Ditchford WeBS count

Hello

A wander around at Harrington Airfield this morning confirmed plenty of Willow Warblers on site plus a Hobby, but nothing else of note was seen. Another ringing session is planned here on Thursday when certain areas will have restricted access. Please let me know if you would like to come along to observe.

I then spent the remainder of the day over at Ditchford Pits completing the August WeBS count. I found it very quiet for birds with very few wildfowl on show and most of the small birds keeping a low profile. A few bits and pieces included twelve Egyptian Geese (including a pair with eight half size goslings), a Mandarin Duck, a Common Sandpiper, just one Kingfisher and three Grey Wagtails. Not surprisingly the Cetti's Warblers were mostly silent, a single Water Rail was heard calling and the tit flocks contained migrant Willow Warblers on their way south from Scotland.

A Pond Turtle, which is a very long-lived individual, was sunning itself in it's favourite spot and there were good numbers of odonata on the wing with particularly high numbers of Blue Emperors and Brown Hawkers. The highlight though was a fine Lesser Emperor holding territory on the west shore of the old Skew Bridge Ski Pit, access from the Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre. It was by the congregation of red buoys and not far from the successful Common Tern rafts.

Stanwick today yielded a Cattle Egret, a Dunlin, a Little Ringed Plover, a Redshank, two Green Sandpipers, two Common Sandpipers and two Yellow-legged Gulls. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was also seen in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir and a male Common Redstart was at Twywell Hills and Dales Park, in a hedgerow that leads off towards Twywell village.

Regards

Neil M

Black-tailed Skimmer
Pitsford Reservoir.

Pond Turtle sp.

Common Tern.

Common Tern and
Mallard in eclipse plumage.

A distant record shot
was all I could manage
of the Lesser Emperor today...

August heat and downpour!

Hello

A wander around the bushes at Harrington Airfield this morning provided a calling Common Redstart by Bunker Three but nothing else of particular note, and two Ravens were on the outskirts of the village of Old this afternoon.

Eric saw two Garganey on the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston and the nomadic Sacred Ibis of unknown origin which has been wandering around the whole of the county it seems during the last couple of weeks turned up at Braunston this evening!

A ringing session at Stortons Pits was busy this morning with over eighty birds caught. Warblers dominated and included four Cetti's Warblers, six Sedge Warblers, twenty-one Reed Warblers, seventeen Blackcaps, ten Garden Warblers and nine Whitethroats. There was also a Wren, a Robin, two Dunnocks, a Blackbird, two Great Tits, nine Blue Tits, a Treecreeper, a Greenfinch and a Reed Bunting.

Several Northants Ringing Group members are currently coming to the end of their week-long stay on the island of Skokholm off the Pembrokeshire coast. For the last seven years members have visited this very special island to help out on the census and ringing work which is carried out daily. Chris Payne has been working on a project to try and film Storm Petrel activity within a nest, something that has not been achieved before. Using infra red equipment he has been able to successfully record what goes on in a nest chamber without disturbing the birds. The recorded observations will undoubtedly provide a new insight into the breeding biology of this amazing bird, something that has been subject of speculation in the past.

Regards

Neil M

Some stills of Storm Petrel
footage taken with infra red
equipment in a purpose-built
nest chamber on Skokholm.
The images depict an adult
Storm Petrel tending to it's
single chick. Images courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Sparrowhawk courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Common Snipe courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Northants Bird Club meeting 7th Aug

Hello

The next indoor meeting of the Northants Bird Club will be at 7.30pm on Wednesday 7th August at the usual venue of the Fishing Lodge at Pitsford Reservoir.

Club member Paul Fuller will be providing an illustrated talk entitled 'Uganda - Pearl of Africa'.

'Uganda, well known for it's trips to see Gorillas but often overlooked by birdwatchers and general safari travellers in favour of other East African destinations, has snow-capped mountains, impenetrable forests, wetlands to dry savanna, good visitor facilities and friendly people giving much to offer any natural history enthusiast.

This illustrated talk shows some of the variety of birds and mammals to be seen in this fascinating country.'

As usual hot drinks and biscuits are provided free of charge and this meeting is open to members and non-members alike. I hope to see you there!

Regards

Neil M

Zebra.

Dwarf Mongoose.

Shoebill Stork.

Harrington Ringing 2

Hello

A consecutive day of bird ringing at Harrington Airfield provided a true picture of the number of birds utilising the scrub and grassland of the old airstrip. We caught 104 birds of which 96 were new which means two hundred small new birds in just those scattered bushes in two days!

The total today included a juvenile male Common Redstart, which was definitely more expected than the Kingfisher that landed in the net! Fifteen other species were made up of 24 Willow Warblers, 2 Wrens, 7 Dunnocks, 3 Great Tits, 9 Blue Tits, 27 Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Blackcaps, 2 Swallows, a Robin, 2 Blackbirds, 5 Linnets, a Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinches and 10 Yellowhammers.

A Turtle Dove was heard 'purring' and a Green Sandpiper flew over very high up. A House Sparrow in bushes for a short duration is a rare sighting here!

This evening at Pitsford Reservoir an Osprey was fishing in the Walgrave Bay. The humid and rather still conditions triggered an explosion of flying ants; terns, gulls and others were taking advantage of the bounty but I was surprised to see Tree Sparrows fly-catching for them.

Elsewhere and other observers working favoured sites in the county provided sightings of an Osprey at Hollowell Reservoir this morning plus several Common Sandpipers, a Greenshank and three Dunlin, and the Ruddy Shelduck seemingly switching to nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir. At Thrapston Pits, Nick saw another Osprey which caught a fish, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Green Sandpiper. There were still four juvenile Cattle Egrets at Ringstead Pits today and two Whinchats were noted in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Lesser Whitethroat.

Common Redstart.

Swallows.

Kingfisher.

All images courtesy
of John Tilly.

Harrington Ringing

Hello

Some bird ringing was completed at Harrington Airfield today and it ended up being a productive session with 108 birds caught and processed. For some reason we managed to avoid catching any Blackbirds, Blackcaps, Robins or Garden Warblers even though there are reasonable numbers of all these species up there! Only two birds were re-traps from previous sessions the others all being new birds, in total of 14 species.

Probably the best bird was a juvenile Grasshopper Warbler and warblers made up over half of the total birds caught with 33 Willow Warblers (a mixture of locally breeding birds and migrants), 3 Chiffchaffs, a Lesser Whitethroat and 27 Common Whitethroats. Other birds were 4 Wrens, 10 Blue Tits, a Great Tit, 7 Dunnocks, 7 Swallows, 7 Linnets, 2 Goldfinches, 3 Yellowhammers and 2 Song Thrushes.

An early migrating Tree Pipit was flying around and calling early morning and a Common Redstart was seen briefly. Blue Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer dragonflies were active and there were still good numbers of Small Heath butterflies on the wing, this butterfly enjoying an incredibly good season locally.

The Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton proved good today with a Whinchat, a Common Redstart and four Crossbills (the latter which flew off towards Cottesbrooke) and the Blueberry Farm complex supported another Common Redstart, two Whinchats, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Peregrine.

Twywell Hills and Dales continued to attract at least two Common Redstarts today, Stanwick hosted a Cattle Egret, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Dunlin and Hollowell Reservoir was busy with the Ruddy Shelduck, two Egyptian Geese (rare at this location), a Greenshank, ten Common Sandpipers, three Dunlin and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Lesser Whitethroat.

Juvenile Grasshopper Warbler.

Juvenile Common Whitethroat.

Juvenile Willow Warbler.

Late summer/early autumn migrants

Hello

Yesterday's birds (31st July) in the county included a Common Redstart still at Harrington Airfield, two Cattle Egrets still frequenting Stanwick Pits, and a Greenshank at Ravensthorpe Reservoir. The Earls Barton Pits complex attracted three Egyptian Geese, a Dunlin, four Common Sandpipers, three Green Sandpipers, four Little Ringed Plovers, two Redshanks and a juvenile Arctic Tern. Hollowell Reservoir pulled in a Whimbrel, two Dunlin and eight Common Sandpipers and the Marsh Harrier again appeared in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton late in the evening. Five Yellow-legged Gulls were at Pitsford Reservoir.

Today (1st August) we have seen very little but other observers notched up a Spotted Redshank, three Cattle Egrets, a Dunlin, two Green Sandpipers and eight Common Sandpipers and eight Yellow-legged Gulls all at Stanwick (Steve Fisher), up to three Common Redstarts at Twywell Hills and Dales Country Park in a hedgerow that runs off the footpath towards Twywell village (Nick and Adrian) and three Garganey at Thrapston Pits on the Titchmarsh Reserve (Nick again).

At Hollowell Reservoir this evening Jonathan saw a Greenshank, up to twenty Common Sandpipers and a Dunlin and at Pitsford Reservoir this evening an Osprey was fishing between The Pines and Catwalk Bay and two Yellow-legged Gulls were loafing on buoys.

Just a reminder that general access to Harrington Airfield during the next two days is restricted due to ringing operations. The official footpaths and concrete track remains unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Greenshank.

Yellow-legged Gull.

Ringing recoveries

Hello

Some recent ringing recoveries have been received as a result of Northants Ringing Group activities as follows:-

1. A first year Garden Warbler was caught and ringed at Beachy Head, East Sussex on 16th August 2017. This bird has been caught three times at Pitsford Reservoir this month on the 4th, 6th and 16th when assessed as being a breeding female. It is about 194 km between the two sites but of course she has been to Africa and back on two occasions inbetween!

2. An adult drake Mallard was caught and ringed at Pitsford Reservoir on 24th July 2014. This bird was reportedly shot between Kopnino and Svechino, Perelavik, near Moscow in Russia on or about 26th April 2019. The distance from Pitsford is about 2578 km in a general east direction, 1737 days elapsing between the two relevant dates. Catching adult Mallard at Pitsford in the summer is not in itself remarkable but most of our recoveries of these birds relate to birds shot locally and we have never had a bird travel so far away. The origins of this bird are not known - was it a Russian bird summering and moulting here in 2014 or a British bird deciding to travel east?

3. A first year Reed Warbler was trapped and ringed in Spain at a place called Balsa Guarda, Bardenas near Navarra on 19th August 2017. This bird was caught again at Stanwick Pits/Lakes on
22nd June 2019 when assessed as an adult male. This is another bird that between these records has wintered on two occasions in Africa - it is about 1119 km north between the ringing and recovery sites with 672 days elapsing between both episodes;

4. A first year male Goldfinch was caught and ringed at Astcote, Towcester on 24th November 2018 and 242 days later was found dead and wedged in a radiator grill of a car at Dunbar, East Lothian on 24th July 2019. This record mirrors many other Goldfinch records indicating that many Scottish breeders winter and pass through Northamptonshire.

It is hoped to commit to some bird ringing at Harrington Airfield this coming Friday and Saturday and if anyone wants to come along to observe proceedings please let me know. This will ensure that access to the old airstrip and bunkers will be restricted to members of the ringing team and invitees (conditions imposed by land owner). Access to the concrete track and footpaths remains unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Garden Warbler.

Mallard.

Reed Warbler.

Goldfinch courtesy
of Chris Payne.

A very wet Tuesday!

Hello

Plenty of variation in the weather today but the afternoon was especially wet and windy, particularly for July!

Pitsford Reservoir this morning recorded a Whimbrel flying south over the dam, a juvenile Arctic Tern lingering off the Sailing Club and an Osprey fishing south of the causeway. Other birds included three Yellow-legged Gulls and a Common Sandpiper.

Stanwick initially hosted a single Cattle Egret, a Dunlin, a Little Ringed Plover and three Common Sandpipers. Later the Cattle Egret total increased to three and gulls included a Caspian and five Yellow-leggeds. Five Cattle Egrets were noted at nearby Ringstead Pits.

The Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston harboured three Garganey today plus a Green Sandpiper. The Brampton Valley near Hanging Houghton pulled in an early morning Marsh Harrier, a Common Redstart and a Grasshopper Warbler with nearby Blueberry Farm attracting another Common Redstart, two Whinchats and a Grasshopper Warbler.

Jonathan Cook's evening visit to Hollowell Reservoir provided sightings of 4-8 Common Sandpipers, a Dunlin, a movement of Common Terns and the Ruddy Shelduck.

Regards

Neil M

Cattle Egret.

Common Redstart.

Common Sandpiper. Good numbers
are currently passing through the county.

Fermyn insects

Hello

A tour around Harrington Airfield this morning provided plenty of common birds including quite a collection of Linnets and assorted warblers including a singing Grasshopper Warbler. A juvenile Common Redstart was in bushes towards the northern end of the concrete track.

Bits and pieces from elsewhere included three Cattle Egrets, a Dunlin, six Common Sandpipers and three Green Sandpipers at Stanwick early this morning and a Black Tern, a Ruff and ten Yellow-legged Gulls this evening. Adrian saw a juvenile Mediterranean Gull at Summer Leys this morning, they seem to be a bit late coming through this year. Nick Parker located one of the Garganey at Titchmarsh Reserve today plus a Spotted Flycatcher and noted quite a movement of gulls including Yellow-legged Gulls.

A family of Spotted Flycatchers were at Beck Dairy, Cottesbrooke today but a foray in to the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this evening only provided a pair of Grey Partridge.

This afternoon we spent some time in Fermyn Wood and the adjacent country park in warm sunshine. No birds of note found but to be fair we were watching insects most of the time. Plenty of butterflies on the wing but it seems that the Purple Emperors have now finished - we didn't see any and other people looking drew a blank too. Two White Admirals were reported but the best of the rest included excellent numbers of Silver-washed Fritillaries and a few Purple Hairstreaks. Odonata included Blue Emperor, Brown and Migrant Hawkers, Common and Ruddy Darters and Emerald Damselfly. The homemade cake at the Skylark Cafe is still very good!

Regards

Neil M

Ruddy Darter.

Brown Hawker.

Blue Emperor.

Migrant Hawker.

Peacock.

Painted Lady.

Silver washed Fritillary.

Brimstone.

Small Skipper.

Rouzel.

Jaeger and Eleanor.
Jaeger is the one on
the left...

Birds of a wet week-end!

Hello

The heavy rain of the last two days has provided an opportunity to see some of the birds that would normally pass through the county unseen. Yesterday evening (27th) a Wood Sandpiper and a Garganey were located on the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Pits.

At 6am this morning two drake Common Scoters were located at Pitsford Reservoir off the dam and they meandered off to the east shore where they fed just a few feet off the bank. A little while later three drake Common Scoters swam out of the Pintail Bay into the main basin and later drifted north towards the causeway. Two adult Arctic Terns joined the Common Terns there and a Dunlin flew in. Three Yellow-legged Gulls were on the buoys and a family of Spotted Flycatchers were in hedging by the Sailing Club entrance. A Green Sandpiper and two Common Sandpipers were north of the causeway this evening.

Stanwick Pits/Lakes provided an impressive list of birds today including three Cattle Egrets, a Sanderling, a Dunlin, a Whimbrel, three Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, two Black Terns and five Arctic Terns with a possible juvenile Citrine Wagtail being seen by local guru Steve Fisher (the bird was distant and elusive). The Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston yielded two Garganey and a passage of Arctic Terns totalling seventeen birds. Summer Leys Reserve at Earls Barton attracted a Black Tern, a Sanderling, a Dunlin, a Green Sandpiper, four Common Sandpipers and a Greenshank and Clifford Hill Pits harboured three Arctic Terns this afternoon.

Finally birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this evening included a juvenile Marsh Harrier, two Whinchats and a Common Redstart.

Regards

Neil M

Arctic Tern.

Black Terns.

Whinchat.

The wader season is here again!

Hello

An early morning wander in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton yielded a warbler flock in 'shrike hedge', a hedgerow that runs south to north across the track that leads from the Brampton Valley Way to Cottesbrooke. Every year this hedge is a magnet for passerine migrants and this morning birds in the hedgerow included two Common Redstarts and a Spotted Flycatcher. At least one of those Redstarts was still present this afternoon.

A juvenile Marsh Harrier was subsequently seen quartering over the island of fields north of Brixworth and sandwiched between the A508 and the parallel road leading from Brixworth to Scaldwell villages. This hunting bird headed off gently towards Pitsford Reservoir.

An afternoon visit to Hollowell Reservoir yielded a fishing Osprey which arrived shortly after I did and then left twenty minutes later having caught nothing. Other birds included the long-staying Ruddy Shelduck, an adult Yellow-legged Gull, three Little Egrets and five Common Sandpipers.

Nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir hosted three Yellow-legged Gulls, two Little Egrets, two adult Dunlin, four Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers. Several Yellow-legged Gulls were again off the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon.

In the meantime Eleanor was at Blueberry Farm and had a juvenile Marsh Harrier cruise past heading south...

Steve Fisher's two visits to Stanwick today provided views of three Cattle Egrets, a Black-tailed Godwit, four Green Sandpipers, two Common Sandpipers and a Redshank.

Regards

Neil M

Dunlin courtesy
of Jacob Spinks.

Green Sandpiper courtesy
of Robin Gossage.