Exciting April!

Hello

Birds north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir this morning included a small flock of terns made up of three Common and two Arctic Terns. Later these birds had disappeared but two Black Terns were present instead. The Green Sandpiper was on the pools below the dam this evening.

Sywell Country Park hosted two adult Little Gulls, 2-3 singing Sedge Warblers, a Cetti's Warbler and a Grey Wagtail.

Early this afternoon Harrington Airfield finally sprung in to action for Eleanor and produced views of a male Ring Ouzel around the second bunker, two Wheatears, a Yellow Wagtail, some fly-over Fieldfares and two pairs of Grey Partridge. 

At least one Ring Ouzel, possibly two, was seen by Cathy Ryden this evening. Initially a male was visible from the main concrete track and flew off and then the same or another flew towards the bunkers on the rough area and then foraged in one of the fields. Please note that the bunker and rough areas will be out of bounds on Sunday 17th and Monday 18th April for ringing operations. Should you wish to attend and watch proceedings this can be accommodated but I would need to know beforehand in order to comply with landowner requests.

A Barn Owl was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this afternoon.

John Hunt reports that yesterday the excellent parentage of the Egyptian Geese at Oundle Marina was paying off with eight goslings still hale and hearty! Nearby a pair of Mandarin Duck were at Barnwell Country Park on North Lake.

During the last month we have been fortunate to have Tawny, Little and Barn Owls all vocally active around the village, some evenings with all three species calling at the same time. Tawny and Little Owls tend to be perched when they call but Barn Owls regularly call in flight and most late evenings when I'm out with the dogs I hear a Barn Owl calling as it completes its territorial flights. The mournful call of the male Little Owl living close to our garden suggests he doesn't have a partner this year...

Regards

Neil M

A Rutland Water Osprey caught
in the act of stealing nesting
material from a Greylag Goose nest!

Courtesy of John Gamble.

Male Ring Ouzel
Harrington Airfield.

Male Wheatear at
Harrington Airfield

Willow Warbler at
Harrington Airfield

Above five images courtesy
of Cathy Ryden.

Monday afternoon update...

Hello

This afternoon birds located north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir included an Osprey, two Oystercatchers and two Shelduck. When the rain hit this evening a Common Sandpiper materialised on the dam...

Regards

Neil M

Female Blackcap caught
and ringed at Kelmarsh Hall
yesterday

Mistle Thrush with a
beak full of worms for
its nestlings at Kelmarsh
Hall yesterday.

Both images courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

Birds of an easterly wind...

Hello

A brighter and warmer start than I was expecting at Harrington Airfield this morning but the only birds of note were a single male Wheatear and one of the resident pair of Grey Partridge.

A summer plumage Green Sandpiper remains on the dwindling flood water between the Windhover Public House and Boughton Mill Riding Stables in the Brampton Valley and birds visible from the dam at Pitsford this lunchtime included four Little Gulls, the Ruddy Shelduck and the Green Sandpiper there too.

Eleanor followed up Doug McFarlane's suggestion of looking just south of the Kelmarsh Tunnels on the Brampton Valley Way this morning and espied a calling Lesser Spotted Woodpecker there together with a mixture of other good woodland birds which included Nuthatch, Marsh Tit and Siskin. Thank-you Doug!

In the meantime Neil Hasdell was over at Summer Leys LNR this morning and enjoyed a hatful of birds which included eight Little Gulls, a Peregrine, the female Scaup still and Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler.

Regards

Neil M

Green Sandpiper in summer plumage.

Summer migrants on the increase...

Hello

Some ringing at Kelmarsh Hall provided an opportunity to examine and appreciate 73 birds, made up of 42 re-traps, 30 new birds and a control of a ringed bird from elsewhere. The birds included two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Nuthatches, five Greenfinches, six Chaffinches, seven Goldfinches and four Blackcaps. Other birds on-site included a pair of Raven, a couple of Siskins, a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail.

Kenny Cramer presided at a ringing session at Linford Lakes and caught 35 birds, most of them new, which included a Willow Warbler, three Chiffchaffs, eight Blackcaps, a Reed Bunting, a Bullfinch and a Woodpigeon.

The Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston GP was well-covered today with visits by Eric Graham, Ken Spriggs and Nick Parker resulting in plenty of common summer visitors being located including good numbers of Blackcaps, plus eight Yellow Wagtails, a Redpoll, a Sedge Warbler and eight Cetti's Warblers.

Two Wheatears were at Harrington Airfield, two Bramblings were in a field between Walgrave village and Pitsford Res and two Grey Wagtails were noted at Brixworth Sewer Treatment Works.

Regards

Neil M

Many of the Toads on the move
now (normally under the cover
of darkness and when its wet),
are moving away from breeding
pools and trying to find good
foraging areas. However some
can still be heard calling in cooler
and larger waters when breeding
is a little later...

Image courtesy of Eleanor

Saturday's sightings

Hello

Migrants at Hanging Houghton first thing this morning included singles of Blackcap, Brambling and Yellow Wagtail. A subsequent visit to Harrington Airfield in promising conditions again failed to produce little more than a light sprinkling of summer migrants plus a female Brambling and at least one pair of Grey Partridge. Two Shelducks flying over Blueberry Farm might have been a site tick!

Birds noted on the reserve at Pitsford Reservoir by a combination of observers today included small numbers of summer migrants, the two Oystercatchers and a/the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, this time near to the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station courtesy of David Arden. However the best bird of the day was an immature Goshawk seen in the Scaldwell Bay by Jacob Spinks, remarkable inasmuch that it is potentially the third different individual to have been seen at Pitsford Res this year.

Third hand reports suggest that a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has been seen regularly and recently along the Brampton Valley Way just south of the Kelmarsh tunnels.

Three ringing sessions are planned locally for tomorrow morning at Stortons Gravel Pits, Linford Lakes (Milton Keynes) and Kelmarsh Hall should you be interested in seeing these operations first-hand.

Regards

Neil M

Adult female Sparrowhawk

Brown Rat!

Mute Swan

Great Crested Grebes

Little Owl

Tree Sparrow

Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers!

Hello

Chris Payne committed to some more ringing at Bradden this morning, catching just over forty birds in a couple of hours. New birds included seven Siskins, seven Goldfinches, six Chaffinches and two Robins. One of the Great Tits was first ringed five years ago at Greens Norton so will be a good age. Chris also saw the local Ravens about and plenty of common woodland birds too.

Jacob Spinks again located a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today, this time in a copse beyond the new Bird Club Hide to the left of the main bend in the track.

Pete Gilbert was at Lings Wood today and enjoyed very good views of a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker near to Lings House, described as being at the front of the house, across a footpath and off to the right.

Eleanor popped up to Harrington Airfield today but apart from Grey Partridges couldn't find anything else. The Ring Ouzel near Walgrave yesterday couldn't be found today and the nearby Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears had gone too. About ten Golden Plovers were in a field near to Blueberry Farm this afternoon.

At least one male Brambling visits our garden at Hanging Houghton still and we are still enjoying the Reed Buntings and cracking Yellowhammers.

Regards

Neil M

Treecreeper at Lings Wood.

Male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lings Wood.

Images courtesy of  Pete Gilbert.

Industrious rafters!

Hello

Kelmarsh Hall provided views of a Raven and a singing Blackcap this morning and a short wander at Harrington Airfield provided an overflying Crossbill heading north and a single Wheatear on the third bunker.

Eleanor took a wander around the fields between Walgrave village and Pitsford Reservoir and came across a male Ring Ouzel feeding on a field margin early this afternoon, and nearby two Yellow Wagtails and two Wheatears were in the field as occupied by the Redstarts last autumn.

Meanwhile several volunteers were very industrious building tern rafts at Pitsford Reservoir today as the below images portray!

Regards

Neil M

Working hard despite the
April showers!

And it floats!
It won't be long before
prospective breeders arrive
and take up residence on the
reserve rafts

Images courtesy of Helen Franklin

Common Buzzard in a
garden at Spratton.
Not yet in the top twenty
species for visiting gardens
but as their status has changed
in the county so has their behaviour.
Now regularly hunting over the suburbs
of towns and large villages, resident
in some public parks and a common roadside
sight, they have slowly squeezed in to
every available space in which to hunt
and breed.

Image courtesy of  David Arden.

Singing summer migrants

Hello

A bright and blustery day with some nice sunshine but some fierce showers too!

A dozen Swallows were twittering beautifully at Brixworth today, and with singing Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers in the adjacent hedgerows it was a bright and refreshing medley!

A quick visit to the dam area at Pitsford Reservoir this morning was sufficient to see the Ruddy Shelduck but nothing else of note...

Regards

Neil M

Great Tit. This adult male
bird was caught during a ringing
session at Pitsford Reservoir
yesterday. Handling wild birds
provides an insight in to some of
the diseases and injuries carried
by our common resident and migrant
birds. I'm not sure what has caused
this horrific growth on this bird, but
the bird was perky and heavy and
currently coping!

Images courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Pitsford ringing

Hello

A ringing session at Christies Copse in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this morning provided 72 captures of sixteen species which included three Chiffchaffs, two Willow Warblers, a Marsh Tit, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Treecreeper, seven Chaffinches, a Yellowhammer and two Reed Buntings. Other birds noted on the reserve at the reservoir included an Osprey, two Oystercatchers, a Water Rail, a Blackcap and small numbers of Siskins and Lesser Redpolls.

A visit to Harrington Airfield provided views of a Jack Snipe and two Wheatears and a Barn Owl was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this afternoon.

Birds in the garden here at Hanging Houghton today included a Brambling and plenty of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings.

Regards

Neil M

Wren

Courtesy of John Boland.

Yellow Wagtail at Earls
Barton Gravel Pits today,
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

April showers

Hello

John Woollett and team were ringing at Stortons Gravel Pits yesterday (Sunday) and caught 47 birds. Seasonal captures included six Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap and three new Reed Buntings.

Eleanor visited Harrington Airfield today but again there wasn't much on show, highlights being two pairs of Grey Partridge and a single Wheatear.

I popped in to the dam area of Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon after some of the heavy showers but the weather didn't seem to bring anything down of note. The almost resident Ruddy Shelduck was on grass below the dam.

Regards

Neil M

Chiffchaff at
Stortons Gravel
Pits courtesy of
John Boland

Great Tit
Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Sparrowhawk.
This bird was photographed by
 Cathy Ryden in her garden and was
pretty much unconcerned about
the proximity of the photographer.

Here come the spring migrants!

Hello

Jacob Spinks spent much of his time at Pitsford Reservoir today and was rewarded with great views of a calling male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at the very back of the Scaldwell Bay. Other birds on the reserve included two Oystercatchers, two Kingfishers, two singing Willow Warblers, plenty of Chiffchaffs, twenty Siskins and small numbers of Swallows and rather more Sand Martins.

The dam-end of the reservoir continued to attract a Green Sandpiper, a Raven, a Kingfisher and three Grey Wagtails.

Chris Payne opened the nets in his Greens Norton garden this morning and caught a Willow Warbler in addition to his usual garden birds.

Eric and Debbie Graham ventured out on to the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston this morning, notching up as many as 15 Cetti's Warblers, lots of Chiffchaffs, four Little Egrets and common butterflies.

Two Bramblings were in a Maidwell garden this morning and there were two here at Hanging Houghton again this afternoon.

Twenty Golden Plovers remain in the field next to Blueberry Farm, and the Brampton Valley held a Grey Wagtail and singing Willow Warbler at Draughton and a hunting Barn Owl this afternoon at the Kingsthorpe end of the valley.

A wander around Harrington Airfield this morning confirmed this site's current bird-drought status with just a pair of resident Grey Partridge and migrant Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Fieldfares all heading north. A vocal Curlew flew over Hanging Houghton and finally a Wheatear was located in the Brampton Valley below the village.

Regards

Neil M

Willow Warbler
courtesy of Chris Payne

Male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
at Pitsford Reservoir courtesy of
Jacob Spinks.
They do exist!

Reservoir birding...

Hello

At Pitsford Reservoir some ringing at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station yesterday afternoon and for a few hours this morning caught a mixture of birds which included 8 Yellowhammers, 5 Reed Buntings, 4 Mallard, 3 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Tree Sparrows and singles of Treecreeper, Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll. Other birds noted here today included a Curlew, an Oystercatcher and a calling Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at the very back of the Scaldwell Bay (courtesy of Jacob Spinks). Yesterday afternoon saw an Osprey fishing in the Scaldwell Bay for quite some time, but no apparent return today.

Summer migrants at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today included several Chiffchaffs, a couple of Swallows and Sand Martin; winter birds included a couple of Siskin and redpoll sp. At least one pair of Grey Heron is attempting to nest here this year. A singing Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaffs were at Brixworth Sewer Treatment Works.

The southerly winds forecast for the weekend should provide a new influx of migrants (hopefully)!

Regards

Neil M

Male Lesser Redpoll
caught, ringed and
photographed by Chris
Payne earlier this week.

Northants Bird Club Indoor Meeting

Hello

The next indoor meeting of the Northants Bird Club is on Wednesday 6th April 2016, the speaker being Paddy Jackson who will be presenting his subject on Barn Owl Biology/Ecology and the Northamptonshire Population.

With the intervention of enthusiasts to provide nesting sites and continuing a monitoring programme, the Barn Owl population locally has steadily grown in numbers. Paddy will be introducing us to some of the techniques employed and provide us with information on this iconic ghost of the countryside.

As usual the venue is the Fishing Lodge at Pitsford Reservoir, situated just outside Holcot village on the Brixworth Road. The meeting starts at 7.30pm and hot drinks and biscuits will be available.

Members of the Bird Club and non-members alike are very welcome...

Regards

Neil M

Being fat is good!

Hello

Following on from John Hunt's original report of the Egyptian Geese with goslings at Oundle last week, John confirmed that all eight goslings were doing well yesterday!

A quiet ringing session in Helen Franklin's garden today just outside the county at Priors Marston was enlivened when a Siskin was caught and ringed and then shortly afterwards a male Sparrowhawk hit the net and was also duly caught and ringed!

John Woollett's garden at Astcote continues to attract good numbers of Siskins. Some of the birds have been feasting on his sunflower hearts for some time now as they endeavor to pile on fat layers in readiness for their journey to Northern Europe. One bird has been caught three times and it's weight was initially 12.3g, then 14.4g and finally 16.3g. Four grammes is a considerable weight gain for such a small bird. John has also caught two visiting Bramblings, one of which weighed over 30g!

John saw a Wheatear near the hamlet of Foxley in South Northants yesterday; they seem very thin on the ground so far this spring.

Eleanor again noted about a hundred Golden Plovers in a field next to Blueberry Farm this afternoon and there seemed to be plenty of singing Chiffchaffs in sunny Northamptonshire today.

Regards

Neil M

Egyptian Goose
family Oundle Marina

Courtesy of John Hunt.

Birds of the bright sunshine!

Hello

Mark Evans was at the Titchmarsh Reserve yesterday completing a survey around this section of Thrapston Gravel Pits. Oystercatchers were present, as was an elusive Great White Egret, four Goosanders, six Cetti's Warblers, two Chiffchaffs and vocal Kingfishers.

Today Jacob Spinks and Eleanor Morrison spent some time at Earls Barton Gravel Pits, spending most of it on the Summer Leys reserve. Birds noted included the female Scaup still, up to six Oystercatchers, five Redshanks, two Kingfishers, two Grey Wagtails, up to twelve Cetti's Warblers, a House Martin, six Sand Martins and five Siskins. A subsequent visit to Pitsford Reservoir confirmed the continuing presence of the wintering male Stonechat and a Swallow.

A quick visit to Harrington Airfield this afternoon provided just a single pair of Grey Partridge.

Neil Hasdell and I carried out some ringing at Kelmarsh Hall this morning, catching seventy birds. The highlights included sixteen Goldfinches, five Chaffinches, two Marsh Tits, two Nuthatches, a Song Thrush and a House Sparrow. One of the Blue Tits was a bird originating from Stanford Reservoir. Other birds seen on-site included a Raven, a Grey Wagtail, one or two Siskin(s) and a Chiffchaff.

Birds in the garden at Hanging Houghton today included a Brambling, a male Lesser Redpoll, the Goldfinch x Canary hybrid still, a Tree Sparrow plus small numbers of Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings.

Regards

Neil M

Male and female
Tufted Duck

Apparent Goldfinch x Canary
hybrid

Friends of Fineshade

To all Friends of Fineshade   Hello everyone. Many of you have said that you wish there was more you could do to help protect Fineshade Wood. Well, there are things that we are asking you to do right now and over the next couple of weeks. Here's a list and there's more detailed explanation and some good news(!) below.    1) Online. Please go to Mark Avery’s blog page here:http://markavery.info/blog/  Read the blog he posted on March 28th and click on “Likes”. Perhaps submit a comment too.  If you are a Twitter or Facebook user go to the FoF pages and share, retweet, like etc. all the postings that relate to SSSI status. 2) If you live locally attend the meeting of our parish council one week tonight on Tuesday 5th April at 7:30. 3) On Wednesday April 13th be prepared to support a major PR push to promote Fineshade’s SSSI worthiness.   Fineshade Wood should be a SSSI – publicity campaign It will be very hard for Forest Holidays(FH) and, particularly, the Forestry Commission(FC), to make a new planning application for a holiday camp if Natural England(NE) designate it as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. With the help of the Woodland Trust the case was made that some of the wood was Ancient Woodland; Natural England agreed and FH had to redraw their planned boundary. In rather the same way we hope to persuade NE to give the entire wood the protection of SSSI status. As you know we have been working to make a detailed case over the winter – it’s set out in full here.http://www.fineshade.org.uk/#!sssi/cjj8 We feel the time is now right to really push that case with a publicity campaign. A first step was Mark Avery’s blog yesterday. http://markavery.info/blog/   Among other things, that resulted in more visitors to our website than ever before. Please do what you can to help by clicking to “like” Mark’s blog, by sending a comment and by sharing, retweeting, etc. his and our social media posts. We are planning a special push for this campaign on Wednesday 13th April. Do please visit our website on that day and send emails tweets and Facebook postings then.   Parish Council Meeting  We’re aware that Curtin&Co have been working behind the scenes to win support for a possible future application. Part of this process has been a request from David Shetcliffe, Curtin’s Account Manager, to meet members of Duddington-with-Fineshade Parish Council. He has been invited to attend the next meeting on Tuesday 5th April at 7:30pm in the Village Hall at Duddington.  However, the Council have been at pains to make clear that this will not constitute Public Consultation at this stage: as far as we know there is no new proposal to consult about. Rather it is likely to be an attempt to identify probable opposers, waiverers and supporters of a FH development. All Parish Council meetings are open to the public (i.e. all interested parties) to attend but there is not necessarily an opportunity to speak. The agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting has Mr Shetcliffe as item 3 after apologies and expressions of interest. This will be followed by Item 4, “Public Time” before the council move on to other business. Item 3 will be a very useful opportunity to hear what Mr Shetcliffe has to say, and during that, Fineshade’s own Parish Councillor, Shenagh Hackett, as well as Councillors from Duddington who supported Fineshade so powerfully last time, will of course be able to respond to him. Public Time, item 4, will be an opportunity for anyone to put forward comments on the points raised. We will, in addition, be asking the council to support the request for SSSI designation for the wood. So if you live locally and are able to come along on Tuesday evening please do -  a large turn out will send a clear message of the strength of local opinion.   Good news – for Fineshade at least  We have heard that Forest Holidays have put in a new planning application elsewhere. It’s a site in the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales.  The application has not been decided yet - in fact there’s a long way to go - but it looks very much as if they will be granted permission.   The differences from Fineshade are stark.   There seem to be no local residents directly affected. There are no protected species that will be harmed. There have been no objections at all, from anyone. The National Park Authority seems to be in full support. There’s a lot of unemployment in the area so the jobs to be created are important.  The fact that they have been working on this application in Wales explains why it has been so quiet here in recent months - though we know that we are still on their books for the future. And that’s why they have the Curtin&Co “consultation” exercise going on. The effect may be to set back any application here at Fineshade... so that may give us time to really push the SSSI-worthiness.   So finally... enjoy Fineshade Thank you once again for being a Friends of Fineshade. It's all about enjoying as well as protecting the wood so do make sure that you visit and enjoy the wood this spring. We've still got room for Friends on Brian Laney's walk on 9th April and look out for other events, including a butterfly walk later. The Friends of Fineshade.

Easter Monday in the county

Hello

Well despite storm-driven birds being found elsewhere, my efforts at Pitsford Reservoir today failed to find any new birds of note. Regular birds included the Ruddy Shelduck and Green Sandpiper in the area of the dam, plus a couple of Oystercatchers, a Woodcock, a couple of Chiffchaffs, about twenty Sand Martins and three Swallows.

Eleanor was counting her Golden Plover flock in a field near Blueberry Farm this afternoon (reaching about a hundred) when they were ambushed by a low-flying adult female Peregrine. They barely managed to lift off before she took one with comparative ease.

Nick Parker was over at the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Gravel Pits today, noting two Egyptian Geese which flew north plus migrants in the shape of Chiffchaff, Swallow and House Martin.

Helen Franklin checked out the Ford complex at Daventry yesterday evening but it seems that the huge transitory roost of Starlings has already moved on with no birds seen.

John Hunt has kindly let us know about a pair of Egyptian Geese that are already minding a brood of eight goslings! They were spotted last Wednesday at Oundle Marina and hopefully have survived the rain and high winds!

Regards

Neil M

A Swallowtail butterfly
taken by Simon Hales at
Strumpshaw Fen last year.
Not long now before spring
and then summer explodes in
a riot of colour and rapid
 movement!

Wonderful wagtails

Hello

Today we struggled to find anything of note on a breezy and sunny spring day in the county, a Raven at Kelmarsh being about the best.

I spent thirty minutes photographing birds on the filter beds at Brixworth Treatment Works this afternoon, dominated of course by wagtails...

Regards

Neil M

Pheasants

Pied Wagtails

Grey Wagtails

Reed Bunting