New birds required

Hello

Seems rather quiet out there - September has not lived up to the excitement of August which was a busy month in the county for warblers, chats, flycatchers, waders and much more.

Nevertheless there are still plenty of migrants on the move with wagtails, pipits, finches and gulls being the obvious movers during the daytime, and who knows what goes over at night!

Late summer and autumn is also a busy time for birds as many of them complete a moulting process of one sort or another. After and towards the end of breeding, most adult passerines complete a full moult during which time for example, the Robins and Blackbirds are at their quietest. Most juvenile passerines complete a body moult but retain their flight feathers until next year. There are a number of exceptions but this is the general rule for small song/perching birds. For bigger birds it's much more complicated and in some species they are in an eternal moult process, even during the time of migration. Understanding moult or some understanding of it helps differentiate birds hatched this year from older birds and can assist in identification of species too.

Reported sightings in the county today were minimal but the long-staying Turnstone was still at Daventry Country Park, this in itself is very unusual but it has been an extraordinary autumn for this species in the Midlands.

A Bittern and three fly-over Goosanders were the best on offer at Summer Leys LNR this morning and the Earls Barton New Workings was still the venue for the juvenile Osprey this afternoon (but absent earlier in the day), plus six Hobbies, a Ringed Plover and two Green Sandpipers.

Eight Barnacle Geese and a Whinchat were at Clifford Hill Pits, seven Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin were at Hollowell Reservoir and Sywell Country Park hosted two Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, a Stonechat and two Spotted Flycatchers.

A Short-eared Owl was seen over a field adjacent to Wicksteed Park, Kettering and the regular Caspian Gull was at Naseby Reservoir today.

Regards

Neil M

Spotted Flycatchers...just a few
left now...images courtesy of
Tyler Atkinson.

Long-eared Owl courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Migrant Hawker.