Feeding the birds.

Hungry Rooks, Jackdaws
and Carrion Crow in a Sywell
garden, images courtesy of
Jim Dunkley.

Hello

Another day of two halves with wind and snow early morning and then a calmer and dryer latter part of the day even with some pleasant sunshine! However the amount of water we have received over the last few days is already causing flooding issues, but the good news is that it is filling the newly-created pools and workings in the Brampton Valley below Lamport, Hanging Houghton and Brixworth (one of the reasons why they were created).

More feed station visits were required today and seven locations were replenished (including our own garden) to ensure that the birds that have grown used to being supplied supplementary food had something to eat in the cold conditions.

The Great Billing/Ecton area took centre stage today with a Siberian Chiffchaff being seen again by Bridge K121 and the drake Scaup being on the pits south of Station Road, Great Billing. Also a garden in Great Billing was graced with singles of Blackcap, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll coming to feeders.

In our garden there were at least five Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and still plenty of Pied Wagtails and even a Song Thrush was seemingly enjoying some of the food on offer.

A Kingfisher was at Kelmarsh Hall today and at a flooded Earls Barton Pits a drake Red-crested Pochard was on Mary's Lake with two Stonechats at Earls Barton Lock and five Great White Egrets and two Redshanks on the Summer Leys LNR.

The adult Yellow-legged Gull was again at Pitsford Reservoir today and probably the same bird that has been present all winter and possibly the same returning bird for the last five years when first noticed as an advanced first year bird.

Regards

Neil M

Lesser Redpoll.

Siskin.

Blackcap.

All above images taken by
Paul Jones in his Great
Billing garden today.

Adult Yellow-legged Gull
at Pitsford Reservoir today.

Snow then rain

Hello

A challenging day for wildlife and humans alike today with up to four inches of snow overnight and this morning and now plenty of rain for the next 24 hours and cold too!

Much of the morning was spent clearing the snow several times to provide a feeding area for the birds flocking to the garden, a good job I have recently been to Eyebrook Bird Foods to replenish our stocks!

The feeders at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station, Pitsford Reservoir were empty this afternoon, despite me filling them completely on Tuesday - Robins, Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings came down almost to my feet as soon as I broadcasted the Rutland Mix blended food! Before that I trudged through the snow at Harrington Airfield and cleared the snow at the feeding areas with Dunnocks and Robins following me at every step! Their persistence paid off with a bucket of mixed food to consume. A pair of Grey Partridge were the only birds of note - a swirling flock of Fieldfares found very little to feed on - one individual defended some rotting rose hips - the only obvious berries left.

Single Barn Owls were at Stortons Pits and in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton today, the female Ring-necked Duck was visible from the causeway car park at Ravensthorpe Reservoir yesterday and today the Pink-footed Goose remained at Wicksteed Park with Greylag Geese.

Between four and six Stonechats were at Sywell Country Park today and a snowy Stanford Reservoir held two Stonechats (both fresh birds in) and a Lesser Redpoll.

Regards

Neil M

Reed Buntings.

Yellowhammer.

A couple of 'through the window'
images from the garden today - sorry
about the poor quality!

Winter strikes back!

Hello

Well a very wintry day and with further snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow before a quieter and milder week-end.

Our garden was very busy to the point it was hard keeping up with the hungry birds - lots of food going out and some of the scarcer birds included at least ten Pied Wagtails and seven Reed Buntings and a couple of Yellowhammers.

Currently there is a small murmuration of Starlings each evening in Spratton village, creating quite a stir with villagers coming out to watch the 1,000 plus birds spiraling around before going to roost in village hedges. Gorse Road junction Holdenby Road in the village is perhaps one of the best places to observe.

A Stonechat and a Great White Egret were at Stanford Reservoir today, a Barnacle Goose was at Upton Country Park and Stortons Pits was good for a Barn Owl, a Water Rail, a Jack Snipe and a Grey Wagtail. Four Great White Egrets and a Redshank were at Summer Leys LNR this afternoon.

A Raven was at Kelmarsh, a Grey Wagtail is a regular visitor to a Maidwell garden and a Water Rail was again showing well on the River Welland at Market Harborough today.

In the Brampton Valley below Brixworth choice birds were about five Redpolls, a Chiffchaff, a Grey Wagtail, a Common Snipe and a Water Rail. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir this evening.

Regards

Neil M

Barn Owl courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Great Tit courtesy
of John Tilly.

Grey Wagtail at Stortons today
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Grey Heron at Stortons today
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Long distance Black-headed Gull.

Hello

Cold today but nothing much wrong with the weather as we avoided the snow in the region and enjoyed periods of sunshine!

The herd of fifteen Bewick's Swans were still present at Summer Leys LNR at dawn but moved off east at about 7.20am, no doubt heading off in a staged journey back to Russia. A Black-tailed Godwit was also present.

The adult Mediterranean Gull was again in the gull roost at Stanford Reservoir this evening and other birds there today included a Peregrine, a Stonechat, a fly-over Redshank, two Oystercatchers, two Great White Egrets, nine Goosanders, a Cetti's Warbler and seven Lesser Redpolls.

An Avocet and a White-fronted Goose were still at Eyebrook Reservoir again today and three adult Caspian Gulls at Hollowell Reservoir today have kept faithful to this site all winter. Four Stonechats were also present.

At Billing Pits today the drake Scaup was still present off Station Road and at the other end of the Billing Pits/Ecton SF complex two Siberian Chiffchaffs remained by the outflow and Bridge K121 with a supporting cast of thirty Chiffchaffs, eight Grey Wagtails and a Water Rail.

Harrington Airfield remained quiet with just twelve Golden Plovers on the top fields and a Barn Owl was seen briefly at nearby Lamport Hall this afternoon with a Grey Wagtail over Hanging Houghton first thing.

At Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) a large group of angry Jackdaws alerted Eleanor to a raptor in the bottom of a hedge pinning a still-live Jackdaw to the ground! A closer view confirmed a female Sparrowhawk mantling the fighting corvid and on being disturbed the Jackdaw managed to get away but was clearly injured. Interestingly the female Sparrowhawk was sporting a ring on her left leg. A first for the site (on the ground at least) was a pair of Egyptian Geese on a small pond in company with a small flock of Wigeon.

A male Stonechat was at East Fields, Hartwell and two Peregrines were in Market Harborough town centre today.

A colour-ringed Black-headed Gull photographed at Pitsford Reservoir back on 11th December 2022 originated from a Norwegian ringing project with the bird being ringed as an adult on 20th March 2022 at Frognerparken Nedre Dam near Oslo. Presumably it was a breeding bird as it was sighted twice in June just a few kilometres from the ringing site. The distance between the ringing site and Pitsford Reservoir is approximately 1105km with 266 days elapsing between the two records.

Regards

Neil M

Blue Tit. The most commonly-
ringed bird in the UK and in
Northants! Image courtesy
of John Tilly.

Dunnock courtesy of
John Tilly.

The Robin - our national bird!
Image courtesy of John Tilly.

Spring love must be in
the air! A couple of cooing
Collared Doves courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Bewick's Swans.

Hello

A cold day and with a little rain, particularly this afternoon and with a colder night ahead and a taste of winter tomorrow.

The garden birds seemed to sense this and we had at least seven Pied Wagtails and five Reed Buntings feeding on the back lawn this afternoon together with plenty of more common birds.

Early birding at Stanwick Pits today provided nine Great White Egrets and fifteen Goosanders and birds at Hollowell Reservoir included an adult Caspian Gull, eight Common Snipe and four Stonechats. Nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir still hosted the female Ring-necked Duck and female Scaup, both south of the causeway.

A Pink-footed Goose was still at Wicksteed Park this morning, a Woodcock was at the Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows reserve but the birds of the day were the arrival of Bewick's Swans on the Summer Leys LNR this afternoon. Initially three were seen but before 4.30pm this number had shot up to fifteen birds which appeared to roost at dusk. It will be interesting to see if the regular winter flock at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire has reduced as it is assumed that the Summer Leys birds probably originate from there.

A Water Rail was showing nicely at Market Harborough along the River Welland today and birds at Stanford Reservoir included an adult Mediterranean Gull in the roost, a Stonechat, two Great White Egrets and ten Goosanders. Two Avocets were at Eyebrook Reservoir this morning and a White-fronted Goose was seen there too.

Regards

Neil M

Bewick's Swans at Summer Leys
LNR today courtesy of Jim Dunkley.

March movements

Hello

March can feel like a period of limbo between seasons with everything waiting for warmer temperatures and longer days. In the bird world there is still migration going on but it is subtle and often relatively short hops, seeking out food and shelter before settling down at a suitable place to breed.

A couple of ringing sessions were undertaken by Northants Ringing Group members in the county today and the birds processed very much illustrate this with resident birds mingling with winterers and others which will soon be moving to other parts of the UK or the continent.

Chris was ringing in his garden at Greens Norton and processed some forty-one birds which included twenty-four Goldfinches and four Greenfinches (plus two Siskins visiting but not caught) and it is likely that many of these finches are from elsewhere in the UK and even from the close continent. In Northants we quite regularly catch Goldfinches originally ringed in Scotland during the breeding season and ringers based in North England and Scotland process birds we have ringed during the winter. Ringing tells us that the Siskins that occur in the county are generally from Scotland and Scandanavia. Chris caught four Starlings and they could be either local birds or possibly from as far away as Moscow!

At Brixworth Water Treatment Works today the catch included four Lesser Redpolls. These birds no longer breed in the county and it is likely that they have originated from the northern half of the UK or near continent. Three Pied Wagtails caught and ringed could be local birds but the bulk of the Scottish breeding population winter in England. Three Grey Wagtails processed again could be locally breeding birds or from further north/east - interestingly one of these birds was originally ringed at Pitsford Reservoir in October 2022 suggesting it has remained local all winter. A Chiffchaff caught and ringed is part of an ever-increasing wintering population and who knows where it is bound! A Water Rail was caught and ringed there today and this species does not breed on-site so how far has he come?

The female Ring-necked Duck remained at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today and the first year drake Scaup was again at Billing Pits and behind Billing Garden Village this morning. A drake Goosander was at Abington Park, Northampton this morning and three Stonechats and three Green Sandpipers were good local records from Kingsthorpe Meadows in the Brampton Valley.

A pair of Grey Partridge were the only noteworthy birds at Harrington Airfield and the Brampton Valley below Brixworth provided two Egyptian Geese flying north and one or two Barn Owl(s). Another Barn Owl was at Lamport Hall and the pair of Stonechat remain in fields between Walgrave and Pitsford Reservoir.

At Earls Barton Pits there was a female Red-crested Pochard and four Great White Egrets on the Summer Leys LNR with a Raven at Stanwick Pits and a Grey Wagtail near Ecton. Birds at Stanford Reservoir today included a fly-through Curlew, a Stonechat, a Shelduck, three Oystercatchers, twelve Goosanders, a Raven, a Grey Wagtail and a Cetti's Warbler.

Regards

Neil M

North American Mink
at Stortons Pits today
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Water Rail courtesy
of Steve Wilson.

Lesser Redpoll courtesy
of Jane Neil.

Grey Wagtail courtesy 
of Steve Wilson.

Starlings courtesy of
Chris Payne.

The upper bird is a female with a pink-
based bill and pale ocular, the lower
bird is a male bird with a blue-based bill
  and all-dark eye.

Quiet March day

Hello

Another cold, grey day with spring inching closer!

The female Ring-necked Duck was again at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today, just south of the causeway, with a Redpoll present too, and birds at Stanwick Pits today included three Great White Egrets and four Redshank.

A Barn Owl was seen between Ecton and Earls Barton and another one was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton again. A Water Rail, a Grey Wagtail, a Chiffchaff and a Redpoll were in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth and the adult Yellow-legged Gull remained off the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir. A Grey Wagtail overflew Hanging Houghton village.

A period of ringing in a garden on the north east outskirts of Northampton provided twenty-seven captures of ten species which included eleven Goldfinches, a Siskin, a Chaffinch, a Greenfinch, a Starling, a Blackbird and five Reed Buntings.

Regards

Neil M

Chiffchaff.

Acrobatic Fieldfare!

Images courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Scarce long-staying ducks

Hello

A ringing session at Stortons Pits this morning yielded a small number of common birds which included several Reed Buntings and a Chiffchaff. Other birds there included two Peregrines, two or three Grey Wagtails, another Chiffchaff and a Redpoll and Water Rails and Cetti's Warblers were vocal.

Eight Goosanders and a Stonechat were at Stanford Reservoir, the female Ruddy Shelduck was at Winwick Pools and two Scaup were at Eyebrook Reservoir. A male Brambling was at The Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station at Pitsford Reservoir today.

The female Ring-necked Duck and the female Scaup were at Ravensthorpe Reservoir still today and birds at neighbouring Hollowell Reservoir included two adult Caspian Gulls, a first year Yellow-legged Gull, seven Common Snipe, a fly-through Curlew and five Stonechats. A first year drake Scaup was on Billing Pits this afternoon and although there is no public access it may be possible to see the bird from Station Road, Great Billing.

A Blackcap was in a Brixworth garden today and the female Red-crested Pochard was again at Summer Leys LNR with a supporting cast of three Great White Egrets, two hundred Golden Plovers, an Oystercatcher, a Redshank, ten Common Snipe and a Water Rail. A Water Rail was showing well yesterday at the River Welland in Market Harborough (by the Aldi supermarket).

A Barn Owl was showing very well in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this evening and there were just over sixty Red Kites at the regular pre-roost gathering at Laxton this afternoon. Two Ravens were in the Welland Valley just north of Rockingham and birds at Deene Lake included six Shelduck, six Egyptian Geese, three Black Swans, a drake Mandarin Duck and a Little Egret.

Regards

Neil M

Brambling.

Marsh Tit.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Above three images taken
at Pitsford Reservoir today 
and courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Water Rail at Market
Harborough yesterday
courtesy of Don West.

Late winter birds

Hello

The Pink-footed Goose was seen again at Wicksteed Park Lakes, Barton Seagrave this morning, with the Greylag flock and at Hollowell Reservoir this morning there were two adult Caspian Gulls and five Stonechats. A pair of Goosanders and three Siskins were at Delapre Lake/Hardingstone Pits. A male Stonechat and two Oystercatchers were at Upton Country Park.

At Stanford Reservoir today the best on offer was a Great White Egret, thirteen Goosanders, an Oystercatcher and a Stonechat whilst in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton there were just two Golden Plovers in the fields this morning. Four Ravens and two Redpolls were at Lamport Hall and a ringing session at Greens Norton provided the captures of two Siskins, two Redpolls and four Reed Buntings plus another thirty plus birds of more common species.

Regards

Neil M

Male Stonechat at
Upton CP courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Redpoll.

Male Siskin.

Female Siskin.

Above three images courtesy
of Chris Payne.

First day of March

Hello

The Ring-necked Duck and the Scaup were both at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today and Stanford Reservoir hosted a Stonechat, two Oystercatchers, a Great White Egret and four Goosanders. Eight Egyptian Geese and a Shelduck were at Blatherwycke Lake today.

Summer Leys LNR today recorded a female Red-crested Pochard on the main lake, three Great White Egrets, two Oystercatchers and about two hundred and fifty Golden Plovers.

A female Peregrine was chasing the Fieldfares and Starlings at Harrington Airfield this afternoon with a Woodcock and four Grey Partridges and a Weasel also being present.

A second active Raven nest was confirmed today in the centre of the county but a third nest used last year seemed quiet so more fieldwork required! A single Raven was seen at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Raven.

Primroses at Great Oxendon.

Snowdrops at Lamport
which are already going over!

Kingfisher.

Garden birds, Ravens and a telescope!

Hello

A grey, cool day and it looks like the cloud cover is going to extinguish any more chances of seeing the Northern Lights locally again tonight.

The Bearded Tit was still at Stanwick Pits today, on the same reed-fringed pit off the A45 layby, and an Otter was sighted too. Also a Pink-footed Goose was reported with Greylags at Lilbourne, off the A5 truck stop and near the Wildlife Trust reserve. The female Ring-necked Duck was again at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today and a Shelduck and a Great White Egret were noted at Clifford Hill Pits. A Stonechat was seen at Stanford Reservoir today.

The Pink-footed Goose was again at Wicksteed Park lakes and birds at Titchmarsh Reserve, Thrapston Pits included three Great White Egrets and a pair of Oystercatchers.

Efforts at checking the regular breeding Ravens confirmed a pair at one nest in the north west of the county and with two other pairs on territory further south (nests yet to be confirmed). Our garden here at Hanging Houghton is still attracting at least six Pied Wagtails and a couple each of Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting as well as the standard birds. With the weather forecast suggesting colder weather next week I suspect these numbers will go up again!

I have a telescope and tripod for sale (on behalf of a neighbour) if you want an excellent mid-range bargain! The telescope is an Opticron ES 80 GA Waterproof 45 degree angled field telescope fitted with a 16x - 60x Opticron High Definition F zoom eye piece. It comes with an all-weather case and a Velbon Delta metal-legged tripod at an all-in price of £390. Although this combination is a number of years old they were only used about three times and are in mint condition. Please make contact should you be interested.

Regards

Neil M

Opticron telescope and
Velbon tripod for sale.

Muntjac.

Red Kite.
Sadly one of these
lays dead in the carriageway
of the A508 north of Lamport.

Cormorant. Many are already
on their nests locally.

Water Rails.

Hello

Scant reports of wildlife locally but members of the Northants Ringing Group have today continued with a project looking at Water Rails which now breed locally in small numbers at key locations. Seven birds were caught which included four new birds and three birds from previous occasions. Utilising methods to easily identify specific individuals without the need to catch again, we hope to learn much more about this retiring species, as there is a lack of information out there - particularly their breeding habits.

The Ring-necked Duck was again reported from Ravensthorpe Reservoir today and also a Caspian Gull was reported from Summer Leys LNR.

Stanford Reservoir hosted a Great White Egret, four Goosanders and two Oystercatchers and other local birds included a Woodcock at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and two Grey Wagtails and a Barn Owl were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Ravens were still at Kelmarsh today and the adult Yellow-legged Gull was again the only bird of note in the Pitsford Reservoir gull roost.

Regards

Neil M

Six of seven of the 
Water Rails caught and
processed today. Can you easily
 tell the difference between them?
No nor can I, so ringing and hopefully
colour ringing plus an infusion of 
technology will help the project answer
questions.

Images courtesy of Chris Payne.