Sunny Sunday

Hello

More cold temperatures but lots of lovely sunshine today as we appear to be beginning a week of settled dry weather.

A little ringing in Sunderland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate this morning provided some iconic Northamptonshire woodland birds which included a couple of Marsh Tits and two Nuthatches.

At Pitsford Reservoir the Great Northern Diver was still in the Narrows south of the causeway and in the Walgrave Bay there was a Great White Egret with singles of Redpoll and Siskin in Christies Copse.

At Harrington Airfield birds included a Barn Owl, a Woodcock, two Ravens, four Grey Partridges and a smart male Brambling. Further single Barn Owls hunting in daylight conditions were in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth and Hanging Houghton, not a good sign and suggesting they are not finding enough prey during the hours of darkness.

Two Oystercatchers were at Stortons Pits with a Merlin chasing up to a hundred Goldfinches at nearby Sixfields plus two or three Ravens at Hanging Houghton. A Woodcock and a Common Snipe were at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and butterflies included Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell.

The Glossy Ibis was still at Summer Leys LNR today and seven White-fronted Geese were with about two hundred Greylags in the Nene Valley below Cogenhoe close to the working gravel pits.

The drake Smew was again on the main barrage lake at Clifford Hill Pits this morning and a drake remains at Eyebrook Reservoir as does a Brent Goose.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Tit.

Coal Tit.

Nuthatch.

Images courtesy of
Lewis Aaron.

Sunny first day of March

Hello

A cool, sunny day with no rain was a tonic and many of the longer-staying winter birds were still in situ.

At Pitsford Reservoir the Great Northern Diver was still present south of the causeway, this bird now entering its fifth month of stay and a Barn Owl was in the Scaldwell Bay where there was a pair of Pintail and at least two Great White Egrets.

The Glossy Ibis also continues with it's long stay at Summer Leys LNR where there were also two Oystercatchers and Redpoll and Siskin in the alders by the feeding station.

Also in the Nene Valley at least two White-fronted Geese were in the Whiston/Cogenhoe area, plus a drake Red-crested Pochard, three Chiffchaffs, a Grey Wagtail, two Egyptian Geese, three Shelducks, two Oystercatchers and a Green Sandpiper.

A Shelduck, two Oystercatchers, two Great White Egrets and a Chiffchaff were at Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows LNR and a drake Smew remains at Clifford Hill Pits.

Ravensthorpe Reservoir continued to attract the two White-fronted Geese plus a Grey Wagtail and a Chiffchaff. A Hawfinch was near the Playing Fields at Cottesbrooke again this morning and Grey Wagtails were at Kelmarsh, Lamport and Brixworth. Ravens were at Brixworth (three), Hanging Houghton (two), Walgrave (two) and Kelmarsh.

A Barn Owl was at Harrington Airfield and in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and Eyebrook Reservoir hosted a Brent Goose and a drake Smew.

Yesterday evening I returned from a five day tour in south France to see Wallcreeper and the birds of the Camargue and a page/tab has been created for images from this short stint entitled 'Wallcreepers & the Camargue Feb 2025'. We were fortunate to see two different Wallcreepers and an excellent variety of birds and other wildlife.

Regards

Neil M

Redshank courtesy
of Phil West.

Great Tit courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Blue Tit courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Glossy Ibis courtesy
of Tony Stanford.