Wheatear

Hello

Very limited opportunity for birding today, but a migrant Wheatear at the top of Blueberry Hill (Blueberry Farm), Maidwell this evening was the first south-bound individual seen so far this season...

Regards

Neil M

Birds of the harvest

Hello

Efforts at ringing on the Harrington Airfield plateau this morning provided 38 captures which included 15 Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Willow Warblers and 4 Yellowhammers. Other birds noted included 2 Redstarts, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Hobby. My apologies if the planned ringing session prevented you from visiting the site today.

At Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon, birds in the Scaldwell Bay included 6 Little Egrets, a Kingfisher, an adult male Ruff and a Green Sandpiper.

Also this afternoon, there was a single Whinchat in a wheat field adjacent to the gated road between Cottesbrooke and Brixworth, and 2 Ravens were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Sunday birds

Hello

Late yesterday evening and this morning there was some bird ringing in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir leading to the capture of 74 birds which included only 12 re-traps.  Species included 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 12 Wrens, 9 Blackcaps, 7 Chiffchaffs, 6 new Robins, 3 Reed Warblers, 3 Sedge Warblers (almost certainly migrants as there is only one pair on the reserve this year), a Whitethroat and a Kingfisher.

Another ringing effort this morning at Broadholme Sewer Treatment Works adjacent to Ditchford Gravel Pits required more ringers present to set up, but only resulted in 7 birds being ringed (4 Starlings, a Pied Wagtail, a Carrion Crow and a Magpie).  However three Peregrines put on a show all morning, and other birds included a Hobby, three Green Sandpipers and several Grey Wagtails.

This morning there was a Redstart and two Whinchat in 'shrike hedge' in the Brampton Valley between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton, and this afternoon two Ravens and a Hobby sauntered over the garden here at Hanging Houghton.

Finally at Harrington Airfield today, birds on show included a Redstart, a Grasshopper Warbler and two Turtle Doves.  A short ringing session is planned for this site tomorrow morning (Monday) and the old airstrip will have restricted general access.  The concrete track and designated footpaths remain unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Sultry Pitsford

Hello

A visit to Pitsford Reservoir this evening provided a few birds in the vicinity of the dam and yacht club, amounting to a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, three Yellow-legged Gulls and the pair of Ruddy Shelduck.

Regards

Neil M

Stortons Ringing

Hello

The Stortons Gravel Pit Ringing Team were hard at it again today and enjoyed another busy morning. Warblers took centre stage and of the 80 birds caught, 63 were new birds, and many of them sub-Saharan migrants.  Blackcap was the most common bird caught but also there were numbers of Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat.  Star bird though was a juvenile Grasshopper Warbler (please see images below).

At Harrington Airfield this morning, there were still two Redstarts present (including the now moulting adult male), a singing Grasshopper Warbler, a Turtle Dove and a Willow Tit.

Regards

Neil M

Grasshopper Warbler.
Images courtesy of
Kim Robinson and
Chris Payne

The last CBC of the season.

Hello

A walk around the reserve section of Pitsford Reservoir was called for this morning, as we completed the last Common Bird Census of the year.  Plenty of birds about but mostly standard fare which included about six Little Egrets, two Yellow-legged Gulls, a couple of Kingfishers and family parties of Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl.  The best of the smaller birds were Grey and Yellow Wagtail, Lesser Whitethroat and Marsh and Willow Tit.  There were some large feeding flocks made up of tits, warblers, Goldcrests and Treecreepers moving through the foliage. Insects included a good variety of common butterflies and dragonflies.

In the pre-roost gathering of gulls by the yacht club this evening, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull was present as were two Yellow-legged Gulls.  The pair of summering Ruddy Shelduck were with Canada Geese just off the dam.

At Harrington Airfield this evening, Eleanor kept to the main concrete track and saw a singing Grasshopper Warbler, a 'purring' Turtle Dove, a Redstart, a Barn Owl, a pair of Grey Partridge and two Crossbills flying low in an easterly direction towards the B576.

Regards

Neil M

Flowering Rush
Pitsford Res
Courtesy of Lynne Barnett

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull
Pitsford Res

One good tern...

Hello

Sorry nothing to report today, so just a retro image of Eleanor (wearing my cap and a belligerent Arctic Tern) on the Farne Islands in 2007!

Regards

Neil M

Swallows might make a summer, but Redstarts declare autumn!

Hello

Yesterday Chris Payne and John Boland spent some time monitoring and ringing Swallows in the south of the county with considerable success.  Please see the image below of these iconic British summer birds...

At Harrington Airfield this morning there were two Redstarts in bushes between the concrete track and the airstrip.  One was a juvenile but the other was a cracking adult male bird.  Both birds were quite vocal.

In the garden again today, birds coming to the sunflower feeder included the couple of Nuthatch and the Marsh Tit, with a Grey Wagtail nearby.

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Swallows
Courtesy of John Boland

NN6 Birding

Hello

Eleanor was back at Harrington Airfield this morning and came across a mixed flock of birds in the vicinity of the old shooting wall off the main concrete track. Birds of note included two Spotted Flycatchers, a variety of warblers including Lesser Whitethroat and a Redstart. Two Turtle Doves were in the dead willows half way along the concrete track and a Grasshopper Warbler was 'reeling' at the very end of the same track. A Whinchat was by the main entrance.

At Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) this evening there was a hunting Barn Owl, a Cuckoo and a pair of Grey Partridge.  Two Ravens overflew the garden here at Hanging Houghton and the Grey Wagtail and two Nuthatch persisted.

This afternoon Wendy and Robin Gossage spent some time at Pitsford Reservoir and witnessed a fishing Osprey, plus a marauding Sparrowhawk inspecting the tern rafts (please see below).

Regards

Neil M

Osprey at Pitsford Res
Courtesy of Robin Gossage

Sparrowhawk at Pitsford Res
Courtesy of Robin Gossage

Views of Lamport from
Blueberry Farm, Maidwell

Buddleia Magic!

Hello

This morning two Turtle Doves again put in an appearance at Harrington Airfield.

Without wishing to seem lazy, it was a day when the wildlife came to us in and around our garden at Hanging Houghton. The last few days have seen our buddleia bushes heaving with butterflies and today was no exception with large numbers of Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock and smaller numbers of Red Admiral, Comma etc. The Silver Y moths then take over in the evening.

Birds in or from the garden today included two Ravens, a Grey Wagtail, and a Spotted Flycatcher, plus a Marsh Tit and two Nuthatch coming to the sunflower heart feeder.

Regards

Neil M

Small Tortoiseshell

Red Admiral

Brown Hares.  The fields between the
Scaldwell and Walgrave Bays at
Pitsford Reservoir are normally good
 for this super mammal.

 

Storton's Warblers

Hello

The ringers operating at Stortons Gravel Pits enjoyed perfect conditions this morning, culminating in the capture of 95 birds which included at least 52 warblers! They were made up of 18 Blackcaps, 20 Reed Warblers, 4 Whitethroats, 3 Garden Warblers, 4 Chiffchaffs and 3 Cetti's Warblers.  Both Stortons and Pitsford now only catch very small numbers of Willow Warblers, and then mostly during the spring and autumn as the bulk of this species now breeds much further north than middle-England.  Certainly when I first started ringing, the Willow Warbler was about the most common warbler encountered.

In the relative coolness of this evening, Eleanor located a single Redstart in the Brampton Valley between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton, and another in hedging near Haselbech Hill.

Regards

Neil M

Pitsford am

Hello

Birds around the dam area of Pitsford Reservoir early this morning included the pair of Ruddy Shelduck, two Yellow-legged Gulls, a Raven, three Common Sandpipers and three juvenile Grey Wagtails.  The reserve section of the reservoir (north of the causeway) is currently holding large numbers of water-birds but apart from four Little Egrets I didn't see anything of note there this morning.  A couple of short ringing sessions on-site produced two Pied Wagtails and singles of Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Marsh Tit.

Regards

Neil M

Pitsford pm

Hello

A walk around the Scaldwell Bay and part of the Walgrave Bay on the reserve section at Pitsford Res this afternoon was very warm and sunny (in between the heavy showers of this morning and this evening).  At this time of the year the meadows are noisy with the whirring and clicking of grasshoppers and bush-crickets and the thistle and knapweed flowers are adorned with common butterflies, day-flying moths and other nectar-seeking insects.  Literally thousands of Common Blue Damselflies cruise the air-space just above the water surface and the larger dragonflies of several species are continually on the hunt around the margins and woodland rides.

Birds this afternoon included a drake Red-crested Pochard in the Scaldwell Bay, three Wigeon, a Kingfisher, a few each of Marsh and Willow Tit in the mixed tit/warbler flocks, five Little Egrets and the very smart leucistic Great Crested Grebe still.

Regards

Neil M

Various views of Pitsford
Reservoir from the causeway

Great Crested Grebe

Gatekeeper butterfly

Six Spot Burnett Moth?

Distant shot of the eclipse
drake Red-crested Pochard
in the Scaldwell Bay

Three images of a juvenile
Water Rail at Summer Leys NR
courtesy of Simon Hales

Damp feathers

Hello

An excursion in the rain this morning was relatively short-lived, but a calling Water Rail at Brixworth Sewer Works suggests that they may have bred or at least summered at this small site.

The two Ruddy Shelduck were still present off the dam at Pitsford Res, associating with Canada Geese. Various large gulls were loafing on the buoys there despite the watercraft activities, and a Yellow-legged Gull was watching over proceedings from the remnants of the gull-watching hide!

Regards

Neil M

Moulting 4th year/adult Yellow-legged Gull
Pitsford Reservoir

Storm Birds!

Hello

A visit to the dam-end of Pitsford Reservoir at lunch-time today provided distant views of the pair of Ruddy Shelduck, an adult Yellow-legged Gull and other new gull arrivals in the shape of three adult Common Gulls and an adult Great Black-backed Gull joining the still summering immature.

A couple of Spotted Flycatchers were in Sunderland Wood (Kelmarsh Estate) this afternoon and two Redstarts remained elusive in thick hedging at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this evening...

Regards

Neil M