Ring Ouzels and the elusive Hoopoe

It has been another couple of lovely Autumn days and luckily I have been able to get out and about.

Yesterday morning it was a toss up whether I went Harrington Airfield or Blueberry area first. Always a bit of a dilemma and this time Blueberry won. It was soon apparent that birds were on the move as the air was filled with the calls of Redwings and Fieldfares as they went over. Other birds heard were Bramblings, Siskins and Redpolls.

As I approached Blueberry I picked up a skein of small grey geese approaching and watched as 15 Pink Footed Geese went over my head calling and headed off eastwards. These were shortly followed by another three birds taking the same line. I had literally walked another few meters when 2 Ring Ouzels perched briefly in a nearby tree before flying off. It really was quite bizarre as all this happened within the space of half an hour!!

Before heading back for breakfast I went straight up to Harrington Airfield where I didn't really see anything of note. There were plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares in the bushes but very little else.

This morning I again started at Blueberry but it was extremely quiet. It was initially quite foggy this morning so I waited until it had lifted before heading to Harrington Airfield. Again plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares in the bushes and a noticeable influx of Blackbirds. Whilst sitting around at bunker 2 I heard the unmistakable chak call of a Ring Ouzel and eventually it gave itself up and showed quite well. Today I saw 2 pairs of Stonechat which I didn't see yesterday. Again Brambling, Siskins and Redpolls going over. Then it was back to shrike hedge area where I timed it to perfection as the female Merlin put in an appearance and headed off after the Skylarks towards Cottesbrooke.

A brief visit to Pitsford Reservoir produced a drake Red-crested Pochard and 2 Goldeneye. There is still a Hoopoe around. Yesterday it was seen briefly in Harlestone where it had been viewed over the weekend. Then in the afternoon there was reports of one in gardens a short distance away in Chapel Brampton village. Today the Hoopoe was again reported in gardens in Chapel Brampton. I decided to make the short journey over there and have a look in the area , as did several other birders. Between us we spent a couple of hours there hoping that the Hoopoe would break cover, but no luck. It was either sitting tight out of sight in the gardens or has moved on. I think that the best things I saw there were 2 Red Admirals and some strange looking fungi.

Other birds reported over the past couple of days include Arctic Tern, Rock Pipit, Egyptian Goose, Stonechats and Caspian Gull at Hollowell Reservoir, Goosander at Hardingstone GP, Cattle Egrets at Stanwick GP and the female/1st winter Ring Necked Duck at Titchmarsh LNR.

Regards Eleanor

Red Admiral.

Rock Pipit.