Little Gulls, godwits and Black-necked Grebes.

Hello

Similar weather to yesterday but the migrants refuse to stop coming through despite the blocking north-easterlies.

At Stanwick Pits first thing there were two adult Mediterranean Gulls, a Pink-footed Goose and a Green Sandpiper. During the early afternoon there was a passage of Little Gulls and Bar-tailed Godwits through the site and this evening there was a Whimbrel taking a nap and two Little Ringed Plovers.

A little later and things began to improve with visible migration in the Nene Valley - Summer Leys experiencing some movement with a flock of three Little Gulls lingering and eleven more straight through. Two Bar-tailed Godwits were on Gull Island and they were joined by eleven others and then all of them flew east. Eleven Bar-tailed Godwits arrived on-site over an hour later (different birds?) late morning and then flew off by 11.45am. Other birds there included a Common Sandpiper, four Ringed Plovers and two Little Ringed Plovers and a Cuckoo was heard calling at nearby Quarry Walk.

Just down the road at Clifford Hill Pits there were seventeen Little Gulls at 11.35am and twenty-four by 12.40pm. By 1.50pm there were just three Little Gulls present plus three Black-tailed Godwits and at 3.50pm there were two Bar-tailed Godwits, four Little Ringed Plovers and three Yellow Wagtails.

A Tree Pipit flew north at Harrington Airfield just before 8am and there was a Grasshopper Warbler 'reeling' intermittently between Bunkers Two and Three, with a mobile Raven flying around the complex.

Just after midday two summer plumage Black-necked Grebes were discovered at Pitsford Reservoir between Moulton Grange Bay and the dam and later in the afternoon they enjoyed the relative calmness of Moulton Grange Bay itself. A rather tired-looking Arctic Tern was in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford early afternoon, spending long periods resting on a buoy. A Cuckoo was calling between Lamport and Scaldwell this morning.

Two Sedge Warblers and two Oystercatchers were at Upton Country Park today with a Barn Owl at nearby Stortons Pits.

Regards

Neil M

Wren at Upton Country Park today.

Sedge Warbler at Upton Country Park today.

Willow Warbler at Stortons Pits today.

All images courtesy of Tony Stanford.