Ooh La La - more French birds!

Hello

A few more images from the Camargue area of France, taken this spring...

Regards

Neil M

Whiskered Tern.

Gull-billed Tern.

Greater Flamingo.

Eurasian Spoonbill.

Black-winged Stilt.

Coypu.

Grey Heron.

Cattle Egret.

Captive Eurasian Eagle Owl.

Lovely June weather!

Hello

Well every June seems to be the same, we receive these powerful storms with heavy rain and cold temperatures! Several days of this has a detrimental effect on breeding birds to the point that a whole generation of some species can be lost. Typically our brood of five Blue Tits fledged from our garden nest box early yesterday morning - I wonder how many have managed to survive?

However tomorrow's forecast suggests a warmer and sunnier day, still with strong winds, but at least it provides an opportunity for survivors to recuperate. Thursday however may be a similar re-run of today!

It was therefore gratifying to see a fledged and independent juvenile Mistle Thrush at Pitsford Reservoir this evening and the local House Martins, Sand Martins, Swallows and Swifts were feeding in reasonable numbers in the lee of the trees at the Sailing Club where there were plenty of flying insects despite the strong wind. A Little Ringed Plover was still present and one of the adult Oystercatchers persistently feeds on the grass verge of the road causeway between Holcot and Brixworth which makes me nervous as it is very close to moving traffic!

Another ringing recovery has come through, again one of many Goldfinches that Chris Payne catches and rings in the south of the county. This individual was a young male which was caught and ringed at Greens Norton on 1st November 2016 and was caught again by a ringer at Leswalt, Dumfries and Galloway on 5th April this year. The second location is 411km from the first, this small finch having travelled North West during a period of 155 days. In some respects this is a similar pattern to the Siskin movements, suggesting that perhaps many Scottish Goldfinches move through or winter in middle England.

Regards

Neil M

Goldfinches by Cathy Ryden,
a good example of a bird currently
doing very well and benefitting
from garden feeding.

Northants Bird Club meeting this coming Wednesday...

Hello

Yesterday (Sunday), Eric Graham and family visited the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston and saw five Hobbies hawking around plus a solitary Oystercatcher, the usual warblers and noted three Cuckoos still.

Also yesterday the Grasshopper Warbler remained in its weedy field between Lamport and Blueberry Farm and another 'reeler' was singing from a ditch between the Brampton Valley Way and the Gamboro' Plantation west of Hanging Houghton.

A brief visit to Harrington Airfield at lunch-time yesterday was good for a couple of pairs of Grey Partridges but little else.

A walk along the River Nene below Earls Barton between White Mills and Whiston Locks was breezy but pleasant early this afternoon (Monday) with at least four broods of Mallard ducklings and a couple of Grey Wagtails on show.

The next indoor meeting of the Northants Bird Club is this Wednesday evening (7th) commencing at 7.30pm at the Fishing Lodge at Pitsford Reservoir. Conor Jameson will be presenting on his favourite subject, the Goshawk! Still a very rare bird locally, and still struggling in many area in the UK, it is not an easy bird to locate and appreciate and is fittingly known as the 'phantom of the forest'. Conor will explain his quest to find the Goshawk and provide the context and natural history of this hard-hitting bird of prey. As usual hot drinks and biscuits await!

Regards

Neil M

Mallard and ducklings.

Grey Wagtail.

French Birding

Hello

I have been fortunate this spring to have been provided with an opportunity to lead wildlife tours on behalf of Naturetrek and one of them was to Provence and the Camargue in South France. The following images were taken in April this year whilst conducting the first tour with visits to the summit of Mount Ventoux (1900 metres) and a variety of sites in the dry hills and plateaus of the north of the district. We then finished with a couple of days in the coastal wetlands of the bird-famous Camargue. Interestingly though, these days it is possible to see most of these birds in the UK with a little bit of effort!

Regards

Neil M

Crested Tit.

Cirl Bunting.

Whinchat.

Black-winged Stilt.

Glossy Ibis.

Greater Flamingos.

Avocets.

Pitsford CBC

Common Buzzard.

Hello

Today I spent the morning completing a Common Bird Census at Pitsford Reservoir in favourable conditions following the early morning rain. Once it warmed up, three Hobbies were hawking insects above the trees and a Curlew was moving about between the causeway and the Bird Club Hide. A Ringed Plover and two Little Ringed Plovers were near to Moulton Grange Bay.

Water birds won't enjoy a very good breeding season this year due to the very low water level but I did see a pair of Mute Swans with two cygnets and four broods of Mallard on my meanderings.The breeding pair of Oystercatchers still have two growing chicks. On the negative side, only one Reed Warbler was heard singing and I didn't encounter any Sedge Warblers or Lesser Whitethroats. There were just-fledged Blackcaps moving about and I came across a tiny Garden Warbler chick that really shouldn't have strayed from it's nest!

Despite the sunny conditions for much of the walk I didn't see any dragonflies and relatively few damselflies; hopefully this won't be the norm now that we have invasive shrimps in the reservoir which apparently voraciously predate odonata nymphs. I did see two Beautiful Demoiselles though, which is three years running these insects have appeared at Pitsford and I suspect they must be breeding in the streams in small numbers.

Only four species of butterfly found the conditions to their liking today which included migrant Red Admirals and Painted Ladies and the meadows were alive with Chimney Sweeper moths again.

Regards

Neil M

Rabbit. Walking the reserve
early in the morning is traditionally
good for seeing common mammals.
Rabbits aren't that common at Pitsford
but there are plenty of youngsters around
in the Holcot Bay currently...

Speckled Wood butterfly.

Longhorn moth, nemophora
deyeerella, the male with
very long antennae.

Female Muntjac Deer.

Large Skipper.

Humid offerings...

Hello

Yesterday (Thursday) saw Ken Spriggs and Andy Cook take a walk around the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston where they saw five or six Cuckoos including a rufous phase bird (seemingly these 'hepatic' birds are always females).

Bird ringing operations at Harrington Airfield today (Friday) resulted in 85 birds of 16 species being caught and processed in quite humid conditions. Perhaps the most surprising were single adults of Jay and Mistle Thrush, neither species seen regularly on the complex during the breeding season. Other birds included 2 Blackbirds, a Song Thrush, a Starling, 20 Yellowhammers, 2 Bullfinches, 5 Chaffinches, a Blue Tit, 6 Great Tits, 7 Whitethroats, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, a Garden Warbler, 16 Willow Warblers, 2 Wrens, 5 Dunnocks and 12 Robins.

Other birds noted on-site included 2 Turtle Doves, a couple of Grey Partridges, a Nuthatch and a Hobby and butterflies included Common Blue, Small Heath and Large Skipper.

A singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in a weedy field between Lamport and Blueberry Farm.

Another ringing recovery received today relates to a young male Siskin first caught by Kenny Cramer at Linford Lakes on 22nd November 2015 and then caught again by the Grampian Ringing Group at Bogietang, Wardend, Durris in Aberdeenshire on 29th April this year. It is presumed this was a returning Scottish breeder or still on it's way and bound for a Scandanavian forest or even beyond...

Regards

Neil M

Cock Linnet.

Male Bullfinch.

Red-legged Partridge.

Colourful birds of the
Northamptonshire countryside
by Robin Gossage.

Spring in to summer

Hello

Very warm and sunny today locally, and this brought forth a small invasion of Painted Lady butterflies, many of them hurtling past at an incredible rate!

The singing Grasshopper Warbler was still in a weedy field between Lamport and Blueberry Farm this morning and birds at Harrington Airfield this evening included a Turtle Dove, a couple of pairs of Grey Partridges and a singing Reed Warbler in a bank of Blackthorn! Please note that ringing operations on-site tomorrow morning will make the old airstrip and bunkers out of bounds.

A check of the tern rafts at Pitsford Reservoir today suggests that 38 pairs of Common Terns are attempting to nest. The pair of Oystercatchers still have two live chicks but two have died. A Greylag Goose is also nesting on one of the rafts!

Chris Payne ringed a young male Goldfinch at Bradden (South Northants) on 1st December 2016. Sadly this bird killed itself on a glass conservatory on 24th May this year, the location being Uggool, Moycullen, Galway in Ireland, a distance of 562km in a WNW direction. We receive very few recoveries from Ireland but it seems that this bird was intent on breeding there.

Regards

Neil M

So that's what a Turtle
Dove looks like!
Images courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Last day of May

Hello

A wander at Harrington Airfield this morning was pleasant but lacking birds somewhat with just a couple of pairs of Grey Partridge of note. The Common Spotted Orchids are just beginning to bloom and many other flowers won't be long. Three Hares gallivanting about were fun and insects included Common Blue and Small Heath butterflies. Please note that it is likely that there will be a bird ringing session at Harrington on Friday and the old airstrip and bunkers will be out of bounds during this operation. The concrete track and official footpaths remain unaffected.

A singing Grasshopper Warbler remained in it's weedy field between Lamport and Blueberry Farm and Pitsford Reservoir this evening attracted two Turnstones, a Dunlin and a drake Mandarin Duck all between the Old Scaldwell Road and the Bird Club hide. A Little Owl was nearby and plenty of Chimney Sweeper Moths were fluttering around the Scaldwell Meadow with any number of Muntjac Deer feeding on the foreshore. The pair of Oystercatchers now seem to have just two chicks...

Regards

Neil M

Common Spotted Orchid.

Brown Hare.

Turnstone.

Common Terns.

Drake Mandarin Duck.

A day out at Lakenheath

Hello

John Gamble visited the RSPB reserve at Lakenheath on Sunday and took the following images to prove it!

Regards

Neil M

Barn Owl.

Bittern.

Marsh Warbler.

All images courtesy
of John Gamble.

Bank Holiday Monday

Hello

A rather later than anticipated visit to Harrington Airfield this morning provided some interesting sightings of two Turtle Doves, at least three pairs of Grey Partridges, a singing Sedge Warbler (not a common bird here!) and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, only the second recorded here this year. So some late passage warblers it seems amongst the established Whitethroats and Willow Warblers. 

We were just preparing to leave when the distinctive calls of a Hawfinch could be heard distantly but coming closer, and then the sound of a second bird too. They appeared overhead and flew strongly in a north-east direction, still emitting the distinctive 'syheep' call followed by the clipped 'tick' sound at precisely 9.47am! Something we wouldn't have seen had we visited earlier as per our best intentions!

I heard a Hawfinch calling and flying over Harrington a couple of autumns ago but just couldn't see it; so these represent my first sight records in over thirty years of visiting this disused airfield.

Other bits and bobs during the day didn't quite match the Hawfinches but there were three Grey Wagtails at Beck Dairy, Cottesbrooke and Spotted Flycatchers at Maidwell village church and Dale Farm (between Maidwell and Haselbech).

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir amounted to a Grey Plover in the Scaldwell Bay for most of the day, a Ringed Plover, two Little Ringed Plovers, six Oystercatchers (three adults and three chicks), a moulting drake Mandarin Duck in the Scaldwell Bay and two Yellow-legged Gulls (2nd summer and 3rd summer).

Regards

Neil M

Male Chaffinch
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Jay, courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

Red-legged Partridge,
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Starling, courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Great Crested Grebe,
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Free second-hand optics

                                     NOW ALL GONE!

Hello

John Tilly has been in touch and would like to offer up some second hand optical equipment free of charge. He would prefer it if the recipient was a young birder in need of a telescope/binoculars and is offered on a first come first served basis and with no warranty. The items would have to be collected from a Yardley Gobion address in South Northants at an agreed time.

1. Kowa TSN2 telescope with two eyepieces (30x and 20-60 zoom) in good condition with a weather-proof sleeve. Comes with a Slik tripod fitted with a Cullman Pan head;

2. Bushnell 10x50 binoculars;

3. Sirius 16x50 binoculars;

4. Tento (Russian) 20x60 binoculars.

If you are interested please email John at senalizacion@btinternet.com with 'Kowa' in the header.

Regards

Neil M

Spring Bank Holiday week-end

Hello

Yesterday (Saturday) and Debbie and Eric Graham and Nick Parker visited Thrapston Gravel Pits, spending much of their time on the Titchmarsh Reserve. Collectively they saw a pair of Egyptian Geese (Elinor Lake), one or two Hobby, at least two Cuckoos, Oystercatchers with young, still a singing Nightingale and lots of warblers, butterflies and dragonflies. It would seem that the Wildlife Trust tern rafts are being used by plenty of Common Terns this year.

Kenny Cramer and team have been conducting bird ringing operations at Linford Lakes over the week-end, two days work providing an impressive 118 captures. A large proportion of the captures involved summer migrants with an excellent 29 Reed Warblers, 3 Garden Warblers, 3 Blackcaps, 2 Whitethroats, 2 Chiffchaffs and 3 Cuckoos. More sedentary birds were made up of 3 Reed Buntings, 2 Goldfinches, 2 Greenfinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Dunnocks, 3 Wrens, 11 Robins, 7 Great Tits, 13 Blue Tits, 17 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Blackbirds, a Song Thrush and a Treecreeper. Other wildlife noted included 7 Grass Snakes, Toads and a Great Crested Newt.

An evening visit to Naseby Reservoir (Sunday) failed to locate any birds of note and a gentle walk around Welford Reservoir provided views of an Oystercatcher and an audible 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler. Another Grasshopper Warbler was singing from a weedy field between Lamport and Blueberry Farm this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Another Honey Bee swarm
as photographed by Jim Dunkley,
and still no stings to date!

Reed Warbler. No less than 29 birds
were processed at Linford Lakes over
the Bank Holiday week-end.