Hello
Yesterday (Saturday) and Eleanor's wanderings provided records of 'reeling' Grasshopper Warblers at Blueberry Farm (bottom of The Hill) and in the regular weedy field between Lamport and the farm.
A brief foray to Harrington Airfield also yesterday confirmed the continuing presence of a pair of Sedge Warblers at the north-west end of the concrete track, at least three Grey Partridges and a couple of Turtle Doves. Small butterflies included a fresh Grizzled Skipper and the first emergence of the day-flying Burnett moths.
This morning and a small band of ringers were operating mist nets at Linford Lakes providing 90 captures, a very good total mostly of new birds (76) and a small number of re-traps (14) which included a Reed Warbler and Blackbird which have been ringed elsewhere (known as 'controls').
This relatively new ringing site just outside Northamptonshire is proving a profitable location for some long term studying. Highlights included 7 Whitethroats, 13 Reed Warblers, 8 Blackcaps, 10 Chiffchaffs, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Garden Warblers, 2 Sedge Warblers, a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, a juvenile Treecreeper and a Kingfisher.
Also today a small number of Northants birders drove south in the sweltering heat to Pagham Harbour in Sussex. A coastal tern colony has recently attracted an Elegant Tern to linger and after a bit of a wait we finally obtained good views of this pristine-looking bird. A little larger than a Sandwich Tern and armed with a long orangey-yellow bill, this bird will have originated on the Pacific coast of the USA. However the colour-ring sequence on it's legs indicate that this is a male bird that has previously tried breeding with Sandwich Terns in France, it's identity apparently having been confirmed by DNA (there are many large yellow/orange billed terns in the world)!
Other birds included a fine adult Roseate Tern sporting impossibly long tail streamers, lots of Sandwich, Common and Little Terns, good numbers of Mediterranean Gulls, a couple of Avocets and a Peregrine.
Eleanor noticed a flock of at least thirty Lapwings in a scuffled field at Blueberry Farm this afternoon, the first flock of these mostly failed breeding birds.
Regards
Neil M
Yesterday (Saturday) and Eleanor's wanderings provided records of 'reeling' Grasshopper Warblers at Blueberry Farm (bottom of The Hill) and in the regular weedy field between Lamport and the farm.
A brief foray to Harrington Airfield also yesterday confirmed the continuing presence of a pair of Sedge Warblers at the north-west end of the concrete track, at least three Grey Partridges and a couple of Turtle Doves. Small butterflies included a fresh Grizzled Skipper and the first emergence of the day-flying Burnett moths.
This morning and a small band of ringers were operating mist nets at Linford Lakes providing 90 captures, a very good total mostly of new birds (76) and a small number of re-traps (14) which included a Reed Warbler and Blackbird which have been ringed elsewhere (known as 'controls').
This relatively new ringing site just outside Northamptonshire is proving a profitable location for some long term studying. Highlights included 7 Whitethroats, 13 Reed Warblers, 8 Blackcaps, 10 Chiffchaffs, 3 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Garden Warblers, 2 Sedge Warblers, a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, a juvenile Treecreeper and a Kingfisher.
Also today a small number of Northants birders drove south in the sweltering heat to Pagham Harbour in Sussex. A coastal tern colony has recently attracted an Elegant Tern to linger and after a bit of a wait we finally obtained good views of this pristine-looking bird. A little larger than a Sandwich Tern and armed with a long orangey-yellow bill, this bird will have originated on the Pacific coast of the USA. However the colour-ring sequence on it's legs indicate that this is a male bird that has previously tried breeding with Sandwich Terns in France, it's identity apparently having been confirmed by DNA (there are many large yellow/orange billed terns in the world)!
Other birds included a fine adult Roseate Tern sporting impossibly long tail streamers, lots of Sandwich, Common and Little Terns, good numbers of Mediterranean Gulls, a couple of Avocets and a Peregrine.
Eleanor noticed a flock of at least thirty Lapwings in a scuffled field at Blueberry Farm this afternoon, the first flock of these mostly failed breeding birds.
Regards
Neil M
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| Common Whitethroat. |
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| Mediterranean Gull. |
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| Distant images of the Elegant Tern. All images courtesy of Jacob Spinks. |
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