Barn Owls, Bramblings and more rain!

Hello

I forgot to mention yesterday that a Barn Owl was seen at the roadside between Moulton and Holcot early morning... there is evidence that many of the broods of young are late this year with still some pairs feeding unfledged youngsters.

A short ringing session at Woodford Halse this morning was curtailed when the forecast rain arrived earlier than anticipated. However among the small number of birds processed, highlights were probably a new Marsh Tit and five Goldcrests. Other birds on site which incorporates the upper reaches of the River Cherwell included Kingfisher, several Grey Wagtails and a drake Mandarin Duck (in flight). Decent-sized hedgerows and grazing meadows with plenty of trees and preserved corners makes for pleasant surroundings; a Hawfinch was present there on Sunday.

Eric Graham was at Thrapston Pits today and saw a Great White Egret on Aldwincle Lake and the Whooper Swan and a Yellow-legged Gull on Town Lake. Steve Fisher had two more Great White Egrets at Stanwick Pits plus a Brambling flying over.

Eleanor's morning foray in to the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton provided four Bramblings with the Chaffinch flock at the large barn by Brampton Brook and a pair of Stonechats. This afternoon there was a Corn Bunting, three Siskins and two Bramblings and a Barn Owl in the vicinity of 'shrike hedge'. A Brambling visited our garden at Hanging Houghton this afternoon.

At Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon there was a juvenile Scaup with Tufted Ducks just off the Sailing Club and the only bird of note in the rather small gull roost was just a single Yellow-legged Gull. I haven't seen any Mediterranean Gulls in the roost during the last four visits...

Regards

Neil M

Little Stint courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Lapwing courtesy of
John Tilly.

Curlew by
Robin Gossage.

Whinchat by
 Robin Gossage.

Woodlarks, Merlin and more!

Hello

Yesterday (Tuesday) and Chris Payne committed to a little ringing at one of his sites at Bradden in South Northants and quickly caught and processed 51 birds made up of the usual tits plus five Goldcrests, two Wrens, two Dunnocks, a Chaffinch and two new Siskins.

Today (Wednesday) and ringer John Woollett was surprised to catch and ring a Grey Wagtail in his Astcote garden.

For a few hours yesterday afternoon and again this morning there was some ringing activity at Pitsford Reservoir around the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station. One hundred and five birds were caught and processed of seventeen species with half the total being Blue and Great Tits and further proof of an exceptionally good breeding year for these species locally! Other birds included four Redwings, a Song Thrush, a Treecreeper, a Moorhen, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, nine Tree Sparrows, five Meadow Pipits, two Yellowhammers and three Reed Buntings. A return to form of twelve Chaffinches probably includes migrant birds.

Other birds noted from here included at least two Great White Egrets, a Grey Wagtail, two Stonechats, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a male Brambling. However the best birds were two vocal Woodlarks which flew directly overhead and then around the Scaldwell Bay before being lost to view undulating steadily north. This species remains remarkably scarce in the county but this record is my second sighting at the reservoir this year.

This afternoon and the adult female Merlin was again in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton, and again she was chasing Skylarks which are present in reasonable numbers. With two male Merlins on and off last winter in exactly the same place, hopefully this female will remain in the valley whilst there are plenty of birds for her to pursue. Other birds included a pair of Stonechat and two Bramblings. The Chaffinch flock at the large barn below the village and close to the Brampton Brook is growing nicely and hopefully will attract some of these Bramblings any day now!

Elsewhere today and Nick saw a Great White Egret and at least ten Little Egrets at Thrapston Pits, a Peregrine was noted at Castle Ashby, a Pintail at Lower Barnwell lock floods off the A605 and birds at Stanwick Pits included a Great White Egret, a Ruff and a Pintail.

Regards

Neil M

Male and female
Siskins courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Ditchford WeBS count

Hello

Today it was the turn of a section of Ditchford Pits to be visited and the wetland birds counted.  Initially the weather was dull but later the sunshine came through and provided an opportunity to enjoy late season insects which included Migrant Hawker and Common Darter dragonflies and butterflies made up of Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Large White and Comma.

The pits west of Ditchford Lane hosted four Egyptian Geese, a Water Rail, a Green Sandpiper, two Kingfishers, a Grey Wagtail, six Cetti's Warblers, a male Stonechat and a couple of Siskins. Birds east of Ditchford Lane provided viewings of a Snipe, a Jack Snipe, a Water Rail, six Kingfishers, seven Cetti's Warblers, five Chiffchaffs, three Grey Wagtails, a few Siskins and a Redpoll.

A Clouded Yellow and Red Admiral butterflies were at Harrington Airfield this afternoon and the Pitsford Reservoir gull roost included four Yellow-legged Gulls.

Regards

Neil M

Autumn sunshine
at Ditchford Pits.

Little Grebe courtesy
of John Tilly.

The horses on land west
of Ditchford Lane are pretty
feral and left to their own
devices for much of the time.
Their matted manes and tails
 are caused by burdock seed heads
 and they resemble braids.

Developments at Fineshade.

Hello

A message from the Friends of Fineshade...

Forestry England (FE) have been drawing up new plans for how they will manage Fineshade's trees over the years to come, and there is a public consultation including an open event from 2 to 7pm on Wednesday afternoon. If you are in the area and able to attend, please try to drop in to the Little Barn, next to the cafe at Top Lodge where key forestry staff will be able to talk about their plans and answer questions. Some of us will be around and about, perhaps in the cafe, during the afternoon, so we may be able to meet up for an informal chat as well.

This page of our website was updated today and gives a few details of the plan and some initial comments from us,   https://www.fineshade.org.uk/forest-plan.  There are also links to where you can download a copy of the plan.

It's quite important to realise that this plan only deals with planting, managing and felling trees, in Wakerley and Southwick Woods, as well as in Fineshade.  There's nothing there describing, for example, future plans to develop (or not) extra leisure facilities, nothing about the management of car-parks (sore point!), no mention of the disused toilet block in Wakerley Wood. Also there's nothing there mentioning the former threat from Forest Holidays, but every indication we have re-inforces the view that this threat no longer exists. Also remember that the field in front of Top Lodge, where static caravans were proposed, does not belong to Forestry England - they, like us, opposed that strongly.

Since the Forest Holidays threat was withdrawn, relations with local FE staff have been steadily improving and there has been some excellent work going on in the wood (ride management for butterflies, pond restoration, carefully sympathetic thinning of plantations, open areas are to be created for reptiles, encouraging what we're doing with Elms and Wild Service tree, etc). This consultation is an opportunity to praise and encourage all this good work, as well as to make our opinions clear if we disapprove and disagree.

Even if you cannot attend on Wednesday, please do consider responding to FE's online consultation before the closing date of 8th November. Forest Plans like this often receive little attention, but it would be great if there was a large number of submissions to this consultation, showing that lots of people really care about the future of Fineshade Wood (and Wakerley and Southwick too)!

One other piece of news to share with you. We heard last Friday that Augean, the owners of the hazardous and low-level-nuclear waste disposal site to the east of Fineshade Wood, are intending to apply for a 90-acre extension to their site which would bring it right to the boundary of the wood. No doubt this will be getting a lot of our attention in the years ahead.

Hoping to see some of you on Wednesday afternoon

Best wishes
Friends of Fineshade

Pitsford WeBS count

Hello

Today a small team completed the monthly WeBS count at Pitsford Reservoir which is all about counting birds using this important wetland. The mild conditions, increased water levels and muddy water probably accounts for the relatively low numbers of wildfowl on-site. Still present though were the two Great White Egrets (in the Scaldwell and Holcot Bays), about nineteen Little Egrets, four Pintail, a Green Sandpiper, a Snipe, four Stonechats, several Grey Wagtails, two Ravens, four Siskins, four Bramblings and about 1200 Tufted Ducks. Four adult Whooper Swans flew over north at about 11.40am and there were at least three Yellow-legged Gulls present. Fungi was very prominent around the reservoir today and also Dog Vomit Slime-mould!

Two pairs of Stonechats were still present in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this afternoon, Neil Underwood saw two Bramblings at Harrington Airfield and there were two Grey Wagtails at Brixworth Water Treatment Works.

Nick Parker saw a Great White Egret and a Whooper Swan at Thrapston Pits, and Stanwick Pits hosted an interesting Lesser Whitethroat (possibly an eastern race), a Great White Egret, six Cattle Egrets, a Pintail, four Bramblings, twenty-seven Siskins, a Redpoll, two hundred and forty Fieldfares and four hundred and thirty Redwings.

Regards

Neil M

Lapwing Pitsford causeway.

Pitsford fungi - courtesy
of Eleanor.

Harrington ringing.

Hello 

A second consecutive day's bird ringing at Harrington Airfield provided the ringers with 134 captures of 18 species; 102 of these birds were new, 31 were re-traps and one (a Great Tit) appears to be from elsewhere... The final haul was made up of two Blackbirds, two Song Thrushes, thirty-one Redwings, a juvenile male Sparrowhawk, a Goldcrest, a Wren, twelve Great Tits, twenty-three Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, two Long-tailed Tits, two Meadow Pipits, eleven Greenfinches, thirty-two Goldfinches, a Chaffinch, a Lesser Redpoll, six Reed Buntings, four Yellowhammers and a Dunnock.

Migrants were on the move all day, Redwings continually and from late morning we watched flocks of Fieldfares moving over south. Woodpigeons flew over high up, Meadow Pipits dribbled over all day as did a few 'alba' wagtails. Migrant Starlings were mostly in small flocks and a few Siskins and Redpolls undulated over. A vocal and low-flying Water Pipit was well-watched as it went over north-west this afternoon and a Painted Lady butterfly was on the wing. Tawny and Little Owls were vocal before daylight and a Short-eared Owl was hunting alongside the concrete track just before dawn. Barn Owls today were seen at Hanging Houghton, Lamport and Creaton.

Three pairs of Stonechats were scattered in the Brampton Valley/Blueberry Farm area today, the respective pairs being at 'shrike hedge', near to Blueberry Farm and the Hill Field.

Regards

Neil M

Female Reed Bunting.

Lesser Redpoll.

Juvenile male
Sparrowhawk.

First year male
Blackbird, probably
of continental origin.

Redwing courtesy
of Lynne Barnett.

Raptors and more...

Hello

A ringing session took place at Harrington Airfield this morning and provided 84 birds of 14 species. Perhaps not surprisingly with the efforts at this site recently, 21 of the birds were re-traps and included a young Robin that was originally ringed at Pitsford Reservoir in the summer and now seems to have adopted a territory at Harrington. The birds were made up of a Blackbird, a Song Thrush, ten Redwings, two Wrens, a Chiffchaff, six Yellowhammers, seven Great Tits, twenty Blue Tits, a Long-tailed Tit, five Meadow Pipits, two Robins, two Chaffinches, sixteen Goldfinches and ten Reed Buntings.

Other birds noted here included a Rock Pipit flying over west, ten Golden Plovers, a few each of Siskin and Redpoll and visible migration migrants included flocks of Woodpigeons, Starlings, Redwings, 'alba' wagtails and Meadow Pipits. Raptors were very high profile over the old airfield with lots of Common Buzzards and Red Kites and with Kestrels visible most of the time. They were joined by a Peregrine and a hunting Merlin.

The Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton was busy with good numbers of finches and buntings, now two pairs of Stonechats, a female Merlin which was on show this morning and again this afternoon (targeting Skylarks) and a Marsh Harrier which could well be the same lingering individual since August. Two 'wild swans' (Whooper or Bewick's) flew over heading towards Pitsford and other birds in the valley included a Barn Owl, a Brambling, four Siskins and a Redpoll.

Other birds reported today included 3-4 Stonechats and a Short-eared Owl at Borough Hill Country Park and the Ruddy Shelduck was seen again at Ravensthorpe Reservoir. Birds north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon included an adult Yellow-legged Gull, three Pintails and a female Stonechat.

Regards

Neil M

Adult male Reed Bunting.

Adult Redwing.

Merlin, Mediterranean Gulls and Grey Wagtails.

Hello

There were still plenty of birds today in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton but nothing of note except the lingering pair of Stonechats and a Barn Owl.

A breezy and grey Harrington Airfield hung on to a few Redwings and rather more finches, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits and a young male Merlin was hunting the fields on the north side of the complex.

A late afternoon visit to the dam at Pitsford Reservoir provided a view of an adult Mediterranean Gull and later a first winter bird arrived. Four Yellow-legged Gulls were present too and a lingering Common Sandpiper was between the dam and Moulton Grange Bay (presumably the same bird that has been spending quite some time in the Scaldwell Bay).

Ravens were noted at Hanging Houghton and Grey Wagtails at several locations as they move through the county. It is hoped to manage ringing sessions at Harrington Airfield tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday when access to the bunkers and old airstrip will be restricted. Footpaths and the concrete track remain accessible.

Regards

Neil M

Spotted Redshank

courtesy of John Tilly.

Greylag Geese.

Common Sandpiper courtesy

of Robin Gossage.

October ringing

Hello

A ringing session at Pitsford Reservoir in the Scaldwell Bay provided 105 birds of twenty species (60 new and 45 re-traps). Highlights were a juvenile female Sparrowhawk, a Kingfisher, two Moorhens, three Song Thrushes, three Redwings, seven Blackbirds, ten Goldcrests, two Marsh Tits and a Willow Tit.

Chris Payne committed to a little ringing in his garden at Greens Norton today, quickly catching and processing 67 birds made up of 25 Blue Tits, 10 Great Tits, a Coal Tit, 24 Goldfinches, six Greenfinches and a Stock Dove.

Eleanor saw the pair of Stonechats in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton again today and at least two Barn Owls were close to the village late this afternoon.

It is anticipated that there will be ringing operations at Harrington Airfield this coming week-end which ensures that the area around the bunkers and the old airstrip will have restricted access. Anyone who would like to attend to observe is asked to make contact.

Regards

Neil M

Kingfisher.

Sparrowhawk.

Birds of the drizzle!

Hello

Low cloud and drizzle this morning produced large numbers of migrants at Harrington Airfield probably amounting to over a thousand small birds in and over the bushes around the bunkers. The biggest numbers included 275 Redwings, 200 Chaffinches, 50 Skylarks, 50+ Meadow Pipits, 50 each of Linnet and Goldfinch and Yellowhammer, over a hundred Starlings with smaller numbers of Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Reed Buntings, Greenfinches, Tree Sparrows, Siskins, Redpolls and wagtails. Once the breeze kicked in and the drizzle lifted, many of the birds appeared to depart. An immature male Merlin was a bit late for the party and whizzed off north.

Steve's efforts at Stanwick Pits this morning provided a Great White Egret, two Cattle Egrets, a Ruff, two Fieldfares. five hundred Redwings, eighteen House Martins and fifteen Siskins.

Eleanor spent some hours this afternoon in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and up at Blueberry Farm and notched up an immature Ring Ouzel in a hedge at the bottom of Hill Field and the area around 'shrike hedge' provided a female Merlin, a pair of Stonechat and a Barn Owl.

The gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir this evening provided a second winter Mediterranean Gull and nine Yellow-legged Gulls.

Regards

Neil M

Merlin.

Redwing.

Ring Ouzel (this
one an adult female).

Meadow Pipit.

October migrants

Hello

After such a wet, filthy night it made sense that something should have been brought down.. and an early morning visit provided a flock of five Common Scoter at Pitsford Reservoir north of the causeway. Two of these birds were drakes. Redwings were also passing over in good numbers with smaller numbers of Siskin and Starling. A Common Sandpiper was in the Scaldwell Bay and later there was a Rock Pipit on the causeway. Eleanor had poor views of a mystery raptor flying north over the reservoir that reminded her of a Black Kite but sadly it didn't hang around.

Steve Fisher was out during the early morning too and his haul at Stanwick included an impressive 42 Little Egrets (surely a county record?), two Great White Egrets and four Cattle Egrets (later in the day all six) and 930 Redwings moving over in a SW direction. Later he added two Goosanders and two Redpoll. Just down the road and Chris Green notched up another Great White Egret at Ditchford Pits (Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows section) plus a Pintail and a Kingfisher. Nick Parker confirmed the continued presence of the adult Whooper Swan on Town Lake, Thrapston Pits (I wonder if it is last year's bird returning?).

Harrington Airfield was full of common birds today in very soggy conditions. A male Ring Ouzel showed well near Bunker Two and another bird with it may have been another bird of the same species. A pair of Stonechat were at Bunker Three and vis mig birds included plenty of Starlings, Redwings and fifty Fieldfares.

A ringing session was held in the extreme west of the county today at Glyn Davies Wood which is a Banbury Ornithological Society reserve. It was going fine until the local Bicester and Warden Hill Hunt turned up and rampaged through the reserve with dogs and horses. Not only were they trespassing but they completely trashed two mist nets and the ringers present were fortunate that no birds came to harm. A couple of the hounds remained in the wood with bloodied muzzles and the ringing session was abandoned. Birds caught and successfully processed were made up of four Goldcrests, two Wrens, three Robins, seventeen Blue Tits, two Coal Tits, a Marsh Tit, twenty-two Great Tits, two Nuthatch and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Local ringing sessions, hopefully with the absence of the local hunt, are planned for Pitsford Reservoir on Thursday and at Harrington Airfield at the weekend.

Regards

Neil M

Great White Egret

courtesy of John Tilly.

Green Woodpecker courtesy

of John Tilly.

Dunlin courtesy of

Robin Gossage.

Curlew Sandpiper

courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Waderquest AGM and World Watch

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Hello

My apologies for the lack of messages recently, I'm afraid we suffered a complete broadband failure which lasted over a week! Hopefully it is sorted now.

As many will know I definitely have a soft spot for gulls and will happily gaze at them for hours (often trying to work out what they are)! In August this year I was fortunate to be in Glasgow where there is quite an urban community of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, surely one of the better looking large gulls? Anyway the following photographs depict some of the birds close to hand...

Regards

Neil M

Adult or near-adult.

Juvenile (hatched this year).

First summer (second
calendar year).

Probably a fourth summer
but some third summers can
be very advanced.

Advanced first summer
(second calendar year).

Birds of Thursday...

Hello

A couple of busy local ringing sessions took place today in almost perfect weather conditions with the usage of mist nets. Dave, Lynne and Lewis were at Pitsford Reservoir where they captured and processed 90 birds of 14 species (53 new and 37 re-traps). This total was made up of 30 Blue Tits, 20 Great Tits, a Coal Tit, 9 Dunnocks, 5 Robins, 3 Wrens, 7 Tree Sparrows, 3 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, a Chaffinch, 5 Reed Buntings, a Song Thrush, a Blackbird and 3 Moorhens.

Harrington Airfield enjoyed a second consecutive day of ringing, this time with some 170 captures of 16 species (144 new and 26 re-traps). The session was dominated by Goldfinches with 74 new birds and 8 re-traps from previous sessions. Other birds were made up of a Song Thrush, 6 Dunnocks, 7 Yellowhammers, 8 Great Tits, 14 Blue Tits, 2 Wrens, 2 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 3 Robins, 18 Meadow Pipits, 4 Linnets, 7 Chaffinches, 5 Reed Buntings and 8 Swallows.

A few Redwings were on-site as were a couple of Golden Plover and calling Grey Partridge. Skylarks were very evident there today with one flock totalling 48 birds. A female Merlin arrived this afternoon and went storming after Meadow Pipits.

Elsewhere and Stanwick Pits/Lakes held three Cattle Egrets today plus a late Common Tern and a Ringed Plover. Seventy Golden Plovers were located in a field south of Cogenhoe village and Summer Leys reserve at Earls Barton hosted a Great White Egret and Garganey with a Spotted Redshank reported from the Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows reserve at Ditchford Pits.

Birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning include a pair of Stonechats, a Whinchat, a Little Egret on the brook and a hunting Barn Owl and 15 Redwings were seen flying over Moulton Agricultural College.

Regards

Neil M

Goldfinch.

Swallow.

Yellowhammer.


All images courtesy of
John Tilly.