The winter thrushes are coming

Hello

A particularly warm day and we were seeing some evidence of mass migration on the east coast as winter thrushes finally filtered through in some numbers. Short-eared Owls, winter finches, thrushes and wildfowl have impacted the east coat in large numbers and traditionally it takes a couple of days to see a few individuals from this immigration to be seen locally.

Redwings were in big numbers today with flocks seen over urban and rural areas during the first half of the morning and again this evening with four hundred logged during the day at Harrington Airfield which included some roosting birds this evening. Two Fieldfares were at Harrington this morning and about ten dropped in this afternoon. Other birds seen there today included three pairs of Stonechats, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, twenty-five Golden Plovers and several Siskins and Redpolls plus two Ravens and Grey Partridges.

Three female Stonechats were at 'shrike hedge' in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton with a pair seen there later. Other birds in the Brampton Valley included a Barn Owl, several Golden Plovers, a couple of calling Grey Partridges, five Tree Sparrows, a flock of forty-five Skylarks, a single Grey Wagtail plus a few Siskins and Redpolls.

At least six Stonechats were at Borough Hill Country Park (Daventry) today and a Peregrine and a Kingfisher were at Summer Leys LNR this morning and Barn Owls noted during the last couple of days including hunting birds at Scaldwell and Maidford plus a brood of four youngsters being ringed in South Northants on Friday.

At Stanford Reservoir today sightings included four Red-crested Pochards, a Marsh Harrier, a Great White Egret, a Green Sandpiper, a Pintail, a Water Rail, forty-five Redwings and at least eleven hundred Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the roost. In addition over two hundred birds were processed by the ringers on-site.

Regards

Neil M

Barn Owl nestlings
courtesy of Chris Payne.

Muntjac.

Hornets taking over
an owl nest box!

Stonechat.

Lapwing.

Above four images taken
at Pitsford Reservoir by
Tony Stanford.