Iceland - 4th - 8th March 2022

Sunday, 20 January 2019

Birds of a cold Sunday

Hello

Kenny and team targeted thrushes for their ringing session in an orchard in Milton Keynes today and despite the cold conditions affecting the mist nets they caught a very good 47 birds made up of an amazing total of 29 Blackbirds! It is likely that a high proportion of these birds will be from other countries 'enjoying' the relatively mild UK winter and hopefully we will have confirmation of this if and when we next hear of them! Other birds included 11 Redwings, 3 Woodpigeons, 3 Robins and a Chaffinch.

Birds at Hanging Houghton included a pair of Bullfinches and about six Bramblings in the garden plus a hunting Barn Owl in the Brampton Valley below the village.

Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows again hosted the female Scaup, a pair of Red-crested Pochard, a Shelduck and a Great White Egret.

Nearby at Stanwick Lakes/Pits the ringing demonstration processed 53 birds which included two Redwings, a Song Thrush, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and two Goldcrests. Some birding on-site produced sightings of a Kingfisher, two Little Egrets, three Snipe, four Goosanders, a Chiffchaff, a Grey Wagtail and a Pink-footed Goose which was at the east end of the complex with Greylag Geese.

Some scanning late afternoon looking over towards Neville's Lodge from the A6 south of Finedon produced good views of a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier hunting the fields close to the road (it looked like a first year male), and a more distant Short-eared Owl that was hunting the area towards the base of the old landfill site. Both birds occasionally perched up on the low hedges.

Other birds noted today included a Great Northern Diver at Pitsford Reservoir (near to the Gorse Bushes this afternoon) and nine Mandarin Ducks and a Black Swan at Blatherwycke Lake. John Friendship-Taylor's efforts in the under watched south of the county located a/the adult Caspian Gull in cattle fields by a farm between Chacombe and the A361 and about ten Tree Sparrows in a hedgerow near there.

Regards

Neil M


Blackbird courtesy
of Cathy Ryden.


Tree Sparrow courtesy
of Dave Jackson.

Adult Caspian Gull
courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

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