A few more images from France...

Hello

Yesterday Cathy Ryden noted eight Yellow Wagtails at Hollowell Reservoir and today a visit to Blatherwycke Lake provided views of an Oystercatcher and a Hobby with a singing Nightingale at nearby Glapthorn Cow Pasture.

Today Eleanor watched a Kingfisher carrying small fish on a couple of occasions along the Brampton brook below Hanging Houghton, suggesting breeding nearby. A singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in the The Hill field at Blueberry Farm...

Regards

Neil M

Coypu, the Camargue, France

An animal that used to be present
in East Anglia until eradicated last
century...

Raven.
 Provence, France.

Male Common Redstart.
Provence, France.

Medley of images!

Curlew

Courtesy of John Hallam.

Tree Sparrow

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Long-tailed Tit

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Grey Heron

Courtesy of Chris Payne.

Great Northern Diver

Courtesy of Chris Payne

Orange-tipped Butterfly

Courtesy of Simon Hales.

Ringing Brixworth STW

Hello

A ringing session at Brixworth Sewer Treatment Works today yielded 44 birds made up of 21 Swallows, 3 House Martins, a Yellow Wagtail, 5 Pied Wagtails, 2 Goldfinches, a Chaffinch, 4 Reed Buntings, 4 Starlings and 3 Magpies. Two of the Swallows were re-traps from May 2014 and August 2015, and were adult females when first caught and ringed. How many miles have they clocked up since then, which would have included visits as far as South Africa and back?

This afternoon and evening, birds visible from the dam at Pitsford Reservoir included six Black Terns, a Redshank, a Kingfisher and a family party of Grey Wagtails.

Regards

Neil M

Male Yellow Wagtail

Magpie

House Martin

All images courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

Pitsford waders...

Hello

A male Grey Wagtail was singing from rooftop buildings just behind Kingsthorpe shopping front off the Harborough Road on the outskirts of Northampton this afternoon.

The wet conditions today caused some north-bound migrants to stall and linger at Pitsford Reservoir. This afternoon and evening three Black Terns were visible from the causeway as was a Hobby, eight Dunlin and four Common Sandpipers. The dam area attracted a further three Common Sandpipers plus two Turnstones and a Sanderling.

Regards

Neil M

Fawsley Park

Mandarin Duck

Sparrowhawk

Some more images from
 Fawsley Park on Sunday,
 courtesy of Cathy Ryden

Images from Pitsford Reservoir...

Hello

Over the week-end our early starts provided a couple of observations of roadside Barn Owls in the Brixworth area, but on Friday another one was picked up as a casualty just outside Walgrave village. This bird was also ringed so we will find out in due course something about it's history. 

Yesterday (Sunday) and an Otter was again seen at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, the first sighting I've heard of for a little while.

A walk around Welford Reservoir this morning provided at least four Common Sandpipers and a Spotted Flycatcher. A quick visit to Naseby Reservoir didn't provide anything of note. A singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in the Hill Field at Blueberry Farm.

Jacob Spinks was at Pitsford Reservoir this evening and watched two Black Terns in the Scaldwell Bay and two Lesser Redpolls by the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station.

Regards

Neil M

Black Tern in front of
one of the new tern rafts
in the Scaldwell Bay at
Pitsford Reservoir.

Courtesy of Jacob Spinks

Common Tern

Coot

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Tufted Duck

Great Crested Grebe

All above images taken
yesterday at Pitsford Reservoir.

And warmer again...

Hello

John Woollett and team committed to some ringing at Stortons Gravel Pits this morning and warblers made up the major part of the catch. Forty-seven birds were captured with 13 Reed Warblers, 14 Sedge Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 2 Whitethroats, 5 Blackcaps and 4 Cetti's Warblers. One of the Reed Warblers was pretty ancient, first being ringed there as an adult way back in 2006!

Nick Wood completed a Breeding Bird Survey at Chase Park Farm, Yardley Chase today, a survey he has been completing there since 2007. For the first time ever, today he located a singing Nightingale on the survey plot.

Another BOS Long Day Count was completed today, this time it being the turn of SP55 to the south and west of Daventry. Fawsley Park is key to the diversity of species in this part of the world and today birds there included a Common Sandpiper, two or three Mandarin Ducks, a Grey Wagtail, Raven, at least one Kingfisher, Tawny and Little Owls, Water Rail and a Spotted Flycatcher. Almost certainly the best bird of the day, had it been confirmed, was a possible Serin which flew over at 5.50am this morning. The call was good but the bird wasn't located overhead in time and instead was depicted as a small finch bounding away and not to be seen or heard of since. Without at least some visual characteristics in addition to the flight call, it was another one of those that got away. Frustrating but that's birding sometimes!

A walk up to and around Badby Wood was worth it just to see the carpets of Bluebells, but more good birds here included a mobile singing Redstart and another Spotted Flycatcher.

Other sites in SP55 yielded Tree Sparrow, an adult male Peregrine, Yellow Wagtails and Lesser Whitethroats.

A Black Tern was again present in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today and a pale, dark-billed tern as seen with the Common Terns by Jacob Spinks defied identification...

Regards

Neil M

The Bluebells of
Badby Wood.

Drake Mandarin Duck
Fawsley Park.

All images courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

It's warming up!

Hello

Eric Graham was over at the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston GP this morning and enjoyed watching a Nightingale providing a singing lesson to the many warblers now in residence. Other birds included Black Terns and a pair of Egyptian Geese.

Kenny Cramer enjoyed a quality ringing session at Linford Lakes on the outskirts of Milton Keynes with 42 birds captured and processed which included 31 new ones. Warblers dominated with three Willow Warblers, two Chiffchaffs, eight Blackcaps, four Garden Warblers, seven Reed Warblers and two Sedge Warblers. One of the Garden Warblers was already ringed from elsewhere...

A Banbury Ornithological Society Long Day Count was completed in SP54 today which is the 10km square in South Northants north of Middleton Cheney. A total of 68 bird species were recorded which included 3-4 Spotted Flycatchers, Kingfishers at two sites, a singing Grey Wagtail, a Raven with young, Tawny and Little Owls and a foraging Willow Tit. The early morning start also provided good viewing of scarcer mammals, notably Noctule-type Bats, Roe Deer and Water Vole.

This afternoon, a single Black Tern was visible from the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir, flying with Common Terns in the Scaldwell Bay, and a singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in the Hill Field at Blueberry Farm.

Regards

Neil M

Blue Tit.
Common but stunning!

Garden Warbler

Ravensthorpe Reservoir.

All images courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Local bird ringing

Hello

Dave Francis completed his first CES ringing session of the season at Pitsford Reservoir today and caught 56 birds of 18 species. These included seven Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, a Reed Warbler, six Chiffchaffs, three Reed Buntings, three Treecreepers, two Bullfinches, a Yellowhammer, a Song Thrush, a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit.

A more modest ringing session at Harrington Airfield this morning provided 35 captures which included three Blackcaps, two Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, four Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff and ten Yellowhammers. Both Whitethroats were returning adults to the site being first caught and ringed there last year. Three of the Willow Warblers were also returning adults from 2015 and 2014. Both these latter species would have wintered south of the Sahara but these waifs have made it back to breed in the same few bushes at Harrington Airfield. Amazing!

Transitory migrants at Harrington seemed to be in short supply today, but two Wheatears were still present...

Regards

Neil M

Willow Warbler

Whitethroat

The warm weather continues...

Hello

Ken Spriggs and Andy Cooke were out on the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Gravel Pits today and enjoyed some good birding which included two Black Terns, two Cuckoos, three Nightingales (two showing well) and the usual myriad of warblers which included good views of the normally difficult-to see Cetti's Warbler.

Harrington Airfield was much quieter today but hosted two Wheatears, a Hobby, a singing Lesser Whitethroat and at least one pair of Grey Partridge. There will be some bird ringing conducted on-site there tomorrow in the vicinity of the bunkers and old airstrip and this area will be out of bounds during this time. The footpaths and access to the concrete track remain unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Grey Heron and youngsters
Hardingstone Gravel Pits.

Courtesy of Graham Bentley.

Singing male Blackbird.

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Cuckoo at Ravensthorpe
Reservoir yesterday.

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Fancy a chat?

Hello

A quick tour of Harrington Airfield this afternoon was good for seven Wheatears and two Whinchats.

A similarly quick walk around Welford Reservoir this afternoon yielded two or three Common Sandpipers but little else.

So a few images from last week's trip to Provence in France...

Regards

Neil M

Coypu

Western Bonelli's Warbler

Griffon Vulture

Driven grouse shooting petition

Hello

Conservationist Mark Avery has initiated an e-petition on the Westminster government webpage which is asking for driven grouse shooting to be banned:-

              https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/125003 

This e-petition is whizzing along, having been signed by 33,000 UK citizens in under six weeks. We have another 20 weeks to go and we might just reach the magic 100,000 signatures which will trigger a debate in parliament. We might!

Driven grouse shooting elicits illegal persecution of protected birds of prey like Hen Harriers but also depends on intensive moorland management that increases greenhouse gas emissions, reduces water quality (and increases water bills), increases flood risk (and home insurance costs) and reduces aquatic biodiversity (and probably fish stocks). That's the short version of why grouse shooting needs to change.

So, please sign this e-petition and we might just be able to preserve our upland habitats for the right environmental reasons and not just create a huge sterile grouse rearing pen.

Thank-you

Neil M

Female Red Grouse

Meadow Pipit, a typical
breeding bird of the uplands
and wild places in the British Isles.

More migrants and hopefully some more to come...

Great Tit

Hello

Ravensthorpe Reservoir was the venue today for two Cuckoos, which seem to be in short supply so far this spring (courtesy of Celia Martin and Cathy Ryden). Cathy this evening also located three drake Mandarin Ducks in a field next to the reservoir, although I would speculate they may have originated from the nearby Coton Gardens...

Harrington Airfield provided some good birds today which included the still-singing male Ring Ouzel by the shooting wall off the main concrete track, four 'Tundra' Ringed Plovers in the adjacent bean field, at least nine Wheatears, four Grey Partridges and a Hobby.

Please note that a ringing session is planned along the old airstrip and bunkers this coming Friday and these areas will have restricted access. However this spring it seems that all the best birds have been next to the concrete track, and this and the adjacent footpaths will remain accessible throughout.

Birds at Blueberry Farm this evening included two singing Grasshopper Warblers and a Whinchat.

Regards

Neil M

Ladysmock

Singing Wren in silhouette

Male Orange-tipped Butterfly

Male Blackcap

All images courtesy
of Cathy Ryden.

May Day

Hello

Eric Graham was up at Blatherwycke Lake this morning and saw four Shelduck and three Little Egrets. Jacob Spinks and Eleanor Morrison concentrated their efforts at Pitsford Reservoir today and saw an Arctic Tern in the Scaldwell Bay, two Common Sandpipers on the causeway and a Hobby which took a martin by the dam.

An early morning recce at Harrington Airfield this morning provided somewhere between three and five Wheatears, a second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull over, two singing Lesser Whitethroats, a couple of Yellow Wagtails and the surprising record of the day was a Quail heard calling briefly on the north side of the complex.

A smart male Greenland Wheatear was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this evening.

Regards

Neil M

Puffins

Kittiwake

'Bridled' Common Guillemot

Razorbill

Images from John Hallam
following a recent visit to
the fabulous Farne Islands.
A reminder that the British
Isles are particularly important
for breeding sea-birds and a
high percentage of many species
 in Europe visit and breed on our
 cliffs and islands.

This close image of a Cuckoo
was captured by John Gamble
following a recent visit to
 RSPB Lakenheath.