Early spring Sunday

Hello

Jacob wandered around the reserve at Pitsford Reservoir in his continued effort at finding new birds for his patchwork challenge and found a new bird - a House Sparrow! Other birds included the Red-necked Grebe, the White-fronted Goose, two Great White Egrets, a drake Pintail, a drake Red-crested Pochard, a second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull, a Green Sandpiper, two Redshanks, five Siskins and four Marsh Tits.

Eric Graham returned to the Titchmarsh Reserve today and located nine Little Egrets and three Redpolls. John Woollett and team committed to some ringing at Stortons Gravel Pits today and caught 25 birds which included a Redwing and five Reed Buntings. Two Ravens were over Astcote this afternoon.

A wetlands bird census at Ditchford Gravel Pits today was a day slogging through the mud in very spring-like temperatures. An adult drake Scaup was on pits west of Ditchford Lane and two Great White Egrets were present (Viaduct Pit and the Wilsons Pits complex). Other birds included six Little Egrets, two Oystercatchers, a Jack Snipe, 39 Common Snipe, three Goosanders, one or two Shelduck, five Water Rails, two Chiffchaffs, seven Cetti's Warblers, two Stonechats and three Grey Wagtails.

Regards

Neil M

Drake Scaup.

Great Crested Grebe.

Plenty going on out there!

Hello

Jacob's efforts at Pitsford Reservoir this morning yielded birds in the shape of the Red-necked Grebe off the causeway, two Great White Egrets, two Redshanks, a Green Sandpiper and an Oystercatcher. The relatively small gull roost again failed to attract any scarce gulls.

Jacob recorded Redpoll and Siskin at Scaldwell village and the Reed Bunting count in our garden went up to 13 birds! 

Harrington Airfield hosted 36 Golden Plovers today and Brixworth Water Treatment Works attracted a Chiffchaff, a Grey Wagtail, about eighty Pied Wagtails and several Siskins.

Eric Graham reported a pair of Oystercatchers at Thrapston Gravel Pits today and sadly vandalism to two of the hides on the Titchmarsh Reserve there. Steve Austin counted 44 Waxwings commuting between Wootton village and the Wyevale Garden Centre off the Newport Pagnell Road on the outskirts of Northampton this morning.

Eleanor watched three Otters playing in the water at Ravensthorpe Reservoir this morning and the usual two Great White Egrets were present too. She went on to see two Ravens at Staverton, four Goosanders at Daventry Country Park and an adult female Peregrine and a pair of Stonechat at Borough Hill Country Park.

Regards

Neil M

Scarlet Elf Cup
Courtesy of John Gamble.

Water Rail
courtesy of John Gamble.

Male Bluethroat at Willow Tree
Fen, Lincolnshire. It is rare for a
mid-winter Bluethroat in the UK
and this one is very much a show-stopper!
Images courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Mild Friday

Hello

Some ringing at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station at Pitsford Reservoir provided 70 captures made up of 4 Coots, 6 Long-tailed Tits, 5 Great Tits, 3 Blue Tits, 10 Tree Sparrows, 10 Reed Buntings, a Robin, 4 Chaffinches, 4 Goldfinches, 14 Yellowhammers, a Greenfinch and 8 Dunnocks.

Birds seen on-site included both the Slavonian and Red-necked Grebes, the White-fronted Goose, 4 Pintail, a Red-crested Pochard and 74 Common Snipe. A flock of eight geese flying over this morning were identified as Pink-footed.

Lyn and John Hunt caught up with many of the better birds in the county today including the large flock of Waxwings currently in Wootton. They also found a Short-eared Owl at Earls Barton Gravel Pits, alongside the flooded pit behind Mary's Lake.

Redpolls seem to be scarce this winter and Jacob had one at Scaldwell village today and we are fortunate to have at least seven Reed Buntings coming to our garden at Hanging Houghton. The pair of Stonechat were still present today below the village in the Brampton Valley.

A nestling Pied Wagtail which was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 10th May 2016 was sadly taken by a cat at Bradville, Milton Keynes on 13th Feb this year. During it's short life this young bird had clearly translocated 31km further to the south.

Regards

Neil M

Lamport Hall.

Adult male Sparrowhawk. First caught and ringed
in November 2014 (when assessed to have been hatched
 in 2013), he was recaptured at Hanging Houghton
 on 9th January 2016 and again today.

Sunrise at Guilsborough.

First year male Blackbird.

Male Siskin.

Above three images courtesy
of Cathy Ryden.

Thursday's tidings!

Hello

Jacob's on-going quest to find new birds at Pitsford Reservoir continued today and his presence provided records of the Red-necked Grebe, the White-fronted Goose, three Pintail, a Raven and two Marsh Tits. An interesting raptor was sighted twice at range during poor visibility and may have been a Goshawk.

Barnes Meadow reserve provided sightings of two Jack Snipe, three Snipe, an adult male Peregrine and a Kingfisher and a quick search at Lings Wood failed to locate a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker despite perfect conditions (plenty of Siskins there though). Abington Park was home to three Ring-necked Parakeets late morning, in the copse between the main and bottom lakes.

Chris Payne completed a couple of hours ringing at Bradden today, catching 45 birds made up of an impressive 18 Goldfinches, 20 Blue Tits, 4 Great Tits, a Greenfinch and 2 Goldcrests. Chris noted a female Blackbird making a nest in his Greens Norton garden!

Regards

Neil M

Lapwing

Little Egret

Drake Mallard

Pied Wagtail

All images above taken
by Jacob Spinks at Pitsford
Reservoir today...

Ring-necked Parakeet
Abington Park

Lesser Black-backed Gull
Abington Park.

Spring is in the air!

Hello

Quite a few people out birding on the reserve side of Pitsford Reservoir this morning and between us the scarcer birds amounted to the Red-necked Grebe still (just south of the causeway), a White-fronted Goose with Canadas and Greylags mostly in the Scaldwell Bay, two Great White Egrets, two Green Sandpipers, a returning Oystercatcher, three Pintail, a Raven and two Marsh Tits. 

Checking the large nest boxes today to make them ready for the forthcoming breeding season (evicting Grey Squirrels and their dreys mostly), we came across two roosting Tawny Owls which we took as a good sign for possible future usage. 

In addition there were several singing Skylarks over the adjoining fields and the Song Thrushes were in song all around the reserve. Another impressive aspect was appreciating all the labours of volunteers and contractors alike in the amount of management work completed on the reserve this winter. Imposing and cluttered crack willows around the hides have been cut back or felled and everywhere there is evidence of thinning, the creation of glades and 'scalloping' and reigning back scrub threatening to dominate the meadows and ponds. A phragmites reed bed has been planted, paths to the hides have been cleared, secondary sycamore growth has been treated and visual clear ways to provide scanning of the water margins has been provided.

Two Ravens were vocal and active at Hanging Houghton today.

Regards

Neil M

Digi-shots of the White-fronted
Goose at Pitsford Reservoir
courtesy of Jacob Spinks. The plumage
suggests a second winter bird.

White-fronted Goose with
Greylags courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Drake Pintail at Pitsford Reservoir
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Red-necked Grebe at Pitsford
Reservoir courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Red-necked Grebe and friends...

Hello

Pitsford Reservoir was the place today, particularly as it was the second day with a Red-necked Grebe just off the south side of the causeway. The Slavonian Grebe was also showing in Yacht Bay and with plenty of Little Grebes and Great Crested Grebes present it was a four grebe day! 

Other birds included a Great White Egret in the Walgrave Bay, a pair of Red-crested Pochard, two Redshanks, two Little Owls, a Raven, a Marsh Tit and two Grey Wagtails.

Sywell Country Park continued to host the wintering Whooper Swan and other birds here included a Water Rail, a Cetti's Warbler, a pair of Stonechat and twenty Siskins.

A pair of Stonechat remain in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and eight Waxwings were seen briefly at the Wyevale Garden Centre on the Newport Pagnell Road (at Northampton) at about 12.30pm.

Regards

Neil M

Red-necked Grebe with
Great Crested Grebes
courtesy of Eleanor.

Red-necked Grebe.

Red-necked Grebe
courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Red Kite (and Jackdaw)
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Little Egret courtesy
of Jacob.

Carrion Crow
courtesy of Jacob.

Whooper Swan at Sywell
Country Park courtesy of
Eleanor.

Can you help survey the Nene Valley?

Hello

A message from Ted Weber...

I’m currently putting together plans for carrying out the Nene Wetlands Breeding Birds Survey for the coming season and would like to expand the team of volunteers that undertakes it. Some of you Nene Wetlands volunteers are already involved but new members might also like the opportunity to participate.

We need experienced birdwatchers with the ability to confidently identify birds in close terrain and by song; training in the survey process will be given, but a good knowledge of birds is an essential prerequisite. The Nene Wetlands has been divided up into 4 sectors, each of which must be surveyed once a month in April, May, June and July, but the transect routes involved are quite large and may require a couple of days to complete.

Please let me know as soon as possible, if you are interested.

Ted

Edward Weber
Nene Wetlands Reserves Officer

Direct line: 01604 405285
Office: 01604 405285
Mobile: 07931325888

Tweet: @wildlifebcn 
Like: /wildlifebcn
Visit: www.wildlifebcn.orgThe Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire
Lings House, off Lings Way
Billing Lings
Northampton
NN3 8BE
United Kingdom

Sedge Warbler

Cuckoo.

No birding!

Hello

Unfortunately no time for any birding today so some recently acquired portraits from Robin and Cathy to brighten the blog!

Regards

Neil M

Snowdrops by
Cathy Ryden.

Pied Wagtail by
Cathy Ryden.

Photographic study of
the wonderful Great Crested
Grebe by Robin Gossage.

Creatures of a cold Sunday!

Hello

Another day of unpleasant weather but plenty of observers out nonetheless.

A couple of observers at Pitsford Reservoir today caused a few records of long-staying birds - the Caspian Gull in the gull roost, the Slavonian Grebe in Yacht Bay, two Redshanks, two Ravens and two Marsh Tits.

Four Otters showed well at Ravensthorpe Reservoir this afternoon and two Great White Egrets remain. Nearby Andrew Tyrrell saw at least four Stonechats at Hollowell Reservoir and Eleanor saw four Ravens again at Staverton and a pair of Stonechat in the valley below Hanging Houghton. Two Brown Hares were the only creatures of note for me at Harrington Airfield.

Debbie and Eric Graham saw a pair of Mandarin Duck at Blatherwycke Lake today and Nick Parker's efforts at trudging around the Titchmarsh Reserve were rewarded with excellent views of a Bittern on Heronry Lake, a Great White Egret, a Goosander and 140 Pochard.

Chris Payne noticed a flock of thirty plus small finches at Greens Norton today, predominately redpolls and smaller numbers of Siskins, and he now has several Reed Buntings visiting his garden for food. At least one Siskin was present at Walgrave village.

Regards

Neil M

Feeding birds in your
garden is all very well, but
 sometimes other creatures
 muscle in!

Muntjac at Priors Marston
courtesy of Helen Franklin.