Yesterday was definitely "the calm before the storm " with lots of sunshine and blue skies. My birding opportunities on Thursdays are always limited due to my doggy commitments. An uninterrupted walk at Harrington Airfield produced a Short Eared Owl, Ring Ouzel and Woodcock around bunker 3 but I noticed that there was another shoot in the area today. I managed a walk around Blueberry area late afternoon and connected with the Ringtail Hen Harrier which had been found by Stuart earlier in the day and could see from a distance the 2 Short Eared Owls flying around near shrike hedge.
Other birds reported yesterday included the American Pipit still showing well at Clifford Hill GP, female Red Crested Pochard and 2 Green Sandpipers at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, 2 Caspian Gulls, Peregrine and Stonechats at Hollowell Reservoir, Slavonian Grebe, 2 female Goosanders and 4 Shelducks in the Holcot Bay at Pitsford Reservoir and over at Titchmarsh LNR female Greater Scaup and drake Ring Necked Duck plus 4 White Fronted Geese and a Cattle Egret on Islip Water Meadows.
Today has been very different. The morning was relatively calm but a good walk around shrike hedge/blueberry area produced very little, plenty of winter Thrushes, small numbers of Bramblings and a couple of Golden Plovers. Then the predicted Storm Austen hit bringing strong winds and rain which made birding challenging and the few birds reported were from this morning. The American Pipit remains at Clifford Hill GP, Glossy Ibis at Summer Leys, female Greater Scaup at Titchmarsh LNR and a female type Greater Scaup at Stanford Reservoir.
Over the weekend we will feel the affects from Storm Boelo which hits tomorrow as well as remembering to put the clocks back an hour !!. Have a good weekend
Regards Eleanor
 |
| Cattle Egret. |
 |
| White-fronted Goose. |
 |
| White-fronted Geese. |
 |
| Scaup. All images from Thrapston Pits courtesy of Nick Parker. |
No comments:
Post a Comment