Dorset delights!

Hello

John Gamble is not long back from a little wildlife tour of Dorset and the below images indicate he enjoyed himself down there!

Regards

Neil M

Little Owl
Portland Bill

Mandarin Duck
New Forest (Hants)

The very long-staying
drake Hooded Merganser
at Radipole Lake and possibly
of feral origin.

Spotted Flycatcher
Arne

Male Stonechat
Stobourgh Heath.

All images courtesy of
John Gamble.

Creatures of the bright and breezy!

Hello

Bright sunshine and pleasant conditions at Harrington Airfield wasn't enough to cause the Quail to call or Turtle Doves to show this morning so I'm afraid the best of the birds was a single Grey Partridge which soon melted away in to the fast-growing grasses and ground cover. Some Fox cubs playing in the early morning sunshine would have been a lovely photo without the vegetative barrier and curious collie to ruin proceedings!

The injured Ruddy Shelduck was loafing in the grounds of the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir this late morning...

Regards

Neil M

Grey Partridge
Harrington Airfield

Poplar Hawk-moth

Puss Moth

Sanderling at Pitsford
Reservoir on Sunday

Above four images courtesy
of Jacob Spinks.

Pitsford wildlife

Hello

A Constant Effort Site (CES) ringing session was undertaken again at Pitsford Reservoir this morning, and despite plenty of birds being about, only twenty were caught. The breezy and bright conditions probably caused the low capture rate but the variety was high with thirteen species being represented. Perhaps the most interesting was a control Reed Warbler (initially ringed somewhere else) and a returning six year old Garden Warbler.

Regards

Neil M

Muntjac in heavy dew.

Red Fox

Early mornings around the reserve
are good for seeing some of the bigger
mammals. The trouble is they often see me
first or the conditions are dull hence the
distant images...

Great Crested Grebe

Mute Swans. The dominant cob
was seeing off a couple of other swans
and these images depict him escorting
an intruder from his stretch of the
reservoir after some mid-air contact.
The cob (male) is the lower bird.

Oystercatcher perched on one of
the rotting willow stumps.

Bird monitoring in the county

Hello

John Woollett and team were ringing again at Stortons Gravel Pits this morning in near perfect conditions. Some fifty-nine birds were processed which again included some healthy numbers of warblers, namely four Cetti's Warblers, four Garden Warblers, a Blackcap, an impressive thirteen Reed Warblers, three Sedge Warblers and three Whitethroats. Other birds included three Bullfinches and five Reed Buntings.

A Cuckoo teased the ringers by perching on the top shelf of the mist net!

A Common Bird Census (CBC) completed on the reserve section of Pitsford Reservoir this morning was a pleasant affair if a little predictable. Still no Cuckoos calling here! Two or three Little Egrets were present today as was a pair of rather maternal-looking Pochard. The Cormorant colony sported forty-six active nests and the resident pair of Oystercatcher were joined by another pair. Three new tern rafts have been crafted and anchored in the Scaldwell Bay this spring, the last one completed on Thursday, and already there were plenty of terns on it today! This one has been anchored a little closer to the new hide in the Scaldwell Bay to provide an opportunity of watching the antics of these charismatic plunge-divers.

Other birds noted during the census included three or four Spotted Flycatchers, three distinct Marsh Tit territories, two singing Lesser Whitethroats and juvenile Tree Sparrows at the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station. For the second census in a row, no Sedge Warblers could be found. Mammals were active and we saw plenty of Muntjac and a couple of Foxes and the best of the insects was a male Beautiful Demoiselle.

A visit to Harrington Airfield this morning and finally some Turtle Doves put in an appearance! Acting as if they had just arrived, two were visible from the main concrete track, one 'purring' in dead trees half way along. At the very end of the track a calling Quail was audible from a nearby small grassy area and a late Wheatear was hopping around the third bunker.

This evening Jacob Spinks was on the dam at Pitsford Reservoir and witnessed the Sanderling (reported earlier) fly off west at 8.17pm. Other birds noted included the injured Ruddy Shelduck, a Kingfisher and the family party of Grey Wagtails still.

Regards

Neil M

Sedge Warbler

Juvenile Robin

Male Reed Bunting.

All images taken at Stortons
Gravel Pits today courtesy of
Chris Payne.

Young birds about...

Hello

A visit to Staverton this morning was good to confirm the pair of Raven bred successfully with at least two fledged young. A visit to Daventry Country Park provided fantastic views of a Red Fox family coming down to drink and the Common Tern flock numbered at least fifty birds.

Nothing of note was seen at Borough Hill Country Park but a circular walk around Ravensthorpe Reservoir yielded three drake Mandarin Ducks again, a family party of Grey Wagtail on the dam and two Spotted Flycatchers. Another Spotted Flycatcher was noted at Welford Reservoir this evening (a favoured venue).

A quick check of the ringing captures for the Northants Ringing Group this year indicates that members had processed over 5,000 birds in the county by the middle of May. This includes well over 200 Siskins, over 200 Goldfinches and over 400 Yellowhammers. A number of recoveries have been received during the last couple of weeks, particularly of the very nomadic Siskin, and these details will be documented in due course.

More images have been added to the tabs 'Robin's Wildlife Images' and 'Dave Jackson Images' for your perusal. My thanks to all the ardent wildlife photographers for their contributions which undoubtedly enhances this blog.

Regards

Neil M

Blackbird nest containing
 second brood nestlings. A few
Swallows already have sizable
young in their nests and today a
brood of Coal Tits were active in
our garden (and pretty bedraggled
by the end of the day).

Image courtesy of Chris Payne.

Cuckoos!

Hello

Eric Graham again spent some time on the Titchmarsh reserve near Thrapston today and saw the usual warblers, a Hobby, a drake Mandarin Duck (on Elinor Lake), two Little Egrets and two Cuckoos.

Eleanor saw two hunting Barn Owls in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this evening and I conducted a short dog walk at the western end of the Earls Barton Gravel Pits complex. The Cormorant colony had plenty of youngsters in the nests and I finally saw my first Cuckoos of the year when three flew past together - hooray! Away from the Nene Valley they are extremely scarce in the county this year and has anyone seen a Turtle Dove yet?

Regards

Neil M

Cuckoo by Robin Gossage.

Ringing at Brixworth

Hello

A busy day bird ringing at the Anglian Water treatment works near Brixworth provided 77 interesting captures. This total included 30 Swallows, 26 of which were new, one was a re-trapped bird from 2014 and three were controls from elsewhere. We also managed to catch some House Martins, 21 in total, which were all new individuals. 

Other birds caught which are typical of this site included a Grey Wagtail, four Pied Wagtails and four Yellow Wagtails, all of which were new. Familiar species included three Reed Buntings and four Starlings and there was further variety in the shape of a Carrion Crow, a Magpie, two Blackcaps and two Linnets.

As we were packing up this afternoon a Hobby hurtled through...

Regards

Neil M

Carrion Crow.

Courtesy on Neil Hasdell.

Magpie

The underside of adult Swallows
 is very variable in the spring
with some birds showing a great deal
of deep rusty red colouration.
In addition it is generally possible
to determine the gender of most birds
by measuring the length of the tail
streamers on the sixth tail feather and also
the measurement from the tip of the
sixth feather and the tip of the first
 tail feather. Males have the longest
tail streamers and also the longest distance
between the sixth and first feathers.

Bottom three images courtesy
of  Chris Payne.

Grey Wagtails and Spotted Flycatchers.

Hello

Cathy Ryden was over at Ravensthorpe Reservoir yesterday and found Grey Wagtails feeding fledged youngsters plus a Spotted Flycatcher. A Spotted Flycatcher was also at Sunderland Wood (Kelmarsh estate) yesterday. Every spring singing Spotted Flycatchers turn up at traditional breeding sites from years ago, but it seems that most then move on further north to breed in Scotland and beyond. Another species it seems that is being displaced further north due to climatic conditions...

Regards

Neil M

Spotted Flycatcher

Grey Wagtails.

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Newt and tadpoles.

Courtesy of Graham Bentley

A romantic pose as captured by Graham Bentley!

Images of the season...

Hello

The new life generated at this time of year creates much interest for those that are inspired by nature. The following images have been kindly forwarded by those that remain spellbound with new life, evolved creation and inspiring habitat and scenery...

Regards

Neil M

Duke of Burgundy butterfly.

Courtesy of Simon Hales.

Cloud Wood, Leicestershire.

Herb Paris

Yellow Archangel

Sanicle

Above four images courtesy
of Lynne Barnett.

Incubating Blue Tit.

Many tits are now just
hatching their young...

Above two images courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Boats at Salen,
Isle of Mull.

Courtesy of Sarah Gibbs.

Pitsford ringing

Hello

Pitsford Reservoir was the venue for ringing in both the Scaldwell and Walgrave bays today, with about a hundred birds captured. Newly arrived Garden Warblers were the most common bird caught with thirteen being ringed. Other warblers included a Lesser Whitethroat, four Blackcaps, two Reed Warblers and four Chiffchaffs. 

Other birds of interest included a Grey Heron which blundered in to a mist net and when extracted proved to be a bird which had done exactly the same thing in 2014! Watching the Grey Herons in the shallows during the last two days, some of them are concentrating on capturing the young of water-birds and are successfully catching young Moorhens, Coots and Mallard ducklings. Normally this is by espying a family, taking flight and simply plucking an unsuspecting youngster out of the water often with the parents in close attendance.

Other birds caught during ringing operations today included eight Blackbirds, three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Goldcrests, two Reed Buntings, four Bullfinches and a Willow Tit.

Regards

Neil M

Muslin Moth.

Courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Grey Heron.

Courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Lesser Whitethroat.

Garden Warbler.

Blackcap.