North and west bound birds...

Hello

Eleanor's morning walk took her to Blueberry Farm today where a male Ring Ouzel was foraging on grass alongside one of the hedgerows and two Wheatears were on the hill. About forty Fieldfares and a Raven were nearby.

Sarah Gibbs was in Wicksteed Park, Kettering this morning and watched a Carrion Crow 'anting' itself. This is well documented behaviour whereby birds 'bathe' in ants, secreting the acid and chemicals from the ants to enhance the skin and feathers. Although well known it is not in my experience commonly seen in the UK...

Birds in and over the garden today were not remarkable but in the Brampton Valley below the village this afternoon there was a fine singing Whinchat and a male Greenland Wheatear.

Elsewhere and Stewart Short saw a singing male Ring Ouzel near Clopton and heard a Cuckoo nearby. A Cuckoo was also heard at Chase Park Farm, Yardley Chase this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Male Whinchat.

Male Ring Ouzel.

Garden Snaps

Hello

A stunning day's weather today with a cool air but loads of gorgeous sunshine and just a very light breeze.

Fiona Barclay found a flock of ten Yellow Wagtails in a field near Lamport - they seem to be coming through in good numbers rather early this year. I didn't hear or see any winter thrushes today, the first day for a long while without the chatter of a Fieldfare or call of a Redwing overhead. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs are in good numbers locally and Willow Warblers will be a mixture of local breeders and birds en-route to Scotland.

Two Cattle Egrets were seen near Irthlingborough Lock today and a drake Garganey was on North Lake on the eastern section of Ditchford Pits. A Peregrine was seen over Far Cotton, Northampton.

Birds over our garden included the usual four species of raptor and Raven but Ian Pretty had a very large raptor pass over Grange Park, Northampton this afternoon - was it the return of the eagle? The bird was seen heading north-east...

Nearby we found a couple of pairs of Grey Partridge and a solitary Yellow Wagtail and this afternoon I took some images of common birds in the garden...

Regards

Neil M

Woodpigeon.

Collared Dove.

Second calendar year male
Blackbird. This bird was hatched
last year but is already collecting
food for it's own brood!

A couple of the garden
Robins like the 'Flutter
Butter' - bird safe peanut butter!

First there were Goldfinches
on the feeder...

...then it was Greenfinches!

Red Kite perched up
near Sywell today courtesy
of Jim Dunkley.

Eagle overhead!

Hello

This morning dawned still, cool and then sunny and remained so all day. I committed to a little garden ringing first thing for a couple of hours but visible migration seemed to be virtually nil and there was little new that found the mist nets. The main task for today was shopping (for several households post Easter) and then following grocery distribution we settled at home.

The Starlings, Pied Wagtails and Reed Buntings were constantly coming in for food and are now becoming rather tame and often approach quite closely when we are sitting out in the garden. The usual raptors and Raven performed their respective fly-overs but nothing out of the ordinary was seen.

A far cry from Irthlingborough in East Northants where Steve Fisher witnessed a juvenile White-tailed Eagle drift north-east over his garden at 1pm, with the bird then reported from Barnwell a little while later! It is understood to be one of the Isle of Wight introduced birds and is presumably being tracked. Never mind its provenance, to see any eagle in the skies of Northamptonshire is really quite something. With us all sitting in our gardens and looking up I suspect there will be some very interesting large birds seen flying over the county this spring - bring it on!

Regards

Neil M

Robin nestlings by Chris
Payne. These birds fledged
successfully yesterday.

Male Kestrel over the
garden today. No it's not
an eagle but you have to
start somewhere!

Pied Wagtail in the garden,
he's becoming tamer by the day!

Easter Monday

Hello

With a big change in the weather beginning yesterday afternoon, a cold and strong wind developed with some rain overnight. As today went on the wind gradually dropped and the sun came out once more but it still remained a much cooler day than of recent.

I took the opportunity to catch up on plenty of admin work, mostly documenting and inputting Common Bird Census and Wetland Bird Survey data, so I didn't see very much today - it's much more enjoyable carrying out the surveys than adding up the figures, creating the tables and inputting!

A couple of Ravens have been overflying the village today, the birds cramming their beaks and throat pouches with food en-route to active nests nearby. A wander around the fields towards Scaldwell provided a Yellow Wagtail and the southern hedges/treeline of Lamport Hall held lots of small birds in the lee of the northerly wind which included Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests.

A few Fieldfares were about the village and a couple of pairs of Long-tailed Tits were busy finishing off their complex moss and feather domed nests.

Regards

Neil M

Lamport Hall. The magnificent
Sweet Chestnut on the right is some
way behind the leaf burst of the Oak
on the left.

Long-tailed Tit courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Raven courtesy of
Jacob Spinks.

Easter Sunday

Hello

Very little to report from our end today with much of it spent in the garden, mostly looking at all the tasks that need doing rather than actually doing many of them!

Nevertheless the April 'birds from the garden list' went up by a couple with the addition of Canada Goose and Bullfinch, but still Song Thrush hasn't materialized. There have been some very still and quiet nights during the last week and most nights I have been able to hear several Tawny Owls, a Little Owl and a Barn Owl. Moorhens have passed over at night twice during the last week too.

Our Yellowhammer flock has thinned out and mostly gone now but small numbers of Reed Buntings are persistent visitors still.

As far as I can tell we have no birds nesting in the garden this year, at least not yet. I suppose with us and the dogs spending so much time in the garden we may have put them off?

Our exercise regime took in Harrington Airfield this morning first thing but the Black Redstart wasn't seen in a brief search. There were two male Wheatears on Bunker Three, as many as ten singing Willow Warblers and two singing Common Whitethroats plus at least two Ravens. Some of the male Linnets up there are beginning to look good with their scarlet breasts coming through.

Regards

Neil M

We don't attract large numbers
of Starlings in our garden at
this time of the year but dried
mealworms is definitely a favourite
of theirs! In the summer we can have
 good numbers of fledged juveniles coming
 in for the same food.

The top image depicts
a female in breeding plumage and the
 bottom bird is a male. The female has a
 pink-based mandible and often shows a pale ring
 in the eye, the male has a blue-based
 mandible and the eye tends to be liquid black.
Already both birds are wearing off the pale
spots which they begin the breeding
season with, and by the end all the spots
will have worn away.

Easter Saturday

Hello

Eleanor's revisit today to Harrington Airfield confirmed the continuing presence of the Black Redstart, this time around Bunker Three where there was also a Northern Wheatear. A Tree Pipit flew over north calling well.

I haven't seen a great deal today but each time I hear a singing Blackcap, Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler it puts a smile on my face. And when I hear the singing Swallow above our garden I can't help but grin! For some people the subtleties of nature are often not appreciated or at least not until we mature in years. I feel fortunate that I have always enjoyed this spectacle and of course spring is an amazing time when our world seems to re-awaken.

I had a Common Whitethroat along the Brampton Valley this afternoon and I suspect that this is my earliest ever. I don't normally come across this species until the third week of April.

Fiona Barclay saw a Common Redstart along the Brampton Valley at Draughton Crossing this morning, but apparently it didn't give much of a view before disappearing over a hedge!

Regards

Neil M

Adult Swallow.

Common Whitethroat courtesy
of Jacob Spinks.

Good Friday birds

Hello

Eleanor's early morning visit to Harrington Airfield paid off by finding a female-type Black Redstart by the straw bales on the main concrete track, two Wheatears by the concrete track entrance, an adult Peregrine, a Raven and a Yellow Wagtail. There are now four singing Willow Warblers on-site.

Below Hanging Houghton in the Brampton Valley the fields there continue to attract passage Fieldfares numbering some five hundred birds this morning and a couple of Ravens passed over the village later in the day.

An Osprey was seen at Pitsford Reservoir early this morning moving from the reserve side to the south of the causeway.

Regards

Neil M

Black Redstart.

Yellow Wagtail.

Osprey.

Happy and Safe Easter!

Hello

Another day of fabulous weather, a cool air, gentle breeze and plenty of sunshine. Despite spending plenty of time gazing out at and over the garden I'm afraid the birds were business as usual. Small numbers of Meadow Pipits continue to filter over in small flocks and a single Yellow Wagtail did likewise. 

We have recently signed up for the BTO Garden Watch which is free for a year with the intention of recording the number of species and the number of individual birds using the garden. The idea is that you should only record the maximum numbers of each species that you see at any one time, with an opportunity of recording other disciplines of wildlife such as butterflies, mammals etc.

During March and April we have been enjoying reasonable numbers of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers coming for food but I've probably not seen any more than nine Reed Buntings and perhaps a similar number of Yellowhammers at any one time. However I suspect we have potentially been servicing as many as thirty Reed Buntings during the period, best evidenced by the fact that fifteen have been ringed in the garden since 30th March.

Chris Payne continues to watch over his garden Robin nest, the eggs have hatched and the adults are busy feeding the young and removing the faecal sacs (images below).

A  couple of hundred Fieldfares were again present in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning and a fishing Osprey and a Yellow-legged Gull were at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon.

Regards and enjoy a Happy and Safe Easter!

Neil M

Male Reed Bunting.

Robin nestlings.

Attentive Robins!

All Robin images
courtesy of Chris Payne.

Osprey

Hello

Despite the super weather today and the particularly warm afternoon it didn't provide any new bird species for us locally and with no new birds to add to the growing April 'from the garden' list!

Plenty of large insects on the wing today with multiple butterfly sightings and lots of bees. The frog tadpoles have wriggled free of their egg membrane and are swimming around in our garden ponds.

Perhaps the most unexpected sighting was an Osprey perched on a roadside telegraph pole between Pitsford Reservoir and Brixworth this morning, complete with fish! The road was ridiculously busy with traffic to the point where I couldn't safely stop where I wanted to take a couple of photos. The blue darvic ring on it's leg denotes it is a bird known to the Rutland Water Osprey Scheme.

Regards

Neil M

Osprey.

The summer migrants are arriving

Hello

Not much in our neck of the woods today, Eleanor saw plenty of Fieldfares in the horse paddocks at Blueberry Farm today but not the hoped-for Ring Ouzels. As in many places now there were singing Blackcaps and Willow Warblers too. A Yellow Wagtail was in the field behind our garden at Hanging Houghton and single Ravens were seen at two sites locally.

Currently our 'birds recorded from the garden' list since 1st April now stands at 52 species, and no we still haven't recorded a Song Thrush yet! Like most days there was a couple of small flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing around the village for parts of the morning and there are a couple each of singing Blackcap and Chiffchaff and this afternoon there were three Swallows flying around singing.

The butterflies have really responded in a flourish to this period of dry, sunny days and most early season species are on the wing now.

A couple more bird ringing recoveries as follows:-

1. A first year Chiffchaff ringed at Harrington Airfield in August last year has been processed twice in recent days by Northants Ringing Group ringer Rory Akam in his Buckinghamshire garden at Dadford (not far over the border). In the meantime it is likely that this bird has at least wintered in Iberia and possibly even Africa so the distance between Harrington and Dadford is pretty academic!

2. An adult female Goldfinch was caught and ringed at Townhead, Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland on 30th October 2019 and this bird turned up in a mist net operated by me at Hanging Houghton on 1st April. That is a duration of 154 days with the distance between the two sites being 412km. This recovery fits the pattern of breeding birds in Scotland moving south in the winter and then heading back up in the spring. The likelihood is that this bird probably wintered to the south or east of Northants and is on her way back.

Regards

Neil M

Chiffchaff.

Goldfinch.

Both images courtesy of
John Tilly.

Mobile Blue Tits

Hello

A wander at Harrington Airfield this morning didn't produce much new of interest which was a bit of a surprise as the conditions looked ideal for something. The singing Willow Warblers had increased to three (there is a significant breeding colony here), a Raven was there and three pairs of Grey Partridges on territory is about right for this time of the year. The usual third year Yellow-legged Gull was still at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon and a Raven passed over the garden at Hanging Houghton several times.

Several ringing recoveries of Blue Tits have been received as follows:-

1. A first year male bird was ringed at Hall Farm, Brentingby, Leicestershire on 9th November 2019 and was then caught again at Kelmarsh Hall on 17th March 2020. This is a distance of 38km south with 129 days having passed between the two capture dates;

2. An adult bird was trapped and ringed at Market Harborough on 25th November 2019 and this bird then found a mist net at Hanging Houghton on 22nd March this year, 118 days later and having traveled 15km also in a southerly direction;

3. A first year bird was caught and ringed at Hillesden, Bucks on 16th December 2019 and was next encountered at Scotland Wood, Kelmarsh on 9th March 2020, 84 days later with this bird having traveled 51km in a northerly direction!

Clearly not all Blue Tits remain in their natal area!

Regards

Neil M

Blue Tits courtesy
of John Tilly.

Sunny Sunday

Hello

As promised today was a pleasant warm day here in sunny Northamptonshire and altogether very spring-like! Plenty of common butterflies on the wing which included a couple of male Orange-tips at Hanging Houghton and with one through the garden.

Eleanor went for a run with Tor, Rouzel and Jaeger and came across a calling Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the belt of trees next to Beck Dairy just outside Cottesbrooke village plus singing Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers in general along the run route. There is a great deal of farming activity at the moment and the fields are busy with tractors. A couple of 'scuffled' fields in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton hosted hundreds of Fieldfares this morning.

My exercise regime took me to New Covert at Kelmarsh where I haven't been for some time. Lots of singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs and the usual woodland birds including a singing Marsh Tit. At least one Crossbill was in the wood briefly late morning.

Much of the remainder of the day has been spent in the garden, doing a couple of little jobs but mostly relaxing. The 'birds seen from the garden' list was smaller today as I didn't start until 12 noon and ended up recording 36 species. Four of those species were different to yesterday's effort so a total of 45 species over the weekend. Sadly still no Song or Mistle Thrush though - they must be on the other side of the village this year!

Regards

Neil M

Fieldfare.

Ring-necked Parakeet. A small
population now breeds in Northamptonshire.

There was evidence that some
of our breeding Swallows are already
back on territory at a few sites in
rural locations.

All images courtesy of Robin Gossage.

More garden stuff

Hello

A few late items from yesterday (Friday) including a brief sighting of the Black Redstart at Spratton again just after 5pm and a series of nocturnal records of calling Common Scoters over Wellingborough, Oundle and Brackley. A small flock of Curlew were calling loudly as they flew over Hanging Houghton at about 2220hrs last night.

Today (Saturday) and I tried an hour's birdwatch from a garden chair in the back garden from 10.10am to 11.10am and recorded 29 species of bird and Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies. Following some gardening and playing with the dogs during the next couple of hours the bird list went up to 41 species. Notable absentees included both Mistle and Song Thrush. I think if I had braved the cooler temperatures earlier on my small bird list would have been better! There was nothing unusual or rare in my little list but it was an enjoyable little exercise!

A Garganey has been on the scrape at Summer Leys for the last few days and birds at Stanwick Pits today included a Great White Egret and two Cattle Egrets.

Pitsford Reservoir today hosted a hunting Barn Owl, Sand Martins, a Little Ringed Plover, a pair of Oystercatchers and three Little Egrets. Little Egret has yet to be proven to breed at Pitsford so it would be good if they hung on and did just that!

Harrington Airfield this afternoon provided views of a male Brambling, a Swallow and a singing Willow Warbler. Although the roads are much quieter there are still plenty of avian and mammal road casualties and Ravens were seen at two separate Pheasant road kills today.

Regards

Neil M

Pied Wagtail in the garden.

Raven over the garden.

Red Kite over the garden.

Collies in the garden.

Birds passing over

Hello

The general lack of wind and occasional peeks of sunshine today provided sufficient warmth to spend time outside. Plenty of insects were on the wing including several species of bee and larger flies.

Peering upwards into the skies above Hanging Houghton and it seemed there was always a Common Buzzard or Red Kite on view. Many will just be local birds but the sheer number passing over in small groups suggests passage birds too. This was perhaps amplified when a group of four Kestrels passed over, albeit that a male in the group broke away to commit to a little flight display.

A or several single Ravens passed over too but flying more purposefully and probably taking food back to chicks in the nest somewhere. A familiar sound caused observers to look up and see fourteen Golden Plovers flying over in a northerly direction and the same sound again a little while later and it was a flock of about 160 birds wheeling around. These latter birds weren't passing through and I suspect had come from one of the regular stop-over fields near Scaldwell. Also a few flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare passed over the village today, the Redwings coming down to feed.

A Blackcap was singing in the village and it or another was caught and ringed. The deposits it left behind suggests it had been eating ivy berries - a really important food item for a variety of birds when there are so few other berries on offer at this time of the year.

A brief stop at Pitsford Reservoir during a prescription run confirmed the continued presence of an Osprey fishing north of the dam and two Swallows.

Regards

Neil M

Common Buzzard.

Red Kite.

Black Redstart...and the Sparrowhawk again!

Hello

As many as four Barn Owls were circulating around the villages of Hanging Houghton and Lamport this morning - two down in the Brampton Valley as usual, one at Lamport by the crossing and another hunting again in the grass field behind our house!

I couldn't quite work out why the garden was so empty of birds this morning until I noticed that a first year male Sparrowhawk was perched in our low hawthorn hedge. He tried again and again to grab House Sparrows and other birds buried in the depths of the hedge and refused to give up. I assumed it was the bird we had caught and ringed in the garden yesterday and eventually I could see enough of the ring to virtually confirm it. Clearly the fact that he had been caught and ringed the day before didn't put him off coming back and setting up residence in the garden. At one stage I walked out because he seemed to get himself in a bit of a pickle between the fence guard and the hedge but he just glared at me and went on trying to grab a Dunnock. They flew around me but the Dunnock outmaneuvered him and was off! He then flew back and landed in the hedge right next to me and was quite unconcerned at my presence! He continued to crash around in the hedge trying to flush avian prey out but some forty minutes later I saw him leave without a bird in his talons! It took a long time for the buntings and finches to return to the garden.

I think my only other bird of note from the garden today was a 'kronking' Raven but it sounds like this week-end's weather may well provide an opportunity to sit out in the garden and look upwards and pray for one of those wandering White-tailed Eagles to come cruising over! Recent days has seen records of these eagles as close as Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, with multiple records in SE England...and it seems that at least some of these individuals are not the released birds from the Isle of Wight. With a recent report from Northants (Kings Cliffe) I hope someone else in the county connects soon!

David Arden's garden at Spratton scored again when David found a Black Redstart in his garden and around the house at about 1pm this afternoon...

Regards

Neil M

He came back...the first
year male Sparrowhawk.

Black Redstart courtesy of
David Arden. Lots of worn, brown
feathers (particularly the tertials and
 primaries) and abraded remiges
 on this bird.

Garden ringing

Hello

Ringing operations during this period of immobility means that it is not possible to ring at sites which requires travelling away from home locations. The last two days has seen the wind slacken and this morning in particular provided ideal mist netting opportunities. As such, local ringers have been active utilising opportunities within their gardens.

Yesterday (Tuesday) and Helen Franklin caught a Dunnock in her garden that will be seven years old this summer (previously ringed bird). Today and Chris Payne completed some ringing in his Greens Norton garden processing 62 birds of nine species. His Blue Tits obviously haven't left him yet because he caught 35 of them including a seven year old bird and another that was initially ringed at Bradden. Other birds included three Goldfinches, two Robins, ten Greenfinches, two Great Tits, two Dunnocks, three Starlings, three Blackbirds and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I had a go in our garden too and the highlights included nine Reed Buntings, a Goldfinch that was ringed elsewhere and a first year male Sparrowhawk.

A visit to the dam at Pitsford Reservoir between shopping delivery trips this afternoon coincided with another huge hatch of chironomid flies and there were hundreds of Black-headed Gulls and some ducks taking the opportunity to feed up on them. An Osprey was attempting to fish there but was being harassed by big gulls. Two drake Scaup were present and associating with a flock of Tufted Ducks and there were two Yellow-legged Gulls too.

At 6.30pm this evening a Barn Owl was hunting in the grass field behind our garden and then perched on a fence post. Phil Horsnail had a garden tick today with four drake Goosanders flying over his Oundle garden today heading north!

Regards

Neil M

First year male Sparrowhawk
courtesy of Eleanor.

Adult female Sparrowhawk with
Starling prey courtesy of Gerry
Stevenson.