Hello
Today's bird sightings were dominated by Crossbills as the summer irruption into the UK continues.
At Bucknell Wood today there were at least twenty Crossbills in the trees before being attacked by a Sparrowhawk. Smaller flocks seen subsequently may have been part of the original large flock, and a Raven was present too.
Tom had at least a dozen Crossbills in his sights in trees within the car park complex at Wakerley Wood in the north of the county and Nick had three more fly over Town Lake at Thrapston Pits (and an Osprey fly north there at 2pm).
In the meantime the two juvenile Black-necked Grebes continue to grace the Summer Leys LNR and this afternoon's steady light rain procured hundreds of Swifts and five Redshanks to appear, with a Common Sandpiper noted earlier.
Steve's daily excursion to Stanwick Pits provided views of four Cattle Egrets and a Mediterranean Gull, all on the main lake early on. A Raven infuriated the local crows at Hanging Houghton this morning!
A Naturetrek day trip to Pitsford Reservoir unfortunately coincided with some particularly wet and persistent weather but the warmth and light winds at least permitted sharp-eyed observers to find water-logged butterflies and other insects. Before we began our walk Mischa had kindly collected some moths from the traps and provided us with thirteen species to look at including Pine Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Yellowtail, Bufftip and Beautiful Hooktip.
The weather was far from ideal in spotting small birds in the foliage but we glimpsed a family party of Spotted Flycatchers and encountered Marsh Tits at several points around the reserve. Warblers didn't put on much of a show but we saw Reed and Garden Warblers and a Lesser Whitethroat sang briefly. Fourteen species of butterfly were logged including a couple of Purple Hairstreaks and a few Marbled Whites and Emerald Damselfly was the best of the odonata on show. Plenty of Common Toadlets were on the march and we had to be careful not to tread on them and Roesel's Bush-crickets were 'reeling' despite the precipitation.
Regards
Neil M
Today's bird sightings were dominated by Crossbills as the summer irruption into the UK continues.
At Bucknell Wood today there were at least twenty Crossbills in the trees before being attacked by a Sparrowhawk. Smaller flocks seen subsequently may have been part of the original large flock, and a Raven was present too.
Tom had at least a dozen Crossbills in his sights in trees within the car park complex at Wakerley Wood in the north of the county and Nick had three more fly over Town Lake at Thrapston Pits (and an Osprey fly north there at 2pm).
In the meantime the two juvenile Black-necked Grebes continue to grace the Summer Leys LNR and this afternoon's steady light rain procured hundreds of Swifts and five Redshanks to appear, with a Common Sandpiper noted earlier.
Steve's daily excursion to Stanwick Pits provided views of four Cattle Egrets and a Mediterranean Gull, all on the main lake early on. A Raven infuriated the local crows at Hanging Houghton this morning!
A Naturetrek day trip to Pitsford Reservoir unfortunately coincided with some particularly wet and persistent weather but the warmth and light winds at least permitted sharp-eyed observers to find water-logged butterflies and other insects. Before we began our walk Mischa had kindly collected some moths from the traps and provided us with thirteen species to look at including Pine Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Yellowtail, Bufftip and Beautiful Hooktip.
The weather was far from ideal in spotting small birds in the foliage but we glimpsed a family party of Spotted Flycatchers and encountered Marsh Tits at several points around the reserve. Warblers didn't put on much of a show but we saw Reed and Garden Warblers and a Lesser Whitethroat sang briefly. Fourteen species of butterfly were logged including a couple of Purple Hairstreaks and a few Marbled Whites and Emerald Damselfly was the best of the odonata on show. Plenty of Common Toadlets were on the march and we had to be careful not to tread on them and Roesel's Bush-crickets were 'reeling' despite the precipitation.
Regards
Neil M
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| A nosy Elephant Hawk-moth |
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| Beautiful Hooktip. |
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| Common Blue Damselflies. |
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| Emerald Damselfly. |
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| Marbled White butterfly. |
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| Small Skipper. |
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| Essex Skipper. All images from a wet Pitsford Reservoir today. |
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