Owls, newts and a Weasel!

Hello

A ringing session at Linford Lakes today yielded two Tawny Owls, a re-trap male from 2017 and a new female which weighed 150g more than the male. Other birds included five Redwings and a Chiffchaff and a six year old Great Tit. Non avian highlights included an inquisitive Weasel and a number of Frogs and two species of newt. 'Bob' the Robin of course tracked Kenny and Keith down and demanded his festive mealworm treat!

More ringing at Pitsford Reservoir today provided over a hundred captures which included forty-seven birds newly ringed with highlights of a Fieldfare, five Blackbirds, a Song Thrush, eight Redwings, four Goldcrests and a Chiffchaff. Other birds seen included a Barn Owl, a fly-over Crossbill, two or three Siskins, two Redpolls, two or three Woodcocks and three Great White Egrets.

Another Barn Owl was between Spratton and Brixworth early this morning and two Woodcock were mobile roadside birds between the villages of Scaldwell and Old pre-dawn.

Other observations included ten Crossbills (in larch) and a Raven at Harlestone Heath, a female Red-crested Pochard was located at Ravensthorpe Reservoir and Hollowell Reservoir continued to host the juvenile Great Northern Diver and wintering flock of eleven Pink-footed Geese plus two Great White Egrets and the Ruddy Shelduck.

The four Black-necked Grebes and a Great White Egret plus one or two Bearded Tit(s) all starred at Stanford Reservoir and three White-fronted Geese were seen in flight SW over Islip.

Regards

Neil M

Tawny Owls courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Count the newts (seemingly
of two different species)!
Images courtesy of Kenny Cramer.

More ringing recoveries

Hello

My day was taken up maintaining wild bird feeding stations today - despite the mild conditions there are still plenty of hungry birds out there!

At Pitsford Reservoir today there were two Great White Egrets north of the causeway and an adult Yellow-legged Gull off the dam.

The Bittern was again seen briefly in flight at Summer Leys LNR today and the four Black-necked Grebes were near the dam at Stanford Reservoir. A Raven flew over Hanging Houghton and a few Siskins were noted at Kelmarsh Hall.

Some more ringing recoveries associated with Northants Ringing Group activities are as follows:-

1. A juvenile Blue Tit was ringed at Geddington, Northants on 17th June 2020 courtesy of our colleagues in the Rockingham Forest Ringing Group. This bird was found in a mist net at Kelmarsh Hall on 27th November 2020, the little sprite travelling 16km to find us in middle Northamptonshire 163 days later!

2. A second calendar year Black-headed Gull was caught and ringed near Pomorskie, Poland on 8th March 2018 and was marked with a yellow colour ring. The bird was re-sighted at two different locations in Poland on 9th July 2019 and 10th March 2020, and then seen at Grimsbury Reservoir not far from Banbury on 4th July this year. Bethan and Jacob re-sighted this bird at Pitsford Reservoir on 3rd December 2020 when it was off the Sailing Club and coming to bread;

3. A first year Goldfinch was caught and ringed at Hanging Houghton on 23rd September this year and then caught again at Dungeness Bird Observatory, Kent on 26th November. In the sixty-four days between records the bird had moved 205km in a south-easterly direction. I would speculate that this bird was perhaps en-route to winter in France/Iberia; 

4. A first year male Siskin was caught and ringed near Telemark in Norway on 27th September 2020 and then extracted from a mist net at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes on 7th December (71 days later). This little finch had travelled 1025km in a south-westerly direction.

Regards

Neil M

Sparrowhawk courtesy
of David Arden.

Male Siskin feeding
on alder, courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

A paddling of Goldeneye
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Pitsford Ringing

Hello

A rather intense and busy ringing session in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today yielded 224 captures of sixteen species. Not surprisingly it was the tit family that made up the numbers with as many as 98 Blue Tits plus 39 Great Tits, 6 Coal Tits, 2 Marsh Tits and 14 Long-tailed Tits. Other birds encountered in mist nets included a single Fieldfare, 5 Blackbirds, 29 Redwings, 6 Goldcrests, a Chiffchaff, a Treecreeper, 3 Bullfinches and 4 Chaffinches. Other birds noted included a Great White Egret, two Bramblings, a Redpoll and at least one other Chiffchaff.

White-fronted Geese are still out there and on the move too with a flock of twenty-three flying over Summer Leys LNR today and still with two adults at Clifford Hill Pits. Also at Summer Leys early this afternoon there was an excellent gathering of 400 - 500 Golden Plovers with two Great White Egrets present late morning.

The mobile female Merlin was today in the Blueberry Farm area as were the two regular Woodcock plus a pair of Stonechats. Four more Stonechats were still in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton. Harrington Airfield was quiet today with barely thirty Golden Plovers still present.

Stuart went looking for the Firecrests at Stortons Pits today but didn't find them, but he did hear a Bearded Tit calling from 'the southern bench' area.

Hollowell Reservoir's birds still included the juvenile Great Northern Diver which showed well at the inlet end of the reservoir early this afternoon, a Great White Egret, the Ruddy Shelduck and ten Pink-footed Geese.

Regards

Neil M

Blue Tit.

Canada Goose courtesy
of Phillip Davies.

Common Buzzard courtesy
of Phillip Davies.

Wren courtesy of
Phillip Davies.

Owls, a Merlin and creatures of the water!

Hello

Harrington Airfield was alive with birds today with large numbers of passerines including common finches, buntings, thrushes and Starlings and Skylarks. A female Merlin was chasing them and even had a go at the two hundred Golden Plovers too! Two high-up owls flying over proved to be Short-eareds - they weren't lingering and flew purposefully south. Other birds included two Woodcock.

At Thrapston Pits there were five Great White Egrets and a pair of lingering Stonechats and at Clifford Hill Pits there were still two White-fronted Geese, twenty-five Golden Plovers and two Stonechats. Summer Leys LNR provided a view of a flying Bittern.

A Peregrine was harassing the corvids at Boddington Reservoir and Hollowell Reservoir still supported the Great Northern Diver and ten Pink-footed Geese. There was a significant passage of Herring Gulls over Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon and there were two Chiffchaffs and a Raven on the west side of the Walgrave Bay. 

Over twenty Crossbills were watched in larches in the car park at Wakerley Wood and a Cetti's Warbler and a Water Rail were near Brixworth. Two Ravens were noisy at Hanging Houghton.

Stanford Reservoir continues to host two Bearded Tits and four Black-necked Grebes.

Regards

Neil M

Short-eared Owl.

Great Crested Grebe
with a Ruff or Pope,

Little Grebes.

Otter!

All images courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Birds of the wet and bluster

Hello 

A mild but blustery and wet day didn't produce many fresh sightings of interest in the county today.

The two White-fronted Geese were still present at Clifford Hill Pits yesterday (Thursday) and were seen again today. Also yesterday there was an impressive gathering of eight hundred Golden Plovers at Summer Leys LNR in the afternoon.

Today and the seven White-fronted Geese were still at the north-east end of Stanwick Pits and Summer Leys LNR attracted two Great White Egrets and also seven Ravens in sheep meadows between there and Wellingborough.

A flock of up to fifty Redpolls have been witnessed gathering in a paddock in the centre of Rothersthorpe village, generally in the afternoon. Four Black-necked Grebes were at Stanford Reservoir again today.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir today included a Great White Egret and a Grey Partridge in the Scaldwell Bay where Bethan and Jacob also caught and ringed a Mallard and a Coot!

Regards

Neil M

Drake Mallard.

Coot,

Images courtesy
of Bethan Clyne.

Pitsford WeBS count.

Hello

It was time for the Pitsford Reservoir WeBS count today in pleasant conditions. The morning sunshine incited lots of the Goldcrests to sing and a Cormorant was even sitting on a nest!

However it was a cool start with a ground frost and there were plenty of common wildfowl on-site. Three or four Great White Egrets moved around the reserve north of the causeway and there were two Little Egrets, the leucistic drake Red-crested Pochard, two drake Pintail, a Woodcock, forty-five Snipe, six Kingfishers, a Cetti's Warbler, five Chiffchaffs, a pair of Stonechat, a Grey Wagtail, a Redpoll and a handful of Siskins. A Peacock butterfly was flying in the sunshine!

At Harlestone Heath today there were six Crossbills by the A428 entrance with a further twenty or so near the sawmills - other birds included three Bramblings, two Redpoll and fifty plus Siskins.

Lingering birds at Hollowell Reservoir included the Great Northern Diver, eleven Pink-footed Geese and eleven Crossbills, the seven White-fronted Geese were still at the NE section of Stanwick Pits and three Black-necked Grebes were again seen at Stanford Reservoir. A Great White Egret was reported from the fishing lakes at Ecton today and two Firecrests were reported from Stortons Pits this morning - seemingly showing in the tree line by the viewing area at the north end of the reedbed.

Regards

Neil M

One of seventy Goldeneye
present at Pitsford today.

Green Woodpecker.

Greylag Geese.

Cob Mute Swan.

The leucistic drake
Red-crested Pochard.

All images from Pitsford
Reservoir today.

Winter birding

Hello

An hour's visible migration scanning this morning at Harrington Airfield by Jacob confirmed the continuation of a huge Redwing migration still underway with a count of 482 heading west. When the rain hit this afternoon over two hundred Fieldfares and a hundred Starlings sought shelter in the airstrip bushes.

My first venue today was Kelmarsh Hall as part of my feeding station regime and half a dozen Siskins were very vocal in the alders there. A drive out to Sulby Airfield provided a flock of about a hundred aerial Golden Plovers and nearby Welford Reservoir held a Goosander, a Grey Wagtail and two Ravens.

Hollowell Reservoir has plenty of birds with eleven Pink-footed Geese still, the Great Northern Diver off the dam, two Great White Egrets, the Ruddy Shelduck with the Canada Geese flock, a super adult Caspian Gull, a second winter Yellow-legged Gull and at least three Stonechats. Nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir was much quieter with two Ravens, a Chiffchaff, a Siskin and a Grey Wagtail.

A Cattle Egret was seen in a horse field near Grendon today before flying off west and the seven White-fronted Geese remained at the north east end of Stanwick Pits (plus a Great White Egret). Three Black-necked Grebes were still present at Stanford Reservoir today.

Regards

Neil M

Kingfisher.

Goldcrest.

First year Common Gull.

Redwings and more

Hello

The first couple of hours at Harrington Airfield this morning saw a remarkable passage of Redwings with about 700 moving SW and a further 181 a little later. A few hundred Fieldfares were caught up in the same movement. Other birds included about seventy Golden Plovers, good numbers of Yellowhammers and five Ravens.

Birds at Hanging Houghton included a Raven a Siskin and a Grey Wagtail with two pairs of Stonechat and a Barn Owl in the valley below the village in the afternoon. There were several Siskins and a Redpoll at Scotland Wood.

Elsewhere and the Hollowell Reservoir Great Northern Diver remained on view today plus the Ruddy Shelduck, ten Pink-footed Geese, two Great White Egrets and four Crossbills. Stanford Reservoir continued to host at least one Black-necked Grebe plus a 'redhead' Smew today.

In the Nene Valley the influx of White-fronted Geese continues with nine opposite to the entrance to the Summer Leys LNR and seven on the north-east pit of Stanwick Pits (plus one Great White Egret).

Regards

Neil M

Great White Egret.

Great Crested Grebe
with a Perch.

Male Stonechat.

Ravens.

A gallery of local images
courtesy of Bethan Clyne.

Birds of Scotland Wood

Hello

The day began with a pre-dawn visit to Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate where we were watching plenty of shooting stars and a passing satellite as well as trying to count the in-coming Woodcock as they flew in from their nocturnal feeding. With some birds flying around for some time we could only deduce that there were 'several'! 

The subsequent ringing session in the wood provided one hundred and fifty-five birds processed of thirteen species. There was plenty of evidence of a significant passage of winter thrushes and forty-eight Redwings were caught and ringed.

More typical woodland birds were made up of nineteen Great Tits, fifty-one Blue Tits, eighteen Coal Tits, three Marsh Tits, two Long-tailed Tits, five Goldcrests, three Chaffinches. a Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Other birds noted there included a pair of Raven, half a dozen Siskins and three Redpolls.

Not too far away the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton was good today with a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier flying north, a female Merlin chasing passerines, two pairs of Stonechats and a Barn Owl (all this afternoon).

At Pitsford Reservoir today there were three Great White Egrets, a Red-crested Pochard and two pairs of Stonechat and Blatherwycke Lake hosted over forty Mandarin Ducks, a pair of Egyptian Geese, a Black Swan and two Kingfishers. Two female Blackcaps have been visiting David Arden's garden recently at Spratton.

Wildfowl were well represented in the Nene Valley today - two White-fronted Geese were at the eastern end of Clifford Hill Pits, six Goosanders were on Kinewell Lake at Ringstead Pits, seven White-fronted Geese were at the east end of Stanwick Pits (looking NW from a black bridge) and Thrapston Pits supported two Barnacle Geese between Aldwincle and North Lake and four Great White Egrets. Summer Leys LNR had three Great White Egrets today and there were two Ravens at Walgrave village.

Regards

Neil M

Redwing.

Drake Goosander.

Coal Tit.

A rainy day!

Hello

A quite awful day's weather today with rain for much of it but the weather forecast tomorrow looks quite different with breeze and sunshine.

A Barn Owl again hunting in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton first thing this morning was a nice surprise, with a pair of Stonechats there again this afternoon.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir today showed little change with two Great White Egrets, the leucistic drake Red-crested Pochard and a pair of Stonechat in the Scaldwell Bay and six Marsh Tits between the Scaldwell and Maytrees Hides. A first year Yellow-legged Gull was off the dam this afternoon.

Three Marsh Tits, including the one legged bird are visiting John Hunt's garden at Spratton together with a pair of Blackcaps.

A Cetti's Warbler, a Water Rail and up to thirty Magpies were at Brixworth Treatment Works this afternoon with neighbouring fields attracting good numbers of Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers and common finches.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Tit.

First year Yellow-legged Gull.

Great Crested Grebe
consuming a small
Bream courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

A Cormorant with a large
Perch courtesy of Robin Gossage.

White-fronted Geese and more

Hello

This morning there was a Barn Owl hunting in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton plus a pair of Stonechats with two Woodcock at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell.

At Thrapston Pits there were four Great White Egrets this morning and this afternoon a flock of ten White-fronted Geese flew south west over the complex. 

At Summer Leys LNR a single White-fronted Goose was present with a flock of thirteen others arriving this afternoon. Late this afternoon a Short-eared Owl was nearby at Wollaston Weir and then flew towards the reserve.

These White-fronted Geese sightings mirror a huge movement of this species in the UK during the last week or so.

At Hollowell Reservoir today the Great Northern Diver remained as did ten Pink-footed Geese, a Great White Egret, the Ruddy Shelduck, a Caspian Gull and two Stonechats.

Stanford Reservoir hosted the four Black-necked Grebes still plus two Whooper Swans (before being flushed) and two Bearded Tits on the Leicester bank.

Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate corralled at least six Siskins and four Woodcock this afternoon and a pair of Blackcaps were attracted to apples in a Greens Norton garden.

Regards

Neil M

White-fronted Goose courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Good numbers of Woodcock
have arrived now...amazing birds!

Little Grebe courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Birds of Friday

Hello

Harrington Airfield in the mist this morning provided a flock of about seventy Golden Plovers and the usual winter thrushes, finches and buntings.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir north of the causeway included a Great White Egret, a Red-crested Pochard, a Kingfisher, four Stonechats and a Brambling.

Sywell Country Park was quiet today but a Water Rail showed nicely, and there were several Siskins and a Grey Wagtail. Another Grey Wagtail was seen in Maidwell village and there were two Woodcock flushed at nearby Blueberry Farm with another one at Lamport Hall this afternoon.

Ten Little Egrets were seen feeding near the River Tove, off Mill Lane, Greens Norton and birds visible alongside the River Welland in Market Harborough town centre included the Siberian Chiffchaff still, two or three Chiffchaffs, a Grey Wagtail and a confiding Kingfisher.

Regards

Neil M

A leucistic Chaffinch courtesy
of Angela Fortescue-Thomas.

Cock Pheasant courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Welland Valley birds

Hello

A rather raw, grey day with a brief hint of sunshine didn't seem to produce sightings of anything very new in the county.

Pitsford Reservoir kept hold of two Great White Egrets and a Red-crested Pochard in the Scaldwell Bay and a first year Yellow-legged Gull by the dam. Hollowell Reservoir remains good with the Great Northern Diver, seven Pink-footed Geese, two Great White Egrets and the Ruddy Shelduck.

At least three Black-necked Grebes and a Great White Egret were seen at Stanford Reservoir and Clifford Hill Pits hosted two adult White-fronted Geese and twenty Barnacle Geese. Two hundred Golden Plovers were in fields between Scaldwell and Brixworth early afternoon.

Stewart found twenty-five Crossbills at Fineshade Wood this afternoon plus seven Redpolls and two Ravens.

I took a look at the Welland Valley this afternoon where the floods had mostly receded. A Great White Egret, two Egyptian Geese and a nice selection of gulls were below Cottingham with a flock of Wigeon, two Dunlin and a hundred and fifty Lapwings between Rockingham and Gretton. A Grey Wagtail and two Ravens were at Gretton Weir with about two hundred and fifty Wigeon, smaller numbers of Teal and good numbers of Common Gulls at Harringworth.

At Laxton there was a collection of fifty-five Red Kites which was presumably a pre-roost gathering and eight Shelducks and a Kingfisher at Deene Lake.

Regards

Neil M

Lapwing.

Common Gull courtesy of
Dave Jackson.

Wigeon courtesy
of Robin Gossage.