The lure of the Lammergeier!

Hello

Today I took a drive up to the moorland west of Sheffield to try and see the Lammergeier (or Bearded Vulture if you prefer). This young individual has been tracked in mainland Europe including Belgium and was seen flying north over the West Midlands and then over Derbyshire air space subsequently. Local naturalists then discovered the bird in the Peak District National Park and it appears to be lingering around a large section of moorland and tors between Sheffield and Manchester.

I walked for about two hours and was fortunate to encounter the bird flying in a gully below where I was standing and it slowly flew away, arched around over moorland and eventually away to the far distance, some of the time being accompanied by escorting Ravens. The rain and the distance made photographic opportunities virtually nil. Seeing this dramatic and majestic bird in the UK was still quite a thrill! There is a strong likelihood that this bird originates from a European breeding and release scheme (similar to the White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Wight) but it doesn't carry a transmitter and I don't know if anyone has seen a ring on its leg or not - a large proportion of the Pyrenees breeding Lammergeiers are ringed as chicks in the wild by intrepid French and Spanish ornithologists.

The bird is flying around managed moors for Red Grouse and other birds were very limited in number but included small numbers of Meadow Pipits, Wheatears, several Kestrels, a couple of Common Buzzards, Red Grouse and calling Golden Plover and Curlew.

Back in the county and birds at Sywell Country Park today included a juvenile Cuckoo, a family party of Spotted Flycatchers (in trees below the dam) and several Grey Wagtails.

At Harrington Airfield a single Common Redstart was seen and an Osprey flew over there this afternoon. Hollowell Reservoir boasted three different Ospreys passing over this afternoon and the Earls Barton complex hosted three Great White Egrets, a Green Sandpiper and three 'reeling' Grasshopper Warblers. A post-breeding gathering of sixteen Yellow-legged Gulls was noted at Stanwick Pits and Adrian had a fly-over Crossbill at Eastfield Park, Wellingborough early this morning.

Chris Payne committed to some more ringing near Greens Norton today catching and processing twenty-two birds which included seven Goldcrests, four Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps.

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Moorhen in the rain!

Peacock butterfly.

Pochard.

Southern Hawker.

All above images from
recent forays to Pitsford
Reservoir.

Goldcrest.

A selection of Goldcrest
crown colours.

Juvenile Wren.

Above three images all
provided by Chris Payne.

Out of season birds

Hello

Yesterday provided a couple of interesting 'out of season' records including a Merlin near to Hanging Houghton Sewer Works (Fiona Barclay) and several birds seen at Earls Barton whilst searching for the 'small heron' which included the Spoonbill again on Hardwater Lake, a Peregrine, a Hobby, two Water Rails and a 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler. Birds at Harrington Airfield in the evening included two Common Redstarts (adult male and a female/imm), bizarrely a calling Woodcock that flew over and disappeared towards the B576 and a 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler.

Today was the last Common Bird Census at Pitsford Reservoir and the July visit is all about picking up on late breeders and plotting a surprising number of resident birds that sing at the start of the season and at the end but with little evidence inbetween (the modest Dunnock is the classic example).

I took a clockwise circuit around the reserve beginning at 5am and there were six Little Egrets visible from the causeway and some super misty conditions with the rising sun that I was unable to properly capture with my camera. At least four Crossbills were mobile in the trees in the Scaldwell Bay behind the New James Fisher hide and the two eclipse drake Red-crested Pochards were visible from it. Over two hundred Gadwall and four hundred Tufted Ducks were mingled with Pochard, Wigeon and other waterfowl and there were fifty Great Crested Grebes in the Scaldwell Bay alone.

Numerous family parties of Blackcaps suggested a good year for them and as it warmed up out came the butterflies and dragonflies. A Silver-washed Fritillary was a Pitsford tick for me but individuals have been seen by other observers during the last few years. Dragonflies included Ruddy Darter, Brown Hawker, Four Spotted Chaser, Blue Emperor, Southern Hawker and a freshly emerged Migrant Hawker (my first one of the year).

I didn't see much different in the bird camp apart from a Yellow-legged Gull  and three Kingfishers until reaching the area around the Fishing Lodge where there was at least one Crossbill in the trees and a delightful family party of Spotted Flycatchers.

Elsewhere and an Osprey was seen fishing on the Elinor trout lake at Thrapston Pits this morning and Summer Leys hosted three Great White Egrets, two Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper. Four Crossbills and several Siskins were at Bucknell Wood today courtesy of Andrew Cook and the butterflies included several Silver-washed Fritillaries including one of the 'valezina' form, a White Admiral, Purple Hairstreak and Wood White.

A ringing session at Stortons Pits this morning provided fifty-seven new birds and six re-traps which included fifteen Reed Warblers, eleven Blackcaps, five Whitethroats and a Cetti's Warbler. One of the Reed Warblers was bearing a Portuguese ring and was the same bird caught at Stortons on 6th July last year.

Regards

Neil M

Just-emerged Migrant Hawker.

Comma.

Juvenile Cetti's Warbler
courtesy of Chris Payne.

The Reed Warbler bearing
a Portuguese ring.
Image courtesy of
Chris Payne.

Treecreeper courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Summer's wildlife

Hello

A late morning visit to Pitsford Reservoir provided an opportunity to walk down to the Bird Club Hide in the Scaldwell Bay. The two drake Red-crested Pochard swam out of the waterside vegetation at one point and the concentration of moulting ducks there included four Wigeon. Newly-hatched Great Crested Grebe chicks ensure that quite a number of pairs have bred on-site and the Oystercatcher pair are feeding a chick or chicks. Two Yellow-legged Gulls sat atop their buoys, a Green Sandpiper was in the margins and other birds included a Hobby and a Grey Wagtail. Four Black-tailed Godwits were seen in flight over the Scaldwell Bay this afternoon. Odonata included Blue Emperor and Ruddy Darter.

Earls Barton Pits as usual provided some interesting sightings with the Summer Leys reserve attracting a flock of thirteen Black-tailed Godwits late morning, two Great White Egrets and a Common Sandpiper. However Alan Coles saw what can only be an interesting if unidentified small heron/bittern species in flight at Quarry Walk which flew east towards Summer Leys...time will tell if this bird is tracked down to confirm the identity.

At least one Crossbill was at Bucknell Wood today and butterflies included a Wood White, Purple Hairstreaks and Silver-washed Fritillaries. Clouded Yellow butterflies were reported at Roade, Mary's Lake at Earls Barton and Little Harrowden churchyard today.

Regards

Neil M

Common Toadflax.

Brimstone moth.

Dusky Sallow.

Phasia hemiptera courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Nearly ready to go!
Two juvenile Swifts in
the nest courtesy of
 John Hunt.

A day of rescues!

Hello

Our customary outing to Harrington Airfield this morning was made a little more interesting when I found a rather bedraggled Common Buzzard on the ground in a field and seemingly unable to fly. After bringing it back home and giving it the run of the utility room it dried off and looked a little better. I whizzed out in my car to find some road kill for it but the usual spots with rabbit casualties were free of corpses so prime beef and combed dog hair (for roughage) was offered up and ignored. The buzzard demonstrated that it might be able to fly a little and smashed one of Eleanor's new Pyrex dishes with it's flapping! After allowing it more space in the lounge and seeing that it could definitely commit to several wing flaps our raptor friend was driven back to Harrington and successfully released! In the meantime a Starling managed to fall down the chimney at home and had to be extracted by removing the gas fire and successfully released so for some reason Sunday 19th July was very much a day of rescues! The dogs will eat well tonight with the snubbed beef steak!

A 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler was again near Bunker One at Harrington, a Meadow Pipit may be a wanderer from the the small Brampton Valley breeding population as opposed to an early autumnal migrant and at least two young Ravens were about. A first summer Common Gull over Hanging Houghton was the first one I've seen in the county since the spring. Fiona's moth trap at Hanging Houghton caught plenty of specimens overnight and it took her the morning to properly identify and catalogue them all.

Steve's daily early morning visit to Stanwick Pits coincided with eleven Black-tailed Godwits sharing the main lake with a Redshank, a Green Sandpiper and a Common Sandpiper and then two more Black-tailed Godwits flying through.

Adrian's list of birds at Hollowell Reservoir included the Ruddy Shelduck, a Great White Egret, an Osprey, three Dunlin, two Common Sandpipers, a Redshank, a Little Ringed Plover, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Raven.

Birds to the north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon included two drake Red-crested Pochards and an adult Yellow-legged Gull. A Birdguides report of a Honey Buzzard was of an individual passing north over Islip at 5.10pm.

The singing male Willow Tit photographed poorly in the Brampton Valley yesterday evening appears to be bearing a ring and is suspected to be the same individual ringed at Brixworth earlier this year (and still the only individual I have encountered anywhere in the county during 2020). Is anybody else out there seeing them?

A pair of Spotted Flycatchers at Lamport Hall were accompanying at least three fledged juveniles this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Gatekeepers or Hedge Browns.

Marsh Tit.

Elephant Hawk-moth.

Ruby Tiger.

Poplar Hawk-moth.

Bufftip.

Common Buzzard.

Saturday's sightings

Hello

The return of the Spoonbill to Earls Barton Pits this morning provided joy and sorrow as it permitted close views on the wader scrape on the Summer Leys reserve before moving to Hardwater Lake and then flying off before all would-be observers had arrived.

Other birds at Summer Leys included one of the juvenile Black-necked Grebes and a Spotted Flycatcher and there was a Great White Egret and a Green Sandpiper at Hardwater Lake early this morning.

Stanwick Pits attracted four Cattle Egrets on the north lake this morning and this afternoon there were three different Mediterranean Gulls and eleven Yellow-legged Gulls.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir today included three Yellow-legged Gulls and a drake Goldeneye (probably the same bird has been turning up in July for nearly ten years), a Green Sandpiper and the large flock of moulting Gadwall. Nearby Hollowell Reservoir continues to host the female Ruddy Shelduck plus a Green Sandpiper and two Common Sandpipers.

A flock of twenty-one Crossbills were at Bucknell Wood today and a Dark Green Fritillary was found in a meadow next to Salcey Forest.

The pair of Spotted Flycatchers at New Covert, Kelmarsh were feeding fledged young today.

A walk along the Brampton Valley between Hanging Houghton and Brixworth this evening produced a rare beast in the shape of at least one Willow Tit which was in the company of at least two Marsh Tits.

Regards

Neil M

Spoonbill.

Spotted Flycatcher.

Crossbill.

Brixworth ringing.

Hello

A warm and sunny summer's day and much of it was taken up with a ringing session at Brixworth Water Treatment Works where a small team managed to catch and process 111 birds of 20 species. 

Warblers completely dominated the session with 24 Chiffchaffs, 3 Willow Warblers, 11 Reed Warblers, 7 Sedge Warblers, 13 Blackcaps, 10 Common Whitethroats and singles of Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat. Other birds included a Pied Wagtail, 3 Song Thrushes, 3 Magpies and singles of Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer. Five Grey Wagtails evaded the nets and a Kingfisher flew through.

Eleanor completed an early morning walk at Harrington Airfield this morning seeing the long-staying male Common Redstart, hearing a 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler near Bunker One, and seeing a silent adult Cuckoo and 2 Crossbills and 4 Siskins flying over.

A Crossbill was heard flying over Brackley this morning and the Earls Barton Pits complex hosted a single Black-necked Grebe and a Dunlin on Summer Leys LNR and this evening a Spoonbill initially at Summer Leys and latterly at Hardwater Lake.

The Peregrine was again on it's church spire in Market Harborough town centre this fine evening.

Regards

Neil M

The diminutive Chiffchaff, one
of the most common birds
ringed in the UK.
Image courtesy of John Tilly.

Sedge Warbler courtesy of
Lynne Barnett.

Common Whitethroat
courtesy of Lynne Barnett.

Pitsford Reservoir day tour

Hello

Today was another Natutretrek day trip to the Wildlife Trust reserve at Pitsford Reservoir. After meeting at 9am, Mischa provided some eleven specimens from the moth trap to examine before they were given their liberty and included a Bufftip which was recently voted as Britain's favourite moth!

We then took a slow walk around the reserve in initially breezy, grey conditions but this gradually gave way to an increase in temperature and then some lovely periods of sunshine. Ringlets were the first butterflies to put in an appearance followed by the whites and in the end we saw 16 different species with a couple of examples of Marbled White and lots of pristine Peacocks, Red Admirals and one small area with several bright Commas.

The best bird was a stunning adult male Common Redstart that was using the perimeter fence between the Holcot and Walgrave Bays about 400m east of the Old Walgrave Road as it's feeding perch with sallies down to the ground and adjacent plantation.

Clouds of Common Blue Damselflies lifted out of the grass as we progressed and we saw a couple of Common Toadlets. The Walgrave Bay hosted at least three Little Egrets and a Hobby and by this time Ruddy and Common Darters were on the wing and the small pools at the bottom of the bay was good for Four-spotted Chaser, Emerald Damselfly and Blue Emperor with occasional glimpses of Brown Hawkers and Black-tailed Skimmers. A male Muntjac barked at us and we heard quite a few Marsh Tits without properly seeing any of them!

There were rather more birds in the Scaldwell Bay where Mischa rescued a Common Tern chick and placed it in the raft it needs to remain in for a little longer before trying to fly again! Rafts of feeding Coots included plenty of Gadwall and two small broods of Tufted Ducks were present. A Southern Hawker dragonfly posed nicely and a Black-tailed Godwit was on the shoreline between the Bird Club and Maytrees Hides.

Stanwick enjoyed a variety of birds today with two mobile Great White Egrets, two Cattle Egrets, a Black-tailed Godwit, two Redshanks, two Little Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper, a Whimbrel (that subsequently flew off), a Yellow-legged Gull and a Turtle Dove that flew east.

One of the Black-necked Grebes was still at Summer Leys LNR today plus a Dunlin on Round Island and two Great White Egrets flew SW at Stanford Reservoir this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Adult male Common Redstart...sorry it's
a bit distant!

Emerald Damselfly.

Four spotted Chaser probably
of the form 'praenublia'.

Gatekeeper or if you
prefer the old name -
Hedge Brown!

Ringlet.

Ruddy Darter.

Southern Hawker.

All images taken at Pitsford
Reservoir today.

Dull and damp Wednesday

Hello

Yesterday (Tuesday) Chris Payne committed to some solo ringing near Greens Norton and processed over a hundred birds. Great Tits and Blue Tits dominated but other birds included three Blackcaps, five Chiffchaffs, a Treecreeper, a Goldfinch and five Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Yesterday evening John Hunt was standing in his Spratton garden admiring the Swifts flying around and was pleased to see a Barn Owl checking out the garden meadow. As he stood there the Barn Owl flew towards him and landed on his head for a couple of seconds! It then flew around and went to land on his head again, only thwarted as John tried to photograph the event!

Today (Wednesday) and birds at Pitsford Reservoir included Spotted Flycatchers, a Grey Wagtail, a Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper at the south end and two Yellow-legged Gulls and three Common Sandpipers and over two hundred Gadwall on the reserve north of the causeway.

Birds at Stanwick Pits included a Whimbrel flying over in a south westerly direction and a Cattle Egret which flew east as well as a Yellow-legged Gull.

In the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton a pair of Grey Partridges still had their two young, there was a Barn Owl and a Little Owl and mammals active this evening included a Badger, a Muntjac with a brief view of an Otter again.

Two Siskins flew over Harrington Airfield this morning and a Grasshopper Warbler was 'reeling' near Bunker One; five Grey Wagtails were at Brixworth Water Treatment Works.

I did't see the Otter at Market Harborough this evening but the Peregrine was present on the church spire in the town centre.

Regards

Neil M

Treecreeper courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Wood Wasp or Horntail
courtesy of David Arden.

Kite-tailed Robber Fly
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

The wildlife of mid July

Hello

Evening birds for yesterday (Monday) included the male Common Redstart still at Harrington Airfield, a Crossbill in Denton Wood (Yardley Chase) and two Curlew and a Common Sandpiper at Earls Barton Pits. A Black-tailed Godwit over Far Cotton, Northampton was detected audibly after dark.

Some time spent at the south end of Pitsford Reservoir this morning (Tuesday) provided observations of a fishing Osprey, a Common Sandpiper, three Yellow-legged Gulls, three Siskins, a pair of Spotted Flycatchers (sadly without young), a Kingfisher, a couple of Little Egrets and at least two Grey Wagtails. Two Stoats were patrolling the perimeter of the Sailing Club grounds causing the birds to be on high alert.

Stanwick Pits provided early morning views of two Cattle Egrets and a Redshank on the Main Lake and this evening a Little Tern was seen initially on the main lake and latterly on the Visitor Centre lake.

At Summer Leys LNR the two juvenile Black-necked Grebes remained in situ as did three Common Redstarts on a private track between Brockhall and Little Brington (present for at least three days). The Common Redstart was still at Harrington Airfield today, this time perhaps a little closer to Bunker One and a Hobby was seen there.

Hollowell Reservoir sported the female Ruddy Shelduck still and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and late news for yesterday (via Birdguides) was of three White Storks seen in flight at Long Buckby which headed west in the morning.

Neil Hasdell has kindly completed maps for Hollowell and Ravensthorpe Reservoirs and updated the map for Pitsford Reservoir and these can be found on the 'Birdwatching Site Maps' Tab. More maps will follow in due course once site checks have been completed and accuracy is assured.

Regards

Neil M

Stoat on the hunt.

Common Terns at Pitsford
Reservoir yesterday - images
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

 The youngster became waterlogged
and seemingly didn't have the strength to
extract itself from the clingy
surface vegetation. Once extracted
and placed on the stump the adults
continued to feed it and Dave has
captured one of the adults with a
very small Pike as prey - something
I saw myself last week but wasn't
 quick enough to photograph!