Great Northern Diver, egrets and Blackcaps.

Hello

Another grey, cold day and with virtually no wind either - a morning walk at Harrington Airfield to feed the hordes provided an estimation of about fifty Bramblings and about a hundred Golden Plovers present.

A male Blackcap has been coming to a Great Billing garden for about a week (including today) with a female visiting before that and another male Blackcap was seen in an Oundle garden today. Birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and associated with the bird food crop included at least one Corn Bunting still plus eight Grey Partridges and four Common Snipe.

The Great Northern Diver was again present at Pitsford Reservoir today and could be found (or not) cruising anywhere between the dam and the causeway as it no doubt familiarised itself with it's new surroundings. Some people saw it easily, some did not! The Barnacle Goose which turned up in the autumn was with the Canada Geese in fields and also on the reservoir.

Just outside the county boundary at Upper Wardington, a significant Starling murmuration was captured on film this afternoon.

The White-fronted Goose was again seen in fields with other geese next to Sywell Country Park today and egrets in the Nene Valley at/close to the Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows reserve included two Cattle Egrets, a Little Egret and a Great White Egret plus a Redshank. A Goosander and a Stonechat were noted at Stortons Pits today and birds at Ravensthorpe Reservoir amounted to the Pink-footed Goose, a Lesser Redpoll and twenty Siskins.

Eight Cattle Egrets at the north-east end of Stanwick Pits this afternoon was a good concentration and a Caspian Gull was again at Rushton Landfill Site also this afternoon.

Logged birds at Stanford Reservoir today included a high modern-day count of 1600 Common Gulls, three Goosanders, a Kingfisher, six Ravens, a Chiffchaff and twenty-three Siskins.

The work to provide a viewing screen designed to watch Kingfishers and other waterbirds at Pitsford Reservoir has now been completed and can be found by walking around the northern section of the Scaldwell Bay, passing over the feeding stream (if travelling in a clockwise direction) towards Willow Hide with the area on the right hand side after about 300m from the feeder stream bridge. A permit is required for access to the reserve.

Regards

Neil M

Kingfisher courtesy of
Dave Jackson.

Cattle Egret courtesy of
Dave Jackson.

Blackcap courtesy of
Laurence Arnold.