Iceland - 4th - 8th March 2022

Wednesday, 5 August 2020

Marsh Harrier, Common Redstart and Clouded Yellows

Hello

An admin day for me but I started with a walk up at Harrington Airfield in blustery conditions - not surprisingly the birds were keeping their heads down and a Raven was the only bird of note. Back at Hanging Houghton there have been a couple of Ravens about but otherwise it has been 'confined to barracks' for me!

Eleanor's morning run route picked up on a Common Redstart in trackside hedging between the Harrington Airfield Museum and the Brampton Valley Way (close to the BVW) and a Wheatear on the other side of the BVW along a footpath that leads to Maidwell village.

This afternoon's check of the Brampton Valley and the fields at Blueberry Farm provided views of a Marsh Harrier flying towards Cottesbrooke and a couple of concentrations of Clouded Yellow butterflies associating with nectar crop strips. These fast flying and robust butterflies seem to cope very well with the windy conditions of this summer, and in all probability it is this very element that has brought them here! The same area was good for Hobby and Little Owl today.

The Earls Barton Pits complex has today hosted a couple of Great White Egrets, a Greenshank, a Green Sandpiper, three Common Sandpipers and a fly-through Curlew.

The continued large movement of Lesser Black-backed Gulls through the county continues apace!

Regards

Neil M



Hoverfly chrysotoxum festivum
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Greenfinch courtesy of
John Tilly.



Goldfinches courtesy
of John Tilly.

Grey Heron.

Phasia hemiptera


Wheatear at Pitsford
Reservoir yesterday
courtesy of David Arden.

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