Bird Club Indoor Meeting

Hello

The first indoor meeting of the Northants Bird Club for 2020 is this coming Wednesday 8th Jan when club chairman Bob Gill takes to the stand. Bob will provide a presentation on the Camargue, South France which was the venue for the NBC foreign trip in May 2019.

Several members have provided images of birds, insects, landscapes etc which Bob will present, providing a suitable insight to this wildlife-rich area on the Mediterranean coast of France.

The meeting commences at 7.30pm, the venue is the Fishing Lodge at Pitsford Reservoir and members and non-members are cordially invited to attend! Hot drinks and biscuits will be available and we look forward to seeing you there!

Neil M

Slender-billed Gull.

Greater Flamingos.

Scarce Swallowtail
butterfly.

SP55

Hello

Today Helen Franklin and I had a go at completing the Banbury Ornithological Society Short Day Count in SP55 to the west of Daventry. This is all about trying to find as many different wild bird species in a specific 10km tetrad between 8am and 4pm as possible, and over the years the changing picture of what is common and what is rare has changed quite a bit! The weather, the climate, the habitat and other factors have ensured that it is now difficult or even impossible to find birds such as Willow Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting etc. On the plus side I certainly didn't see Red Kites, Ravens and Yellow-legged Gulls when I first started completing these surveys!

For me the undoubted best site in SP55 is Fawsley Park which incorporates lakes fringed with reeds, mature trees, broken woodland and grass fields. And so it was here that we started our day and our best birds were really at the start of the day when we encountered a Little Owl, several Water Rails, two Woodcock, a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail. Gulls were prominent with small flocks arriving and leaving, some washing in the lakes and others feeding on worms in fields. Local birding guru Ian Dobson found a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls in the flock which included plenty of Lesser Black-backs and Herrings. A pair of Pochard was a good find and the finch flock in the alders contained plenty of Goldfinches as well as about fifty Siskins. Several Ravens were vocal and the first of a remarkable number of Red Kites during the day popped up there too.

With about fifty species logged we reluctantly left Fawsley and trundled around this rural tetrad in search of other birds. Ten Red Kites at Everdon Hill Farm was unprecedented. Some farmed Red Deer near Mantles Heath didn't used to be there! Some scanning over open fields in the Cannons Ashby and Woodford Halse area provided plenty of repeats with more big gulls worming in stubble fields, on territory Ravens and common raptors. West Farndon hosted a flock of Greylags, not frequently encountered in this square, but Byfield Pool was quiet with Water Rail and Kingfisher as highlights. A Stonechat was at Catesby yesterday but we didn't see it today and other birds included a Kingfisher, plenty of Ravens and a Barn Owl.

Eleanor's efforts more locally provided four Ravens in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and the Short-eared Owl again at Harrington Airfield (between Bunkers 2 and 3).

Seven Whooper Swans flew in to Summer Leys yesterday afternoon but couldn't be seen today. A Great White Egret was present still. Stanwick today was busy with four Great White Egrets, nineteen Goosanders and seven Redshanks. Nearby Ditchford Pits had three Cattle Egrets west of Ditchford Lane and Thrapston Pits still hosts two Great White Egrets, a Shelduck and a Stonechat. The good-looking Great Grey Shrike continued to entertain on rough land on the DIRFT3 site near Crick.

A ringing session at Stortons Pits this morning caught a small number of birds but included another new Water Rail!


Regards

Neil M

Great Grey Shrike courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Water Rail courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Red Deer.

Samples of Saturday

Hello

Some wandering around the Kelmarsh Estate today in some of the rarely visited areas provided some additional Marsh Tit territories, perhaps more proof that this species seems to be doing well in Northants. A vegetated pond west of Arthingworth provided singles of Woodcock and Common Snipe. Two more Woodcock were in the bottom of their usual hedge haunt at Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) this morning.

I spent much of the day filling up bird feeders and at Pitsford Reservoir the only birds of note I saw were three Stonechats in the Scaldwell Bay and one or two Kingfisher(s) and the third winter Yellow-legged Gull by the dam. At least one Grey Wagtail was at Brixworth Water Treatment Works and Eleanor spent some time working the rough fields between Kings Heath and Harlestone Heath this afternoon, finding a pair of Stonechat and a Barn Owl. However this area looks very good for 'asio' owls and other interesting species.

Other observers active in the county included Debbie and Eric at Thrapston Pits where the best birds were a Great White Egret and a drake Goosander.  Birds at Stanwick Pits included the Scaup still plus two Great White Egrets and a Cattle Egret. A Great White Egret was again at Ditchford Pits and a flock of about two hundred Golden Plovers were near the A45 at Earls Barton. There was no sign of the interesting geese at Clifford Hills Pits today but there were six Goosanders and two Ring-necked Parakeets there.

A couple of ringing recoveries have come through the system as follows...

A drake Mallard was caught and ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 1st December 2018 and was shot near Lamport on 23rd December 2019. A Mallard duckling was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 21st July 2018 and similarly shot near Lamport on 23rd December 2019. These records continue a catalogue of Mallard ringed at Pitsford Reservoir which have then been shot locally within a year or two.

A male Siskin was ringed at an unspecified site in the Highlands, Scotland on 30th March 2017 (aged as a first year bird). This bird turned up in a mist net with two un-ringed Siskins at Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate on 11th December 2019 - 986 days had elapsed between the two records and the distance between the two sites is 622km. The Siskin is potentially a very mobile finch and this individual has probably covered thousands of kilometres during it's three and a half years of life.

Regards

Neil M

Drake Mallard.

Male Siskin.

New Year birds

Hello

Yesterday (Thursday) and a visit to Harrington Airfield produced a pair of Raven and a flock of twelve partridges which were probably the usual Grey covey wintering on-site.

Pitsford Reservoir yielded a couple of Great White Egrets and the two drake Red-crested Pochard were seen again. Stanwick Pits retained the Scaup, two early Shelducks, seven Redshank and nine Golden Plovers with four Cattle Egrets later on the layby pit. A Great White Egret was at Ditchford Pits and seven Little Egrets on the River Ise at Burton Latimer provides an indication where the food is at this time of the year. Two White-fronted Geese at Clifford Hill Pits was a good find with a Great White Egret there too.

Today (Friday) and Harrington Airfield hosted a flock of about 150 Golden Plovers plus an attendant Peregrine and two Bramblings.

The two White-fronted Geese were still at Clifford Hill Pits as was a Barnacle Goose and a drake Goosander. The DIRFT3 site near Crick continues to weave it's magic on the Great Grey Shrike (that relatively small area must be rich in rodents) plus a pair of Stonechat. A Green Sandpiper was on the dam at Stanford Reservoir and a Woodcock was seen in flight near Whilton Locks.

Other birds today included a Great White Egret in the Holcot Bay at Pitsford Reservoir, four Cattle Egrets at Ditchford Pits to the west of Ditchford Lane and later five Cattle Egrets were back at the layby pit at Stanwick Lakes, with the Scaup and two Great White Egrets on the Main Lake.

Finally Eleanor enjoyed watching a stunning adult male Hen Harrier in the Brampton Valley this afternoon, flying from Hanging Houghton towards Blueberry Farm.

Regards

Neil M

Goosanders.

Kingfisher.

Images from Abington Park, Northampton
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

New Year's Day.

Hello

2020 began still. mild and a little grey here in Hanging Houghton, Northamptonshire. Three Tawny Owls and a Little Owl were calling well just before a late dawn. The first obvious birds in the garden were Blackbirds coming in for early morning treats in the shape of suet pellets and dried mealworms. Despite the mild conditions we still have a couple of Pied Wagtails visiting and a Siskin was flying around the garden for a short duration. Two Reed Buntings will probably become more regular as the winter season pushes on towards spring.

However the most common visitor to the garden today were Goldfinches, which can't resist the sunflower hearts (but eating black sunflower and nyger too). Cheerful charms of these birds dominated the feeders, but sometimes gave way to a feisty Greenfinch.

I was fortunate to spend eight days in Portugal over the festive period as part of my tour-leading for Naturetrek. As usual we spent much of our time in the sunny Algarve looking for the typical birds of southern Europe and the Mediterranean region. We were fortunate to enjoy eight days of sunshine, no rain and warm temperatures which of course were ideal conditions to find the birds we were looking for. Unusually we saw some good mammals too, including Wild Boar with piglets, Otter and Egyptian Mongoose. Some of the more topical birds of the region included Great and Little Bustards, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark, Audouin's Gull, Western Swamphen, Little Bittern, Bonelli's Eagle and many others. A separate tab or page is on this blog designed to feature images from this trip.

Locally today a number of birders were out and about and Steve Fisher's efforts at Stanwick Pits provided two Great White Egrets, seven Redshanks, twenty-one Goosanders and a female Scaup. Earls Barton Pits hosted one or two Great White Egret(s) and Thrapston Pits held a Great White Egret, three Goosanders and a pair of Raven. Hollowell Reservoir was good for two Great White Egrets and a drake Goosander and Pitsford Reservoir attracted two drake Red-crested Pochard in the Scaldwell Bay, a Great White Egret in the Walgrave Bay and the usual third winter Yellow-legged Gull off the dam. In addition the wintering Great Grey Shrike was still at the DIRFT3 site near Crick and a Short-eared Owl was reported too.

Regards

Neil M

Goosanders courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Great White Egret.

Goldfinch courtesy
of John Tilly.

Happy New Year!

Hello

A ringing session took place at Pitsford Reservoir yesterday afternoon and this morning in the vicinity of the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station. This end of the year operation provided 67 captures of 13 species made up of two Moorhens, a Fieldfare, three Blackbirds, twenty-five Blue Tits, eight Great Tits, a Long-tailed Tit, a Treecreeper, four Robins, a female Stonechat, seven Tree Sparrows, a Bullfinch, two Reed Buntings and eleven Yellowhammers.

A Short-eared Owl popped up again at Harrington Airfield this morning, flushed and then in flight between Bunkers Two and Three. Other birds there included four Ravens and eleven Golden Plovers.

Adrian visited Ditchford Lane today and espied a Cattle Egret and nine Egyptian Geese.

Happy New Year!

Neil and Eleanor

Short-eared Owl
courtesy of Robin.

Raven.

Golden Plover courtesy
of Dave Jackson.

Lucky Barn Owl

I always find this period between Christmas and New Year has a bit of " a no man's land" feel about it. The big day is behind us and we look forward to the New Year and starting our bird lists all over again.  I find it a frustrating time as you cannot get anything sorted out and the whole world seems to be out and about on the roads or walking around some of my birding sites.  I intended to walk around Sywell Reservoir this morning but both car parks were full so I drove away thinking I would stop at Pitsford, but again due to the amount of people I didn't bother.
Even the valley below Hanging Houghton didn't escape as people were everywhere and then about 20 4x4 vehicles full of shooters and dogs arrived at the big barn before heading off around the fields.  No chance of a peaceful walk and needless to say I saw no birds of note today.

On a different note, my other main hobby is dog agility. At the weekend I went to a competition called the " Festive Challenge" in Warwickshire.  As I was driving to the venue a car travelling towards me hit a Barn Owl which landed in the road in a heap. I quickly stopped my car and opened my drivers door and scooped it up before the next car arrived. I literally threw it onto my front passenger seat where it fluttered and then went quiet. I thought that it had died.  I continued to drive to the venue and it was about 07.45hrs and just getting light when I arrived.  When I looked at the owl I was very surprised to see it trying to sit up albeit very wobbly.  A quick check revealed no obvious injuries so I made it safe and comfortable in my car whilst I carried on to compete with Tor and Jaeger.  I think its fair to say that both dogs were full of the festive spirit as Jaeger didn't listen and made his own courses up whilst Mr Reliable Tor decided to party around.  Needless to say they were both useless !!!!!
Late afternoon when the competition was over I checked the owl and he/she had spent the day asleep and had left me a present behind of a very fresh regurgitated pellet.   
On my way home I was able to stop along the stretch of road where I had picked it up in the morning. I sat him/her on a fence and kept my fingers crossed. He/she sat there for a couple of seconds before flying off across the fields.   I was very relieved.  Whilst I had not had one of my best days at competing the sight of the Barn Owl flying across the fields more than made up for it.

Regards Eleanor 

Christmas Eve

This morning I popped into town very early to pick up last minute shopping and took the opportunity of visiting Harlestone Firs on my way home.
It was just beginning to get light as I entered the woods and the birds were just thinking about waking up !!!  As I walked the sun rose and the birds started their "winter dawn " chorus. It was quite amazing to simply listen as more and more birds joined in. Already the most vocal of the birds were the Siskins and during my walk around Siskins were dotted all through the wood.  The most I saw together was a flock of 60 near the railway line.  Other birds included several Nuthatches, Marsh Tits and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.
I also explored the large rough area adjacent to the Firs and accessed via a footpath from the Firs.  It looks an interesting area and I quickly came across two pairs of Stonechats. 
The fields between the Firs and this rough area were full of feeding birds. I easily counted a flock of 52 Pied Wagtails and 70 Linnets. Other birds included large numbers of Rooks, Jackdaws and Stock Doves.
As I walked back into the Firs it started to rain and this produced a beautiful bright rainbow.   My quick walk ended up being a 2 hour amble and I hardly saw another person and most of the time it felt as if I had got the whole place to myself, well apart from my young collies !!  Bliss
At lunchtime it was the turn of my other dogs to go out so I took them on a slow wander around the fields below Hanging Houghton. Lately it has been very quiet in this area but today there were more birds about, namely Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers.  There were plenty of Common Buzzards and Red Kites enjoying the sunshine and wind and I nearly missed the Ring Tailed Hen Harrier as it came through and went off across the fields towards Cottesbrooke.

WE  WOULD  JUST  LIKE  TO WISH  EVERYONE  A VERY HAPPY  CHRISTMAS  AND HOPE  THAT  YOU ENJOY  YOUR  DAY  WHATEVER  YOU  ARE  DOING  AND  WHEREVER  YOU MIGHT  BE X

Out and About

Another nice day with plenty of blue skies and sunshine and I was able to get out and about more.
I started the day with an early morning run where I saw a Barn Owl as dawn broke and flushed at least 2 Woodcock from the hedgerows near to Blueberry.
Later in the day I managed a quick look at Pitsford and saw the male Smew and a Great White Egret north of the causeway.
An equally brief visit to Hollowell and a better look at the 2 Velvet Scotors in good light.  My previous view of the scotors had been just as the light was fading so it was good to see them in sunshine today.  They are lovely looking birds and well worth a trip over.
Early afternoon found me at Harrington to feed the birds. As I was leaving the car a flock of about 200 Golden Plover came over, circled around calling before continuing heading southwards. 
I'd no sooner started walking again when I could hear the corvids getting excited about something and when I looked I could see that they were harassing a Short Eared Owl.  They all disappeared from view towards the third bunker and despite walking around there with my 4 legged helpers I failed to locate the owl.    Otherwise it was very quiet at Harrington.
Non stop today as we have lots of birds visiting the garden and we are replenishing the seed daily.  Today's visitors included male Blackcap, male Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Grey Wagtail and Sparrowhawk.

Regards Eleanor

Despite being out and about today in the pleasant sunshine the birds were few and far between.  The fields remain saturated with large areas of standing water which has caused the feeding winter thrushes and passerines to temporarily move out.  Even the hedgerows are strangely silent.
At Pitsford there was a male Smew off the fishing lodge and a Peregrine and Yellow Legged Gull at the dam.
A Grey Wagtail and Water Rail were present at Brixworth Treatment works whilst at nearby Hollowell Reservoir the 2 Velvet Scotors remain.

Regards Eleanor

Birds of Saturday...

Hello

Neither of us had time for much in the way of any birding yesterday (Saturday) with Ravens in Hanging Houghton being the only birds of note.

Other birders in the county picked up on a small increase in Smew locally with a drake being seen close in to the eastern shore near the dam at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, a 'redhead' still at Summer Leys and an elusive 'redhead' at Hardingstone Pits (also known as Ransome Road Lake). Nick Parker saw a Great White Egret at Thrapston Pits but has been unable to find the Whooper Swan in recent days.

The Velvet Scoters were reported from Hollowell Reservoir again and other birds for Summer Leys included a Great White Egret and a Peregrine.

Some basic analysis of the birds processed which had been previously ringed at the ringing session at Pitsford Reservoir last Wednesday identifies quite a number of tits being at least six years old and still going strong. The proportion of adult Great Tits far exceeded those of the youngsters, and in fact newly ringed Great Tits were low in number. I have noticed quite a number of slow, lethargic and clearly sick Great Tits locally for some weeks now and it seems that there is something of a die-off going on.

The fortunes of the Great Tits seems to be at odds with the more arboreal Blue Tits which are in very high numbers this year with the numbers of fresh first year Blue Tits out-numbering the adults. For both Great Tits and Blue Tits, many of the birds encountered last Wednesday were originally ringed as nestlings in the 200 plus nest boxes on-site. Ringing tells us that it is not unusual for a proportion of the birds to remain in their natal area but it also tells us that a significant proportion spill out into neighbouring areas and a few birds travel extraordinary distances within the UK.

News has reached us of a Cetti's Warbler originally ringed at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 4th November 2018 and then being caught again on 20th October this year but this time at Ingrebourne Valley in Greater London (350 days later). This young female travelled 92km in a south-easterly direction, proving again that the UK population of this once-thought sedentary species travels around this island of ours quite extensively before settling in to a territory.

Regards

Neil M

Great Tit.

Blue Tit.

Images courtesy of Robin Gossage.

What a wet lot!

Hello

'Intermittent light rain' it said when we planned our Pitsford Reservoir WeBs count for today! Well it rained all day and mostly it wasn't light but we managed to complete our count nevertheless. Fortunately it wasn't cold and there was very little wind. The reservoir is well above it's water retention capacity and much of the waterside furniture/bushes/trees are underwater.

Bird-wise it seemed quiet, the highlights being a Great White Egret, four Little Egrets, a drake Mandarin Duck, forty-one Common Snipe, five Stonechats in the end, a Chiffchaff and two Grey Wagtails. A calling goose at dawn sounded like a White-fronted Goose but the Greylag flock remained in the fields and mostly obscured during the day so it wasn't possible to check them through properly. A Stoat was active south of the causeway and road-side Barn Owl sightings the last couple of days include the A361 at Fawsley and the minor road between Ravensthorpe Reservoir (dam end) and Teeton.

Regards

Neil M

Willow Tit.

Marsh Tit.

Images courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Ringing at Christies Copse, Pitsford Reservoir

Hello

A ringing session took place today at Christies Copse at Pitsford Reservoir where a small team processed 206 birds of 17 species. Just over half this total were new birds, the majority of the re-traps being resident tits. The catch was made up of a female Green Woodpecker, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, six Blackbirds, a Song Thrush, five Redwings, two Robins, three Goldcrests, two Wrens, fourteen Long-tailed Tits, ninety-six Blue Tits, fifty-one Great Tits, eleven Coal Tits, a Marsh Tit, a Grey Wagtail, seven Chaffinches, a male Brambling and two Reed Buntings.

Several Woodcock were present in the copse, a Kingfisher was seen and a few more Bramblings were about. A drake Smew was seen in the Scaldwell Bay today.

Another ringing session at Stortons Pits was successful in catching a Water Rail among other birds.

Two Ravens were seen at Moulton College today, the two Velvet Scoters and a Great White Egret were at Hollowell Reservoir and Hardingstone Pits hosted a 'redhead' Smew and six Goosanders.

Regards

Neil M

Wren.

Grey Wagtail.

Pied Wagtail.

Part of the Pitsford Ringing
team hard at it!

Images courtesy of
Pete Gilbert.

Female Green Woodpecker.

Water Rail courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Male Brambling.

Monday's musings

Hello

An early morning meander around Harrington Airfield this morning provided a covey of seven Grey Partridge and a Woodcock with another Woodcock flushed along the Brampton Valley Way south of Draughton Crossing.

The Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this morning supported a Great White Egret, a drake Goosander, a Redshank and a pair of Stonechat.

The male Blackcap re-appeared here in the garden at Hanging Houghton and was observed eating from suet blocks. A male Reed Bunting was the first in the garden since the late spring.

A Great White Egret showed at Hollowell Reservoir but the Velvet Scoters were not reported today.

Regards

Neil M

Long-tailed Tits.

Cormorants.

Images courtesy
of John Tilly.

Cool and breezy Sunday - but sun too!

Hello

I'm afraid I had very little opportunity for any birding personally today and Eleanor was away eventing with the three collies.

I did notice a male Blackcap in our small rear garden this morning. I wasn't sure what he was eating but I have now added some more 'cut in half apples on sticks' which he may come and sample. We are still receiving regular visits from Marsh Tits, Nuthatches and three Pied Wagtails but the Bramblings seemed to have now moved on. Small flocks of Skylarks were on rape-drilled stubble fields near to Hanging Houghton today (flocks of 18 and 12) and the hedges that have not been massacred by flails continued to provide their berry crops for Blackbirds, Redwings, Fieldfares and a few Song Thrushes.

Other observers today located the long-staying Great Grey Shrike near Crick next to the DIRFT3 complex and Hollowell Reservoir continued to host the two Velvet Scoters plus a Great White Egret and the mobile Ruddy Shelduck.

Regards

Neil M

Adult male Blackbird.

A fair proportion of the
Starlings around locally
are likely to be migrant
birds from Russia, intending
to spend the winter here before
winging back north-east in the
 spring.

All images courtesy of
John Tilly.