Spring birds squeezing through!

Hello

Less wind today but still stronger than I expected. Some nice sunshine but cool and some wintry showers.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipits on the move today and also Linnets and other finches noted moving north, particularly over Harrington Airfield.

The Great Grey Shrike was in hedging between Hanging Houghton and Cottesbrooke this morning but always keeping it's distance. The Yellowhammer flock was still present in the wild bird crop plus plenty of Reed Buntings, common finches and a couple of Corn Buntings. Other birds included two Ravens, a Barn Owl and at least one Brambling.

Ravens were again a feature today with two in the village at Hanging Houghton, a single at Lamport church and three near Mawsley.

A Green Sandpiper was on a pond near Weedon and Ian Dobson's feed station at Woodford Halse attracted eight Bramblings, ten Tree Sparrows, thirty plus Yellowhammers, twenty-six Chaffinches, a Greenfinch and a Reed Bunting. Three Reed Buntings were in our garden at Hanging Houghton and a Chiffchaff was singing first thing.

A Chiffchaff was also noted at Stanwick Lakes today and birds at Thrapston Pits included the long-staying Whooper Swan, three Pink-footed Geese, a Great White Egret and five Sand Martins.

Nine Common Buzzards 'worming' in one field near Kelmarsh was quite a sight today!

Regards

Neil M

A bit of a speck, but the Great
Grey Shrike in a hedge near Hanging
Houghton today, a Blackbird is just
below it!

Common Buzzard.

Two Corn Buntings near
Hanging Houghton today...

Storm Gareth - the last day I hope!

Hello

Strong gales again today and with heavy rain this evening which has initiated plenty of amphibian activity.

Despite spending much of the day out and about it was a struggle to find anything new. The most obvious passage birds were plenty of gulls and small numbers of Meadow Pipits and wagtails.

Two Ravens were at Staverton today and singles were noted at Hanging Houghton and between Spratton and Teeton. Most paired female Ravens will be on eggs in the nest now, the males foraging for them both.

A Woodcock was flushed at Scotland Wood (Kelmarsh Estate) and one of the Great Northern Divers was visible at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon, north of the dam by 'The Holly Tree'. The usual second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull was also just north of the dam.

Regards

Neil M

Raven.

Storm Gareth - day four!

Hello

The Great Grey Shrike appeared again on hedging this morning between Hanging Houghton and Cottesbrooke but this bird is spending long periods away from the usual site and presumably the high winds are causing it to keep a low profile. A Barn Owl was hunting in the same area this afternoon, another bird that has probably struggled with the extremes of Storm Gareth.

Alan Coles located two Great White Egrets and two Ravens at Summer Leys NR today and Eric's regular exploration at Thrapston Pits provided views of three Great White Egrets, a Pink-footed Goose, a pair of Oystercatcher and a few sheltering Chiffchaffs and Cetti's Warblers.

Regards

Neil M

Great Grey Shrike
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Barn Owl.

Storm Gareth - day three!

Hello

More powerful gusts and some sudden showers interspersed with nice periods of sunshine today and it actually went calm for a time this evening!

Four Brown Hares in a field next to Pitsford Reservoir was good to see this morning, and a calling Little Owl was a very welcome sign as they have thinned out significantly in recent years. Good numbers of Tree Sparrows, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers continue to visit the main feed station at the bottom of the Old Scaldwell Road although there is quite a range of birds refuelling on what is on offer there.

At the other end of the reservoir, the two young Great Northern Divers looked fabulous in the afternoon light as they sat on the water together, roll-preening and spending a great deal of time re-arranging feathers and wing flapping. And the strong winds don't suppress the activities of big birds such as gulls, Red Kites and Common Buzzards which were all busy carving their way through the strong westerlies. The first Osprey was back at Rutland Water today, another big bird that isn't easily daunted by gale force conditions!

Three Reed Buntings were feeding in our garden today, a pair of Grey Wagtail were on the dam at Welford Reservoir and the best sighting at Sunderland Wood (Kelmarsh Estate) at lunchtime was a fine buck Roe Deer!

Regards

Neil M

Brown Hare
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Roe Deer.

Osprey
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Red Kite.

Jamaica

Hello

In February I was most fortunate to be able to visit the island of Jamaica in the West Indies with a view to seeing some of the endemic and near endemic birds of the island. During the eight days or so we managed to at least glimpse all of the 28 or so recognised endemic bird species and quite a number which are range restricted within the region. In addition I very much enjoyed trying to find and identify North American migrants wintering in Jamaica and simply enjoying the resident species too. I found photography particularly challenging but managed a few images of the more iconic species...

Regards

Neil M

Northern Potoo.

Loggerhead Kingbird.

American Redstart.

Little Blue Heron.

Displaying male Red-billed Streamertail.
.

Jamaican Owl.

Jamaican Tody.

American Royal Tern.

Storm Gareth - day two!

Hello

No birds of note today in very windy conditions - a Raven showed again at Hanging Houghton and the Yellowhammer flock in fields between there and Cottesbrooke was estimated at about seventy birds.

Despite the challenging conditions small numbers of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails were on the move today and Lesser Black-backed Gulls have been filtering up from the south. Tom Green saw a Short-eared Owl at Neville's Lodge, Finedon yesterday.

John Gamble reports that there are now two occupied Grey Heron nests at Abington Park, Northampton rather than just the single pair of previous years.

A couple more ringing recoveries have been received as follows:-

An adult female Blackbird was ringed at Stortons Pits, Northampton on 30th January 2019 and was then caught by a ringer operating down in Temple Mead, Roydon, Essex only 38 days later. This bird travelled 85km in a SE direction, goodness knows where she hopes to raise a brood this year!

An adult female Great Tit was caught and ringed in Scaldwell village on 26th March 2016 and was unfortunately taken by a cat in the same village on or about 11th March this year, 1811 days later. Had she survived to this summer she would have been at least five years old.

Regards

Neil M

Vocal Nuthatch at
Abington Park, Northampton
yesterday courtesy of
John Gamble.

Blackbird.

Great Tit.

Storm Gareth

Hello

Very windy today courtesy of Storm Gareth and some heavy rain at times too, and it seems like we have some more stormy weather to look forward to!

The two Great Northern Divers were seen at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon, again off the Sailing Club. The gull roost was almost non-existent but the regular second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull was again present.

Two Bramblings and a flock of Tree Sparrows were in the bird feed crop between Blueberry Farm and the Brampton Valley Way below Hanging Houghton this afternoon.

A couple of ringing recovery details are as follows:-

An adult male Mallard was ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 17th June 2016 and was reported as being found recently dead at Broughton near Kettering on 6th March 2019 (presumed shot). As is often the way with the numerous Mallard recoveries over the years this bird did not venture far (6km from ringing site);

A young female Greenfinch was caught and ringed at Winfarthing, Norfolk on 22nd September 2018 and was recaptured at Stortons Pits (Northampton) on 24th February this year. The origins of this finch are not known (possibly from the continent?) but it has clearly been rather mobile, Stortons being 140km west of the original ringing site.

Regards

Neil M

Drake Mallard
courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Greenfinch.

Great Grey Shrike still!

Hello

Eleanor's early morning patrol of the Brampton Valley between Hanging Houghton and Cottesbrooke this morning quickly confirmed the presence of the wintering Great Grey Shrike, perched up in one of it's favourite hedges. It was till present some seven hours later, and the adult male Merlin again put in an appearance mid afternoon.

Nothing of note at Harrington Airfield this morning albeit that singing birds included Skylark, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

A Raven was heard calling in Hanging Houghton and birds present at Brixworth Water Treatment Works included two Grey Wagtails, eight Snipe and a dozen Teal. Nearby a second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull was present just north of the dam at Pitsford Reservoir.

Eric's saunter around Thrapston Pits today conjured up sightings of the three Pink-footed Geese, a drake Goosander, a Little Egret, two Great White Egrets, a couple of Cetti's Warblers and two Chiffchaffs.

Regards

Neil M

Yellowhammer.

Common Snipe
courtesy of John Tilly.

Drake Teal
courtesy of John Tilly.

Back in the UK!

Hello

We returned home today following a 24 day tour of south east Asia visiting the countries of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand with friends John Dixon and Alex Lewis. This was essentially a birding trip but with an opportunity of seeing a few mammals and insects too and even a little culture with a visit to the Angkor Wat temple complex at Siem Reap in Cambodia. It was very warm out there with daily temperatures around 36 - 38 degree centigrade so our best wildlife sightings came in the early hours of the morning and the few hours before dusk. We were fortunate to see most of the birds we wanted to see and for Eleanor and I it had been a long time since we had been in this part of the world so we were a little identification rusty!

On arrival back at Hanging Houghton this morning we were greeted by a flock of about forty Fieldfares and a pair of Raven around the village. Eleanor explored the Brampton Valley below the village and up to the Blueberry Farm complex this afternoon. No sign of the Great Grey Shrike but there was still an adult male Merlin attracted to the flocks of finches and buntings still present in the area.

A couple of days ago three Cormorants were found dead at Pitsford Reservoir in suspicious circumstances suggesting intentional killing. All the birds were found by the dam and the cause of death has yet to be established but visiting birders are asked to be on high alert and to report any suspicious activity to the Police and/or the RSPB Investigations Unit.

Regards

Neil M

Fieldfare courtesy
of Jacob Spinks.

Cormorant courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Ringing Recoveries

Hello

A couple more ringing returns have filtered through recently:-

A juvenile Robin was caught and ringed at Harrington Airfield on 29th August 2018 and was found dead in the small village of Orton on 21st February this year. A young bird that had pretty much survived it's first winter seems to have fallen at the last hurdle to make it through to the spring. The bird only travelled about four km from it's ringing site;

A juvenile Reed Warbler was caught and ringed at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 9th July 2017 and was caught again in a mist net at Paul do Taipal, Coimbra, Portugal on 18th August 2018, a distance between the two sites of 1456km. Of course in between then this young bird would have wintered successfully in Africa during the 2017/18 winter and was on it's way again for the 2018/2019 winter. Records indicate that if they survive their first winter Reed Warblers tend to be long-lived birds with numerous trips back and forth between Europe and Africa.

A young female Goldfinch was caught and ringed at Hanging Houghton in November 2018 and it seems remained in the area and probably taking advantage of garden feeders until caught and brought in by a cat in the same village in February this year, a familiar story for many small birds and another risk associated with visiting gardens where the main predators are cats.

Regards

Neil M 

Robin.

Reed Warbler.

Goldfinches.

Northants Bird Club AGM

Hello

The Annual General Meeting of the Northants Bird Club is due to be held at the Fishing Lodge, Pitsford Reservoir on Wednesday 6th March 2019. The meeting will commence at 7.30pm and traditionally the main business of the AGM will be concluded quickly and a presentation on the wildlife of Taiwan from visiting speaker Colin Wilkinson will follow. Colin and a small team of naturalists visited this exciting Asiatic island recently and he will project images of some of the birds and other creatures they found.

Hot drinks and biscuits are to be made available during the evening as usual and everyone with an interest in wildlife is invited to attend!

Regards

Neil M

Smew courtesy
of John Gamble.

Bar-tailed Godwit.

Ringing and Willow Tits.

Hello

Our apologies for the lack of blog messages recently, we have been off-line for several days!

Last Friday (22nd) a bird ringing session took place at the feeding station at Pitsford Reservoir which successfully caused the processing of over a hundred birds. This total was made up of eight Mallard, a couple of Blackbirds, a Robin, four Dunnocks, nine Blue Tits, ten Great Tits, six Tree Sparrows, four Chaffinches, a Brambling plus a staggering twenty-nine Reed Buntings and twenty-nine Yellowhammers. An Oystercatcher was loudly proclaiming it's presence in the Scaldwell Bay!

A ringing session was then completed at Stortons Pits on Sunday 24th Feb, the group successfully netting 68 birds of thirteen species made up of eleven Great Tits, twenty-four Blue Tits, three Long-tailed Tits, three Robins, a Blackbird, a Song Thrush, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Cetti's Warbler, a Bullfinch, seven Greenfinches, six Chaffinches, two Goldfinches and seven Reed Buntings.

A major drive in the UK to try and successfully map our remaining Willow Tits is underway with localities in Northamptonshire among them. Last week a survey was completed at Pitsford Reservoir and the pair of birds known to be in the Scaldwell Bay were located using the playback method. Last year it seemed that we only had one pair on-site - further work will be completed to see if any more can be found this year.

Regards

Neil M

Willow Tit at Pitsford
Reservoir courtesy of
Dave Jackson.

Curlew courtesy of
Cathy Ryden. The next
two months should see
a trickle of Curlews moving
through the county...

Yellowhammer courtesy
of John Tilly.

Reed Bunting courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Crossbills, Cattle Egret and Chiffchaff!

Hello

The amazing weather continues!

At least a few of the Crossbills have maintained a presence at Irchester Country Park during the week and were still present yesterday (Thursday).

Also yesterday it seems that a Cattle Egret was photographed in the Nene Valley, possibly near Wellingborough but the full details are not known. Today (Friday) and Neil Hasdell saw one of the Great Northern Divers at Pitsford Reservoir, about 200m west of the causeway car park at about 10.30am.

Some more bird ringing recoveries have filtered through during the last few weeks which included a Chiffchaff ringed at Linford Lakes on 2nd Sept 2018 which was then caught again by a ringer operating at Chalk Farm, Willingdon, East Sussex 24 days later, this warbler having moved 160km in an expected SSE direction.

Regards

Neil M

With spring weather in the
air the normally quarrelsome
Coots become even more so!
Images courtesy of John Tilly.

Chiffchaff.

Mapping Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Mute Swans!

Hello

Unseasonably warm weather in the UK and Northants is hardly the conditions we expect in February and it doesn't seem to have produced any different birds locally.

Yesterday (Monday) and six Crossbills were still present at Irchester Country Park and at a time of the year when they should be breeding! Today (Tuesday) there were still at least three present, this time by the woodcutters huts.

The Great Grey Shrike wasn't reported at it's usual haunt between Hanging Houghton and Cottesbrooke both yesterday and today despite being looked for. A Corn Bunting, fifteen Tree Sparrows and two Bramblings were in the general area today...

Also today two Great White Egrets were at Summer Leys NR with three Red-crested Pochard on nearby Mary's Lake (courtesy of Kim Taylor).

News of the Great Spotted Woodpecker caught at Glyn Davies Wood at the weekend indicates that it was initially ringed as a young bird in August 2018 as far away as Wiltshire! This seems a rather unusual movement although is not unprecedented as a few years ago a bird first ringed in Hertfordshire as an adult in the breeding season (and colour ringed) was then seen in a Crick garden.

For a little while now Mute Swans have been ringed and had orange plastic darvic rings placed on a leg at the Embankment at Wellingborough. During the last month a couple of these birds have been re-sighted at Ditchford Pits and the ringers involved invite further reports of birds should you see them (visit the BTO website>click on Ringing on LHS of page> click on reporting a colour ringed bird). Grid references are requested if possible.

Regards

Neil M

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Mute Swan.

Weekend's birds!

Hello

Yesterday (Saturday) and some ringing at Glyn Davies Wood to the west of the county took place which resulted in some good numbers of tits and other common birds, and helps to indicate how many birds are attracted to the well maintained feeders there...

Over 120 birds were processed made up of 7 Long-tailed Tits, 63 Blue Tits, 4 Coal Tits, 45 Great Tits, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 2 Chaffinches. One of the woodpeckers was apparently a bird first ringed elsewhere so we will find out in due course where it has come from. Other birds noted on-site included Marsh Tit and Nuthatch and a couple of Woodcock. Sadly this seems to be another local site that has lost its Willow Tits during the last year or two.

Birds noted in the county also yesterday included the Hanging Houghton Great Grey Shrike, Merlin and Barn Owl plus plenty of Skylarks, Yellowhammers and some Tree Sparrows. Martin Swannell was driving between Overstone and Moulton and saw an unidentified ibis species fly south (presumably a Glossy Ibis). The Nene Valley Ring-necked Duck showed up at Summer Leys NR and was viewable on the main lake from Rotary Hide and eight mobile Crossbills continued to entertain at Irchester Country Park. Neville's Lodge near Finedon has proved consistent this winter and yesterday afternoon a Short-eared Owl and a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier again showed in the late afternoon.

Today (Sunday) and birders were active in the county with a Great Northern Diver being seen off the dam and sailing club at Pitsford Reservoir and the Great Grey Shrike was again mobile around the hedges between Hanging Houghton and Cottesbrooke.

At least three Crossbills were about still at Irchester Country Park (courtesy of Adrian Borley) next to the compound/woodcutters yard at 11.20am, although these birds were vocal they were mobile and rather elusive. Adrian also notched up two Great White Egrets and three Red-crested Pochard at Summer Leys NR but couldn't find the Ring-necked Duck there today.

Eric's efforts at Thrapston Pits provided threes of Pink-footed Goose, Great White Egret and Goosander and a nice mixed flock of Siskin and Redpoll...

Regards

Neil M

Grey Heron.

Yellowhammer.
This is a critical time of year for
the Yellowhammer when natural food
resources are exhausted and they suffer
a 'hunger gap' with little in the way of grain
and other seeds to eat. The provision of broadcast
 mixed seed is enough for them to survive the winter
 and spring in Northamptonshire.

Shelduck.
Prospecting pairs will be gradually building
at a number of county sites...

Oystercatcher.
Another regular breeding
bird in small numbers in the county
(mostly the Nene Valley), the first few
are back already...

All images courtesy of Robin Gossage.