I have been away competing rather successfully with Rouzel and Jaeger at an agility competition over the weekend so my county birding was limited and internet issues have made it impossible to write a blog.
Sunday afternoon on my return from competing I decided to relax by taking the dogs for a meander around Blueberry area. I was standing about enjoying the autumn afternoon when a Roe Deer popped out and started to trot across the stubble fields. It looked stunning with the sunshine highlighting the colour of it's coat. As I watched I was aware of a raptor flying behind it. I couldn't believe my eyes as I realised that it was a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier which was hunting over the stubble fields. I watched it for several minutes before a couple of Ravens came over and the harrier disappeared from view.
Yesterday morning I decided to visit Harrington Airfield. I needed to feed the birds and we had had some heavy rain overnight which can be productive for Harrington especially at this time of year. It did not disappoint. As I checked the area around bunker one I flushed a Short-eared Owl. Other birds around the bunkers and top field included 3 Common Redstarts, 4 Whinchats, 3 Northern Wheatears and 10 Golden Plovers. There was a noticeable number of Blackbirds about. Clearly the weather had influenced this movement of birds.
As is so typical of Harrington some of these birds had moved on a few hours later but the 'ringtail' Hen Harrier made an appearance and was chasing the large flock of Linnets. It was last seen heading towards the Brampton Valley Way.
I intended to go to Blueberry later in the day so made a mental note that the harrier was still around. But before I could get there the harrier was indeed found back at Blueberry and watched by others before it disappeared towards Lamport. It was early evening before I managed to get back to Blueberry and rather surprisingly the harrier was flying around over the stubble fields and it headed towards Maidwell and I suspect ended back at Harrington Airfield. The only other birds at Blueberry were 3 Common Redstarts which popped out of their usual hedge after a short shower of rain.
As I headed home there were 4 Whinchats near "shrike hedge " below Hanging Houghton.
Earlier in the day I popped into Pitsford Reservoir which is looking very good at the moment and plenty of birds packed onto the small side. In the Scaldwell Bay there were at least 10 Pintail, a female Red-crested Pochard, Great White Egrets, Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshanks, Green and Common Sandpipers. Two Ospreys flew through, possibly on their way to their wintering ground in Africa.
On Saturday Kenny Cramer and his team had an amazing ringing session at Linford Reserve near Milton Keynes. 121 birds trapped, 22 different species and 103 new birds - 40 Blackcaps, 28 Chiffchaffs, 10 Willow Warblers and a single Garden Warbler. Quite a bit of diversity in the birds including Kingfisher, Goldcrest, Common Tern, Black headed Gull, Mute Swan, Jackdaw, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker. But star bird was Barn Owl. Amazingly 3 different Barn Owls were trapped with one already bearing a ring. It will be interesting to see where this bird came from - watch this space!!
Tomorrow (Wednesday) the Northants Bird Club will be meeting at 7.30pm at the Lodge, Pitsford Water. If you have ever wondered what the role of the County Bird Recorder involves? what happens to the bird records ? are all the records wanted ? what do the records show us ? and so many more questions. Come along to the meeting and meet our County Recorder Jon Cook who will be giving a presentation about his role. It promises to be a very informative and interactive meeting where all these questions and many more will be answered. Everyone is very welcome.
Regards Eleanor
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| Barn Owl. |
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| Black-headed Gull. |
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| Green Woodpecker. All images courtesy of Kenny Cramer. |
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