Iceland - 4th - 8th March 2022

Friday, 18 January 2019

Snipe, Bramblings and other winter fare...

Hello

Birds yesterday (Thursday) at Hanging Houghton included a Brambling and a Raven with other Bramblings heard calling in the hedge by the barn in the valley early morning.

Birds reported elsewhere included a Great Northern Diver at Pitsford Reservoir, a single Short-eared Owl in the afternoon at Neville's Lodge, Finedon and two good gulls at Stanford Reservoir in the afternoon comprising of a Glaucous Gull and an Iceland Gull!

Today (Friday) and a ringing session at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station at Pitsford provided 72 captures of 13 species, 47 of the birds being newly-ringed. Specific efforts aimed at catching Common Snipe proved successful with twelve birds being caught, eleven of them being new birds. The bird already bearing a ring was ringed at Pitsford way back in 2013 by Neil Hasdell and deemed to be an adult bird then!

Other birds processed included four Fieldfares, five Blackbirds, a Redwing, eight Great Tits, seventeen Blue Tits, six Long-tailed Tits, two Dunnocks, two Robins, seven Tree Sparrows, three Chaffinches, three Yellowhammers and two Reed Buntings.

Other birds noted north of the causeway included at least three Great White Egrets, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, a Redshank and the pair of wintering Stonechat (the male looking particularly bright).

Ten Bramblings graced our Hanging Houghton garden this afternoon (five males) and birds noted at Thrapston Pits by Eric included the juvenile Whooper Swan still, 3-4 Great White Egrets, four Little Egrets, a drake Pintail and three Goosanders. Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows (Ditchford Pits complex) hosted a female Scaup, a Great White Egret and a Redshank.

Regards

Neil M



Female Lesser Scaup at Blithfield, Staffs
on Wednesday...courtesy of Bethan Clyne.
This species was a predicted county bird for
 Northants over twenty years ago...but we
are still waiting!

Common Snipe at Pitsford today...

Fieldfare at Pitsford Reservoir today...

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