Chiffchaffs, dragonflies and Storm Petrels.

Hello

A morning walk first thing confirmed the presence of good numbers of freshly-arrived Chiffchaffs in the hedges, their distinctive shrill calls seem to have been everywhere I have today...

A couple of Ravens returned to Hanging Houghton and a quick check on a couple of sections of the reserve at Pitsford Reservoir in sunny weather this morning confirmed the presence of plenty of late season dragonflies seeking prey of their own; Migrant Hawkers seemed particularly numerous. A Hobby by the Fishing Lodge was chasing and catching the said dragonflies. Scanning the Scaldwell Bay shallows provided views of four Pintail but nothing else of note.

The gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir off the Sailing Club this evening attracted a second winter Mediterranean Gull and at least five Yellow-legged Gulls.

Elsewhere and Nick Parker located a Great White Egret on Town Lake at Thrapston Pits and Bob Bullock's visit to Ravensthorpe Reservoir scooped two Green Sandpipers with a Dunlin, two Common Sandpipers, three Ringed Plovers, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, two Egyptian Geese and a Stonechat at nearby Hollowell Reservoir.

Regards

Neil M

Infra Red image of a Storm
Petrel and it's five week old
fluffy chick courtesy of Chris
Payne. More details can be
found in the British Birds
 e-newsletter (issue 53).

Redshanks courtesy of
John Tilly.

Common Darter munching
another insect.

Migrant Hawkers at Pitsford
Reservoir today...

Sunday's birds

Hello

The first excursion this morning was up to Harrington Airfield where there were plenty of open country birds such as Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer and Skylark. A female Stonechat was at Bunker Three and there was a small family party of Grey Partridges plus a fly-over Grey Wagtail.

There are plenty of birds visiting our garden feeders at the moment with particularly good numbers of first year Blue Tits and Goldfinches plus a couple each of Nuthatch and Marsh Tit.

Stuart Munday saw a Great White Egret and a Snipe at Summer Leys today and Adrian Borley visited the reserve section of Pitsford Reservoir and notched up two Great White Egrets, a Common Sandpiper, a Snipe and both Pintail and Goldeneye.

This evening a vocal Ruddy Shelduck flew south over the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir and the gull roost there contained an influx of Great Black-backed Gulls, at least five Yellow-legged Gulls and a first winter Mediterranean Gull.

Birds vocal in and around the village at Hanging Houghton after dark the last couple of nights have included Tawny Owl, Barn Owl, Hobby, Gadwall and Wigeon.

Regards

Neil M

Curlew at Titchwell
courtesy of John Tilly.

Great White Egret
courtesy of John Tilly.

Saturday's birds

Hello

A day of chores today but the first dog walk of the day this morning was in stunning, golden light in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton where there were plenty of common raptors out hunting. A Common Redstart was in 'shrike hedge' and a Golden Plover was present in the fields for a short time. A large flock of Linnets and small flocks of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers suggest that the wild bird food crop and nectar beds may attract birds throughout the autumn. Fiona saw a Whinchat on 'shrike hedge' this afternoon.

Two Ravens were near Scaldwell village, a Hobby was over Delapre (Northampton) and Stanwick Pits again hosted six Cattle Egrets today plus two Hobby and two Yellow-legged Gulls. A Great White Egret and a Snipe lingered at Summer Leys today and Thrapston Pits supported a Dunlin, a Snipe, a Pintail and a Yellow-legged Gull.

Regards

Neil M

Long-billed Dowitcher.

Lapland Bunting.

Above images taken
in Dorset recently
courtesy of John Gamble.

Hobby.

Poland in Autumn

Hello

Earlier this week I returned home from a nine day trip to Poland. The main locations visited were the ancient forest of Bialowieza, the Biebrza Marshes and the Vistula Spit on the Baltic Coast. We were blessed with fine weather and the following images represent a small selection of the wildlife encountered...

Regards

Neil M

Brimstone butterfly.

Nightjar.

European Beaver.

White-tailed Eagle.

Common Tern.

Dunlin.

Second calendar year
Caspian Gull.

Seeing Red!

Hello

A second consecutive day of bird ringing at Harrington Airfield was planned to take advantage of the almost zero wind speed and fine weather. It was warmer again than yesterday and although strong sunshine showed up the mist nets the small team managed to catch and process 98 birds of 14 species. Only six of these birds were previously-caught birds and none from yesterday which suggests there are an awful lot of birds up there!

The obvious highlight was a beautiful female Common Redstart. Other birds included a Reed Bunting, five Yellowhammers, eleven Dunnocks, four Great Tits, twenty-two Blue Tits, a Lesser Whitethroat, a rather late Common Whitethroat, twenty-three Meadow Pipits, seven Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest, a Linnet, four Chaffinches and sixteen Goldfinches.

Other birds seen on location included a Golden Plover and a Whinchat, a Stonechat and a covey of ten Grey Partridges all at Bunker Three.

Elsewhere and Steve Fisher's morning visit to Stanwick Lakes/Pits provided views of six Cattle Egrets whilst at Summer Leys there was a Peregrine, a Hobby and a Pintail.

Regards

Neil M

Common Redstart.

Red Kite.

Chiffchaff courtesy
of Dave Jackson.

Ringing at Harrington

Hello

A busy ringing session at Harrington Airfield today netted 156 birds of eighteen species, just ten birds having been encountered there before. A Lesser Whitethroat and a Tree Sparrow were perhaps the highlights but we managed to catch a useful total of 31 Meadow Pipits, 17 Yellowhammers and 35 Goldfinches. Other birds included a Great Spotted Woodpecker, two Reed Buntings, nine Long-tailed Tits, nineteen Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, thirteen Great Tits, a Goldcrest, two Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, seven Dunnocks, four Robins, a Linnet and nine Chaffinches.

A Common Redstart was around Bunker One and at least one Raven was present too.

Summer Leys attracted a few birds today comprising a Great White Egret, two Pintail, two Stonechats, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Hobby. Dave Jackson saw an unidentified large falcon at Clifford Hill Pits today plus a drake Red-crested Pochard.

Regards

Neil M

Lesser Whitethroat.

Linnet.

Long-tailed Tit.

All images courtesy

of John Tilly.

Chat valley

Hello

Eleanor's usual trawl of the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton (three visits in all) provided all three species of chat with a pair of Stonechat, a Whinchat and a Wheatear. A Barn Owl was hunting the valley this evening.

Harrington Airfield hosted a couple of Golden Plovers this morning and birds seen near Wilby at Hockerhill Farm (private site) included two Common Redstarts, a Spotted Flycatcher and two Ravens. The gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir contained six Yellow-legged Gulls this evening, but nothing else of note was seen; a Grey Wagtail was at nearby Brixworth Treatment Works. Two Ravens at Hanging Houghton became three this afternoon and their behaviour suggested conflict between them.

The two Slavonian Grebes couldn't be found at Clifford Hill Pits today but there were two Ravens there and Summerleys hosted two Great White Egrets and two Pintail.

A reminder that there will be ringing operations at Harrington Airfield on both Wednesday and Thursday this week and access will be restricted to the bunker and old airstrip area - the concrete track and nearby footpaths will be unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Stonechat.

Whinchat.

Wheatear.

Sunday's ringing

Hello

Northants Ringing Group members were active yesterday at two key sites. Kenny and team were in among the birds at Linford Lakes where they processed 95 birds (85 new) of twelve species. Some excellent warbler numbers is more evidence of a good breeding season with 25 Chiffchaffs, 12 Willow Warblers (a very high total for so late in the season), 21 Blackcaps, 6 Reed Warblers and 3 Sedge Warblers. Other birds included 6 Wrens, 3 Robins, 3 Dunnocks, 10 Blue Tits, 3 Great Tits, a Greenfinch and 2 Reed Buntings.

Two Green Sandpipers were also present and other wildlife included 7 Great Crested Newts, 12 Common Newts, 3 Common Frogs, 2 Common Toads and a Water Shrew.

In the meantime Dave and Lewis were working at Pitsford Reservoir and caught 61 birds of 18 species. A female Sparrowhawk was perhaps the highlight but a spread of birds included 5 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaffs, 5 Wrens, a Treecreeper, a Long-tailed Tit, 12 Blue Tits, 6 Great Tits, 2 Coal Tits, a Willow Tit, a Marsh Tit, 5 Robins, 5 Blackcaps, 3 Dunnocks, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Blackbirds, a Chaffinch and 4 Bullfinches.

Eleanor's visit to Harrington Airfield this morning yielded small numbers of Blackcaps, a rather late Garden Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers. There will be bird ringing at this site on Wednesday and Thursday this week and access to the bunkers and old airstrip will be restricted to invitees. Please let me know if you would like to come along.

Two Grey Partridges were the only birds of note in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton today.

A brief visit to the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this evening was good for a Great White Egret, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, four Snipe, a Green Sandpiper and two Grey Wagtails.

Bob Bullock found two Slavonian Grebes at Clifford Hill Pits today, the birds remaining on the main barrage lake all day. A Common Sandpiper was also present. Nick Parker's efforts at Thrapston Pits produced two Red-crested Pochard and two Pintail.

Regards

Neil M

Adult female Sparrowhawk.

Chiffchaff.

Willow Warbler.

Autumn Days

I know that I have said this before but this is my favourite time of year. Autumn always seems such a special time, that transition from the long lazy summer days to the shorter colder days ahead. 
The hedgerows heavy with their ripening fruits, the fields a mixture of stubble and fresh plough now that most of the harvest is in and the trees beginning to turn from green to orange. The sky is not exempt as there have been some stunning sunrises and sunsets over the past week and the moon at the moment is big and beautiful too. The countryside around is a feast for the eyes with so many colours and textures. 
At this time of year I hate spending any time indoors and if I had my way I would be out and about from dawn until dusk, but sadly other things prevent me from doing so. But I'm always looking and listening at the birds etc around me wherever I happen to be.
There are still plenty of Painted Lady butterflies on the wing plus good numbers of Red Admiral, Peacock  and Small Tortoiseshell.
We have seen an increase in the number of birds visiting our garden, especially Goldfinches and Greenfinches.
In the valley below Hanging Houghton the weedy crops are beginning to attract large numbers of Tree Sparrows, Linnets and Goldfinches.  There are still several Whinchat favouring "shrike" hedge and this morning a Marsh Harrier was in this area.
This afternoon the air was filled with the evocative calls of the Red Kite and Buzzard.  I stood and watched as 4 Red Kites were playing with a stick low over a stubble field.  One of the kites would drop the stick and another pick it up and fly a short distance before dropping it again. And so the " game" went on with each of the kites taking part.  They were clearly enjoying themselves and were extremely vocal.   
Yesterday at Harrington there were more of the usual Autumn birds present including a Stonechat, 2 Whinchat, Northern Wheatear and Common Redstart.
This time of year is not all about the "rare" birds which might be found but the sheer spectacle and experience of visible migration. It can be an amazing experience to stand still and simply watch and listen as birds are on the move. Meadow Pipits and Swallows were moving in large numbers this morning, I wonder what will be moving tomorrow ?

Regards Eleanor

A much quieter day.

What a difference 24 hours makes. Yesterday the hedges were alive with birds but today they were ominously silent. I struggled to find any birds in shrike hedge or Harrington Airfield. 
My only bird of interest was a Quail which I flushed whilst walking the fields below Hanging Houghton this evening.
However it would appear that the ringers had more success with locating birds. Ringing at the feeding station Pitsford Reservoir produced 93 birds made up of 81 new birds and 12 retraps. Dave Francis noted a significant fall of Chiffchaff with 21 caught and all new first year birds. 
The other interesting feature is the number of Blue Tit caught and the relatively low recapture rate. Dave reports that over 700 Blue Tit have been caught this season and so many new birds continue to be caught. 23 were caught today. 
Whilst at Linford, Milton Keynes the ringers caught 111 birds, 95 of which were new birds representing 13 species. Kenny Cramer noted that warblers dominated but that there was a notable shift in proportions. 25 Reed Warblers, 19 Blackcap, 16 Chiffchaff, 8 Sedge Warblers and a single Willow Warbler and Cettis.

Regards Eleanor

Heaving Hedges !!

Most of my day has been taken up with agility training three of the dogs at Staverton . The usual Ravens were present and very vocal and visible.
My plan was to grab something to eat and have a quick walk at Borough Hill, but as I drove into the car park my heart sank as it was extremely busy and I very nearly drove straight home. However I was hungry after all the training so decided to eat my sandwiches. It's a good job that I did because as I sat in the car park I could hear a Common Redstart calling.  That was all the incentive I needed to get out of the car and at that point was only planning a short walk.
My short walk turned into a two hour amble as I kept getting distracted by the sheer amount of passerines moving along the hedgerows. It was fabulous to watch as the birds were calling, feeding and flitting about as they moved along the hedge. Thankfully the dogs were tired and were very content to simply sit and wait as I stopped and started all the way round. 
It felt a bit like old times as a few years ago heavy movement of passerines was a regular occurrence at this site.
At the end of my walk I had found a Pied Flycatcher, 6+ Spotted Flycatcher, 5 Common Redstart, 2 Tree Pipits, 3 Whinchat, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge and Garden Warbler, numerous Blackcap, Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warbler. In amongst all these warblers were Blue and Great Tits, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, juvenile Robins, Goldcrests and a few Song Thrushes and Blackbirds.
It was hard to draw myself away and I wonder what else was moving through unseen.
A quick stop at Ravensthorpe where the water level is very low produced a Green Sandpiper and an Osprey heading over the dam.
My final birding of the day was with my two other dogs and at shrike hedge below Hanging Houghton there were 2 Whinchat and a Barn Owl.

Regards Eleanor

Creatures from the south, the east and the north!

Hello

The moth traps at Pitsford Reservoir today provided something of a local rarity with the discovery of a 'clifden nonpareil' (sometimes called a Blue Underwing), a new species for the site and a moth with a distinct southerly distribution.

Details have come through now of the colour-ringed Yellow-legged Gull seen at Pitsford on 31st August. This bird was originally ringed as a chick in Germany on 31st May 2017 but already it is showing adult-like features, such is the rapid moult process of this species. That same year it was seen in Leicestershire on 12th August and 28th October and on the 25th February 2019 was spotted near Jura in eastern France. On 11th May this year it was seen across the border near Bern in Switzerland and of course this autumn has returned to the English Midlands. This series of records seems to confirm that the now regular summer and autumn influxes of Yellow-legged Gulls locally stem from breeding birds in eastern Europe. There were seventeen Yellow-legged Gulls at Stanwick this afternoon (courtesy of Steve Fisher), on the pit by the visitor centre for convenience!

Yesterday evening and Steve had a Marsh Harrier fly east through Stanwick; this morning there were five Cattle Egrets there plus a Common Sandpiper and a Swift.  Kim saw a Great White Egret and a Greenshank at Summer Leys this morning and Ken witnessed a Hobby dashing over Upper Harlestone. The Brampton Valley seemed quiet this morning, that is apart from the southward migrating Meadow Pipits whose numbers have now created significant momentum.

Regards

Neil M

'Clifden nonpareil' or Blue
Underwing moth, image
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Yellow-legged Gull.

Meadow Pipit.

Autumnal birding

Hello

No opportunities for birding yesterday and only limited time today but a few bits and pieces noted locally...

Eleanor saw the two Whinchats and a Common Redstart in 'shrike hedge' in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning and a quick foray at Harrington Airfield confirmed a Common Redstart in bushes by Bunker Two and pair of Grey Partridge with small young. The two Ravens remain resident here in the village at Hanging Houghton.

I visited the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station at Pitsford Reservoir today to feed the birds and a quick scan from there provided views of a Great White Egret in front of the Bird Club Hide in the Scaldwell Bay plus a Green Sandpiper and at least one adult Yellow-legged Gull. Dave Jackson later had a Whinchat below the dam at the other end of the reservoir and Roger Eads saw a Little Gull fly past the Maytrees Hide late this afternoon.

Elsewhere Stanwick Pits continued to host six Cattle Egrets, two Swifts and a Common Sandpiper and Summer Leys Reserve attracted a Great White Egret, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Common Sandpiper with five Whinchats and a Common Redstart at nearby Wollaston Weirs. A Wheatear was in a field next to Rowell Leys between East Haddon and Holdenby.

Regards

Neil M

Black-tailed Godwit.

Common Sandpiper.

Cormorant.

Green Sandpiper.

Kingfisher.

Little Grebe.

Spotted Redshank.

All images courtesy

of Robin Gossage.

Ditchford WeBS count

Hello

I spent much of the day completing an early September WeBS count at Ditchford Pits, initially in cloudy conditions but later in strong, warm sunshine. Sometimes it's tough being a WeBS counter! Actually there were very few water birds to count and I spent some of my time watching the clouds of Migrant Hawker dragonflies and other insects. Two pond turtles or terrapins were seen on different pits and there were some sizeable Leather or Mirror Carp active too.  

Birds of note included eight Egyptian Geese, a Snipe, a Dunlin and three Common Sandpipers west of Ditchford Lane. The Kingfisher numbers are still very low this year and I only recorded two today. The number of calling Cetti's Warblers suggested a reasonable post-breeding population on-site and Water Rails with young was good news. Meadow Pipits are passing over the county now, just a few at the moment but no doubt this number will quickly grow during September as the majority of the population in Scotland and Northern England filter south with some going as far as Iberia and even North Africa.

Other birds at Ditchford included a Hobby, just two Little Egrets, a Grey Wagtail, a couple of Ravens and a calling Little Owl. A Water Stick Insect was an impressive looking beast!

Eleanor visited Harrington Airfield today and located two Common Redstarts, a Wheatear and a Whinchat and birds in the Brampton Valley/Blueberry Farm area amounted to a Corn Bunting, another Common Redstart and two Whinchats. A/the Sacred Ibis of unknown origin was noted flying over Desborough today, Steve Fisher found five Cattle Egrets at Stanwick  and Summer Leys hosted two Great White Egrets, a Garganey, a Greenshank, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Common Sandpiper.

Finally I saw the juvenile Little Gull at Pitsford Reservoir again this evening, this time with other gulls in the Pintail Bay. Several Yellow-legged Gulls were also present.

Regards

Neil M

Migrant Hawkers...oh and
there were plenty of Blackberries
at Ditchford as usual too!

Terrapin sp at it's
usual sun bathing spot!

Water Stick Insect - apparently
the longest aquatic insect in
the UK!

Yellow-legged Gull at
Pitsford Reservoir courtesy
of Dave Jackson.