Ringing success

Hello

The current weather conditions are good for the use of mist nets during bird ringing sessions and members of the Northants Ringing Group were active on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

On Thursday just two nets were deployed at Woodford Halse as an experimental session and resulted in sixty-two captures of ten species which included a juvenile Sparrowhawk, a Grey Wagtail and eleven Goldcrests.

On Friday Stortons Pits was the venue with one hundred and twenty-three birds of fifteen species which included the first Redwing of the autumn, another young Sparrowhawk, eighteen Chiffchaffs, eight Goldcrests, a staggering forty Long-tailed Tits, nine Blackcaps, a Cetti's Warbler, a Treecreeper and four Goldfinches.

On Saturday ringers operating at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes netted one hundred and fifty-one birds of seventeen species which included two re-trap Kingfishers, forty Chiffchaffs, thirteen Blackcaps, five Goldcrests, twelve Long-tailed Tits, a Treecreeper, nine Greenfinches, a Siskin, three Redpolls and two Meadow Pipits. Birds on-site included a Whooper Swan, a Great White Egret, a Common Snipe and a Raven.

Today in the county a Rock Pipit was discovered at Boddington Reservoir and fog patches disrupted early birding efforts but a Common Snipe and ten Redwings were at Lilbourne Water Meadows and Summer Leys LNR hosted the Glossy Ibis still plus a Ruff, two Pintails, fifty Golden Plovers and two Swallows.

Clifford Hill Pits attracted four Common Snipe and a Great Egret and Harrington Airfield was good for a female Merlin, five Bramblings (four males), a pair of Stonechats and eighteen Golden Plovers in flight. A Short-eared Owl, a pair of Stonechat and two Bramblings were in the Blueberry Farm area (Maidwell).

Birds at Stanford Reservoir today included two Glossy Ibis, a Cackling Goose of unknown origin, two Great White Egrets, two Kingfishers, a Reed Warbler ringed, a Golden Plover, a Water Rail, a Common Snipe, an adult Caspian Gull and eight Siskins.

After journeying up from Cornwall today I dropped into the feeder stream section of Hollowell Reservoir this afternoon where there were several birders present. The Pectoral Sandpiper was still there but generally elusive in vegetation and a little birding 'purple patch' provided views of two Mediterranean Gulls (adult and first year), five Red-crested Pochard (four drakes), seven Egyptian Geese, no less than three Rock Pipits feeding on the exposed mud, a Siskin, three Stonechats, two Common Snipe, over a hundred Linnets and a Great White Egret.

Regards

Neil M

Redwing courtesy of
Chris Payne.

Sparrowhawk courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Blue Tit courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Chiffchaff courtesy of
Kenny Cramer.

Meadow Pipit courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Lesser Redpolls courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Male Siskin courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.