Nesting time!

Hello

Now is a busy time for breeding birds with early nesters already on their second efforts! It's a busy time for ringers too, particularly if managing a nest box scheme. A proportion of the nest boxes at Pitsford Reservoir have been visited and the majority of the occupants of the small boxes have been Blue Tits and Great Tits, the majority of which have now fledged. Yesterday efforts were made to ring some of the Black-headed Gull chicks on the rafts at Pitsford Reservoir - forty four were ringed but there were plenty more than that on the rafts. Today several Barn Owl boxes were visited and one of them contained a female Barn Owl on eggs - anecdotally the Barn Owls seem to be breeding early and well this year.

Yesterday (Wednesday) and a Short-eared Owl was hunting fields between Blueberry Farm at Maidwell and the Brampton Valley towards Hanging Houghton. It seems that 2024 has been a productive vole year locally which is presumably why we still have a few lingering Short-eared Owls which should really be elsewhere by now settling down to breed. Yesterday and today (Thursday) saw the singing Wood Warbler still hanging on at Harry's Park Wood and yesterday there were still a pair of Garganey at Eyebrook Reservoir.

At Stanford Reservoir yesterday there was a Pink-footed Goose, two Cuckoos, two Oystercatchers and a Spotted Flycatcher and today there were still two Oystercatchers and two Cuckoos present.

Plenty of Black Hairstreak butterflies were on the wing at Glapthorn Cow Pastures today.

On a perfect evening for hunting there were two Barn Owls at Scaldwell and two in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Blue Tit nestlings
courtesy of Lewis Aaron.

Great Tit nestlings courtesy
of Lewis Aaron.

Red Kite courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Pheasant courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Jackdaw courtesy
 of John Tilly.

Lapwing courtesy
of John Tilly.