Just a Linnet!

Hello

A ringing session was completed at Harrington Airfield today with one species dominating the operation - the humble Linnet! Small, quirky and full of song and spirit, this underated species which is often a tumble of chestnut, brown and grey hues comes into it's own in the spring when the males exhibit their almost scarlet breasts and crown. The scrub at Harrington Airfield provides suitable nesting for this species and they forage for small seeds, ganging up in post-breeding flocks and remaining communal outside the breeding season. From the known history of re-trapped birds today, the roving flocks currently on-site are likely to be a combination of passage birds and birds returning to breed locally.

Other birds caught and processed included another fifteen species with five Bramblings, six Willow Warblers, two Blackcaps and an end-of-session rush of Yellowhammers. The scrubby area around the bunkers provides suitable habitat for breeding Willow Warblers, with record numbers of singing males last year. Three of today's birds were returning individuals from previous years - they do exhibit a desire to return to their natal areas and previous territories.

Ringing on the private area of the airfield has been undertaken since 2014 and limited habitat management and supplementary feeding of birds now ensures that this small site is attractive to locally important numbers of Yellowhammers, Linnets and Willow Warblers - birds we are particularly keen to nurture and monitor as best we can. Disturbance has increased in recent years and the regular visits from quads and off-road bikes is one of our current problems.

Some five thousand birds have been ringed at Harrington Airfield including over six hundred Yellowhammers, over six hundred Redwings, twenty Green Woodpeckers, ten Common Redstarts and thirteen Tree Pipits.

Other birds noted on-site today included singles of Little Ringed Plover, Redpoll, Siskin and Wheatear.

A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was located in Black Snipe Wood adjacent to Yardley Chase today and the flock of about a hundred Fieldfares remain at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell. Birds at Pitsford Reservoir included a Great White Egret in the Walgrave Bay and four Common Terns, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Wheatear in the Scaldwell Bay.

At Thrapston Pits today a noisy Cuckoo was in residence plus a Reed Warbler and the Greenshank for a time (before flying off). Other birds included Raven, a Kingfisher and a pair of Shelducks.

At Summer Leys LNR this morning a Whimbrel and a Little Gull were on show and a Black-tailed Godwit was noted there this evening. Clifford Hill Pits still held on to the Ring-necked Duck (which had moved to Deep Water Pit) plus three Bar-tailed Godwits and two flocks of Golden Plover totalling some eighty-two birds.

Two Wheatears were at Borough Hill CP this evening, a Common Redstart at Kingsthorpe Meadows was a good local find and Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows attracted two Common Sandpipers, a Cuckoo and both Sedge and Reed Warblers. A first year Shag was again at Daventry Country Park this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Male Linnet.

Male Yellowhammer.

Song Thrush.

All images courtesy of
Lewis Aaron.