Bird Race 2015 - the result!

Yes we can see you!
Male Backcap Earls Barton GP

Adult and juvenile Grey Wagtail
Weston Mill, Northampton

Common Tern
Weston Mill, Northampton

Hello

Yesterday (Friday) was spent completing the 24 hour county bird race which resulted in 111 species being detected. Although this is a little short of our target of 115 we were pleased with our efforts, particularly as the hoped-for waders didn't really materialise.

Seven species of raptor, five species of gull, three species of owl and ten species of warbler helped us on our way but as always we missed quite a few birds that simply didn't show or call at the right time. Despite two Mediterranean Gulls being in the Nene Valley currently, neither bird was seemingly present at the time of our visits to Stanwick and Earls Barton (presumably off feeding somewhere) and other birds in situ and singing only a day or two before couldn't be found on the day. Some of this is the time of day - you want to be everywhere early in the morning and by the time we visited some sites in the early afternoon, key species which had been active and singing earlier had fallen silent and couldn't be seen.

John Finlayson saw the best birds of the day with two Common Cranes overflying Thrapston GP twice in the morning and despite his 'phone call to us we didn't connect. We had been on-site only a short time before but had moved on the Stanwick when the birds showed.

Despite birding from Midnight to 10.30pm, there still wasn't time to visit a couple of spots in time and a couple of almost guaranteed birds would have been added if we had another hour or so of daylight. We didn't see or hear Ring-necked Parakeet, Barnacle Goose, Water Rail, Woodcock, Snipe, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Wheatear, Whinchat, Long-eared Owl or Corn Bunting. We ate and drank en-route to sites, and were mightily relieved when Helen Franklin met us in the early afternoon to offer up her cake-making and driving skills!

The first couple of hours listening for birds on a cold night provided us with just Tawny Owl and Grasshopper Warbler and then some time after 3am we heard Curlew, Sedge Warbler and Skylark. Not surprisingly various common song-birds began to sing pre-dawn and then of course it was all about picking out specific species within the dawn chorus proper.

In addition to Curlew, waders were restricted to Whimbrel, Greenshank, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Common Sandpiper.

My thanks to Bob Bullock for his excellent local knowledge, net-working and meticulous logging and preparatory efforts, Gary Pullan for his extraordinary spotting, 'scoping and identification skills, Phil Horsnail for initiating the effort and providing humour and excellent all-round naturalist skills to the day and of course Helen for putting up with a load of weary and wearing bird-racers!

Thank-you also to Steve Fisher, Mike Alibone, John Finlayson and others for trying to put us on various birds during the day and to many others who provided information on birds or their absence at locations around the county.

Regards

Neil M

Common Cranes over Thrapston GP
These birds were ringed and the observer
John Finlayson took images of the colour
ring sequence so hopefully we will
learn more of the origins of these birds.
Courtesy of John F.

Bird Race 2015

Hello

From Midnight tonight, a team comprising of Bob Bullock, Phil Horsnail, Gary Pullan and myself will be embarking on a 24 hour bird race to try and see or hear as many wild bird species within the county boundary as possible. When the fatigue really starts to kick in, Helen Franklin will take over as driver and endeavour to convey us around this fair county of ours!

The previous best total for Northamptonshire is 114 species. Although these events are less popular these days, ardent birders have been completing these marathon bird-watching sessions in the county since 1984. And of course a great deal of change has occurred in that time. Ruddy Ducks have come and gone, Golden Pheasant is now extinct in the county and Corn Buntings almost so. However thirty years ago we wouldn't be contemplating seeing Great White Egret, Little Egret and Red Kite. Some of our scarce woodland birds have become rare now and we will be lucky to find such birds as Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Hawfinch and breeding Woodcock.

It is likely that we will begin in the north of the county, listening for birds in the large blocks of woodland during the early hours. At dawn we should be leaning eastwards towards Oundle and then contemplating moving in to the Nene Valley which will be a critical factor. We hope to witness wader passage at gravel pits at Thrapston, Stanwick, Earls Barton and Clifford Hill as well as summering ducks and odd malingering gulls.

I think by lunch-time we will know whether the target will be within our reach. Last time we had seen 14 species of wader and still didn't breach the record.

Although this is a bit of fun, there is a serious side to it as it adequately demonstrates which birds are now becoming difficult to see due their low numbers and of course those birds which are doing rather well.

Should you be out and about tomorrow and find a scarce or unusual bird which we might be able to see and of course boost the numbers and our chance of success, I would be most grateful if you would 'phone or text somebody on the team. My mobile number is 07905 596427...

And of course once I've slept, we'll report on how it all went!

Thank-you

Neil M

Harrington Airfield ringing

Hello

A ringing session at Harrington Airfield this morning with just a few mist-nets and a couple of spring-traps was sufficient to catch 44 birds of 13 species. This total included 8 Whitethroats including a returning adult from last year, six Willow Warblers including a returning juvenile from last year, a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcaps, a pair of Marsh Tit, 3 Yellowhammers and  2 Goldfinches. However the star birds were two apparent 'Greenland' Northern Wheatears (please see the images below).

Checking an owl box with Chris Payne this afternoon in South Northants confirmed an attendant adult Tawny and a live and a dead chick. There was no cached prey in the box so it is assumed the smaller of the two died from starvation. Many tit broods have hatched now with the adults busy trying to find sufficient invertebrate food for their chicks.

Eleanor again saw a hunting Barn Owl and a Cuckoo at Blueberry Farm this evening.

Regards

Neil M

Apparent 'Greenland' race of Northern Wheatear.
Both these birds were trapped and ringed at
Harrington Airfield today and were deemed to be females.
The upper two images refer to a bird showing characteristics
of an adult. The bottom two images are of a bird aged as a
first year, this bird being browner, a little smaller and lighter and
exhibiting significant abrasion to wing feathers and particularly
the tail. The wing-lengths for both are outside the range of the nominate
form of Northern Wheatear and the adult type bird in particular
was very heavy. Both show seven primary tips at rest, an additional
quoted field characteristic. It seems these birds still have a long
journey ahead of them, aiming for Greenland or even the eastern
landscapes of Canada!

Blueberry Farm

Hello

Eleanor saw several birds in Big Lichfields at Blueberry Farm this evening which included a male Whinchat, two Wheatears, a Grasshopper Warbler, a Cuckoo and a Barn Owl...

Regards

Neil M

Very little to report today.  I stopped off at Borough Hill this afternoon on my way to agility and saw a male Redstart, 2 Wheatears and a male Whinchat.
At the agility venue the entertainment was provided by both the dogs and a pair of Raven virtually knocking a Common Buzzard out of the sky literally feet above our heads !!!!

Regards Eleanor

Long Day Count SP55

Hello

Today was a cool grey day in SP55 for the Banbury Ornithological Society Long Day Count, with a period of cold and murky mist descending for a couple of hours and a warmer and occasionally brighter but breezier afternoon. Helen Franklin assisted me in trying to find as many species in the square as possible.

We started along the roadside at Mantles Heath and star birds visible from here first thing included Garden Warbler, Tree Sparrow, Lapwing and Hobby. Not too far from there and mobbing Blackbirds located a Tawny Owl for us and then on to Fawsley Park which hosts the greatest diversity of birds in this area. Here we started with a drake Mandarin Duck and 3-4 Spotted Flycatchers, and went on to connect with a calling Water Rail, a Little Owl, another Tawny Owl, Nuthatch and singing Reed and Sedge Warblers. No sign of the usual Kingfisher though and a bird we failed to find all day. The biggest surprise of the day was undoubtedly the female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker found feeding quietly on a small tree shrouded in mist just before 8am, and about our sixtieth species of the day by then.

Big mammals were a feature of SP55 today with three different sets of Fox cubs noted at roadsides, a decent sized herd of Fallow Deer at the border with Warwickshire and the usual Muntjac, Brown Hare etc. With a couple of Badgers noted before we started the survey this morning and loads of Brown Hares, a few adult Foxes and a few Roe Deer yesterday, clearly this area of South Northants is relatively mammal-rich.

Moving on from Fawsley, we next visited the Catesby area and quickly connected with several Ravens and a couple of singing Willow Warblers, one of only two sites discovered with this species today. The first of several Yellow Wagtails for the day was seen here too (a bird we blanked on yesterday) and as we moved on further west we were fortunate to locate an adult male Peregrine, the first of several Lesser Whitethroats and our first Red Kite of the day.

We were late finding House Martin for the day and a pair of Little Grebe on a farm pond were a bonus. Sadly, as per yesterday, another day without seeing or hearing Cuckoo. Early afternoon roadside stops added a couple more species including a Wheatear near Preston Capes and another scattered half dozen Ravens with bulging throat sacks - clearly transporting food to awaiting young nearby.

This morning Eleanor visited Harrington Airfield and located two Turtle Doves and a Spotted Flycatcher in bushes at the end of the concrete track.

Regards

Neil M

Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Fawsley Park

Ladysmock - a common wild
flower but one of my favourites

Sheep Sofa!

Common Buzzard

SP54 Long Day Count

Hello

Today I was with local birder Mike Pollard conducting a Banbury Ornithological Society Long Day Count in SP54. This 10km tetrad includes much of the village of Middleton Cheney north of Banbury, right up to the northern limits around Moreton Pinkney all in South Northants.

Although the day started grey and windy, there were plenty of birds about and we soon connected with localised birds such as Little Owl, Lapwing and Grey Partridge. Small lakes provided Little Grebes and summering Tufted Ducks. Coal Tits were feeding young in a wall nest and a Red Kite (not yet common in this area) sauntered over. 

Raven was found at four sites including two adults with four freshly fledged juveniles at one of them, and Common Buzzards were very high profile all day. Even Sparrowhawk showed on three occasions and singing Lesser Whitethroats were well distributed. Birds passing through the square included Sand Martin and Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls but we failed to locate any migrant waders. A Wheatear was found in a bean field near Grumbler's Holt and a Spotted Flycatcher sheltered in Halse Copse.

Other good birds for the day included a couple of Tawny Owls and a drake Mandarin Duck on a pond at Trafford Marsh. We failed to locate Yellow Wagtail and Nuthatch but Kingfisher and breeding Grey Wagtails gave themselves up at Edgecote.

Eleanor watched a hunting Barn Owl in a grass field in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this evening.

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Mistle Thrush

Juvenile Grey Wagtail

Harrington Airfield

Hello

Neil H visited Harrington Airfield today and saw a Turtle Dove at the far end of the concrete track. Also present were three Wheatears and very good numbers of noisy Whitethroats.

Our garden at Hanging Houghton continues to attract reasonable numbers of seed-eating birds which currently includes about twenty House Sparrows, three Tree Sparrows, still a few Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings and three pairs of Stock Doves.

Regards

Neil M

Nest-boxes

Marsh Tit on nest
Pitsford Reservoir

Courtesy of Lynne Barnett

Hello

Checking next-boxes is very much part of the management regime at Pitsford Reservoir in spring and yesterday a small intrepid band did just that in windy and sometimes wet conditions yesterday. As can be seen from the image below, the Tawny Owl chicks (from the previous week) are growing nicely and most of the tits are now sitting on almost completed clutches of eggs. Hopefully this windy and wet weather will pass soon and there will be plenty of caterpillars around for the young tits once they hatch.

Today I checked on a Raven nest which I have been keeping an eye on in the NN6 postal district, and I could see two big young which I predict will probably fledge this week-end.

Regards

Neil M

Tawny Owl chick
Pitsford Reservoir

Courtesy of Lynne Barnett

Blue Tit on nest
South Northants

Courtesy of Chris
Payne

Daventry birds

Hello

Yesterday (4th) Eleanor visited Borough Hill Country Park (Daventry) and saw a female Redstart and two Wheatears. She then visited Daventry Country Park and saw a fly-over Osprey, two noisy Hobbies and three Common Sandpipers. Today (Tuesday 5th) and a short amount of time spent at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this morning before the rain hit provided just a single hunting Barn Owl.

Regards

Neil M

Pitsford CES

Hello

This morning Dave Francis completed the first Constant Effort Site ringing session of the season at Pitsford Reservoir which resulted in a healthy catch of 59 birds. These were made up of 8 Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrushes, 3 Dunnocks, 2 Robins, 5 Wrens, 7 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits, 3 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Treecreepers, a Goldcrest, 6 Garden Warblers, 6 Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Reed Warbler, a Bullfinch, 2 Chaffinches, 3 Greenfinches and 2 Reed Buntings. One of the Garden Warblers was first ringed in 2010. About a week ago, two Tawny Owl chicks were ringed from one of the nest boxes at Pitsford (please see image below).

Regular updates this spring from the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston GP by John Finlayson, Nick Parker and others confirm the continuing presence of good numbers of Hobby, a couple of singing Nightingales, Cuckoos etc. Generally at this time of the year the reserve provides an excellent opportunity to listen and compare all the common warbler songs, such are the numbers and variety.

Finally, Kay Bell has kindly emailed to state that a pair of reading spectacles have been found at Harrington Airfield. If you have lost them, Kay has left them on a metal bollard by the concrete track entrance off the minor road to Draughton.

Regards

Neil M

Tawny Owl chicks
Pitsford Reservoir
Courtesy of Lynne Barnett

Osprey with fish at
Hollowell Reservoir.
A recent images taken
by Martin Swannell.
This is a ringed bird which
also has a colour ring
attached which identifies
it as a three year old
male hatched at Rutland Water.

Tbilisi

Hello

This morning and the early afternoon was spent wandering around the old part of Tbilisi and the botanical gardens (more like an arboretum) south of the Mtkvara River.

We notched up some bird sightings, which included Green Warbler, Common Redstart, Black Redstart, Armenian Gull, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Black Kite, as well as experiencing a little culture.

Home tomorrow and to start committing to some local birding methinks!

Regards

Neil M

Kartlis Deda monument
which towers over the
city. Erected in 1958.
The 'Mother of the
Georgians'

St Trinity Cathedral

Green Warbler

Jay.
Note the different crown pattern
to our birds

Fancy a bath anyone?

Grey Wagtail

Head shot of a
Laughing Dove

Georgia Day 10

Hello

After a wet start this morning the weather improved and we drove up to 2000 metres and birded a couple of freshwater lakes on the Javakheti Plain. Here it was cold until the sun came out and it was obvious that the wet early morning had brought quite a number of migrants down. Despite very little cover on this upland plateau, warblers were hopping around in weeds and stalks and very low leafless bushes, and raptors dawdled overhead along a broad front.

The lakes held waterfowl which included Ferruginous Duck, Pintail and Garganey and the more interesting waders were Spotted Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank and Ruff. A large falcon attacking the waders caused them panic and us some confusion as to which species we were dealing with. In the end we decided it was a sandy (and aberrant coloured) Peregrine. Night Herons had formed a colony and White Storks were fairly numerous.

Up to fifty Marsh Harriers were either displaying over these upland marshes or were passing through overhead, with still good numbers of Montagu's Harriers also passing through. About three pairs of Common Cranes were trumpeting and nest-building and Armenian Gulls were present in the hundreds.

The remainder of the day was then spent driving to the capital Tbilisi and our last full day of birding Georgia was over.

Regards

Neil M

Barred Warbler

Black-headed Wagtail. This bird
was of the green-mantled and most
common form. Some males exhibit
blackish mantles.

Some in our party thought this eagle was a
contender for Spotted Eagle. However
the broken primary tips, worn and displaced
secondaries and heavily abraded tail with
missing feathers plus evidence of active
wing moult didn't help so we decided to
leave this one as unidentified!

Laughing Dove at Tbilisi. This species only
occurs regularly in Tbilisi and is a recent colonist
to the city.

Next Bird Club Indoor Meeting

Hello

This is an invite to non-members and reminder to members that the Northants Bird Club will be holding an indoor meeting at the Fishing Lodge, Pitsford Water, Brixworth Road, just outside Holcot village (NN6 9SJ) on Wednesday 6th May 2015.

We aim to start at 7.30pm and the main presentation for the evening will be an illustrated talk on the wildlife of Kamchatka and Chukotka (East Russia) entitled 'Russia's Ring of Fire'.

Tea and coffee and biscuits will be available from the word go and of course this is an excellent opportunity to meet up with friends, and make new acquaintances with others inspired by the natural world.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Neil M

Tufted Puffin

Fineshade Wood website

Friends of Fineshade website www.fineshade.org.uk Hello again We have been working hard to produce a website for the Friends of Fineshade - dedicated to enjoying and protecting Fineshade Wood.  Spring is a particular time to enjoy it and we hope you will have time to do just that.... the bluebells, cowslips and other flowers are particularly spectacular this year.  Early morning birdsong is at its best now. However, Fineshade still needs protection... there is a current planning application for a camp site and Forest Holidays are still sniffing around - they have surveyors recording birds and reptiles in different areas of the wood. No doubt they will apply again sometime this year. So please have a look at the website and let us know what you think. It's far from complete and we need help with it... pictures, stories, opinions, research, suggestions are all needed. Perhaps you can help or recommend someone? There's a contact form on the website and a list of Friends who have contributed so far. One page of the site gives a summary of the current planning application for a campsite, carpark and toilet block right in front of the Visitor Centre. Because of the election, a decision about that application has been delayed - so there is still time to object if you haven't yet done so. Details are here. Perhaps you can publicise the website too? ... by social media, email or word of mouth. Please help us make this website a powerful means of quickly alerting people to future threats. On the website there is an invitation to join the Friends of Fineshade - a loose association of individuals who appreciate the qualities that make this location unique. We are assuming that you have already joined  because in the past you have asked to be kept informed. We do hope you will want to continue as a supporter and remain on the mailing list for occasional emails like this - be assured we will never share your email address with anyone else. But if you would rather not hear any more from us please use the unsubscribe link below. Finally, below is a picture taken last week. It's an Early Purple Orchid, blooming deep in the wood, exactly on the route of one of Forest Holidays' proposed new roads.  The orchid would simply not have been there if Forest Holidays had had their way... so thank you once again for your support in opposing their plans. Hope you enjoy the website and enjoy visiting the wood this spring. Barrie and Tricia Galpin Our mailing address is: Friends of Fineshade 15 Top Lodge Fineshade Corby, Northants NN17 3BB United Kingdom

Georgia Day 9

Hello

An early morning jaunt took us in to a craggy gorge near to our accommodation near Vardzia and we found more Caucasian Chiffchaffs, plenty of Rock Nuthatches, Black-eared Wheatears, Rock Buntings, some Blue Rock Thrushes and migrants in the shapes of Common Redstarts, a nightingale sp, Ortolans, Tree Pipits and common warblers. Red-backed Shrikes chased each other around calling noisily and a couple of Lesser Grey Shrikes watched on in disdain.

After breakfast we noticed that the raptors were on the move so we drove to a high area and spent the remainder of the morning watching the raptors as they wheeled and soared overhead.

Today it was the turn of the Honey Buzzard to dominate in respect of numbers with hundreds passing over us in squadrons, Levant Sparrowhawks were also moving in numbers and we espied 15 different species of raptor in about three hours.

The weather on the high ground was wet and windy so in the afternoon we elected to return to the small reed-fringed lake not far away which had entranced us the last two days. Here we were again treated to excellent views of a variety of warblers in the reeds which included Reed, Great Reed, Sedge and Moustached as well as a couple more Caucasian Chiffchaffs. As many as six different Little Crakes showed briefly, but were much more furtive than before (probably due to the band of children fishing the shallows) and herons included Night Heron and Purple Heron.

Regards

Neil M

Honey Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Lesser Grey Shrike

Crag Martin

Caucasian or Mountain Chiffchaff

Great Reed Warbler