Calm once again

Hello

A relatively calm day following the strong gusts of the week-end meant that ringers could once again utilise mist nets! Dave Francis completed some garden ringing with nine Siskins hitting the nets plus two Goldfinches and more typical garden birds. The migrant finches such as Siskin have been piling on the weight the last few weeks with some birds gaining over five grams in readiness for their next big flight north.

Over at Linford Lakes the targets were again the migrant finches and incoming warblers. Kenny and his small team catalogued ninety-six birds, the majority of them being newly-ringed. Finches included five Siskins, a spectacular twenty-eight Lesser Redpolls, five Goldfinches, a high total of fourteen Greenfinches and a Chaffinch. Thirteen Blackcaps was an excellent early season total plus two Willow Warblers and two Chiffchaffs and a Kingfisher added the glamour.

I opened our garden net at Hanging Houghton after what seemed an age and after a slow start managed to process fifteen Goldfinches which clearly included many birds similarly fattening up and providing high weights ahead of moving back to their natal areas.

Back to general birding and two flocks of Waxwings were found in the county today - nine were in a tree by the sluice between the main barrage lake at Clifford Hills Pits and the Holiday Inn early this morning (with no further reports) and six were found at Raunds at Warth Park behind the Howdens Warehouse - What3Words location position.poets.senior - and were still present this evening.

Other birds for Clifford Hill today included a Cattle Egret which flew west from there early morning, two Common Sandpipers, two Oystercatchers, a Black-tailed Godwit and a fly-over Ring-necked Parakeet. At Stanwick Pits a pair of Garganey were on the Main Lake, three 'Commic' Terns were noted and a Reed Warbler was logged and at Summer Leys LNR there was a Cattle Egret, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Curlew (which flew off west) and a Common Sandpiper. A Cattle Egret and eight Oystercatchers were at Upton Country Park today

Birds at Ditchford Pits included the female Ring-necked Duck still lingering on the Cotton Reel Lake, a Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler and a fly-over Curlew.

Mark's sightings at Hollowell Reservoir amounted to a Jack Snipe, two Common Snipe and five Common Sandpipers. A Green Sandpiper was on pools in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth and a few Siskins and Redpolls and four Ravens were on the Cottesbrooke Estate. Stanford Reservoir hosted two Common Sandpipers, five Ravens, fourteen singing Willow Warblers, two Common Whitethroats, five Yellow Wagtails, three Sedge Warblers and four Cetti's Warblers.

A Ring Ouzel was seen at Honey Hill, Cold Ashby at about 7.30am this morning but was then lost to view; three female Wheatears were at Harrington Airfield plus a Yellow Wagtail and two Redpolls and four male Wheatears and two Yellow Wagtails were in fields between Walgrave and Old this afternoon. Two Short-eared Owls remain at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell.

A female Common Redstart was found near the summit of Newnham Hill, Daventry this afternoon and two or three Arctic Terns made it to Eyebrook Reservoir.

Regards

Neil M

Cattle and Little
Egrets at Upton 
Country Park today
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Male Blackcap courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Male Lesser Redpoll
courtesy of Kenny Cramer.

The spillover was still
very busy at the dam
at Pitsford Reservoir
yesterday evening - yet
another spring with exceptionally
high water levels!