Some more from the Brecks...

Hello

Some more images from our outing yesterday to the Brecklands, courtesy of our NGB (New Generation Birder) Jacob Spinks...

Won't be long before he starts taking me out and showing me wildlife stuff!

Neil M

Kingfisher

Marsh Harrier

Reed Buntings

Robin

Common Lizard.

All images courtesy
of Jacob Spinks.

A quick visit to the Brecklands

Hello

A car-load of us headed east today and visited some sites in the Brecklands of Suffolk and Norfolk, with the first half of the day at the RSPB Lakenheath reserve. Common warblers and several Cuckoos greeted us on our arrival and we enjoyed a slow dawdle around the reserve. Highlights were some close Bearded Tits, a posing Kingfisher, at least seven Marsh Harriers, Bitterns in flight and a pair of Common Cranes with a chick.

Insects in warm, sultry conditions included plenty of chasers on the wing, plus Emperor and Hairy Dragonflies.

A wander around a couple of woodland rides in the Thetford Forest complex provided a couple of fly-over Siskins and Crossbills and other items of interest included a Common Lizard, newts and a showy male Broad-bodied Chaser.

A singing male Firecrest was the most interesting bird at Brandon Country Park and we finished at Weeting Heath, the traditional site for some views of Breckland Stone Curlews.

Regards

Neil M

Magpie

Bearded Tit

Scarce Chaser Dragonfly

Bittern

All images taken at
 Lakenheath RSPB.

Wildlife of the set aside

Hello

Eleanor was out and about today and one of her first jaunts was to Harlestone Heath and the adjoining set aside land between there and Kings Heath estate on the edge of Northampton. Nothing in the wood of special note but a Quail was calling loudly and well in the set aside, well that was until the heavy deluge of rain at about 11am!

Eleanor ventured out to Harrington Airfield this afternoon and again watched a 'purring' Turtle Dove in the dead tree half way along the concrete track. The mixture of wild flowers along the old airstrip look a real picture at the moment.

A final plod around the Blueberry Farm complex only succeeded in locating two 'reeling' Grasshopper Warblers in the The Hill set aside field.

Regards

Neil M

Sainfoin.

Common Spotted Orchid.

Lotus corniculatus, known as
Common Bird's Foot Trefoil
and 'Eggs and Bacon' vetch.

Bee Orchid.

Turtle Dove.

All images taken at Harrington
Airfield today by Eleanor McMahon.

Pitsford update

Hello

A ringing session took place at Pitsford Reservoir today as part of the Constant Effort project running on the reserve. This provided 46 captures of 16 species and thankfully some 16 juvenile birds (hatched this year).

Birds caught included an adult female Willow Tit showing signs of a very recent breeding effort, a Willow Warbler, five Chiffchaffs, a Reed Warbler, two Treecreepers and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers. A Mallard was a bit of a surprise in a standard mist net!

The Ruddy Shelduck remains in the grounds of the Sailing Club this afternoon where it may be beginning it's annual moult.

A boat trip yesterday to the tern rafts in the Scaldwell Bay confirmed 34 nests now, with little evidence of predation to date.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh and Willow Tit side by side!
Similar aren't they? The Willow
Tit is the one on the right...(honest)!

Common Tern.
Hopefully they will do well
at Pitsford this year...

Dragons and Beetles.

Hello

It is the time of the year when flying insects take centre-stage...

Regards

Neil M

Bill Draper took these
images of an emerging dragonfly,
which he thought to be
a Broad-bodied Chaser,
at Rutland Water.

Garden Chafer.
Courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Click Beetle.
Courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Swallows and Amazons

Hello

A warm and sunny day again today after yesterday evening's deluge!

A small band of us went looking for Swallow nests locally today and in total we found four nests with young and were able to ring the nestlings, and another nest still at the egg stage. Some pairs were still prospecting or in the process of nest-building. A little netting succeeded in catching six resplendent adults too...

There seem to be plenty of moths taking advantage of this warm spell currently including many active during the day. I saw my first Chimney Sweeper moth of the year today at Pitsford Reservoir.

A few pristine-looking Painted Lady butterflies were whizzing around today and the most interesting bird was an Osprey soaring over Guilsborough village from 11.50am to Midday.

Regards

Neil M

Chimney Sweeper moth -
an image taken at Pitsford
Reservoir last year.

Some more images...

Herald Moth
at Pitsford Reservoir
today, courtesy of
Sarah Gibbs.

Crested Tit
Provence, South France.

Southern White Admiral
South France.

Whiskered Tern
The Camargue, South France.

Greater Flamingos
The Camargue, South France.

Female Kentish Plover
The Camargue, South France.

Stock Dove in the sun!

Hello

A stunning day's weather locally today - warm, lots of sunshine, a gentle breeze and massive blue skies. Wow!

No birds in particular to mention other than the fact that the Ruddy Shelduck was still with the geese at Pitsford Reservoir this evening, again in the grounds of the Sailing Club.

Another of John Woollett's Siskins has been reported. This time it was S122528 that was ringed at Astcote on 8th March 2016, and subsequently caught again by a ringer, this time on 18th May at a place called Cnoc in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. This first year male bird travelled 508km in a NNW direction, 71 days between the initial ringing and recovery date. It would be fair to assume that this bird is intending to breed in Scotland.

Regards

Neil M

Stock Dove.

A much-overlooked bird, the Stock
Dove is common in rural Northants
and enjoys a large range which takes
in temperate Europe and some of Asia.
A fast and active flier, it provides a bit of
a challenge to photograph in flight!
Close up they are a beautiful bird with
a mixture of vibrant blue-greys and a vivid
 neck patch which shines green much of the time
and often a lilac and other colours. They are smaller and
chunkier than the feral pigeon or Rock Dove
and considerably smaller than the Woodpigeon.
They can be seen in the UK all year round, but
migrants are most noticeable in the autumn with
 coastal observatories in some years recording
 surprisingly large numbers on the move.
This bird is not exhibiting the usual two black
bands to the upper secondaries, although this
is very variable. Fledglings become independent
quickly and tend to be darker and lacking the gloss of
the adults. 'Singing' Stock Doves can be heard
almost all year-round these days and they have a
very long breeding season but currently are not
yet breeding in every month like the Woodpigeon!
The nest is usually in a hollow or a hole in a tree or barn
and they readily take to large nest-boxes. Two eggs and
two young is the norm, but like the Woodpigeon, the
predation rate is very high.

It's tough being a Blue Tit...

The hard-working
Blue Tit...

Hello

Jacob Spinks was at Pitsford Reservoir this morning and saw an Osprey and a Raven. Checking of the small boxes there as used by tits revealed plenty of dead chicks unfortunately, sometimes of complete broods. The cold temperatures, heavy rain and consequent lack of food seems to be a regular phenomenon faced by birds in the UK every spring now and is clearly having an affect on the number of juvenile birds able to fledge in good condition. Some of the nest-boxes and contents fared better than others however and it isn't a total loss. With the warm weather and sunshine predicted for the next five days or so, the survivors should progress nicely.

It was a similar story this afternoon at Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate, the Blue Tit nestlings in particular not surviving in some boxes. It seems likely that the very earliest broods and now the later broods might have timed it better.

A warbler summering and holding territory at Scotland Wood this year sings a perfect Willow Warbler song but appears to be a Chiffchaff. About every third rendition of the Willow Warbler song is concluded with some Chiffchaff song. I haven't heard it's call note yet and it may not have a mate, and in fact may not have one because it is one confused bird giving out confusing messages! It's not unusual to find such birds, and in my experience they tend to be Chiffchaffs which have the Willow Warbler song imprinted and affecting their repertoire. I don't think I have ever come across one though where the Willow Warbler song is so dominant.

Other birds in the wood this afternoon included Spotted Flycatcher and just-fledged Blackcaps.

Debbie and Eric Graham continued their patchwork birding at Titchmarsh Reserve this morning and again found a male Cuckoo, which of course is now beginning to change his tune! There were still plenty of busy warblers on show plus a pair of Oystercatcher and several species of odonata on the wing.

This evening there were two singing Grasshopper Warblers in The Hill field at Blueberry Farm.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Fritillary butterfly

Sainfoin, a member
of the vetch family.

Above images taken recently
in Gloucestershire courtesy
of Sarah Gibbs.

A day out in Northamptonshire

Hello

Yesterday afternoon (Friday) saw the Ruddy Shelduck still in the grounds of the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir and the singing Grasshopper Warbler was still 'reeling' in The Hill field at Blueberry Farm.

A modest ringing session at Brixworth this morning (Saturday) resulted in the capture of fifteen Starlings, three Yellow Wagtails, eight Pied Wagtails, a Grey Wagtail, a Reed Bunting and singles of Magpie and Moorhen.

This afternoon further efforts were made to check the larger nest-boxes on the reserve at Pitsford Reservoir and a further Tawny Owl nestling was located and ringed. Other birds noted included at least one Hobby and a Raven and the square pond in the Walgrave Bay was home to at least four Broad-bodied Chaser dragonflies.

One of the fishing wardens at Pitsford Reservoir found a freshly-dead Cormorant afloat south of the causeway today, and lodged in its gape was a particularly large and dead Brown Trout. It seems that for some reason the head and perhaps gills of the fish had somehow become stuck in the mouth of the Cormorant resulting in the deaths of them both...

A Barn Owl was hunting in the most southern field of the Blueberry Farm complex this evening.

Regards

Neil M

The Flying Scotsman paid
Northamptonshire a visit today
on it's journey up to York.

This image taken by Robin Gossage
at Irchester.

Garganey (and Little Egret)
Summer Leys NR today courtesy
of  Robin Gossage.

Goldfinch nest and clutch of eggs
nine feet up in an ornamental
 conifer in Greens Norton.

Image courtesy of
Chris Payne.

Tawny Owl nestling
at Pitsford Reservoir.

Courtesy of Neil Hasdell.

Blisworth rail interchange

Hello

The residents of the villages of Blisworth and Milton Malsor directly to the south of Northampton are engaging in a battle to prevent arable land between the two villages being swallowed up in the production of a rail interlink site. This includes the construction of yet more giant warehouses on the Northamptonshire landscape and vast areas of concrete which in total size has been equated to 125 football pitches.

The action group would welcome experienced naturalists to complete surveys of the affected land but don't feel confident in their abilities to properly assess the local bird life. Should you be able to assist or provide some tuition to members of the group they would be most grateful and we have contact details accordingly.

For more general details please visit:-

www.norailinterchange.co.uk

Regards

Neil M

Flaming June it isn't...

Hello

Birds of specific interest today were reduced to a hunting Barn Owl braving the cold wind at Blueberry Farm and the injured but bright Ruddy Shelduck joining the non-breeding goose flock in the grounds of the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir this evening.

This weather is sadly producing many avian casualties including several Swifts flying low and colliding with moving traffic on the road causeway at Pitsford, and many nestlings will be succumbing to cold and hunger in these conditions as many parents struggle to find sufficient insect and caterpillar food. It is likely that tits which are nesting in or close to bird-feeding gardens stand a better chance of keeping their nestlings alive by supplementing insects with fat, peanut granules and similar. This sustenance tends to lack the nutrition to aid healthy growth but may keep them alive long enough for a hopeful reprieve in the weather and natural food availability by the week-end.

Dave Francis was out checking the tern rafts at Pitsford Reservoir today on what must have felt almost like the high seas and counted 32 Common Tern nests which is good news. All are at the egg stage so this weather won't affect them unless the adults allow the eggs to chill.

News has come through of the original ringing details of the dead Barn Owl found near Walgrave on 6th May 2016. This bird didn't live long enough to breed - it was ringed as a nestling at Yelvertoft on 31st July 2015, some 23km to the west, meeting it's peril following a traffic collision 280 days later...

Checking ring numbers of Swallows processed during the ringing session at Brixworth yesterday, we realise now that one of the controls was actually of a nestling ringed by Chris Payne in a Greens Norton nest on 23rd June last year. Looks like it might have changed its post code address but not by much!

If anyone would like to be inspired by what I consider to a very good blog-site, I would recommend visiting The Skokholm Blog which successfully records the trials and tribulations of a significant bird and tiny human community on the little island of Skokholm off the Pembrokeshire coast...

https://www.skokholm.blogspot.co.uk

Regards

Neil M

When the water is this rough at Pitsford
you never know what might turn up!
Luckily Dave Francis had his camera with him today...

...but sadly took this photograph somewhere in
the South Atlantic a few years ago!

The image depicts a Black-browed Albatross, the
mostly likely species to be espied in Western Europe.
Very relevant following our presentation by David
Ogombar at the Northants Bird Club last night
entitled 'Hooked on Albatrosses'.

Ringing at Brixworth

Hello

A small band of us pitched up at the Anglian Water treatment works near Brixworth today and carried out some ringing in rather grey and breezy conditions. We were able to process 88 birds which thankfully included quite a few juvenile birds hatched this year.

It was a little wet at times and Swallows dominated with 45 birds being caught which included three early fledged juveniles. Nine birds were re-traps, some from 2014 and 2015 and two were birds ringed elsewhere (known as controls).

Other birds included three House Martins, eleven Pied Wagtails (including recently fledged juveniles), two Grey Wagtails, a single Yellow Wagtail, a couple of Reed Buntings plus singles of Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Whitethroat and Magpie. Sixteen Starlings were made up of adults and juveniles.

A Reed Warbler was singing in the hedge border but we didn't see anything else of note...

Regards

Neil M

Male Linnet.

Male Yellow Wagtail.

Images courtesy of Chris Payne.