Over the past few days I have visited my usual haunts, hedgerows and fields and have seen very little. Infact the silence has been deafening and it really felt as if all the birds had moved out. !!
The weekend has been more productive. Yesterday whilst walking around Borough Hill, Daventry I located a small mixed flock of warblers which included Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler. Tagged onto this flock were 2 Common Redstart and a Spotted Flycatcher. The birds were clearly on a mission and moved very quickly along the hedgerow and I had to walk fast to keep up with them . There were also 2 Raven here and the usual Ravens at Staverton keeping us entertained whilst we did our agility training.
In the evening I took the dogs for a walk below Hanging Houghton which proved to be quite a stressful experience due to the local hunt appearing out of a gap in the hedge right in front of me !!! It certainly took me and the dogs by surprise as this was 19.45 hrs and I had to quickly alter my route and in doing so I nearly jumped out of my skin when a Barn Owl suddenly appeared and started "hissing" at me . Once I'd recovered I watched it disappear like a ghost into the fading light.
Following my run this morning I decided to pop over to Hollowell and as I drove into the village the iconic Red Arrows came overhead, low and slow giving a lovely view. At the reservoir itself the Spotted Redshank was feeding in the mouth of the Guilsborough Bay along with 2 Common Sandpiper. There were also 4 Little Egret present, one of which looked as if it had been rolling in the mud as it was covered in brown splodges. A Whinchat was hopping about on the shoreline.
A visit to nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir reminded me that Autumn is here with the presence of at least 20 Wigeon. Other birds included 2 Pintail and a Green Sandpiper.
I thought that I might as well call in at Pitsford Reservoir on the way home to catch up with the Knot. However when I arrived I thought that I had made a mistake as there was a lot of sailing activity and disturbance. I located the Knot on a small spit between the dam and grange bay and as I watched it a windsurfer came of his sailboard literally a few feet infront of the Knot and it didn't even move but carried on feeding.!!
I spent some time at the end of the old Scaldwell road and saw Black Tern, Whinchat , Garganey and a single Goldeneye, another reminder of the changing seasons.
As I turned to leave I heard the familiar purr of an old plane and it was the Lancaster Bomber which looked amazing as it came low over the reservoir and headed across the fields towards Brixworth.
My final destination today was Harrington Airfield where the bushes were again silent. However the greatest surprise came when I was walking towards the end of the rough area and saw a bird coming low head on towards me and it took a few seconds to register what it was......a Short Eared Owl, which simply passed me by and carried on. I don't think that it landed as I couldn't locate it again.
Regards Eleanor
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