Tuesday 28 August 2018

Autumn migration in full flow...

Hello

The Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton made a nice change of scenery from Pitsford this morning and it started well with a cracking male Ring Ouzel hopping around on the scuffed fields, quickly followed up with quality migrants in the shapes of a Whinchat and a Wheatear.

A subsequent visit to Harrington Airfield continued the same theme with a Tree Pipit, a Redstart, a Wheatear, a Turtle Dove, a Hobby and two coveys of Grey Partridge all present. Ringing sessions at Harrington are planned for tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday when general access to the scrubby areas and bunkers will be restricted - my apologies if this affects your plans. Official footpaths and the concrete track will be open to all and unaffected by ringing operations.

An excellent ringing session at Stortons Pits this morning started well when the first capture was a juvenile Kingfisher! Other birds were made up of a Lesser Whitethroat, eight Whitethroats, three Garden Warblers, a high total of thirty-six Blackcaps, three Willow Warblers, three Chiffchaffs, a Cetti's Warbler, four Sedge Warblers, twenty Reed Warblers, four Wrens, five Robins, a Dunnock, three Blue Tits, two Great Tits, eight Long-tailed Tits, a Blackbird, three Goldfinches and a Reed Bunting. The vast majority of these birds were new and not previously ringed (only five re-traps), further reflecting the fact that there is significant migrational movement going on among our passerines.

Regards

Neil M


Kingfisher at
Stortons Pits today
courtesy of Chris Payne.

Common Buzzard.

North American Mink. This image was
taken in Scotland last week but these animals
are present along most waterways here in
Northants. Never before have we experienced
so much variety of  'mustelids' locally...the Weasels,
Stoats and Badgers now being joined by Mink,
Polecat and Otter and in all probability one day
also Pine Marten which are spilling out of Scotland
and Wales and are marching south and east...

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