The wintry weather continues

Hello

Another cold day with some quite spectacular snow flurries and a hail storm for some this afternoon.

It would appear that the weather has been affecting some of our coastal waders with inland records of Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwits and particularly Knot. Some of these birds appeared in the county yesterday with a Knot in the Welland Valley near Gretton which was still present today. Another Knot and a Bar-tailed Godwit and two Dunlin were found at Stanwick Pits today where there were still five Redshanks, twenty-nine White-fronted Geese and two Cattle Egrets.

The adult male Ring-necked Duck was seen again on Large Lake, Ditchford Pits today together with a Great White Egret.

Chris Green reported the details of the colour-ringed Peregrine on St Mary's church at Higham Ferrers to the BTO and details have come through quickly which indicates this bird was ringed as a nestling in Leicestershire in 2018, oddly enough on another St Mary's church at Bottesford! It wasn't clear from the BTO response whether the bird had been sighted elsewhere since 2018.

Jon found a couple of groups of Crossbills again at Hollowell Reservoir this morning, amounting to between five and ten birds and birds in the Nene Valley in the Ecton SF area below Cogenhoe included a Kingfisher, three Green Sandpipers, a good number of wintering Chiffchaffs, five Stonechats and two Grey Wagtails.

Eleanor's afternoon patrol of Blueberry Farm near Maidwell again connected with the wintering female Merlin and a Barn Owl, and a Raven was noted at Pitsford Reservoir. Our garden birds included three Reed Buntings and several Fieldfares seeking sanctuary and food plus another increase in visiting Blackbirds.

Regards

Neil M

Common Buzzard near
Scaldwell today attracted
to a roadkill Badger, image
 courtesy of Jacob.

Skylark and Meadow Pipit
are birds of the open country
and a falling of snow and freezing
conditions make them species
easy to witness making daytime
cold weather movements.