A few bits and pieces...

Hello

Eleanor was over at Staverton again today and saw the usual pair of Raven. A subsequent visit to Daventry Country Park provided views of 8 Pintail, 12 Goosanders, 15 Lesser Redpolls and 25+ Siskins. Two Otters were visible from the causeway at Ravensthorpe Res today (about 1.30pm) and a drake Smew was present too.

The Ruddy Shelduck was present near to the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir this morning, as was a Redshank. Three Teal were caught and ringed there today...

A Chiffchaff and three Grey Wagtails were at Brixworth STW this morning and the Firecrest was reported. A Siskin was in full song at Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate and 1-2 Snipe were noted at Harrington Airfield.

Regards

Neil M

Robin
Courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Long-tailed Tit
Summer Leys LNR

Stonechat
Summer Leys LNR

Teal at Pitsford Reservoir

Above images courtesy
of Neil Hasdell

Nene Valley Birding

Hello

A WeBS count at Ditchford Gravel Pits today was muddy and quiet for birds. The only birds of note were three Great White Egrets, two on the Viaduct Pit west of Ditchford Lane and another one on pits east of Ditchford Lane. Other birds included a Little Egret, an Oystercatcher, two drake Goosanders, three Cetti's Warblers, a Chiffchaff, a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Siskins.

Neil Hasdell was again at Summer Leys Local Nature Reserve today, spotting the female Scaup again, a Great White Egret, three Oystercatchers, the female Stonechat and two Peregrines.

A Brambling remained here at Hanging Houghton, a Kingfisher was at Kelmarsh Hall and the Pitsford Reservoir gull roost provided views of an adult Mediterranean Gull.

Regards

Neil M

Great White Egret

Common Buzzard

Male Sparrowhawk

Some breeze and spring sunshine
following rain is always good for the
local raptor population to air their wings.

Sunny Thursday!

Hello

Chris Payne took advantage of the pleasant weather this morning and completed a fairly hectic ringing session down at Bradden in rustic South Northants. He processed 78 birds made up of 36 Blue Tits, 17 Great Tits, 4 Coal Tits, a Marsh Tit, 3 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Nuthatches, 2 Robins, a Blackbird, a Dunnock, a Greenfinch, 5 Chaffinches and 4 Goldfinches. Other birds in the near vicinity included two Ravens sparring with the local Common Buzzards.

Neil Hasdell was over at Summer Leys Local Nature Reserve at Earls Barton and connected with a female Scaup near Gull Island, a drake Goosander, the wintering female Stonechat still, a Cetti's Warbler, two Shelduck, three Egyptian Geese, two Redshank and two Peregrines.

A male Brambling was in our garden at Hanging Houghton again today and Cathy Ryden enjoyed watching a male Siskin for it's second day in her garden at Guilsborough. At this time of the year garden feeders can expect to attract scarcer birds as natural food is virtually spent. Redpolls and Siskins should join the garden Goldfinches and Reed Buntings and the odd Yellowhammer can begin joining in with the more regular Chaffinches and sparrows (if you are lucky enough to have sparrows). Niger seed and sunflower hearts in suspended feeders attracts the smaller finches, Chaffinches like mixed seed broadcast on the ground, Reed Buntings take small seeds on the ground (with a particular liking for Red Millet) and Yellowhammers tend to like bigger seeds and grain also presented on the ground or in grain hoppers.

Jacob Spinks saw a drake Smew in the Holcot Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this morning (plus some Siskins) and later in the day he enjoyed an excursion over to Daventry Country Park where he spotted the drake Green-winged Teal that has been present for a little while, plus two Kingfishers, more Siskins and a small flotilla of Goosanders.

The lone Ruddy Shelduck was in the vicinity of the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir this evening, and just a single Little Egret was by the causeway.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Tit at Bradden

Courtesy of Chris Payne

Coot on sunlit water
Hollowel Reservoir

Coot versus Moorhen...

Pied Wagtail

Adult male Blackbird.
The all black glossy plumage,
broad tail feathers, bright orange bill and
eye-ring all help to age this as a
bird hatched sometime before 2015.

Adult male Chaffinch. This bird too
was hatched before 2015. The tertial
feathers are broad and rounded with a
thick chestnut band to the edges, the primary
and secondary tips show little or no
wear, the black of the primary coverts
are almost as dark as the greater coverts
and the tail feathers are well-rounded and
in good condition. Continental male
Chaffinches tend to be pinker on the
underside (like this one) whereas more local
birds tend to be a brick red/pink, but
there is much variation.

The above five images are all
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Pitsford WeBS count

Hello

The early onset of rain today caused the monthly WeBS count at Pitsford Reservoir to be a little more challenging! However very few birds to count and very little of note to report...

The Ruddy Shelduck was by the Sailing Club and other birds south of the causeway included the wintering male Stonechat by 'The Holly Tree', a few Siskin and redpoll sp, a Kingfisher, a couple of Raven and a Green Sandpiper. Common Snipe were flushed up at a number of locations around the reservoir, numbering some forty birds.

Birds in the garden here at Hanging Houghton included four Reed Buntings and a male Siskin.

Regards

Neil M

Common Snipe

Pitsford ringing

Hello

Some further ringing took place at Pitsford Reservoir this morning, utilising two different sub-sites at the reservoir. 

A total of 126 birds of 17 species were caught in the near vicinity of two of the feed stations, giving an indication of some of the number of birds relying on the food we put out for them...

36 Yellowhammers
15 Greenfinches
12 Blue Tits
11 Goldfinches
10 Reed Buntings
9 Dunnocks
8 Chaffinches
8 Robins
5 Great Tits
4 Tree Sparrows
2 Goldcrests
and singles of Moorhen, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit.

Other birds noted at the reservoir included a Ruddy Shelduck, two drake Smew, a first year male Peregrine, a Raven, a Redshank, a Grey Wagtail, a Chiffchaff and a couple of Siskins.

Birds noted subsequently at Brixworth Sewer Treatment Works included two Chiffchaffs and two Grey Wagtails.

Regards

Neil M

Another Barn Owl casualty...

Hello

Sad news this morning with one of the Barn Owls being found injured in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton. It exhibited several injuries and died before medical aid was possible. Like the bird found dead recently, this bird was also ringed and we await to find out more of it's life history.

Robin and Wendy Gossage took a stroll around Sywell Country Park today with the lens clicking away as usual...!

Regards

Neil M

Coot

Nuthatch

Green Woodpecker

Cormorant.

All images courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Cool but sunny Sunday!

Hello

A couple of Barn Owls were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning with another at nearby Blueberry Farm, Maidwell.

A ringing session at Stortons GP this morning yielded 53 birds before the wind stopped play, 30 new birds and 23 re-traps. The total included ten Reed Buntings, six Lesser Redpolls and a Siskin.

Two nets at Sunderland Wood (Kelmarsh Estate) this morning were sufficient to catch 59 birds, 33 of which were new. This was made up of eleven Great Tits, twenty-eight Blue Tits, five Coal Tits, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, three Nuthatches, a Dunnock, four Robins and six Chaffinches.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon included a Ruddy Shelduck between the causeway and the Old Scaldwell Road, and the gull roost off the Sailing Club hosted an adult Caspian Gull and a first year Mediterranean Gull.

Regards

Neil M

Lesser Redpolls

Courtesy of John Boland.

Common Buzzard

Mute Swan

Yellowhammer

Three images above
courtesy of Jacob Spinks

'Tis the season of the Raven!

Hello

Eric Graham and friends were birding at Thrapston Gravel Pits today and saw interesting birds in the shape of two Great White Egrets, four Little Egrets, nine Goosanders, a male Peregrine plus five Lesser Redpolls and a male Stonechat.

Birds in the garden here at Hanging Houghton included a Marsh Tit, a male Siskin, a male Brambling, with a pair of Raven nearby.

Eleanor was at Staverton again this morning and watched the regular pair of Raven building their nest! However Eleanor had her head turned when two Waxwings flew over calling, and watched them flying off in the direction of Badby.

In the afternoon Eleanor walked around Daventry Country Park and saw the drake Green-winged Teal, six Goosanders and 20+ Siskins.

Jacob Spinks saw a male Blackcap in his garden at Scaldwell village yesterday and witnessed two Ravens and a flock of 46 Golden Plovers over-flying the village today.

I flushed a Woodcock in Scotland Wood (Kelmarsh Estate) this morning and a perusal of the gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir provided views of the adult Caspian Gull.

Regards

Neil M

The magnificent Raven!

Ringing activity

Hello

The wet and windy weather conditions of the winter has conspired to keep many of the county bird ringers inactive. Most birds are caught using nine foot high mist nets which are fine in dull, still weather or in areas of shelter, but are inappropriate for wild and windy conditions. The relative calm of the last few days has thus caused a flurry of ringing activity!

John Woollett and Garry Marsh were ringing at Water Stratford near Buckingham yesterday and caught and ringed over a hundred birds in an agricultural setting. In excess of fifty percent of the birds were Yellowhammers and Linnets.

This morning Chris Payne conducted some ringing in his Greens Norton garden in South Northants and he caught a selection of birds including a male Reed Bunting and ten Lesser Redpolls (six new ones and four re-traps from November/December).

Dave Francis was ringing at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station at Pitsford Reservoir today and using just two nets succeeded in catching 83 birds, the majority of which were new. Again Yellowhammers were the most common species caught with 36 new birds and 7 re-traps, plus 11 Reed Buntings, 7 Tree Sparrows and more regular fare. This helps confirm that at least a hundred Yellowhammers are visiting the feed station regularly this winter.

Neil Hasdell was at the Summer Leys reserve today and saw a Great White Egret, three Little Egrets, a Stonechat, a Cetti's Warbler, a Grey Wagtail, two Peregrines and a hybrid Wigeon.

Eleanor was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning and saw the pair of Stonechat, two Lesser Redpolls, two Grey Wagtails and a Barn Owl. A small flock of 16 Golden Plovers were at Harrington Airfield this afternoon and another flock of just 10 were near Walgrave.

Eleanor enjoyed the best bird of the day when an adult female Goshawk flew over her, heading towards Pitsford Reservoir from the direction of Walgrave village. This was at about 4pm and caused a major disturbance with the pre-roost gathering of corvids and Woodpigeons.

Regards

Neil M

Pied Wagtail

Long-tailed Tit

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Male Reed Bunting

Lesser Redpolls

Courtesy of Chris Payne.

Little Egret

Grey Wagtail

Courtesy of Neil Hasdell

Ringing at Brixworth

Hello

A ringing session took place at Brixworth STW today, providing over 60 captures of 14 species.

Highlights included three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, four Grey Wagtails, three Pied Wagtails, a Goldcrest and a male Sparrowhawk.

Other birds noted included the Firecrest still (showing well for much of the afternoon in the boundary hedge), four Chiffchaffs, several Siskins and a couple of Snipe.

Regards

Neil M

Record shot of the Firecrest

Chiffchaff

A two year old Male Sparrowhawk

Local Bird Ringing

Hello

A ringing session took place today at Kelmarsh Hall, a small team capturing just over a hundred birds. Twenty-three Goldfinches was a good total, supported with smaller numbers of Greenfinches and Chaffinches and a re-trap Lesser Redpoll (from Scotland Wood in December 2015).

This is a regular ringing site but we still caught new Blue Tits and Great Tits and a couple of new Coal Tits too. Two re-trap Great Spotted Woodpeckers were several years old and have been captured a number of times over the years. Other birds noted on site included a singing Grey Wagtail.

Notification came through today of a Goldfinch recovery from the autumn. A juvenile Goldfinch was caught and ringed at Harrington Airfield on 20th September 2015 and re-captured by a ringer operating in Chilworth, Surrey on 5th January 2016. By that time the plumage characteristics had changed and it was possible to identify the gender as female. This recovery was 132km due south from the ringing site, and 107 days later...

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Goldfinch

Goldfinch in adult plumage

Images from Guilsborough

Hello

Neil Hasdell visited the Summer Leys Local Nature Reserve today and enjoyed watching a Cetti's Warbler which had thrown of it's yoke and was actually out in the open showing itself... wonders will never cease!

Other birds included the long-staying Stonechat and a pair of Egyptian Geese and the Great White Egret was reported.

Eleanor saw the pair of Stonechat in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton again . This pair frequently go a wandering along the valley but they were back below the village today.

Regards

Neil M

Jackdaw

Cock Pheasant

Who are ewe looking at?

Country images from the Guilsborough
area courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Yet another blustery day!

Hello

A little wild out there today, and I became rather soggy in the Kelmarsh Estate woodlands this morning. Nothing much different seen but a Peregrine over Sunderland Wood wasn't struggling with the wind, unlike many of the potential prey items around it...

Jacob Spinks was busy photographing some of the wildlife in his garden yesterday...

Regards

Neil M

Love them or hate them,
Grey Squirrels are unequivocally
clever, agile and bright-eyed...
and maybe cute as well!!

Goldfinch

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

All images courtesy of
Jacob Spinks