Birds, dragons and flutterbies this month!

Hello

Pitsford Reservoir provided some more interest today with at least one and probably two Osprey(s) this afternoon/evening, six Great White Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Hobby, at least one Raven and a Siskin all north of the causeway. A Brown Hawker was my first this year.

At Stanford Reservoir there was also an Osprey plus two Hobbies, two Common Sandpipers and a Kingfisher.

A scattering of Black-tailed Godwits with two at Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Pits and singles at Clifford Hill Pits and Summer Leys LNR. A Great White Egret was also at Summer Leys and insects of note included two Green-eyed Hawkers at Toad Pond, a Brown Hawker and several Brown Argus butterflies behind the visitor centre.

A male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was a good find in the Nene Valley at the Earls Barton New Workings South/Whiston Wetlands, three Spotted Flycatchers were at Greens Norton Pocket Park and eight Redshanks at Hollowell Reservoir was a good number for this site.

A Little Owl remains vocal at Hanging Houghton. 

A Clouded Yellow butterfly between Cherry Hill and Walgrave appears to be the first record in the county this year and the best of the butterflies at Yardley Chase were two Purple Emperors, at least ten White Admirals, five Silver-washed Fritillaries and two Wood Whites with large dragonflies being Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Blue Emperor.

Regards

Neil M

A period away competing
has provided plenty of rosettes
for Jaeger and Rouzel.

Essex or Small Skipper
(I can't decide)!

Comma.

Gatekeeper.

Roe Deer.

Moulting Chiffchaff.

Dull, wet, sunny, then windy!

Hello

Birds at Stanford Reservoir today amounted to a fishing Osprey, a Redshank, five Black-tailed Godwits which didn't stay long, a Kingfisher, two Hobby and a Cetti's Warbler.

At Lilbourne Meadows reserve there was a migrant Common Redstart in a hedgerow running down towards the flood fields from Hillmorton Lane, two Oystercatchers, a Redshank, twelve Little Ringed Plovers, a Ringed Plover, a Green Sandpiper and a Little Owl.

An Osprey flew through Ravensthorpe Reservoir this evening and there were four Grey Wagtails around the dam with vocal Spotted Flycatchers in the trees there. Hollowell Reservoir also attracted an Osprey this afternoon plus seven Little Ringed Plovers.

A Common Scoter was reported from Pitsford Reservoir this morning but not seen subsequently and other birds there included two Whimbrel flying through and over the dam at about 12.20pm, a soaring Osprey west of the causeway, four Yellow-legged Gulls, three Ravens and two Great White Egrets.

A Common Scoter was present at Clifford Hill Pits for it's second day and there were three Little Ringed Plovers there too and two Common Sandpipers at Summer Leys LNR.

A Common Redstart was between the Chippings Compound and Bunker One at Harrington Airfield this afternoon where there was a big influx of Large White butterflies and still good numbers of Marbled Whites.

A Spotted Flycatcher was at Bucknell Wood and butterflies included Silver-washed Fritillary with the 'Vazenia' variant present too.

Regards

Neil M

Common Blue courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Red Admiral courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Essex Skipper courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Small Copper courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Little Ringed Plover
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Osprey.

Summer heat

Hello

With temperatures locally at almost thirty degrees Celsius and cloud bubbling up with summery gusts this evening, it was another hot one!

More post-breeding waders passing through the county will probably be a theme of this new month and today there were single Common Sandpipers at Stanford Reservoir and Summer Leys LNR.

Early morning encounters at Clifford Hill Pits included a female Common Scoter and at one stage twelve Black-tailed Godwits.

A Bittern was reported from the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston Pits today, there were four Grey Wagtails in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and still Spotted Flycatchers in the village itself.

Hollowell Reservoir attracted a first summer (second calendar year) Mediterranean Gull, an Osprey and two Common Sandpipers plus a splendid Green-eyed Hawker around the main feeder stream, a first for this site.

Birds at Ravensthorpe Reservoir amounted to a Raven, at least six Grey Wagtails and more audible Spotted Flycatchers all from the dam area. Large numbers of Common Blue Damselflies carpeted the water and lots of Blue Emperors and Black-tailed Skimmers were busy along the shoreline. Butterflies included Purple Hairstreak, Marbled White and Small Copper.

Evening birds in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir were an Osprey and up to twenty-five mobile Black-tailed Godwits.

Singles of Crossbill and Siskin were recorded at Bucknell Wood, both species recorded on the move through the county in small numbers since early June.

A Purple Hairstreak visited a garden in Thrapston this afternoon, four or five Lesser Emperors were active at Stanwick Pits and a female Vagrant Emperor (potentially a first for the county) was seen and photographed ovipositing there. 

Butterflies catalogued at Bucknell Wood included a Wood White, five Silver-washed Fritillaries and two Purple Hairstreaks.

Regards

Neil M

A recently-fledged juvenile Kestrel.

Grey Heron.

Tystie is developing into a 
mischievous young dog from the
 naughty puppy he was!

Looking from the Brampton Valley Way towards
 the villages of Lamport and Hanging Houghton.

Pitsford CBC

Hello

An induction ringing session for two new potential ringers was organised for Stortons Pits yesterday under the guidance of Chris Payne, John Boland, Helen Franklin and Nick Wood. During the course of this sixty-six birds were processed of fifteen species, the vast majority juveniles and newly-ringed. Warblers included seven Chiffchaffs, ten Reed Warblers, four Sedge Warblers, four Common Whitethroats, six Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler. A re-trap Long-tailed Tit had been ringed initially in December 2021 as far away as Astcote south-west of Northampton in John Woollett's garden.

A careful extraction was a Lunar Hornet Clearwing moth from one of the nets and interestingly the ringers at Stanford Reservoir encountered exactly the same thing yesterday and also carefully released an individual of the same species.

I completed one of the last Common Bird Census surveys of the year at Pitsford Reservoir today, starting just before 5am and finally concluded at 12.45pm when of course there wasn't much singing anyway. Whilst completing these surveys I try and keep an eye out for other wildlife too. The first half of the walk was cloudy and warm but insects and birds were at a minimum but of course there were plenty of Muntjacs, a Red Fox and Brown Hares out and about.

When the sun came out so did the insects with plenty of butterflies of about sixteen species including a couple of Purple Hairstreaks. A Giant Woodwasp is not a species I see regularly and is an impressive insect. Brief views of a large dragonfly in front of Willow Hide suggested a female Vagrant Emperor but the views were insufficient to identify.

Six Great White Egrets were on-site plus two Green Sandpipers, two Common Sandpipers, four Kingfishers, a female Tufted Duck with four ducklings and an early return with a Wigeon befriending the summering flock of Gadwall which number over two hundred. A 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler was in scrubby bushes on farmland to the east of the Walgrave Bay and singing Sedge Warblers in the Scaldwell Meadow are clearly intent on second broods. Two Yellow-legged Gulls were an adult and a third calendar year bird.

Elsewhere and a Barnacle Goose and two Little Ringed Plovers were at Clifford Hill Pits and an Osprey and two Little Ringed Plovers were at Hollowell Reservoir. A Spotted Flycatcher was at Bucknell Woods and butterflies on offer there were White Admiral, Purple Emperor and Purple Hairstreak. Spotted Flycatchers were vocal in Hanging Houghton village today.

Regards

Neil M

Giant Woodwasp.

Lapwing.

Otter. 

At one point the three Otters swam within 
touching distance of a very large Common
Carp wallowing in the shallows and they
completely ignored it! I know they have a
liking for small 'silver fish' and they were
moving fast and Carp seemingly wasn't on
 the menu!

Large White.

Blue Emperor.

Sunday ringing

Hello

Another warm day but plenty of cloud cover and much softer winds made it much more bearable.

A hot and sticky ringing session at Linford Lakes, Milton Keynes provided 151 processed birds of nineteen species and like last week a nice variety too! The most common bird encountered was Greenfinch with lots of youngsters bringing the day total to twenty-eight and Chiffchaff was the second most common encounter with twenty-six of them hitting the mist nets. There were also nineteen Blackcaps, sixteen Great Tits, eleven Blue Tits, nine Garden Warblers, eight Reed Warblers and eight Common Whitethroats.

Quality captures included two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a juvenile Green Woodpecker, three juvenile Lesser Whitethroats and two recently-fledged Cetti's Warblers. A Goldfinch and a Treecreeper added further variety.

Birds noted on-site included a Cuckoo and two Oystercatchers.

A parallel ringing session was also managed at Pitsford Reservoir today yielding eighty-nine birds of fourteen species, the majority being newly-ringed birds. Here the most prevalent species was Blue Tit with twenty-eight birds and Sand Martin with twenty-seven birds, the latter total including nestlings too. Other birds included a re-trap Reed Warbler first ringed in 2020, an adult Lesser Whitethroat, six Sedge Warblers and singles of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Reed Bunting and Goldfinch.

Birds on-site included two Great White Egrets and a Green Sandpiper.

Five Black-tailed Godwits were found at Clifford Hill Pits this morning and at Bucknell Woods there were two Spotted Flycatchers and the butterflies included Purple Emperor, Purple Hairstreak and Silver-washed Fritillary.

Four juvenile Grey Partridges were noted in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton today and a Little Owl was vocal in the village during the early hours.

Regards

Neil M

Lesser Whitethroat.

Common Whitethroat.

Green Woodpecker.

Above images courtesy of
Kenny Cramer.

Sand Martin ringing courtesy
of Jane Neill.

Still hot and windy

Four-spotted Chaser.

Hello

Another windy and hot day, great for Butterflies but hard work birding!

Sadly it seems that all the Avocets have now gone from Earls Barton New Workings/Whiston Wetlands.

Plenty of geese at Clifford Hill pits amounted to 670 Canadas, 270 Greylags and a single Barnacle Goose. Large numbers of geese can be found at Pitsford and Sulby Reservoirs - gathering together in post-breeding flocks to moult.

A Hobby was seen at Summer Leys LNR.

Birds north of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir this evening included an Osprey, a Great White Egret, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Whimbrel.

The current weather conditions have provided a large scale immigration of moths and butterflies from the continent and moth traps up and down the country have been enjoying large numbers of both local and migrant moths. Coastal watchers have recorded waves of butterflies coming in off the east coast with Small White dominating. Angus recorded an Olive Crescent moth in his Pitsford village garden trap this morning, possibly only the second county record and Vicki saw White Admiral and Purple Emperor butterflies at Bucknell Wood this afternoon. Purple Emperor, Purple Hairstreaks and Silver-washed Fritillaries were the pick of the butterflies at Fermyn Wood.

Willow Emerald Damselfly was noted at Whiston Locks this morning, a recently arrived but now quite widespread damselfly in Northamptonshire.

Regards

Neil M

Willow Emerald Damselfly.

Purple Emperor courtesy
of Kerry Massey.

Hobby courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Meagre pickings

Hello

Some overnight showers made it nice and damp first thing but this moisture was soon cancelled out with strong, dry winds and warm sunshine with high temperatures.

Meagre pickings today with a Common Sandpiper at Summer Leys LNR, a Barnacle Goose at Clifford Hill Pits and two Cattle Egrets on the Roadside Pit at Stanwick Pits this morning with a Curlew flying over going south-west.

Regards

Neil M

Little Egret courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Muntjac swimming the width of
the Holcot Bay, Pitsford Reservoir
today courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Comma courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Marbled White courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

Windy and warm (still)!

Hello

A very windy day and again warm this afternoon.

A visit to Welford/Sulby Reservoirs provided at least seven Little Egrets, two family parties of Great Crested Grebes, a family of four fledged juvenile Kestrels, two Grey Wagtails and a juvenile Little Ringed Plover.

A Little Tern spent the day at Eyebrook Reservoir and Hollowell Reservoir hosted a Green Sandpiper, three Common Sandpipers and three Little Ringed Plovers.

A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was noted at Wollaston and two White-letter Hairstreak butterflies were a good find at Easton on the Hill.

Regards

Neil M

Spotted Flycatcher.

Grey Wagtail.

Large Skipper.

Above images courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Common Buzzard.

Little Ringed Plover
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

The dry weather continues

Hello

A calmer day with less wind but still dry and warm in the afternoon.

Pitsford Reservoir hosted three Common Sandpipers on the causeway and a Yellow-legged Gull and two Great White Egrets north of the causeway this morning. The Scaldwell Meadow was alive with butterflies with a profusion of Marbled Whites. This afternoon there were two Yellow-legged Gulls off the dam and a glimpse of what is believed to be the only successful pair of Mute Swans on the whole reservoir showing off five cygnets.

A Grey Partridge was at Harrington Airfield this morning and there were numerous Marbled Whites there too. In such arid conditions the Common Spotted Orchids are going over already.

Two Cattle Egrets in summer plumage were at Titchmarsh reserve, Thrapston Pits early this afternoon.

A Green-eyed Hawker was seen again at Toad Pond at Summer Leys LNR.

Regards

Neil M

Common Blue Damselflies.

Large Red-eyed Damselfly.

Common Centaur.

Juvenile Robin courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Nuthatch courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Another gusty June day

Hello

Yet more strong gusts, still no rain and warm this afternoon.

At Hanging Houghton there was a family party of Spotted Flycatchers and five Ravens in the village.

A Caspian Gull was reported from Eyebrook Reservoir and three Great White Egrets were again in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir.

Two Cattle Egrets flew south-west over Stanwick Pits early this morning and a Grasshopper Warbler was reported from Ring Haw, Old Sulehay.

Two Ospreys spent some time at Hollowell Reservoir today and waders at Lilbourne Meadows reserve included Redshank, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper.

Old Sulehay butterflies included over twenty Silver-washed Fritillaries with plenty of Marbled Whites in the more open areas.

Regards

Neil M

Pyramidal Orchid at
Stortons Pits.

Large Skipper.

Grey Heron.

Great White Egret.

Above images courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Butterflies at Fermyn/Lady Wood

Hello

A visit to the Fermyn Wood and Country Park and adjacent Lady Wood ended up being blustery and initially cool but with some more regular sunshine as the day progressed. Fifteen species of butterfly were recorded with the best being several Silver-washed Fritillaries and a few White Admirals. I didn't see a confirmed Purple Emperor but other observers in Lady Wood did. Odonata included Blue Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer and Beautiful Demoiselles.

Wandering around the blocks of woodland blocks yielded Spotted Flycatchers at four locations, all likely to be defined territories. The feeding flocks included quite a few Marsh Tits and Nuthatches and a Siskin was in Lady Wood. Two juvenile Grey Wagtails were in Fermyn Wood CP.

Failed breeding birds and already on their way south were Common Sandpipers in the county today with singles at Pitsford Reservoir, Stanford Reservoir and five on the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston Pits. A Cuckoo and an Oystercatcher were also noted at Stanford Reservoir. A Little Owl was vocal at Hanging Houghton this evening.

Gatekeeper butterflies and a Green-eyed Hawker were at Ditchford Pits today and a Purple Emperor was photographed between Mantle's Heath and High Wood. Southern Hawker dragonflies are just beginning to emerge in the county.

Regards

Neil M

Silver-washed Fritillary.

White Admiral.

Ringlets.

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Juvenile Song Thrush
courtesy of Tony Stanford.