Status Quo!

Hello

A quiet day in the county but it seems that Ditchford Pits was the place to be today with a female Ring-necked Duck on Cotton Reel Lake and the drake Common Scoter relocating to Dragonfly Lake on the Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows reserve.

A Mealy Redpoll remains at the attenuation pond off Sandy Lane, Duston and Pitsford Reservoir again produced a calling Lesser Spotted Woodpecker north of the causeway plus a Woodcock and a Barn Owl with four Sand Martins near to the dam.

The two Green Sandpipers were again in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Muntjac courtesy 
of Tony Stanford.

Black-headed Gull
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Drake Gadwall.

Marsh Tit.

Pitsford Reservoir CBC

Hello

The beginning of the breeding season brings with it more surveys and today was the first Common Bird Census of the reserve at Pitsford Reservoir. Robins, Wrens and Blue and Great Tits were in large numbers and there are already many 'on-territory' Chiffchaffs. Four singing Blackcaps were fresh-in and there were still small numbers of Siskin, Redwing and Fieldfare on-site. Three Kingfishers were logged and a pair of Ravens were on territory too. A calling Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was a surprise, this species is at a very low ebb in the county with very few records in recent years. Cormorants, Grey Herons and Rooks are all very busy on the reserve and there are already begging young Cormorants in some of the nests. The sunshine brough forth three Peacock butterflies and five Brimstones.

Two Green Sandpipers and two Grey Wagtails were again in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton, a couple of Siskins were at Scotland Wood and the Pink-footed Goose was still at Stanford Reservoir with a Raven there too.

Three Common Scoters were found by Mark at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today and despite plenty of fishing boats the sea-ducks pretty much ignored them and stayed all day.

The drake Common Scoter was still on Higham Lake at Ditchford Pits today and there were two Great White Egrets there too.

At Earls Barton Pits today the new workings attracted six Green Sandpipers, three Shelducks, a White Wagtail and three Grey Wagtails with Summer Leys LNR pulling in a Cattle Egret, two Black-tailed Godwits, three Little Ringed Plovers, a fly-through Merlin, a Shelduck, five Redshanks, two Oystercatchers, a Lesser Redpoll and five Siskins.

A Crossbill was heard calling at Bucknell Wood where there were also several Siskins and at least one Mealy Redpoll was still with Lesser Redpolls at the Sandy Lane attenuation pond on the outskirts of Duston, Northampton.

Quite a number of butterflies are on the wing during periods of sunshine including good numbers of Commas, 'whites' and even Speckled Woods and Orange-tips.

Regards

Neil M

Redshank courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Early morning Pheasant.

Peacock butterfly courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Comma butterfly courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

End of March birding

Hello

Migration has spluttered a bit in recent days but there was evidence that some birds are making it through.

A drake Common Scoter was on Higham Lake at Ditchford Pits today and at Earls Barton Pits there was a Curlew at Summer Leys LNR and the new workings/quarry attracted a drake Red-crested Pochard, a White Wagtail, two Green Sandpipers, a Redshank and a Shelduck.

Two Blackcaps were in a Wellingborough garden today and each day there is an increase in singing birds in the wider countryside as different populations of the same species begin to mix.

Four Short-eared Owls don't seem in a hurry to depart their field west of Lamport - there does seem to be plenty of voles about which is their staple diet. Two Green Sandpipers and two Grey Wagtails were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton with a Wheatear there briefly. A male Grey Wagtail was showing well at Upton Country Park.

A second year Caspian Gull, a drake Mandarin Duck and six Siskins were at Hollowell Reservoir this morning and a few Siskins were in Hanging Houghton village.

Harrington Airfield remained quiet with the best birds being just three Ravens and three Grey Partridges this afternoon and birds at Stanford Reservoir included four Pintail, an Oystercatcher and eight Ravens.

An Osprey was seen near Braybrooke this afternoon eating a fish on a telegraph pole (recorded by video).

Regards

Neil M

Grey Wagtail courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Coot courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Brown Hare courtesy
of John Tilly.

Cool but sunny Sunday

Hello

Cool winds but sunny weather today made it a good day to be out!

At Lilbourne Water Meadows this morning there were two Great White Egrets, two Oystercatchers, a Green Sandpiper and a Common Snipe.

An Oystercatcher was in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth first thing this morning and small numbers of Siskins were noted at Cottesbrooke and Kelmarsh Hall. 

At least one of the Mealy Redpoll was still at the Sandy Lane attenuation pool, Duston, Northampton this morning. A Swallow was seen with about twenty Sand Martins in the Nene Valley at Whiston Lock and a Wheatear was at Hinton Airfield at the south end on a ploughed field west of the barn.

Two more Wheatears were discovered at Willowbrook Industrial Estate at Corby at lunchtime and were still present early this afternoon.

Clifford Hill Pits hosted a 'redhead' Smew, a Peregrine and a pair of Oystercatchers and the Earls Barton quarry held a pair of Shelduck, five Redshanks, a Green Sandpiper, an Oystercatcher and a Little Ringed Plover. Three Cetti's Warblers were noted at Stortons Pits.

Regards

Neil M

Chiffchaff courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Mute Swans courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Rooks courtesy
of John Tilly.

Oystercatchers.

Cooler temperatures for the weekend

Hello

A much cooler and quieter day for birds today with some sharp wintry showers.

The four White-fronted Geese were at Wadenhoe Water Meadows at lunchtime, a Great White Egret being there too, but later the geese moved to the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston Pits.

Four Wheatears were located at Borough Hill Country Park, Daventry this morning, a Little Ringed Plover was at the DIRFT3/A5 pools near Lilbourne and a Swallow was at Hollowell Reservoir this afternoon.

Two Green Sandpipers were still in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning. Small numbers of Siskins were noted at Scotland Wood, Kelmarsh Hall and Cottesbrooke today and Ravens were active at Old village, Scaldwell village, Scotland Wood, Pitsford Reservoir and Cottesbrooke. 

Sixty Goldeneye were in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon and Stanford Reservoir attracted fourteen Sand Martins and three Ravens.

Of the recent flock of fourteen Waxwings at Far Cotton two birds were colour-ringed. We still await details of one of the birds but news was soon back about the other. This is a female first ringed at Kincorth, Aberdeen on 30th November 2022 and subsequently re-sighted in Denmark on 26th January 2023. This year, prior to visiting us here this month in Northants she was sighted at Abergele in North Wales on 1st January and then Harborne, Birmingham on 1st February. These details have been supplied by the Grampian Ringing Group.

Regards

Neil M

Male Reed Bunting
courtesy of John Tilly.

Robin courtesy of
John Tilly.

Little Egret courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

March quality birds

Hello

Today a WeBS count was completed at Ditchford Pits and it initially seemed very quiet with little west of Ditchford Lane except two Egyptian Geese and two Oystercatchers a handful of Cetti's Warblers and a Grey Wagtail. To the east of Ditchford Pits it was more interesting with four Cattle Egrets, eight Little Egrets, two Jack Snipe, seventeen Common Snipe, a Kingfisher, several Cetti's Warblers and a Grey Wagtail. A Willow Warbler was at Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows.

An excellent variety of scarce birds were available in the county today - it wasn't many years ago when the month of March was perhaps the least exciting month on the birding calendar but not this year!

A 'redhead' Smew was in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today and two Sand Martins were off the causeway with three Ravens at nearby Holcot village. An Osprey was at Hollowell Reservoir early this morning and at nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir a Glossy Ibis flew over low heading north west at 11.40am. A Pink-footed Goose and two Shelduck were at Stanford Reservoir and a drake Common Scoter graced Boddington Reservoir.

In the Nene Valley Summer Leys LNR again hosted two Cattle Egrets, six Little Ringed Plovers and a Swallow with three Shelduck, a Redshank, a Green Sandpiper and two Oystercatchers at the Earls Barton working quarry. Clifford Hill Pits attracted a drake Red-crested Pochard, a Little Ringed Plover, a Great White Egret and a Wheatear (which have been scarce so far this spring). Four White-fronted Geese at Wadenhoe Water Meadows must be the birds from Thrapston Pits last week.

An Osprey flew north near Braunston this evening and at Duston the attenuation pool off Sandy Lane was still the venue for two Mealy Redpolls, some Lesser Redpolls and Siskin.

More garden-visiting Siskins included five at Moulton, three in Duston and six in Brixworth with two at Woodford Halse in addition to a male Redpoll.

Some ringing in a garden on the east side of Northampton produced seventeen Siskins, thirteen Goldfinches, three Greenfinches and a Blackcap in addition to standard garden birds.

Four Short-eared Owls remain in a field with no public access west of Lamport village and a few Siskins were in the village at Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Yellowhammer at Pitsford
Reservoir courtesy of Tony
Stanford.

Red-legged Partridges courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Common Snipe courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

First year male Siskin
courtesy of John Tilly.

Pitsford Reservoir at dawn (yesterday).

A White Stork and more spring migrants

Hello

A dull, cloudy day with mild temperatures and sunny spells and a couple of very light showers made today rather pleasant.

The two Mealy Redpolls were still with Lesser Redpolls at the attenuation pond off Sandy Lane, Duston today.

Daventry Country Park was the latest venue to attract a Cattle Egret and a first year Caspian Gull and a first year Yellow-legged Gull were present too. Nuthatches on-site were seen looking over a nest box.

The 'redhead' Smew was still at Clifford Hill Pits today plus a Little Ringed Plover and two Oystercatchers. Perhaps the bird of the day was John's observation of a White Stork over Hemington flying towards Barnwell at 10am this morning.

Summer Leys LNR provided sightings of a Cattle Egret, a Little Ringed Plover and twenty Sand Martins and Pitsford Reservoir hosted a drake Red-crested Pochard off the Old Scaldwell Road, about thirty Common Snipe, two Jack Snipe, several Sand Martins, a male Brambling and both Ravens and a Curlew heard calling. Two Ravens were at Hanging Houghton today and two Short-eared Owls remain in private fields west of Lamport village.

A Wheatear was at Stanford Reservoir this evening plus two Oystercatchers and two Shelduck and Hollowell Reservoir managed a pair of Pintail, two Jack Snipe and two Common Snipe. A male Blackcap was in a Woodford Halse garden, still attracted to apples despite the mild conditions.

A little garden bird ringing at Greens Norton this morning provided three Greenfinches, fifteen Goldfinches and seven Siskins as migrant finches still remain with us. One of the Siskins was a bird first ringed as a juvenile in Aberdeenshire in July last year, further evidence that this influx of Siskins seem to be bound for Scotland.

Regards

Neil M

It is that time of the year!
 Spring lambs by John Tilly.

Tree Sparrow courtesy
of Jane Neill.

 The numbers of this dapper bird
 continue to plummet in the county
 and this species seems to be going
 the same way as the Willow Tit despite
 lots of efforts locally to support them.

Basic map showing
where today's control Siskin
was originally caught
and ringed an Aberdeenshire,
and Greens Norton where
encountered this morning.

Map courtesy of
Nick Wood.

Swallows, Redpolls and Siskins.

Hello

A wet morning but mild conditions, dryer in the afternoon but more showers in the evening.

A Siskin and a Reed Bunting were in our Hanging Houghton garden this morning and yesterday a Weston Favell garden attracted a pair of Blackcaps, a Siskin and a Redpoll.

At Pitsford Reservoir today the long-staying adult Yellow-legged Gull was off the dam and north of the causeway two Swallows were seen plus about thirty Common Snipe, a Jack Snipe and an Oystercatcher.

The two 'frosty' Mealy Redpolls remained at the Sandy Lane attenuation pond on the outskirts of Duston with a dwindling Lesser Redpoll flock and the Smew was again at Clifford Hill Pits this afternoon.

Summer Leys LNR hosted a Cattle Egret, a Great White Egret, two Redpolls and a small flock of Siskins.

Fifteen Sand Martins and a Swallow were at the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Pits this afternoon and two Shelduck and three Little Egrets were the best at Stanford Reservoir. A Curlew flew through at Stanwick Pits this morning where there were also six Redshanks and a Goosander.

Half a dozen Siskins were at Scotland Wood today and at least three were at Kelmarsh Hall.

A flock of about a hundred Waxwings were again in the centre of Milton Keynes today (at the Milton Keynes Christian Centre) where they have been showing very well - it is likely that we have flocks in the county secreted away somewhere.

Regards

Neil M

Yep more Siskins...
fabulous little finches!
Images courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Lesser Redpoll courtesy
 of Tony Stanford.

Little Egret in all it's spring
 finery at Abington Park,
Northampton yesterday
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Not much different!

Hello

A very spring-like day today - dull, breezy and with intervals of sunshine and the odd shower thrown in!

Chiffchaffs continue to pile in with hedgerows, copses, willows and garden vegetation all providing foraging and song-posts for these harbingers of spring! However little else seems to be different and apart from gulls, wagtails and Meadow Pipits it was difficult to witness diurnal migration today.

A few Siskins and fifty Fieldfares with up to a dozen Redwings were still with us east of Cottesbrooke village and birds showing at Harrington Airfield involved approximately one hundred and five Golden Plovers, a pair of Grey Partridge and three Ravens.

Hollowell Reservoir continues to attract two Jack Snipe and seven Common Snipe and Stanford Reservoir's birds amounted to a Pink-footed Goose, a Goosander and a Water Rail.

The two Mealy Redpolls remain at the Sandy Lane attenuation pool on the outskirts of Duston with a small flock of Lessers and a pair of Pintail and four Oystercatchers were on flooded fields next to Upton Mill.

The Earls Barton Pits complex today (including Summer Leys LNR and the New Workings) came up with two Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret, a Shelduck, eight or nine Redshanks, eleven Common Snipe, two Oystercatchers, two Little Ringed Plovers, four Green Sandpipers, two Redpolls and five Siskins.

Two Short-eared Owls remain in a field west of Lamport but rarely fly during daylight conditions.

Regards

Neil M

Teal courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Male Pied Wagtail
courtesy of John Tilly.

Pitsford WeBS count

Hello

It was the last Pitsford Reservoir WeBS count of the season today and a slog around in the wet and mud was nevertheless very enjoyable even if it was rather quiet. Very little of interest between the causeway and the dam with the best being eight singing Chiffchaffs, four Redpolls and thirty Siskins. Things fared a little better north of the causeway with a pair of Raven at a new nest, up to ten Siskins, fifteen singing Chiffchaffs, two Yellow-legged Gulls (fourth and second calendar years), a 'redhead' Smew rather briefly in the Scaldwell Bay, two Jack Snipe, approximately ninety Common Snipe and three Kingfishers. Marsh Tits were on territory at three different areas on the reserve and Rooks, Grey Herons and Cormorants were nesting in reasonable numbers.

The fourteen Waxwings were again at Far Cotton, Northampton next to the In 'n' Out Express MOT garage off the Towcester Road first thing but couldn't be found later in the day. It could be that they have simply moved further along the river in search of appropriate food. A Peregrine was active overhead.

Two or three Wheatears were in fields between Clipston and Great Oxendon this morning but didn't appear to linger and six Little Egrets and a Shelduck were the best on offer at Stanford Reservoir. A Raven was at Walgrave village, a dozen Siskins were at Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate and a Cattle Egret was a good local record at Clifford Hill Pits.

Garden feeders continue to attract migrant finches with five Siskins in a Brixworth garden, two Siskins and a Brambling at Moulton and a garden in Weston Favell, Northampton attracting three Blackcaps, seven Siskins and a Lesser Redpoll. Some garden bird ringing near Overstone today resulted in nine Siskins and six Goldfinches being newly ringed. A Lesser Redpoll remains at Summer Leys LNR feeding station and a Redpoll was noted at Everdon Stubbs this morning.

Up to three Peregrines at St Mary's church, Higham Ferrers made it a busy affair and it seems that the pair in residence are seemingly new birds with last year's surviving female currently absent. A Raven was at Little Harrowden and three were over Sywell and the regular all white Magpie was still at Ashton Treatment Works today.

Two White Storks flew north at Cosgrove at lunchtime and appeared to be moving along the Tove Valley but with no further reports. An Osprey was seen flying north over Bozenham Mill towards Hanslope a little later. Two Sand Martins were at Quarry Lake, Priors Hall, Corby, a Curlew flew north-east over Stanwick Pits this morning and a Water Rail remained at Spring Marsh in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth.

Regards

Neil M

Peregrine courtesy 
of Tony Stanford.

Black-headed Gull.

Redshank courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Wonderful Waxwings

Hello

For me the highlight of the day was a flock of fourteen Waxwings in Northampton and they showed well today next to the River Nene at Far Cotton next to the In 'n' Out Autocentre and Aldi store off the Towcester Road. Feeding mostly on rose hip berries (many of which are rotting and are rejected by the birds), these birds are typically unafraid of people and showed well today. At least one and maybe two of these birds are sporting colour rings and are likely to originate from the activities of the Grampian Ringing Group in Scotland. In an urban environment other birds seen there included a Peregrine, four Red Kites, a Little Egret, a Lesser Redpoll and a Chiffchaff.

At least one Mealy Redpoll was with a small group of Lesser Redpolls at the Sandy Lane attenuation pond on the outskirts of Duston, Northampton.

In the Nene Valley there was a Marsh Harrier at Stanwick Pits early this morning and the 'redhead' Smew was still on the main barrage lake at Clifford Hill Pits. At Summer Leys LNR a Marsh Harrier and a Merlin were good raptor sightings and other birds included thirty Common Snipe, ten Redshanks, a Dunlin and four Sand Martins. Four Green Sandpipers and a Redshank were at the New Workings, Earls Barton. Two Sand Martins were at Stortons Pits this evening.

A Water Rail was at Spring Pond on the Brampton Valley Way below Brixworth and two Green Sandpipers were nearby. 

An adult Yellow-legged Gull was off the dam at Pitsford Reservoir this morning and a Pink-footed Goose and two Oystercatchers were at Stanford Reservoir.

A Blackcap was coming to apples in a Duston garden today and garden Siskins included two at Moulton and two at Brixworth. A female Sparrowhawk took a Collared Dove in our Hanging Houghton garden today.

Regards

Neil M

The Far Cotton
Waxwings today.