Raw first day of March

Hello 

A raw, grey and initially murky day felt quite different to the lovely sunny weather from last week!

A walk in the morning mist at Harrington Airfield first thing proved quite challenging to see anything but the Short-eared Owl flushed up at Bunker Three again and about a hundred Golden Plovers came wheeling out of the mist on a couple of occasions. At least one Raven could be heard calling and there are still a few Grey Partridges on-site.

In the Welland Valley this afternoon there was a Little Egret and two Oystercatchers below Cottingham and a young male Merlin showed twice in the valley between Rockingham and Gretton.

The cold day brought a resurgence of birds back in to the garden which included a couple of Reed Buntings and three Yellowhammers.

The drake Ring-necked Duck was reported at Big Lake, Ditchford Pits today and the drake Smew was apparently on the Skew Bridge Pit again too. Late news from yesterday was of a sighting of the male Bearded Tit again at Stortons Pits.

Geoff saw another Merlin between Upper Benefield and Deene today where there was also a Little Owl on show. Two Peregrines were over Barnes Meadow LNR today and probably the same two birds were also seen perched on the National Grid communications tower off St Peter's Way, Northampton.

Four Cattle Egrets were at Stanwick Pits this morning and birds in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir included a Great White Egret, a Woodcock, an Oystercatcher, five Snipe and a gathering of 73 Stock Doves. A Barn Owl was at Scaldwell village this evening.

Regards

Neil M

Stock Dove.

Barn Owl by
Nathan Jones.

Kestrel courtesy
of Robin Gossage.