Birds of a cool and windy April day.

Hello

A cool air today and windy for much of the day but warming sunshine and a few light showers too.

A grey and cool walk at Harrington Airfield didn't produce much that was new but at least the three pairs of Grey Partridges and plenty of Brown Hares were in situ and the recently-arrived warblers were singing despite the conditions.

Summer Leys LNR was probably the optimum place to be today with three Sandwich Terns, two Arctic Terns, a Common Tern, the Glossy Ibis, a Marsh Harrier, a flock of five Black-tailed Godwits, a Ruff, a Caspian Gull, a Cuckoo, a Garden Warbler and a Wheatear all seen by a variety of observers during the course of the day.

The New Workings/Whiston Wetlands section provided a Green Sandpiper, a Redshank, two Shelduck and Grey Partridge.

Clifford Hill has been enjoying a good spring and observers there this morning listed a super Firecrest, a White Wagtail, at least twenty Yellow Wagtails, a Greenshank and eight Little Ringed Plovers.

Stanwick Pits was the venue for a fly-over Whooper Swan and birds on the main lake were a Cattle Egret, a Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper. Two Common Terns and three Yellow Wagtails were at Thrapston Pits today.

The reservoirs fared poorly by comparison with just the regular adult Yellow-legged Gull at the south-end of Pitsford Reservoir, an Arctic Tern and the Common Redstart still at Ravensthorpe Reservoir and the Red-throated Diver at Hollowell Reservoir. An Arctic Tern was noted at Daventry Country Park and Stanford Reservoir fielded a Great White Egret, a Redshank, four Fieldfares, two Yellow Wagtails and one hundred and twenty Swallows.

A European White-fronted Goose at Lilbourne Water Meadows is a residue of the winter invasion of this species. Four Fieldfares and two Common Snipe were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and couple each of Redpoll and Siskin were in Scotland Wood this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Firecrest.

Greenshank.

Yellow Wagtail.

White Wagtail.

All the above images at Clifford Hill Pits
complex today courtesy of Tyler Atkinson.

Close up of an adult
Woodpigeon courtesy
of John Boland.