A White Stork and more spring migrants

Hello

A dull, cloudy day with mild temperatures and sunny spells and a couple of very light showers made today rather pleasant.

The two Mealy Redpolls were still with Lesser Redpolls at the attenuation pond off Sandy Lane, Duston today.

Daventry Country Park was the latest venue to attract a Cattle Egret and a first year Caspian Gull and a first year Yellow-legged Gull were present too. Nuthatches on-site were seen looking over a nest box.

The 'redhead' Smew was still at Clifford Hill Pits today plus a Little Ringed Plover and two Oystercatchers. Perhaps the bird of the day was John's observation of a White Stork over Hemington flying towards Barnwell at 10am this morning.

Summer Leys LNR provided sightings of a Cattle Egret, a Little Ringed Plover and twenty Sand Martins and Pitsford Reservoir hosted a drake Red-crested Pochard off the Old Scaldwell Road, about thirty Common Snipe, two Jack Snipe, several Sand Martins, a male Brambling and both Ravens and a Curlew heard calling. Two Ravens were at Hanging Houghton today and two Short-eared Owls remain in private fields west of Lamport village.

A Wheatear was at Stanford Reservoir this evening plus two Oystercatchers and two Shelduck and Hollowell Reservoir managed a pair of Pintail, two Jack Snipe and two Common Snipe. A male Blackcap was in a Woodford Halse garden, still attracted to apples despite the mild conditions.

A little garden bird ringing at Greens Norton this morning provided three Greenfinches, fifteen Goldfinches and seven Siskins as migrant finches still remain with us. One of the Siskins was a bird first ringed as a juvenile in Aberdeenshire in July last year, further evidence that this influx of Siskins seem to be bound for Scotland.

Regards

Neil M

It is that time of the year!
 Spring lambs by John Tilly.

Tree Sparrow courtesy
of Jane Neill.

 The numbers of this dapper bird
 continue to plummet in the county
 and this species seems to be going
 the same way as the Willow Tit despite
 lots of efforts locally to support them.

Basic map showing
where today's control Siskin
was originally caught
and ringed an Aberdeenshire,
and Greens Norton where
encountered this morning.

Map courtesy of
Nick Wood.