Northamptonshire Birding: Birds of mid-December

Hello

A relatively mild if dull day nevertheless stayed dry with a light breeze.

Two Ravens have been in the village here at Hanging Houghton for the last couple of days. Each year they have a long hard look at the conifers in the village for nesting but tend to opt for a large cedar in Lamport village instead.

A ringing session at Harrington Airfield aimed at migrant thrushes caused the capture and processing of four Fieldfares, a Song Thrush and seventeen Redwings, only a fraction of the birds still inhabiting the berry bushes there. Bonus birds were a Green Woodpecker, a Goldcrest and several Blue Tits and a Great Tit. Fly-over birds included singles of Brambling, Siskin and Redpoll and three Ravens were particularly noisy. A Stoat was seen there too.

There was little of note to be seen north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir today with even higher and very brown water levels. A Chiffchaff was at the Old Scaldwell Road bushes and a Common Buzzard there was seen with a large Brown Rat this afternoon.

A drake Red-crested Pochard was noted at Clifford Hill Pits this morning, at the SW end of the main lake.

A 'ringtail' Hen Harrier was again seen in the Nene Valley between Irthlingborough and Wellingborough this afternoon and at Stanwick Pits there were seven Cattle Egrets on the Roadside Lake this morning.

Two more Cattle Egrets were in a field north of Home Farm near Stanford Hall and at Stanford Reservoir there were at least 1800 Common Gulls, about seventy Great Black-backed Gulls and two first winter Mediterranean Gulls in the gull roost. Fifteen Siskins were noted there too.

At Ravensthorpe Reservoir this morning there was an adult Caspian Gull and Siskin and Lesser Redpoll on-site. Nearby Hollowell Reservoir hosted a Jack Snipe, a Pink-footed Goose, an adult Caspian Gull and four Stonechats.

Four Woodcock and two Barn Owls were at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M