to view the bird from the caravan sales premises and obtained reasonable views in harsh light and through the waterside willows. Other birds included a Grey Wagtail and a Kingfisher.

A Great White Egret was visible from the causeway at Pitsford Res, perched in waterside bushes in the sunshine alongside Grey Herons and Cormorants on the west side of the Holcot Bay. Two Redshanks were also present but a check of the gull roost failed to identify a gull of note.

Other birds noted today included two Ravens again near Hanging Houghton plus a single at Kelmarsh Hall, a Grey Wagtail at Brixworth, just eleven Golden Plovers at Harrington Airfield and a hunting Barn Owl at Blueberry Farm this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M




Ring-necked Duck

Thursday 1 January 2015

New Years Day

Hello

Neil H spent some time at Pitsford Res today and located a Slavonian Grebe off The Narrows near to the The Holly Tree. Also present were two Goosanders, seven Smew (three drakes), a Little Owl and a female Stonechat. The Smew were all north of the causeway.

Eleanor noted two Ravens near Hanging Houghton and a circuit at Harrington Airfield this afternoon in grey, breezy conditions produced about a hundred Golden Plovers but little else.

Regards

Neil M

Wednesday 31 December 2014

Happy New Year!

Hello

A single Barn Owl was hunting on the outskirts of Scaldwell village first thing this morning and a restricted ringing session at Kelmarsh Hall this morning with just a single net resulted in 50 captures, the highlights being a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Nuthatch, 2 Marsh Tits, 3 Goldfinches and a Goldcrest.

Birds noted at Harrington Airfield this morning amounted to a male Peregrine and a pair of Raven.

Birds north of the causeway at Pitsford Res this afternoon included a Raven and six Goosanders and a check of the gull roost off the yacht club in the afternoon yielded a fine adult Mediterranean Gull, a Redshank and a Grey Wagtail.

Happy New Year!

Eleanor and Neil

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Frosty birds!

Hello

Cracking winter's day weather today with a crispy, frosty start and plenty of sunshine. The pair of Ruddy Shelduck were seen off the yacht club at Pitsford Res this morning and 39 Golden Plovers were on the fields at Harrington Airfield.

Blueberry Farm provided views of 2 Ravens, a Barn Owl and a pair of Stonechat this morning but the best birds were at Sywell Country Park this afternoon with a gorgeous Bittern on some bent-over reeds in the icy margins (1pm), a pair of Smew, a pair of Stonechat, 2 Water Rails, 20+ Siskins and 6+ redpoll sp. The suspended feeders were full and attracted plenty of birds including Nuthatch and Marsh Tits.

Regards

Neil M


Ruddy Shelduck

Robin

Monday 29 December 2014

Bits and Bobs

Another one of those days where I had to fit my birding around running numerous errands...

At day break I was at Blueberry Farm where the air was crisp and clear and the ground white from the hard frost. As I watched the beautiful sunrise I regretted not taking my camera as a Barn Owl hunted low over the fields creating a magical scene. Other birds seen included a pair of Stonechat and a Woodcock.

Mid-morning found me in Northampton so I made a detour to Billing Garden Centre area for the Ring-necked Duck which has been viewed from the car sales office. A visiting birder arrived at the same time and we quickly located a small group of Tufted Duck and Gadwall but they were just in silhouette as they loitered in the direct sunlight. We walked from the garden centre and followed the main road towards the narrow bridge and we were able to 'scope the birds through the trees. The Ring-necked Duck was easy to pick out with it's distinctive head shape.

En-route back home a Great White Egret, 2 drake Smew and a Shelduck at Pitsford Reservoir were all visible from the causeway.

A visit to Harrington Airfield produced a male Peregrine, again in hunting mode after the numerous winter thrushes, 7 Grey Partridge and approx 50 Golden Plover.

I ended as I started by walking around Blueberry, this time enjoying the glorious red sky and sunset leaving behind a clear frosty sky dotted with bright stars.  Again I was fortunate to watch a Barn Owl hunting [Large Redgrass field] and also a Short-eared Owl which may be the bird from Harrington. 

Regards  Eleanor

Saturday 27 December 2014

Short-eared Owl

Hello

This afternoon at about 2pm, Ian Jones saw a Short-eared Owl by the third bunker at Harrington Airfield...

Regards

Neil M

Festive Birding !

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and that many folk will have some time off before returning to normal in the New Year, so plenty of time to get out and about !!!

Due to family commitments my birding activity has been severely curtailed. In the Blueberry Farm area I have seen one or two Barn Owls on a regular basis at different times of the day. Also at least 2 pairs of Stonechat remain in the area.  Both yesterday and today I have seen numerous Woodcock underneath the hedgerows.

I've visited Harrington Airfield every day to feed the birds at the main entrance and whilst I haven't seen any birds of interest I'm sure this will soon change. The seed is proving attractive to a wide number of species - Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Robin and Blue Tit, as well as a valuable food source as the temperatures fall.

I visited late this afternoon and although chilly the sunset was remarkable. There were 11 Golden Plover feeding on the wet fields and small groups of calling Goldies were constantly in the air. Their calls joining those of a couple of Red Kite who were very vocal. A superb male blue Peregrine was definitely in hunting mode as he powered across the airfield and a Barn Owl and Grey Heron took me my surprise when I got back to the feeding station just as darkness fell.

Sending best wishes to everyone for this Festive period and a happy and healthy bird-filled 2015 

Love Eleanor

Friday 26 December 2014

Abington Park over Christmas

Hello

Doug Goddard has been in Abington Park, Northampton over the festive period and seen plenty of good birds including 13 Goosanders today on the lakes and a Ring-necked Parakeet (the latter attracted to captive birds in enclosures) .

Regards

Neil M


Ring-necked Parakeets

Common Buzzard

Goosander with Perch

Boxing day birds

A walk at Pitsford this morning was just what was needed after the Christmas day feasting.
A scan of the Scaldwell and Walgrave bays, after topping up the feeders at the Saldwell road feed station, revealed a Great White Egret in each of the bays. From the causeway a possible third bird was noted near to the Lagoon hide. Also from the causeway a redhead Smew was in the mouth of the Holcot bay. My first drake of the year was just south of the causeway.
A walk south of the causeway down to the Pintail bay was rewarded with a calling Little Owl near to the three storey farm house by the narrows.
The goose flock was commuting between the fields and the reservoir in the vicinity of the Holly tree. The three White-fronted Geese were still included amongst them, but I failed to spot the Ruddy Shelduck or the Great Northern Diver.
     Regards,
             Neil H.

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all our followers and visitors to this blog-site. Thank-you for your support, your interest and contributions over the last year. We will seek to ensure the blog remains as relevant as possible for people with an interest in wild birds and other wildlife in Northamptonshire and further afield.

Enjoy the Festive Period...

Neil M

Monday 22 December 2014

Barn Owls

Hello

Yesterday I neglected to document sightings of single Barn Owls which were noted in Maidwell village and also alongside the road between Hanging Houghton and Scaldwell. This afternoon a Barn Owl was again noted hunting at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell. With such an exceptional year for breeding Barn Owls, it is perhaps surprising that they are not being seen more regularly.

Regards

Neil M

Sunday 21 December 2014

Ringing Sunderland Wood

Hello

A ringing session took place at Sunderland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate today which led to 75 captures, the majority being Great and Blue Tits with a high percentage of adults.

A Redwing, two Blackbirds, two Wrens, four Goldcrests, a Robin and a Chaffinch were additional species as were two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Marsh Tit and seven Coal Tits.

Other birds noted in this mid-Northants Ash woodland included a couple of Woodcock and at nearby Scotland Wood a Willow Tit was moving around with a mobile tit flock.

Regards

Neil M

Saturday 20 December 2014

Peregrines on the horizon

Hello

A visit to Harrington Airfield this morning was necessary to feed the hordes of birds at the old airfield entrance! Birds of note included an adult male Peregrine, a covey of seven Grey Partridge and about two hundred Golden Plovers together with good numbers of Skylarks and winter thrushes. Nearby a Woodcock was flushed at Sunderland Wood.

This afternoon and birds noted at Pitsford Res included at least one Great White Egret, three Little Egrets and a hunting first year male Peregrine north of the causeway and three Shelduck near to the dam. Blueberry Farm hosted a hunting Barn Owl and a pair of Stonechat.

Regards

Neil M




They may be common
resident birds in this fair
county of ours but I think
the tits suitably brighten
 up a winter's day.
Top Coal Tit, middle
Long-tailed Tit and
bottom Blue Tit.

All courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Friday 19 December 2014

Pitsford WeBS count

Hello

Three of us completed a rather late WeBS count at Pitsford Reservoir today in super winter sunshine. Numbers of wildfowl are much less than previous months but there is still a good variety present. Highlights included three Great White Egrets (all north of the causeway), three Little Egrets, 2 Ruddy Shelducks, 96 Snipe, 2 Jack Snipe, 2 Redshank, 2 Green Sandpipers, the pair of wintering Stonechat still and a Chiffchaff. A flock of 120 Golden Plovers flew over.

Regards

Neil M


Redwing

Robin in afternoon
winter sunshine

Thursday 18 December 2014

Mild, wet and windy!

Hello

The current bout of mild, windy and occasionally wet weather is not particularly conducive for good winter birding locally, but it does provide an opportunity to see other wildlife.

John Porter saw a flying Brimstone butterfly at Summer Leys yesterday and reported that the Golden Plovers gathered there looked superb in the winter sunshine. 

Young Hedgehogs are still wandering around at a time when they should be hibernating. It seems that the offspring from the late breeding efforts often don't have time to bulk up for hibernation and as a result rarely survive the winter; the lack of adequate sustenance and fat reserves makes them liable to pneumonia and similar conditions. However in a mild winter these youngsters will continue to feed and with supplementary food and/or captive conditions can make it through the winter months. It may not be just the birds that are eating foodstuffs put out in the garden!

Eleanor has been visiting Harrington Airfield regularly and feeding the birds on the concrete track where it junctions the minor road to Draughton. Nothing of specific interest as yet but today there were good numbers of Chaffinches, Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings and even Blackbirds and Blue Tits taking advantage of the food.

Today we received  news of ringing effort returns, the more interesting as follows...

i. Pete Gilbert was working at Pitsford Reservoir today and on the reserve found a decomposed body of a Tawny Owl. It transpires that this bird was ringed as a nestling in one of the reserve owl boxes in April 2012. Clearly it didn't live very long and it seems didn't travel far;
ii. A young male Blackcap ringed at Pitsford on 13th Sept 2014 was caught again by ringers at Icklesham, Sussex on 25th Sept 2014;
iii. A Lesser Redpoll ringed at Stortons Gravel Pits on 7th Oct 2012 was caught again by ringers operating in South Lanarkshire, Scotland on 19th April 2014;
iv. A young female Cetti's Warbler ringed at Stortons GP on 31st Aug 2013 and was then caught by ringers working at Rutland Water on 16th May 2014;
v. A female Goldfinch ringed at Astcote (South Northants) on 4th Feb 2014 was found freshly dead at Crossrigg, Cumbria on 22nd Oct 2014;
vi. A juvenile Blue Tit ringed at Greens Norton on 7th Sept this year then took a 32km journey north to Stanford Reservoir where it was caught by ringers on 23rd October. I wonder what stimulated it to travel north to another area of the county (the British breeding stock of this species is normally pretty sedentary)?

Regards

Neil M

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Glyn Davies Wood

Hello

Despite a strong south-westerly breeze this morning, a ringing session took place at Glyn Davies Wood right over in the west of the county. This ancient fragment of woodland is managed and owned by the Banbury Ornithological Society and the warden Mike Lewis maintains an excellent feed station within the wood. 

Some 72 birds were processed which included 2 Goldcrests, 19 Great Tits, 35 Blue Tits, 5 Marsh Tits, a Willow Tit, 3 Coal Tits, a Robin, 2 Wrens, a Blackbird and a Nuthatch.

Other birds on-site included typical woodland birds and a couple of Ravens.

One or two Raven(s) were present at Hanging Houghton this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Pitsford Ringing

Hello

A ringing session took place around the main feed station at Pitsford Reservoir this morning providing 70 captures as managed by Dave Francis. Re-trap birds included 8 Moorhens and a 6 year-old Blue Tit. New birds included a Fieldfare, a Song Thrush, 5 Blackbirds, a Starling, a Robin, 2 Dunnocks, 7 Tree Sparrows, 5 Chaffinches, 5 Greenfinches and 6 Yellowhammers.

Eleanor saw c100 Golden Plovers at Harrington Airfield at lunch-time but couldn't find anything else of note and visiting birder Garry Smith notched up a Barn Owl at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M


Monday 15 December 2014

Meagre Pickings

Hello

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir today courtesy of Eleanor and Neil H included a Great Northern Diver south of the causeway, two Great White Egrets north of the causeway and three 'redhead' Smew in the Holcot Bay. 

The only birds of note at Blueberry Farm were the three pairs of Stonechat.

Regards

Neil M