Willow Emerald damselflies

Hello

It was a quiet waterbirds count at Ditchford Pits today and another count minus Kingfishers. This used to be one of the best sites in the county for this bird in the autumn with counts on some days into double figures. A few Cetti's Warblers were attempting some vocalisation and there were a couple of just-fledged Reed Warbler families about. An Egyptian Goose was on the viaduct flock amongst hundreds of Canada and Greylag Geese. Lots of Migrant and Brown Hawkers on the wing and a couple of tired Blue Emperors too as their flight period diminishes. Common and Ruddy Darters were numerous and the best of the damselflies were quite a number of the Willow Emeralds, a relatively new addition to Northants odonata. There was a surprisingly good number of Banded Demoiselles on the wing. A Black-tailed Godwit was on Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows reserve this morning.

Three Cattle Egrets on the main lake at Stanwick Pits continues the run of recent records with one still at Summer Leys LNR where was also a Great White Egret, a Kingfisher and an Osprey briefly (from the excellent photos of the ring it is an individual ringed as a nestling in the county in 2021).

The Black Terns were lingering with one still at Eyebrook Reservoir, two at Clifford Hill Pits and still one at Stanford Reservoir and one also at Hollowell Reservoir.

The ringing continues at Stanford Reservoir with three new Common Redstarts ringed (twenty-four ringed there this autumn) and five new Grasshopper Warblers amongst 272 birds newly ringed today. A juvenile Mediterranean Gull was there this evening plus six Common Sandpipers and twenty Common Swifts.

Other birds at Hollowell Reservoir today included the female Ruddy Shelduck, an Osprey, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Greenshank, four Common Sandpipers and two Green Sandpipers.

In the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir at various times of the day there were three Great White Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, a Raven, the male Common Redstart still in the perimeter hedge and a Whinchat in waterside vegetation near to the Maytrees Hide.

In addition to the Black Terns there were three Common Sandpipers at Clifford Hill Pits and a Peregrine went over and nearby three Ravens overflew Billing Fishponds.

Ian counted six Spotted Flycatchers on the reserve at Woodford Halse and there were three at Crick Deer Park (plus a Green Sandpiper). A family party of four Spotted Flycatchers were in Hanging Houghton village late this afternoon and a different family party of five and two Hobbies were at Lamport Hall.

Regards

Neil M

Jim Dunkley photographed these
House Martins clambering around
in ornamental cherry trees at
Sywell Aerodrome some days ago.
They seemed to be actively hunting unknown
 and unseen insects/larva on the cherry leaves - 
unusual behaviour for a species that
normally hunts in prey on the wing.

Images courtesy of Jim.

Another harvest collie,
this time Rouzel enjoying
the stubble.

Willow Emerald damselflies
at Ditchford Pits today.

Cataloguing the migrants

Hello

It's that time of the year when there are large numbers of juvenile birds active and with many of the warblers moving around eating what they can find before making their move south to southern Europe and potentially Africa. This means that August is potentially a busy month for ringers hoping to catalogue the birds before and during their migration for tracking and establishing survival rates.

Kenny and team completed some ringing at Linford Lakes on the outskirts of Milton Keynes today with a brief period yesterday afternoon too. A hefty total of 220 birds of twenty-two species of which 171 were newly-ringed were processed. Warblers dominated with fifty-four Chiffchaffs, twenty-two Willow Warblers, a juvenile Cetti's Warbler, five Common Whitethroats, two Sedge Warblers, fifteen Reed Warblers, ten Garden Warblers and thirty-six Blackcaps. Bigger birds included a Magpie, a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Song Thrush. Hirundines included a welcome eight Swallows and a Sand Martin and finches included three Greenfinches and six Goldfinches and five Treecreepers were appreciated.

A Pied Flycatcher was reported on-site and other creatures encountered included Fox, Muntjac, Badger, Grass Snake and a Poplar Hawk-moth.

A smaller scale ringing session at Brixworth was less productive with just over sixty birds processed of seventeen species which included twenty-nine Chiffchaffs, several Common Whitethroats (including a re-trap from last August), a Sedge Warbler ringed last week at Pitsford Reservoir, a Woodpigeon first ringed in 2021 and singles of Pied Wagtail, a re-trap Grey Wagtail, a Garden Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat. At least three Grey Wagtails remained on-site and several Yellow Wagtails visited briefly with Raven and Hobby overhead.

Continuing efforts of ringing at Stanford Reservoir today provided captures of two migrant Tree Pipits and yet another Common Redstart and a Kingfisher. Other birds there included another Kingfisher, the Black Tern from yesterday, a Hobby and two Shelducks. A Black Tern was at Eyebrook Reservoir today.

Birds in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today included the long-staying male Common Redstart, a Spotted Flycatcher, three Great White Egrets, four Ruff, a Red-crested Pochard and two Yellow-legged Gulls. Four Ruff, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Sandpiper and a Great White Egret were all at Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows and an Osprey was seen over Summer Leys LNR this afternoon with the Cattle Egret reported there early morning.

Elsewhere and there were two Black Terns and a Cattle Egret at Clifford Hill Pits and a Green Sandpiper and a Common Sandpiper were at Hardingstone Lake this morning. A Wheatear was on farm buildings at Ecton and this morning a Marsh Harrier and a Wheatear were early birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton with a Spotted Flycatcher in the village this afternoon.

A Marsh Harrier was a late evening sighting at Harrington Airfield.

Regards

Neil M

Sand Martin courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Swallow courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Treecreeper courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

House Martin and Sand Martin
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Wagtails, chats and ducklings!

Hello

A breezy but mild day with a little sunshine and still plenty of evidence of migration.

In the Brampton Valley below Brixworth there was a Green Sandpiper, six Yellow Wagtails and three Grey Wagtails and in the same valley below Hanging Houghton there was a Whinchat and a Wheatear. Nearby two Common Redstarts remain at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell.

Birds at Stanford Reservoir included a Black Tern which lingered, a Great White Egret, six Common Sandpipers, two Shelduck, a Kingfisher, a Tufted Duck with thirteen ducklings and a Grasshopper Warbler which was caught and ringed. Three Black Terns were at Eyebrook Reservoir.

The Cattle Egret was still on the scrape at Summer Leys LNR this morning and later a Marsh Harrier appeared. At Hollowell Reservoir an Osprey and a Marsh Harrier were seen this morning.

A mixed migrant flock of forty wagtails on the dam at Pitsford Reservoir this evening included twenty Yellow Wagtails and several apparent juvenile White Wagtails. Other birds included two adult Yellow-legged Gulls, two Green Sandpipers, three Common Sandpipers and a Kingfisher.

Regards

Neil M

Jaeger the harvest collie.

Yellow Wagtail.

Green Sandpiper.

Juvenile Whinchat.

More witnessed migration

Hello

A dull start and end to the day with sunshine and cloud in between, a change of wind direction and showers too! These conditions have provided quite a fall of interesting passerines on the east coast, particularly Pied Flycatchers, and Black Terns seemed to have moved right across the nation.

However locally it has been more or less more of the same of the last few weeks and at Stanford Reservoir the Marsh Harrier showed again, a Ruff flew through and singles of Common Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher were caught and ringed. Other birds included an adult Yellow-legged Gull and four Common Sandpipers.

At Hollowell Reservoir today there was an adult Caspian Gull, a fly-through Turnstone and seven Ringed Plovers, two Common Sandpipers, two Green Sandpipers and two Whinchats.

At Pitsford Reservoir a Marsh Harrier flew south from the Walgrave Bay, at least three Great White Egrets were present as was a Red-crested Pochard, a Raven and Common Sandpiper and Ringed Plover were heard calling. A Raven was also on the outskirts of Brixworth.

Two Cattle Egrets flew through individually at Stanwick Pits early this morning and the bird at Summer Leys LNR was still in situ this afternoon. Four Black Terns and a juvenile Arctic Tern and a Barnacle Goose were at Clifford Hill Pits this afternoon.

An Osprey was over Titchmarsh Reserve, Thrapston Pits this afternoon and two Spotted Flycatchers were on the edge of the copse on the Brampton Valley Way below Hanging Houghton this afternoon, feeding on the southern (leeward) side.

Regards

Neil M

Grey Heron courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Great Crested Grebe 
with apparent Tench prey
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Comma butterfly.

Burnished Brass moth.

Typical county birds for August

Hello

A breezy day in the county with cloud initially but then some brighter and warmer spells.

A Marsh Harrier was at Stanford Reservoir both yesterday and today and at Hollowell Reservoir birds seen today included two Ospreys, a Garganey, a Greenshank, a Redshank, a Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper and a Tree Pipit. Two adult Yellow-legged Gulls and a Kingfisher were visible from the dam at Pitsford Reservoir this evening.

Single Ospreys were noted over Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows late morning and at Thrapston Pits in the early afternoon.

Two Common Redstarts were at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this morning and two Wheatears and a juvenile Marsh Harrier were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton early this afternoon. Nearby Lamport Hall continued to host up to ten Spotted Flycatchers, a Common Redstart and a Hobby.

At Harrington Airfield three Tree Pipits and a male Common Redstart were caught and ringed this morning. Two Ravens were also present and a Grey Partridge was heard calling briefly.

The Cattle Egret was reported on the scrape at Summer Leys LNR late morning.

Regards

Neil M

Bufftip moth.

Drinker moth.

Little Egret courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Common Buzzard courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

This first year male Common
Redstart caught and ringed at
Harrington Airfield last year
closely resembled the bird caught
and ringed today, both being
first year males.

Sunset at Harrington Airfield.

Migrant passerines on the move

Hello

A period of ringing at Pitsford Reservoir this morning coincided with a 'fall' of acrocephalus warblers which really boosted the numbers. One hundred and sixty-seven birds were processed which only contained three re-trapped birds and a bird ringed from elsewhere. Reed Warblers were the most common bird handled with forty-seven birds with Sedge Warblers coming in second with forty birds processed. These are unprecedented numbers for Pitsford and adds evidence to the fact that this autumn there are huge numbers of migrant passerines moving down through central England with seemingly relatively few on the coasts. Other warblers included eleven Common Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, two Garden Warblers, six Blackcaps, ten Willow Warblers, four Chiffchaffs and a Grasshopper Warbler.

Two Tree Pipits were present and one was caught and ringed and four Tree Sparrows were caught and ringed too.

Other birds at Pitsford during the morning north of the causeway included an Osprey, four Great White Egrets, three Red-crested Pochard and an adult Yellow-legged Gull. Neil Hasdell located two different Lesser Emperor dragonflies (one at the Scaldwell Bay end of the causeway and another in front of the Bird Club hide).

The Cattle Egret was seen again at Summer Leys LNR and two Common Redstarts were at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell with a Common Redstart, two Whinchats and a Wheatear in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning.

This afternoon there were at least four Common Redstarts dotted about at Harrington Airfield and two Wheatears on Bunker Three. One of the Wheatears was still present this evening with two Ravens just off the main track. A ringing session will be taking place there tomorrow morning so there will be restricted access around the bunkers and scrubby areas but the concrete track is unaffected.

The ringing team at Stanford Reservoir also fared very well today with an incredible twelve Common Redstarts caught and ringed as well as catching and ringing five Grasshopper Warblers and controlling a Jersey-ringed Willow Warbler.

Helen Franklin and her small team were ringing at Woodford Halse today where they processed an excellent one hundred and twenty-seven birds made up of sixty-one Blue Tits, forty-one Great Tits, a Willow Warbler, a Wren, a Coal Tit, six Blackcaps, six Robins, a Chaffinch, a Common Whitethroat, six Dunnocks, a Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

This evening at least ten Spotted Flycatchers were  still at Lamport Hall and the Common Redstart was still present too and at Hollowell Reservoir there was an Osprey and three Great White Egrets.

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker
courtesy of Chris Payne.

Tree Pipit at
Pitsford today.

Grasshopper Warbler at
Pitsford today.

Common Whitethroat courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Pitsford WeBs Count

Hello

The early part of the day was taken up today completing the wetland bird survey at Pitsford Reservoir in very nice weather conditions. Some fourteen Little Egrets were dotted about the reservoir and three Great White Egrets were in the Scaldwell Bay. Most of the geese were absent, busy gleaning the cut cereal fields on the west side of the reservoir. The customary late breeding efforts of Great Crested Grebes at Pitsford seems to be bearing fruits of success with many family parties north of the causeway. An Otter gave the briefest of sightings in the Walgrave Bay.

Waterside vegetation held plenty of warblers and tits and a male Common Redstart was by the spillway at the dam end of the reservoir. Waders were in short supply but included Lapwings concentrated along the causeway, a Redshank and four Common Sandpipers. Two eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard were in the Scaldwell Bay nestled into the margins and the slow autumn build-up of Wigeon has so far only reached eleven birds. Begging juvenile Sparrowhawks and Common Buzzards were calling from the plantations and Muntjacs skipped along the mown rides. A Grey Partridge with five youngsters in tow were on the Old Walgrave Road this morning.

Insects included a variety of common odonata plus a Lesser Emperor grappling with a Blue Emperor in front of the Bird Club hide. Roesel's Bush-crickets were in good numbers and the best of the butterflies included both Common and Holly Blues, Comma and Small Copper.

A Common Redstart was calling in the field hedge between Maytrees and the Bird Club hides this evening plus an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a Kingfisher were in the Scaldwell Bay.

In the meantime Chris Payne and team conducted some ringing at Greens Norton where they succeeded in catching a number of birds the undoubted highlight being two Kingfishers! Other birds included Bullfinch and numbers of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers and a juvenile Goldcrest. A Sparrowhawk had obviously bounced out of one of the nets and left the remnants of it's pigeon prey in the net!

Over at Stanford Reservoir a juvenile Shag was discovered today and other birds included a Great White Egret, two Shelducks, a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper and four Spotted Flycatchers.

A Wasp Spider was found and photographed at Bozeat today, one of the first of it's kind to be found in the county as this distinctive species moves up from the south east.

The Cattle Egret was still at Summer Leys LNR this morning but then flew off. Two Ospreys were seen at Hollowell Reservoir this afternoon before flying off east. A Common Sandpiper was at Clifford Hill Pits this morning and an Osprey was at Thrapston Pits at 11.15am.

Two Common Redstarts remained at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this morning where there was an assembly of common warblers and two Spotted Flycatchers. A family party of Spotted Flycatchers were along the beech avenue in Harlestone Heath at lunchtime and Lamport Hall hosted at least ten Spotted Flycatchers, common warblers and a Common Redstart along the traditional spot off the footpath that runs along the southern aspect of the park and reached off the A508 south of the Lamport Hall entrance.

Regards

Neil M

Common Emerald damselfly.

Roesel's Bush-cricket.

Holly Blue.

Small Copper.

Starling enjoying the blackberries!

Blue Emperor.

Common Toadlet.

All above images from
Pitsford Reservoir today.

Kingfishers courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Juvenile Goldcrest
courtesy of Chris Payne.

Ringing at Linford Lakes

Hello

A ringing session at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes yesterday produced an excellent tally of birds with one hundred and ten birds processed, the majority being warblers. There were only twelve re-trap birds amongst the fourteen species handled. The most common species encountered was Chiffchaff with thirty-four birds assessed but other warblers in high numbers included twenty-one Reed Warblers and nineteen Blackcaps. There were seven Garden Warblers, a Sedge Warbler, six Common Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat and five Willow Warblers. Two juvenile Song Thrushes and two juvenile Treecreepers were noteworthy.

Today (Monday) and it was another blustery affair with some rain early on.

Birds at Stanford Reservoir included a Tree Pipit flying over calling this morning plus four Shelduck and a Common Sandpiper. A Greenshank and three Common Sandpipers were on the dam at Pitsford Reservoir this morning plus a Kingfisher, three Yellow-legged Gulls and a Grey Wagtail. A Red-crested Pochard was in the Scaldwell Bay this afternoon.

The female Ruddy Shelduck had befriended some Canada Geese at Crick this morning and some good birds at Hollowell Reservoir this morning included an adult Caspian Gull, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, a Garganey, two Great White Egrets, a Green Sandpiper and a Golden Plover flying over.

The Cattle Egret re-appeared at Summer Leys LNR today and also present was a Great White Egret and four Black-tailed Godwits.

Two Common Redstarts remain at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and another with a Wheatear were at Shrike Hedge in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton. Two Ravens spent time on and off in the village during the day and fifty House Sparrows in our garden is a good number for us.

Other birds nearby included two Spotted Flycatchers at Lamport Hall and a Common Redstart and one or two Whinchat(s) in nectar cover/hedging between Lamport and Scaldwell. Two Spotted Flycatchers were on the reserve at Woodford Halse and three Grey Wagtails and at least one Raven were in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth.

Regards

Neil M 

Song Thrush courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Greenfinch courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Lesser Whitethroat
courtesy of Kenny Cramer.

Sand Martins courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Green-veined White
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Kingfisher courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

August wildlife

Hello

Few fresh birds noticeable today in the county but Harrington Airfield this morning yielded a juvenile Marsh Harrier, two Common Redstarts and a Wheatear. In the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton later what was probably the same juvenile Marsh Harrier appeared and there were two Whinchats close to the large barn. Two Common Redstarts were at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this morning.

At Summer Leys LNR today there was a Great White Egret, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Common Redstart with a Whinchat still nearby near Great Doddington Sewer Works. The drake Common Scoter remained at Eyebrook Reservoir today and the female Ruddy Shelduck was seen at Winwick Pools.

Four Shelduck and a Hobby were noted at Stanford Reservoir today and birds visible in the dam area at Pitsford Reservoir this evening included nine Yellow-legged Gulls (three juveniles), a juvenile Raven, a Kingfisher, a Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper.

Regards

Neil M

Gatekeeper courtesy
 of Tony Stanford.

Toadlet courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Broad-bordered
 Yellow Underwing.

Herring Gull.

Ruddy Darter.