Ruddy Shelduck again...

Hello

Not much time available today, but a visit to Pitsford Reservoir late morning was sufficient to confirm the continued presence of the pair of Ruddy Shelduck, this time in Yacht Bay. Also present just off the dam were two Yellow-legged Gulls.

Regards

Neil M

Brampton Valley migrants

Hello

This morning Eleanor located a migrant Redstart in a hedgerow between Hanging Houghton and Cottesbrooke. This particular hedge regularly attracts migrant chats and warblers and is affectionately called 'shrike hedge' in the hope that a member of this family will eventually adorn it!  I'm not sure what is so compelling about this hedge but on some occasions it can be dripping in both migrant and local birds. Also this morning Eleanor saw a 'cream-crown' Marsh Harrier quartering the fields in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Butterflies

Hello

Today we spent much of the day slowly patrolling the woodland areas of Fermyn Country Park/Fermyn Wood/Lady's Wood in search of butterflies and other interesting flying insects. Heavy rain during yesterday and breezy conditions today conspired to keep most of the scarce butterflies high in the canopy with few photographic opportunities. Nevertheless we gradually chalked up some seventeen species of butterfly which included plenty of Purple Emperor, White Admiral, Silver-washed Fritillary, Purple Hairstreak and White-letter Hairstreak. Predatory insects on the wing included extraordinary numbers of Emperor Dragonfly, often shadowed by Brown and Southern Hawker, with Black-tailed Skimmer and Broad-bodied Chaser around muddy pools in the Country Park. Hornets were also on the wing and a Common Lizard scurried across a woodland ride. The most interesting birds noted included Kingfisher and Hobby.

Regards

Neil M

Large Skipper

White Admiral

Silver-washed Fritillary

Emperor Dragonfly

Green-veined White

Purple Emperor

Ruddy Darter

Black-tailed Skimmer

Broad-bodied Chaser

Ruddy Shelduck

Hello

The pair of Ruddy Shelduck that have been present at Pitsford Reservoir since at least the end of last month, were still present off the yacht club this afternoon. Both are in moult and were actively preening, the male bird is already flightless awaiting the growth of new primary feathers. Two adult Yellow-legged Gulls were nearby, loafing on mid-water buoys.

On the reserve side of the reservoir, large numbers of moulting ducks and other waterfowl adorn the open water of the three bays and a Little Egret was seen to fly in to the heronry - giving rise to further speculation that this species may be trying to breed on-site this year.

Regards

Neil M

Female Ruddy Shelduck

Drake Ruddy Shelduck

Black Redstart

Hello

I've just arrived back from a wildlife trip off the east coast of Russia which was an amazing experience. I will endeavour to download a couple of images for the blog over the next week or so which will hopefully provide some good examples of the wildlife of this poorly-visited region.

In the meantime Eleanor has been up to Blueberry Farm near Maidwell this morning and confirmed the continued presence of the Black Redstart around the buildings. Please respect the privacy of the family living on-site and the equestrian interests associated with the farm. Car parking is generally permitted by the owners near to the farm buildings providing vehicles are parked appropriately just after the first barn on the right driving from Maidwell village.

There were still plenty of Marbled White butterflies in the large set-aside field on the hill towards Haselbech Hill.

Regards

Neil M

Monday Morning Madness !!!

It had been another quiet week on the birding front. Just the regular Turtle Doves at Harrington Airfield and Barn Owl and Grasshopper Warbler at Blueberry Farm.   The butterflies had been more interesting with Marbled White seen at both these locations. Probably the best sightings were of the Vulcan, Red Arrows, Spitfire, Huricaine and the Blades aircraft !!!
I was out early this morning as have a busy day ahead and walked around Blueberry Farm area.  I have seen more "good" birds today than in the past two weeks put together !!!  A couple of Barn Owl were busy hunting, a flock of 8 Crossbill and an Osprey flew over. At Blueberry Farm itself as I stood waiting for Bazra to catch me up as he had gone off to round up the hot air balloon which was low overhead I saw a flash of red disappear round the corner.......it was a stunning male Black Redstart. There are some newish barns and whilst these were being constructed I checked the area regularly as it looked good for Black Redstart and this morning I couldn't believe it when I saw him.
We then continued around the big field where I said "good morning" to one of the Grasshopper Warblers and as we sat at the top watching the world go by I picked up a cream crown Marsh Harrier which appeared to be hunting.
Plenty of butterflies about, even at 07.00hrs, and several Marbled White noted.


Regards Eleanor

Autumn is here

Slightly premature perhaps, but for many birds the summer is over. The first trickle of returning migrants is beginning to arrive in the county. Birds that have failed to breed in higher latitudes will be making their way back south to their wintering grounds, usually with a little less urgency than they made the northward bound journey.
Summer Leys has seen the first of these returning birds recently with 7, 3 and 6 summer plumage Black-tailed Godwits having been seen on Sunday, Monday and today respectively. Also present are Green and Common Sandpipers, although they are quite elusive.
The Little-ringed Plover family is still at full strength, all four chicks have nearly trebled in size in the 9 days since their hatching. In addition there are at least two fledged youngsters present that have flown in from another breeding location, plus 4 other resident birds, two of which have a clutch that will hopefully hatch any day now.
Insects are in abundance with Brown Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer and Emperor Dragonflies on the wing. Numerous Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral butterflies can be seen round the reserve, particularly on the Buddleias, near to the feed station. Also near the feed station a particularly enormous variety of horse fly (Tabanus Autumnalis) has been observed, a rarity in Northants.
Finally a pair of Spotted Flycatchers in a private garden, are giving delightful close-up views from a variety of perches as they scan for insects.

      Regards,
                     Neil H.

A Quiet Week !!

It has been a very quiet week with very little to report. I have visited my usual haunts of Blueberry Farm, the valley below Hanging Houghton, Harrington Airfield, Sywell Reservoir, Pitsford Reservoir and Salcey Forest, but have only seen the "regulars". These include Grey Partridge, Grasshopper Warbler, Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Raven, Red Kites, Grey Wagtails, Spotted Flycatchers and a Cuckoo.
Butterflies noted on my travels include Marbled White, Wood White, Small Heath and clouds of Ringlets.
A Hummingbird Hawk Moth has been seen a couple of times feeding on Valarian in Hanging Houghton.
Dave Francis completed a CES ringing session at Pitsford Reservoir 26/6 and caught 72 birds, including 12 Blackcap, 12 Wren, 11 Robin, 4 Reed Warbler and 3 Garden Warbler.
It is interesting to note that the Robin total for this year's CES is a staggering 42 individual birds !!!!!.


Two meetings planned for the coming week.  On Wednesday 2nd July the Birdclub will meet at the Lodge, Pitsford Reservoir at 19.30hrs.  If the weather is good there will be a walk and other outdoor activities. Should the weather be poor, we will have an indoor meeting at this venue.  Tea/coffee will be provided.
On Thursday 3rd July there will be an outdoor walk led by birdclub member Hugh Matthews.  The venue is Fermyn CountryPark. Meet at 09.30hrs in the main car park. Parking charges apply and there is a café and toilet facilities.  Hopefully the weather will be good and there will be plenty of butterflies etc about.
Everyone welcome at these events.


Regards
Eleanor

Baby boom

A visit to Summer Leys this morning was rewarding on a number of fronts. There are large numbers of young birds all over the reserve now. The Black-headed Gulls have had a good breeding year, dozens of youngsters are taking their first flights. 
A few Common Tern chicks have just hatched on Mary's Island. The bulk of the terns have nested on Round and Eddie's Islands this year and most were washed out when the reserve flooded a few weeks ago. Fortunately many have settled back for a second attempt that will hopefully be more successful than the first.
Multiple broods of Lapwings have been seen on and around the scrape and the first of two broods of Little-ringed Plovers hatched on Sunday.
A good proportion of the holes in the recently refurbished Sand Martin colony have been occupied with constant activity from the adult birds.
Butterflies were plentiful today with good numbers on the wing, Ringlets and Marbled Whites being the predominant species. The area at the back of Mary's Lake was particularly good for the latter of the two species with ~30  individuals in an area the size of a tennis court.
On a slightly more worrying note a family of Mink has taken up residence amongst the rocks of the main lake overflow with at least two adults and a kit having been seen.

                                Demanding Jackdaw

                                                Marbled White

                                                Mink

    Regards,
                                  Neil H.

Post-breeding migration

Hello

Late morning today and at Pitsford Res there was some evidence of post-breeding movement, with an adult Black Tern and a Little Egret in the Scaldwell Bay, rafting Gadwall and Coot in both the Scaldwell and Walgrave Bays and an influx of at least 17 Pochard in the Walgrave Bay.

A Hobby with prey was at Lamport early this afternoon...

Regards

Neil M

Longest Day

Hello

Yesterday it was good to see a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth nectaring on Red Valerian in the village here at Hanging Houghton.  Locally this moth often arrives at about the same time as other migrant insects such as Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow butterflies.

The intrepid duo of Dave Francis and Lynne Barnett were out on the water at Pitsford Reservoir again today in order to check the breeding birds on the rafts in the Scaldwell Bay.  As many as 59 Common Tern nests were in evidence, albeit that some of these have failed already.  Nevertheless another 22 tern chicks were ringed and there should be plenty more yet.  The female Pied Wagtail was incubating four eggs on her nest in one of the shelter pipes on one of the rafts.  Sadly only one of the Oystercatcher chicks now survives but the Black-headed Gull nest is still on-going.

Regards

Neil M

Barn Owls

Hello

Although seemingly low key and in small numbers this year, it appears that our local Barn Owl population is currently enjoying a productive breeding season. Local naturalist Nigel Lingley teamed up recently with Paddy Jackson, a local expert, to check on breeding Barn Owls within the area here north of Northampton. The results were good with four broods of young and another clutch of eggs all being located in sited nest-boxes. Please see images from Nigel Lingley below.

The heavy rainfall of the last nine months and the two winters prior to that have not been kind to Barn Owls, with many individuals not being able to sustain themselves let alone raise a brood of youngsters. In addition, most species of owl will only breed when there is sufficient food to raise a brood of young. In Barn Owls it often means that adults will delay nesting attempts until such time that the rodent population has itself recovered from wet or severe conditions. The Tawny Owl is capable of taking a broad range of prey and is not so reliant on a healthy vole population, but the more specialised Barn Owl requires a healthy number of rodents, particularly voles, in order to flourish.

In addition, John Finlayson has been in touch to state that a pair of Barn Owl are breeding at a site in the east of the county and appear to be taking prey back to youngsters in a nest. His pictures of the adults are attached. Hopefully our local owl population will enjoy a reprieve this year and bounce back with plenty of birds out hunting by the autumn.

Please also see an image of a Sparrowhawk picked up by Nigel as a road casualty. This bird appears to be making suitable progress and hopefully will be released soon.

Regards

Neil M

Nestling Barn Owls
Nigel Lingley

Hunting adult Barn Owls
John Finlayson

Sparrowhawk
Nigel Lingley

Ringing at Brixworth

Hello

A very modest ringing session took place at Brixworth Sewer Works this morning. Few birds were caught but did include three new Great Spotted Woodpeckers (two juveniles), a Whitethroat and a juvenile Swallow. Interestingly we did capture a juvenile Grey Wagtail already bearing a ring which we didn't recognise as being used by anyone in the Northants Ringing Group! Presumably this bird has already moved some way from it's breeding site (and presumably outside the county), and found the sewer works to its liking!

Regards

Neil M

Thursday birds

Hello

Eleanor spent some time today walking the Blueberry Farm area near Maidwell, again confirming the presence of a pair of Barn Owl and two singing Grasshopper Warblers. 

Thirty-five Gadwall feeding together at Pitsford Res between the Old Scaldwell Road and the causeway this evening is the nucleus of an increasing summer flock which will include moulting males and hopefully breeding females. And the Cuckoo is still calling loudly - I think he needs to read the rule book because most males quieten down or shut up completely at the beginning of the June!

Regards

Neil M

Pitsford ringing

Hello

Ringing in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Res yesterday evening and this morning provided over a hundred birds which included 3 Marsh Tits, 21 new Long-tailed Tits, 8 new Blackcaps, 8 more new Robins, 6 new Wrens, 3 new Goldcrests and a new adult Tawny Owl.  Other warblers included Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler and Reed Warbler.

There were two Cuckoos outside the Ringing Hut yesterday evening and at least one bird was still present this morning.

Two Grey Wagtails were at Brixworth Sewer Works this afternoon and Eleanor again saw two Grey Partridges and two Turtle Doves at Harrington Airfield this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Tawny Owl

Broad-bodied Chaser

Both images courtesy
of Lynne Barnett

Position static

Hello

Despite Eleanor spending plenty of time out yesterday and today, the birds remain somewhat static as you might expect for this time of the year.  There are two singing male Grasshopper Warblers at Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) currently and a pair of Barn Owls continue to use the site and nearby farmland.  Other interesting birds on this set-aside complex include several pairs of Skylark and Meadow Pipit, and the unspoilt dense hedgerows support warblers including a couple of Lesser Whitethroat territories.  In previous years a pair of Willow Tit breed here but we haven't seen them recently, a sign of the times it seems...

Regards

Neil M

Pitsford CBC

Hello

This morning was spent conducting a Common Bird Census on the nature reserve north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir.  It was actually quite dull light for much of the walk, although an hour's sunshine livened up the insects for a short time.  No particular birds of note were located although Spotted Flycatcher was logged in three different places in the Walgrave Bay.  Most small birds and water-birds have produced youngsters now and there was still plenty of bird-song echoing around the plantations.  The very persistent male Cuckoo is still frantically calling and flying around the place, but there has been no sign of a female. Tawny Owls were still in family groups in both the Holcot and Walgrave Bays and the Gadwall are just beginning to form the traditional summer flock.

Regards

Neil M

Flowering Rush

Oystercatcher

Common Tern

NRG in action

Hello

Members of the Northants Ringing Group (NRG) were divided up and busy today at three sites.  John Woollett and Chris Payne were busy catching good numbers of birds at Stortons Gravel Pits, amounting to 69 birds in all which included plenty of warblers such as Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Cetti's Warbler, all with fledged young.  The rather still and sultry conditions provided an ideal opportunity to use mist-nets at this sometimes breezy location.

In the meantime a gaggle of NRG members and supporters met at the Hanson Environment Study Centre, just over the border at Great Linford and near to Newport Pagnell.  This was in support of an open day, and we ran a Bird Ringing Demonstration near to the old flooded gravel pits.  Thirty-nine birds were processed which included seven Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Marsh Tit, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff.  About forty members of the public spent much of the morning with us as we explained the process and what ringing seeks to achieve.  Birds noted here included several Little Egrets, Kingfisher, Water Rail and Cetti's Warbler.

Finally at Pitsford Reservoir, Dave Francis and Lynne Barnett used a boat to visit the tern rafts in the Scaldwell Bay to ring the very first of the young Common Terns.  A Pied Wagtail nest with eggs was discovered on one of the rafts and two of the young Oystercatchers remain.  A Black-headed Gull nest with a single egg was found nestled against a willow stump close to the Bird Club hide.

Regards

Neil M

Ringing Demo at the HESC

Jacob Spinks and
Kenny Cramer processing
a Great Spotted Woodpecker

Common Tern chicks
Pitsford Res.  

Common Tern chicks
capable of hiding very
well amongst the spartan
vegetation on the tern rafts

Black-headed Gull nest
Pitsford Res

Pictures from the HESC courtesy
of Nick Wood and images from
Pitsford courtesy of Lynne Barnett.

Mum knows best!

Hello

An early wander at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell by Eleanor this morning was sufficient to locate a Barn Owl and a singing Grasshopper Warbler, and this evening the Barn Owl was still present but the highlight was an Osprey flying over carrying a fish!

My mother has traditionally always fed birds in her garden and for the last couple of decades or so has found that by far and away the favourite food for a variety of species is cooked pastry!  Although it is debatable whether such food provides a suitable balanced nourishment for adult and juvenile birds, there is no doubt that the birds love it and become particularly tame in order to be first in the queue!  Supplemented with sunflower hearts, peanuts and the usual garden offerings, her garden is packed with birds many of which follow her around the garden!  Today I took my camera along and took some images - once the individuals had backed off a bit!

This afternoon Eleanor and I walked around the Summer Leys reserve at Earls Barton GP, a rare treat for us.  Nothing unusual was seen but the standard fare was good with a Hobby, five Teal , two drake Pochard, one of the pair of Shelduck with five ducklings, two Oystercatchers, at least two Redshank, six Little Ringed Plovers, two or three Little Egrets and a Cetti's Warbler.  The small Sand Martin colony was active and the Black-headed Gulls had produced lots of young on one of the islands, some of which are already capable of flight.  The orchid family was well represented with flowering Common Spotted, Bee, Marsh and Pyramidal.  A Hobby was seen over nearby Bozeat village.

Regards

Neil M

Adult Jackdaw

Juvenile Male Blackbird

Collared Dove

Juvenile male Starling

Juvenile female Starling

Adult male Starling

Juvenile male Starling (and pals)

Adult Jackdaw

Adult Jackdaw

Adult female Starling

Adult Robin

Adult and juvenile Rook

First year female Blackbird

Marsh Orchids

Bee Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid