Insects on show

Hello

It's that time of the year again when the WeBS autumn count season begins and a slog around Ditchford Gravel Pits didn't produce much in the way of birds. A few waders were present in the shape of three Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover and four Oystercatchers.

The Watersport Pit hosted fourteen Egyptian Geese and other birds included a handful of Cetti's Warblers, three Water Rails in habitat suitable for breeding and at least five Kingfishers.

Two adult male Redstarts remain at Borough Hill Country Park (Daventry), both in the hedgeline near to the car park still.

Please note that ringing operations are taking place at Harrington Airfield tomorrow and access is not permitted to the bunkers and old airstrip during this process. The concrete tracks and footpaths remain open.

Regards

Neil M

Speckled Wood butterfly

Head shot of a metallic male
Banded Demoiselle.

Male Common Darter.

Head shot of a Brown
Hawker dragonfly.

No birds to photograph today, so
insects shots from Ditchford GP instead.

Scarce passerines on the move...

Hello

The Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton hosted two Whinchats and a Redstart this morning.

At Pitsford Reservoir there were three Tree Pipits with singles flying south at 6.20am and 6.55am and then a third one lingering for a short time before disappearing. Other birds noted on-site north of the causeway included two Yellow-legged Gulls and singles of Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper.

A Common Tern nestling was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 30th June 2010 and this bird was spotted at Manton Bay, Rutland Water on 4th August 2017 where an eagle-eyed observer read the details on the metal ring in the field (using a telescope I assume).

Regards

Neil M

Tree Pipit.

Whinchat.

Both Whinchat and Tree Pipit are
scarce spring migrants but are more
plentiful during the south-bound migration
in the autumn.

Birds of Pitsford

Hello

A beautiful day out there today with plenty of sunshine but a cool start for the time of year.

Eleanor's foray in to the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning produced sightings of a Redstart and two Whinchats and a brief visit to Harrington Airfield provided just a sighting of two young Grey Partridges.

Pitsford Reservoir north of the causeway looked very serene this evening and no real change in the birds with two Great White Egrets, a drake Garganey (one of probably three present currently), two Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper and two Yellow-legged Gulls all on show.

Regards

Neil M

Plenty of Tree Sparrows are
utilising the seed feeders at
the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding
Station at Pitsford Reservoir
to the point where they are emptying
some of the feeders in a day!
Image courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Common Tern. The last few chicks
are still on the rafts at Pitsford Reservoir
and the margins and open waters still
retain many adults and flying juveniles.
Image courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Adult Great Tit. Plenty of juveniles are
out and about currently but their
comparative large size ensures
they are selected by Sparrowhawks
in mixed tit flocks as they are often
twice the weight of their Blue Tit
companions and this extra biomass
makes the effort of catching them all
 the more worthwhile.
Image courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Another wet day!

Hello

Blimey where is all this rain coming from? Hopefully that's it for a little while...

Eleanor located the long-staying Redstart in a hedge near to Blueberry Farm this morning and the Grasshopper Warbler was still there and singing (a very persistent 'reeler')! A male Peregrine was hunting around the same area.

Checking the reserve north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon provided views of two Great White Egrets, two Garganey, four Common Sandpipers, a Hobby and a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls. The gull roost off the Sailing Club was mostly uneventful but the gathered House and Sand Martins attracted a Hobby and there was a vocal Redshank and seven Yellow-legged Gulls.

Regards

Neil M

Hobby.

Great White Egret.

That was a lot of rain!

Hello

Heavy rain today and a couple of visits to Pitsford Reservoir today located two Black-tailed Godwits, two Redshanks, four Common Sandpipers, two Ringed Plovers, eight Dunlin, two Hobbies and eleven Yellow-legged Gulls plus an Osprey flew from the reservoir this evening.

A family party of Grey Wagtails was on the dam at Sywell Country Park and this afternoon a walk along the footpath between Walgrave and Pitsford Reservoir sheltered three or four Redstarts (two adult males), two Whinchats and a Wheatear and a juvenile Marsh Harrier was quartering the fields nearby.

Dave Jackson enjoyed a trip to Iceland this year and has kindly provided us with some images from the trip - the images can be found on the Tab 'Dave Jackson Images'.

Regards

Neil M

Whinchat

Harvest time

Hello

Ringing at Harrington Airfield on a consecutive day after yesterday was a little more modest with 54 birds made up of 9 Yellowhammers, 8 Dunnocks, 2 Song Thrushes, 3 Robins, 10 Whitethroats, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Reed Buntings, 4 Goldfinches, a Linnet, 4 Willow Warblers, 3 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blue Tits, a Great Tit, a Blackbird and a Garden Warbler.

Harvesting operations was creating a great deal of interest amongst the local Red Kites and Common Buzzards which were up in the air for much of the day watching the combining and other work in the cereal fields. A high-up Golden Plover flew over.

Eleanor watched a juvenile Marsh Harrier in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning and located 2-3 Redstarts in one of the traditional stop-over hedges there.

Neil H visited Pitsford Reservoir today and saw a Great White Egret, a Redshank, 2 Common Sandpipers and 2 Green Sandpipers. This evening the GWE was still present in the Scaldwell Bay and there was also 7 Little Egrets, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a Garganey on show from the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station.

Regards

Neil M

Gatekeeper butterfly.

Stoat and Rabbit prey at
Harrington Airfield today.

D is for Dunnock!

Dunnock
Courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Hello

A ringing session at Harrington Airfield this morning succeeded in processing 87 birds, 78 of which were new. These birds included 19 Dunnocks, most of which were juveniles and seems to indicate they have bred very successfully on-site this year!

Other birds making up the total were 9 Yellowhammers (mostly juveniles), 2 Blue Tits, a Great Tit, 2 juvenile Marsh Tits, 2 Robins, 14 Whitethoats (all juveniles), a Lesser Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, 3 Reed Buntings, 11 Linnets (from a flock of about 70 there at the moment), 3 Goldfinches, 5 Chaffinches, a Bullfinch, 8 Willow Warblers, 3 Chiffchaffs and 2 Wrens.

Other birds seen on-site included a male Peregrine, several Yellow Wagtails and a Willow Tit. Dragonflies noted were Brown Hawker and Migrant Hawker.

Debbie and Eric Graham paid Blatherwycke Lake a visit this morning and saw three Little Egrets, two Mandarin Ducks and plenty of raptors made up of a family of Sparrowhawks and flying young of both Red Kite and Common Buzzard.

Brief ringing operations at Stortons Gravel Pits in the scrub area this morning provided 41 captures which included a Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroats, Reed Warblers, Blackcaps, Garden Warblers, Cetti's Warblers, Goldfinches, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Dunnocks and Wrens. The ringing team were able to see plenty of birds of prey overhead including Hobby and Peregrine.

Ringers were also in operation in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today with 53 birds of 18 species processed and assessed made up of 9 Bullfinches, 7 Blackcaps, 6 Wrens, 5 Treecreepers, 4 Great Tits, 4 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackbirds, 2 Willow Warblers, 2 Robins, 2 Coal Tits, 2 Kingfishers and singles of Long-tailed Tit, Garden Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Song Thrush and a Mallard.

Regards

Neil M

Cock Linnet
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Juvenile Lesser Whitethroat
courtesy of Chris Payne.

Images from Pitsford Res today

Hello

A quick wander at Harrington Airfield this morning produced two Redstarts between the chippings compound and the first bunker and a Turtle Dove by the second bunker. Harvesting has begun so it could be a little noisy and dusty there this week-end! On Sunday and Monday there will be restricted access due to ringing operations but the concrete track and footpaths remain unaffected.

Pitsford Reservoir and the remarkably low water levels continue to attract migrants and today Robin Gossage saw an Osprey, a Great White Egret, just one Black-tailed Godwit and ten Common Sandpipers.

A family party of Spotted Flycatchers were active at Naseby, and Welford Reservoir this evening attracted a Hobby, a Kingfisher and three Common Sandpipers.

Regards

Neil M

Osprey.

Black-tailed Godwit.

Common Sandpiper.

Spotted Flycatcher.

Images from Pitsford Reservoir
today all courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Pitsford update

Hello

An evening visit to Pitsford Reservoir today and scanning from the Old Scaldwell Road provided views of 7 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Common Sandpipers, 6 Dunlin, a Ringed Plover, the eclipse Goldeneye still, a Hobby, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull and 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls.

Again this evening a couple of Hobbies were in the field behind our house, but our local Little Owls weren't particularly impressed!

Regards

Neil M

Hobby.

Black-tailed Godwit.

Not much to report...

Hello

Yesterday evening (Tuesday) and Cathy Ryden saw an Osprey at Hollowell Reservoir plus a Common Sandpiper and eight Little Egrets.

Neither Eleanor or I saw anything of note today (Wednesday) but Neil Hasdell was at Summer Leys Nature Reserve this morning and watched a juvenile Marsh Harrier from the screen hide hunting the reeds and margins...

Regards

Neil M

Green Woodpecker
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Great Spotted Woodpecker
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Juvenile Bullfinch
courtesy of John Tilly.

Male Bullfinch
courtesy of John Tilly.

Drinking Goldfinches
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Camargue images

Hello

We struggled with time today to spend much time out and about so some images from my July trip to the Camargue (South France) for your perusal...

Regards

Neil M

Black Kite.

Mottle-winged Ant-lion.

Bath White butterfly.

Saddle-backed Cricket sp.

Red-veined Darter.

Southern Skimmer.

Copper Demoiselle.

Yellow Clubtail dragonfly.

Green-eyed Hawker (generally known
as Norfolk Hawker in the UK).

Western Spectre dragonfly - a large
dragonfly that is a fan of the shade.

Scarce Chaser dragonfly.

Purple Heron. Hundreds of pairs
breed in the Camargue.