Birds of Harrington Airfield.

Hello

The wintry conditions from yesterday persisted overnight into this morning and then dissipated during the course of the afternoon. In many respects it provided the ideal opportunity for ringing thrushes at Harrington Airfield and this is what a small team completed today. Hundreds of Redwings and good numbers of Fieldfares were swirling around yesterday afternoon and again today and we caught and processed six handsome Fieldfares, forty-five Redwings (surely one of the ultimate migrants), a Song Thrush and ten Blackbirds. Most of these birds will have emanated from northern or north-east Europe and were taking advantage of the plentiful hawthorn berries locally before moving on in typical nomadic style. Smaller birds included twelve Bramblings, a couple of Chaffinches and Goldfinches and five Greenfinches and six Yellowhammers.

All these birds were a fraction of the birds present with a mobile flock of Bramblings this morning for a short time estimated at one hundred and seventy birds and with small numbers present in the bushes all the time we were up there. Redwings numbered up to four hundred and at one stage early this afternoon there was a similar number of Fieldfares. A Golden Plover and a few Siskins were heard calling at dawn but the best birds came later with three very vocal Hawfinches that flew low over the disused airfield heading west at 8.55am and a very vocal and low-flying Water Pipit that cut across the fields heading north-east at 9.20am.

Over at Stanford Reservoir the ringers on-site identified a big influx of Chaffinches and caught and ringed many of them plus a Brambling, again no doubt migrants from the continent. Other birds noted there included two more Bramblings, c20 Siskins, a Chiffchaff, a Kingfisher, four Ravens, a Water Rail, an Egyptian Goose, four Great White Egrets and an impressive 172 Great Black-backed Gulls in the roost. 

In the Nene Valley today there were five Cattle Egrets between Irthlingborough and the Lakes and Meadow complex with a Great White Egret on Higham Lakes and two Great White Egrets at Summer Leys LNR. Stanwick Pits attracted three more Great White Egrets, about fifteen Little Egrets and a flock of Siskins around the feeding station. The long-staying Dark-bellied Brent Goose was still at Clifford Hill Pits plus a Great White Egret, a Stonechat and a Snipe.

The Pink-footed Goose was still at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today with a Great White Egret, a Snipe and four Stonechats at Hollowell Reservoir. Approximately twenty Bramblings were at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this morning and small numbers were flying around and vocal in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton again, with two Ravens in the village again.

Regards

Neil M

Redwing.

Fieldfare.

Brambling.

Images courtesy of
Bethan Clyne.