Pitsford update

Hello

Some ringing at Pitsford Reservoir today provided 44 captures of 11 species made up of 5 Tree Sparrows, 4 Chaffinches, 5 Reed Buntings, 6 Blue Tits, 2 Robins, a Coal Tit, 5 Great Tits, 6 Yellowhammers, 4 Dunnocks, 2 Greenfinches and 4 Blackbirds.

Robin Gossage was also at Pitsford today armed with his camera and some of the results are below...

Regards

Neil M

Drake Goosander.

Cormorant in breeding plumage.

All images taken at Pitsford
Reservoir today as taken and
shared by Robin Gossage.

Another day of rain and drizzle...

Hello

Eleanor visited Sywell Country Park this morning and saw the long-staying Whooper Swan in an adjacent field. Other birds noted were a Cetti's Warbler, two Water Rails and a Stonechat.

Neil H went looking for the reported Waxwings around Moulton from two days ago but was unable to locate any in very poor weather.

A reminder that the local RSPB group are teaming up with the rangers at Stanwick Lakes and members of the Northants Ringing Group to hold an event this Sunday in preparedness for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch the following week-end. There will be events for children, displays, guided birdwatching and a bird ringing demonstration at Stanwick Lakes all designed to assist in the identification of garden birds ready for the big day.

If you are unfamiliar with Stanwick Lakes site, there is a map on the Birdwatching Sites Maps page on this blog; the event will be easy to find from the car park in the middle of the complex. This Nene Valley site is off the A45 between Higham Ferrers and Thrapston.

Regards

Neil M

Whooper Swan at
Sywell CP.

Rare passerine anyone?

Hello

I forgot to mention yesterday that Phil Horsnail espied a hunting 'ringtail' Hen Harrier in the east of the county at Polebrook Airfield at about 12 noon and on Saturday Amanda Fraser watched a male Blackcap feeding on cotoneaster berries in her Kingsthorpe (Northampton) garden.

Although winter in the county has always been interesting, it seems almost that this is the best season for finding scarce and rare birds in the county. Although still exciting, the classic migration periods of spring and autumn often frustrate the inland birder with the coasts experiencing heavy migration and plenty of rare birds but with only a negligible influence in the middle of the country.

With warmer temperatures, middle England enjoys more varied passerines wintering than ever before and I would predict that some of our rarer small birds will actually be found during the short days of winter. Thrushes of course seem to be the current family to watch for, but it is worth checking through any finch or bunting flocks and looking for wintering warblers too! The very best of luck in your valiant searches!

Regards

Neil M

Bathing Blackcaps
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

And if anyone out there can
find a Dusky Thrush or similar
we would love to know!

Rainy day

Hello

A walk in the rain at Harrington Airfield this morning provided views of fifty Golden Plovers and a couple of Snipe.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir included a Great White Egret, a Goosander, two Redshank, a Green Sandpiper, several Pintail, a couple of Grey Wagtails, a female Brambling on the main feeding station and an adult Peregrine. The gull roost hosted a first year Yellow-legged Gull and an adult and first year Caspian Gull.

A brief visit to Kettering town centre today failed to find any lingering Waxwings.

Regards

Neil M

Where is my apple?

All that is mine?

More images from Cathy Ryden -
Fieldfare (top) and Starling (bottom).

Kettering Waxwings (again)!

Hello

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir north of the causeway today included two Great White Egrets, eleven Pintail (eight drakes), two Redshank, two Green Sandpipers, a Grey Wagtail and a Chiffchaff. The gull roost off the Sailing Club in the afternoon contained an adult Caspian Gull and a first year Yellow-legged Gull with a Little Owl nearby.

Two Great White Egrets were still present at Ravensthorpe Reservoir this afternoon and birds viewable at Daventry Country Park included a Shelduck, four Goosanders and an adult female Peregrine. Four Ravens were very vocal and interactive at Staverton.

The Waxwings were mobile in Kettering town centre today, numbering at least thirty, and then they appeared to absence themselves during the early afternoon. The three known venues were School Lane car park, the area in front of Pets at Home and Sainsbury's and a lone Rowan tree in front of the Alexandra Arms. It is likely that they have found somewhere else in Kettering to feed but are likely to return periodically to the same trees at the above locations as there are still some favoured berries left.

Two pairs of Stonechats remain in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Waxwings courtesy of
Pete Gilbert.

Waxwings courtesy of
Jacob Spinks.

The amazing Waxwings in Kettering today
(a shame that I failed to catch up with them)!

Winter weather at last...

Hello

The snow swept in to Northamptonshire this morning providing a very wintery scene, albeit that by nightfall most of it had disappeared.

Jacob Spinks noted two Bramblings in Scaldwell village this morning and I spent part of the day visiting feeding stations. At Brixworth Water Treatment Works the filter beds were alive with Pied Wagtails - I estimated between eighty and ninety birds together with at least one Grey Wagtail.

Eleanor encountered a flock of at least 16 Waxwings in Kettering this afternoon, these birds feeding on berries in trees next to Tanners Lane car park which itself is next to Sainsbury's and Pets at Home. It is presumed that these are some of the School Lane birds that have just moved a short distance to find a fresh supply of food.

Regards

Neil M

The big, beautiful and sometimes bold
Fieldfare cannot resist apples once the berries
and worms are in short supply.

These images were taken by Cathy Ryden today.

Kettering Waxwings

Hello

The flock of Waxwings (up to 22 birds) were again in Kettering town centre today, situated around the car park off School Lane. The images below are courtesy of Wendy and Stuart Andrews and were taken yesterday...

Eleanor's observations today amounted to two pairs of Stonechats in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton, and a pair of Raven which spent quite a period of time in the village and the grounds of Lamport Grange...

During the last two months, two injured/sick Common Buzzards have been found at or in the close vicinity of Pitsford Reservoir. Both birds died and the causes of death has not yet been established and may not be connected but it is a timely reminder that should you find a sick or dead bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, please contact the Investigations Unit of the RSPB on the numbers on the right hand side of this blog. Ideally a dead bird should be photographed in situ and if it is an obvious poisoning incident (i.e. several corpses close to bait), then the RSPB require notifying immediately and the scene preserved.

Regards

Neil M

Nineteen Waxwings in this one image!

Images of Waxwings courtesy of Wendy Andrews.

Ditchford WeBs count

Hello

Eleanor went for a run around Pitsford Reservoir this morning (south of the causeway) and saw the Slavonian Grebe back by the Holly Tree (it's actually now a lone Hawthorn bush). Four White-fronted Geese flew south over the causeway and later were near the dam with Canada Geese.

A flock of Waxwings were discovered feeding on berries at School Lane in Kettering this morning, the flock size varying between 12 and 22 during the day.

I spent much of the day checking out the old gravel pits at Ditchford, the still short days meaning it took most of the available daylight hours to walk around and count waterbirds on just eleven of the thirty or so pits which form part of this very large complex. A drake Smew was on the main pit between Higham Ferrers and Irthlingborough and a pair of Red-crested Pochard were on the adjacent fishing pit. At least five Goosanders were present and other birds included three little Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Woodcock, a Jack Snipe, ten Snipe, three Kingfishers, a Grey Wagtail and small numbers of Cetti's Warblers.

Regards

Neil M

Purple Swamphen.

Little Bittern.

For the third Christmas in a row
I have co-led a Naturetrek tour to
The Algarve in Portugal. The two birds
above were among the star birds of the show.
I thought I would add them to the blog
because despite walking around with my
camera all day today, I didn't take any images
despite the sometimes rather nice light conditions!

Birds at Summer Leys

Hello

Robin Gossage was at the Summer Leys reserve at Earls Barton today and noted an adult Peregrine carrying a just-caught Golden Plover, one of their favourite prey items. Up to five Water Rails were on show and other birds included two drake Pintail.

Eleanor's only noteworthy observation was the pair of Stonechat still in the valley below Hanging Houghton this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Peregrine with
Golden Plover.

Pintail.

Water Rail.

All images taken by
Robin Gossage at
Summer Leys today.

Our most common raptors

Hello

Two ringing sessions took place yesterday (Sunday), with efforts at Linford Lakes providing 42 captures which included 22 new birds. They were made up of 5 Robins, a Dunnock, 2 Wrens, 12 Great Tits, 17 Blue Tits, 2 Long-tailed Tits, a Song Thrush, a Blackbird and a Goldcrest. Stortons Gravel Pits provided 46 captures of which 33 were new birds including 2 Redwings. The re-traps included a six year old Robin.

Today and John Hunt reports that a pair of Egyptian Geese were looking rather maternal at Oundle Marina and he noted 10 Siskins at nearby Barnwell Country Park.

I spent much of today whizzing around the wild bird feeding stations in the centre of the county, dispensing food in readiness for the apparent change in temperatures forecast for later in the week. I didn't see any birds of note during my travels...

Regards

Neil M

Sparrowhawk.

Male Kestrel.

Common Buzzard.

Steve Bennison took a stroll
around Kingsthorpe Meadow
yesterday morning and was pleased
to see and photograph our three
most common raptors.

Jay

Image courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Love is in the Air!

Hello

Another BOS Short Day Count was completed today, this time in SP54 in the south west of the county. Edgcote and Trafford Bridge/Marsh was the initial venue and in fact we spent about half the day in this general area finding about sixty species of birds. The scarcer species included a Little Egret, a Water Rail, a Common Snipe, two Kingfishers, three Grey Wagtails, an adult male Peregrine, Tree Sparrows, Siskins and a single Willow Tit.

Visiting sites further south in the 10km square provided views of a female Merlin not far from Chacombe, a couple of Ravens and some more Siskins at Thenford.

The mild conditions of the last few days has stimulated further breeding interest in both our birds and mammals. Eric Graham watched six Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other around at Titchmarsh Reserve yesterday and we saw much the same thing at Edgcote today. And at least one of Robin's images below, errrm, also indicate similar interests in our British mammals...!

Regards

Neil M

A pair of Red Fox
Pitsford Reservoir

A pair of Muntjac at
Pitsford Reservoir!

And of course the intimate photographer
could only ever be our own Robin Gossage!

More Waxwings!

Hello

The Banbury Ornithological Society Short Day Count took place in SP55 today, a 10km square in Northamptonshire west of Daventry. We were fortunate to encounter Waxwings in Woodford Halse village. Initially we heard a calling bird in the fog shortly after 8am but returned in the late morning and found a flock of seven in gardens along Adams Road which created a great deal of local interest.

In murky conditions it was difficult to find many of the species we were looking for but Fawsley Park hosted as many as three Kingfishers, three or four Water Rails, a small party of Siskins, a Grey Wagtail and woodland and water birds typical of the site. Other birds noted in SP55 included several Ravens, two Peregrines, a Woodcock and a Brambling.

Eleanor was at Staverton this morning and saw 2-3 Ravens and a visit to Ravensthorpe Reservoir this afternoon provided views of three playing Otters and two Great White Egrets from the road causeway. The pair of Stonechat remain about a mile west of Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

The flock of seven Waxwings
today in the murk at Woodford
Halse courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

More images of the
photogenic Waxwings at Roade
 last week courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Scotland Wood ringing

Hello

A rather cold start this morning but a small band of us committed to some bird ringing on the Kelmarsh Estate today, concentrating our efforts in Scotland Wood.

Good numbers of small birds were present in this mixed woodland, their numbers supported with the provision of feedstuffs. In total 137 birds were caught and processed (111 new and 26 re-traps) totalling 14 species made up of 7 Blackbirds, 3 Goldcrests, 8 Long-tailed Tits, a Treecreeper, 2 Nuthatches, 3 Dunnocks, 29 Great Tits, 3 Marsh Tits, a Willow Tit, 5 Robins, 38 Blue Tits, 27 Coal Tits, 9 Chaffinches and a first year female Sparrowhawk. Several Siskins were also present in the wood.

Regards

Neil M

Female Sparrowhawk. This fine
raptor is a first year bird hatched
in 2016. The underside has yet to
develop the barring of an adult and the
chestnut fringing to the upperside and pale
 edges to the coverts is typical of this age.