Movement at last!!

 At long last there has been a noticeable movement of new birds, hooray !!. Not that I have seen any of them.  All I could muster was a Northern Wheatear at Harrington Airfield and 3 different Barn Owls in my area.  The garden continues to be very busy and today when I looked out of the window I  saw 3 beautiful boys, a Brambling,  Reed Bunting and a Blackcap, bizarrely all sitting in the same bush. The Blackcap was enjoying an apple with the Brambling and Reed Bunting perched nearby.  I  know that  many folk have been lucky to have Blackcap wintering in their gardens but despite us feeding the birds with a  huge variety of feeds we struggle to attract these lovely Warblers, so I was delighted to see him.

I think that yesterday was a taster for things to come. At Hollowell Reservoir there were a couple of Common Terns which I think are the first ones to be recorded this spring and a Dunlin. A flock of 7 Barnacle Geese were seen flying west from Summer Leys.                     However today simply got better,  a Water Pipit was found at Ravensthorpe Reservoir and hung around until mid afternoon when it was seen to fly off.  The female Ring Necked Duck was still showing well there today.  An Osprey was seen at Pitsford Reservoir, a singing Sedge Warbler at Stanwick GP and a House Martin at Daventry CP.  But all was not over as 2 stunning drake Red Breasted Mergansers were found close to the dam at Daventry CP.   We don't get many of these birds turning up in the county and I understand that they were showing well, so it will be well worth the journey over to Daventry if they hang around.                                                                                                               Finally at least 250 Sand Martins moved through Hollowell Reservoir. 

I wonder what the next few days will bring, fingers crossed that we have some exciting sightings ahead. Just keep your ears and eyes open!!

Regards Eleanor