Easter Monday in the county

Hello

Well despite storm-driven birds being found elsewhere, my efforts at Pitsford Reservoir today failed to find any new birds of note. Regular birds included the Ruddy Shelduck and Green Sandpiper in the area of the dam, plus a couple of Oystercatchers, a Woodcock, a couple of Chiffchaffs, about twenty Sand Martins and three Swallows.

Eleanor was counting her Golden Plover flock in a field near Blueberry Farm this afternoon (reaching about a hundred) when they were ambushed by a low-flying adult female Peregrine. They barely managed to lift off before she took one with comparative ease.

Nick Parker was over at the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Gravel Pits today, noting two Egyptian Geese which flew north plus migrants in the shape of Chiffchaff, Swallow and House Martin.

Helen Franklin checked out the Ford complex at Daventry yesterday evening but it seems that the huge transitory roost of Starlings has already moved on with no birds seen.

John Hunt has kindly let us know about a pair of Egyptian Geese that are already minding a brood of eight goslings! They were spotted last Wednesday at Oundle Marina and hopefully have survived the rain and high winds!

Regards

Neil M

A Swallowtail butterfly
taken by Simon Hales at
Strumpshaw Fen last year.
Not long now before spring
and then summer explodes in
a riot of colour and rapid
 movement!

Wonderful wagtails

Hello

Today we struggled to find anything of note on a breezy and sunny spring day in the county, a Raven at Kelmarsh being about the best.

I spent thirty minutes photographing birds on the filter beds at Brixworth Treatment Works this afternoon, dominated of course by wagtails...

Regards

Neil M

Pheasants

Pied Wagtails

Grey Wagtails

Reed Bunting

Golden Plovers & 'little brown jobs'

Hello

Eleanor's almost daily excursions in to the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton finally provided two Wheatears this morning, plus about 150 Golden Plovers. The adjacent Blueberry Farm complex again provided views of a Woodcock and a Barn Owl.

Birds in the Daventry area included the usual pair of Raven at Staverton and Daventry Country Park hosted a female Peregrine, two House Martins, a Swallow and about twenty Sand Martins.

This afternoon a flock of 200 Golden Plovers were again in a bean field between Brixworth and Scaldwell and a further flock of 100 were near Walgrave. Like the winter thrushes, they are ganging up before they move on, using the fields of Northamptonshire as a migrating staging post.

The usual finches and buntings were feeding in our garden today and Jacob Spinks was busy at Pitsford Reservoir locating a Blackcap, the male Stonechat, c60 Sand Martins, a couple of Swallows, small numbers of Siskins and Lesser Redpolls, the Green Sandpiper, at least one Oystercatcher and of course the Ruddy Shelduck.

Regards

Neil M

Linnet

Wren

Dunnock

Reed Bunting

All the above images of 'little
brown jobs' were taken by Cathy
Ryden who has the knack of capturing
the habitat around the subject. The marshy
area of Brixworth Sewer Treatment
Works provides the perfect backdrop
for the last three birds...

Sunny Good Friday

Hello

A belated and sunny WeBS count was completed at Ditchford Gravel Pits today. Small Tortoiseshell butterflies were visiting the yellow flowers of Celandine and Coltsfoot, spawning Pike were thrashing around in the shallows and bees and other insects were on the wing in good numbers.

A Great White Egret was west of Ditchford Lane and summer migrants included about ten Chiffchaffs, two Sand Martins and a Swallow. The best of the waterfowl included six Egyptian Geese, three Shelduck and a drake Pintail. There were about seven singing Cetti's Warblers, a Water Rail, two Kingfishers and two Redshanks.

The garden here at Hanging Houghton attracted a Lesser Redpoll, two Siskins, a couple of Bramblings and small numbers of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers.

Birds at Pitsford Reservoir today included at least one Oystercatcher, six Snipe, two Sand Martins and five Chiffchaffs (courtesy of Jacob Spinks). A flock of about 150 Golden Plovers remain in a bean field between Scaldwell and Brixworth.

John Woollett has now caught over 200 Siskins in his garden at Astcote recently, which includes four controls (birds ringed elsewhere).

Regards

Neil M

Great White Egret

Spawning Pike

Thought to be a Dace, but a couple
of other species of  'silver fish' not
eliminated.

Not sure you can have a
'murmuration' of flies, but
it was an impressive display
of synchronized flying!

Great Crested Grebe

Wader images

Hello

More wader images from the visit to Titchwell last Saturday...

Hopefully we will see some of these species on migration through the county this spring...

Regards

Neil M

Sanderling

Grey Plover

Redshank

Image courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

BTO House Martin Survey

Hello

Ben Reeve has recently come on-board to assist the British Trust for Ornithology Northants representative Barrie Galpin, and one of his first tasks is to publicise the 2016 BTO House Martin Survey. This follows on from the preliminary work completed by volunteers last year, and again volunteers are sought to complete work within this fair county of ours.

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/house-martin-survey

Ben can be contacted by email - benreeve@outlook.com should you be able to assist...

Regards

Neil M

House Martin.

A dull and still Wednesday...

Hello

Dave Francis completed a period of ringing at Pitsford Reservoir today, concentrating his efforts at the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station. This resulted in the capture of eighty birds which included an amazing fifty-nine new individuals. As in all previous efforts at this site this year, Yellowhammers dominated with 37 birds of which 30 were new. This means that 193 new Yellowhammers have been ringed here so far this calendar year.

Other birds included 12 Reed Buntings, 12 Goldfinches, 8 Tree Sparrows, 3 Greenfinches, a Chiffchaff and a Woodpigeon. A noisy Oystercatcher was noted in the Scaldwell Bay.

A much more modest ringing session at Brixworth Sewer Treatment Works today provided just 36 birds which included four Pied Wagtails, a Grey Wagtail, four Goldfinches, two Bullfinches, a Reed Bunting and three re-trap Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Up to five Grey Wagtails were on-site plus three Chiffchaffs, a Snipe and nearby a flock of about 200 Golden Plovers were in fields between Brixworth and Creaton.

Ian Dobson watched a much smaller roosting flock of Starlings at the Ford site at Daventry this afternoon, but the still impressive numbers were sufficient to attract a marauding female Sparrowhawk.

Blueberry Farm this morning provided views of a Barn Owl, a Woodcock and fifty Golden Plovers, with a Barn Owl in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton again this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Male Stonechat

Moorhen

Above two images
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Grey Wagtail

Courtesy of Chris Payne.

The second day of spring!

Hello

Chris Payne enjoyed an excellent ringing session at Bradden today, catching 75 birds. This total included a good haul of finches - 22 Goldfinches, 8 Chaffinches, 5 Greenfinches and 2 Siskins. Also 6 new Coal Tits, a new Great Spotted Woodpecker and a re-trap Marsh Tit. A Common Buzzard hit one of the nets but didn't ensnare long enough to be caught!

Kenny Cramer presided at a ringing session at Linford Lakes on the outskirts of Milton Keynes on Sunday, netting 27 birds which included a stunning male Bullfinch, a Redwing, three Blackbirds, two Goldcrests and two Treecreepers.

Jacob Spinks was at Pitsford Reservoir this evening, seeing two Sand Martins, a Rock Pipit and a Grey Wagtail around the dam. The Ruddy Shelduck was present too.

Ian Dobson witnessed a mega Starling roost this evening at the Ford site on the outskirts of Daventry. As many as 100,000 birds roosted in the conifers within the grounds there, the murmuration beforehand was apparently very spectacular!

Eleanor was at Harrington Airfield this morning and saw 8 Grey Partridges, a Barn Owl, a female Peregrine, a Raven and ca50 Golden Plovers.

Sywell Country Park hosted a drake Red-crested Pochard, a Little Egret, a Cetti's Warbler, 2 Grey Wagtails, a pair of Stonechat and ca50 Siskins.

Blueberry Farm attracted a Barn Owl, a female Peregrine (presumably the same bird from Harrington) and a Woodcock. Garden birds here at Hanging Houghton included four Bramblings still, 12+ Reed Buntings, 6 Yellowhammers and a Tree Sparrow.

Regards

Neil M

Male House Sparrow.

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

The first day of Spring...

Hello

A short ringing session at Kelmarsh Hall this morning provided 58 captures of common birds which included Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Treecreeper, common tits and a single Yellowhammer. Birds noted on-site included a Raven, a Siskin or two and four Crossbills.

Our garden at Hanging Houghton attracted four Bramblings today plus half a dozen Yellowhammers and about a dozen Reed Buntings. A singing Willow Tit was around the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station at Pitsford Reservoir early this morning and Jacob Spinks saw a Peregrine on its pigeon prey between the villages of Holcot and Moulton.

A Little Egret and a Barn Owl were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and Blueberry Farm hosted a Barn Owl, a Woodcock and ca80 Golden Plovers. No sign of the Short-eared Owls today though...

Helen Franklin noted another Barn Owl near Spratton early this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Harrier

Drake Teal

Bar-tailed Godwits

Avocet

All the above images
taken at Titchwell on
Saturday...

To the Forest of Dean and back...

Hello

Eleanor's early morning foray in to the Brampton Valley led to the discovery of two Little Egrets and a Barn Owl below Hanging Houghton this morning and birds at Blueberry Farm included two Short-eared Owls, two Barn Owls, a pair of Grey Partridge and twenty-five Golden Plovers. Further afield and two Ravens and four Siskins were at Staverton and at 1pm Ravensthorpe Reservoir provided views of an Otter and two Grey Wagtails.

Also today and over at Thrapston Gravel Pits, Eric Graham confirmed the continuing presence of a Great White Egret and also a Peregrine amongst more common fare. Neil Hasdell spent some time at Earls Barton Gravel Pits and saw a Mediterranean Gull, the female Scaup and nine Black-tailed Godwits on the Summer Leys reserve.

Early yesterday morning a Barn Owl was a roadside observation between the villages of Hanging Houghton and Scaldwell.

Five of us migrated down to Gloucestershire today, starting with a brief stop to catch some views of the two Penduline Tits on the outskirts of Gloucester. Moving on to the Forest of Dean we encountered some Hawfinches at Parkend, three displaying Goshawks at New Fancy View and small numbers of Mandarin Ducks at Cannop Ponds. We drove to the nearby Symonds Yat Rock and watched plenty of Common Buzzards, Ravens and a Peregrine enjoying the weak sunshine and breeze.

We finished the day at Crabtree Hill back in the forest where we watched a Great Grey Shrike predating newts, a couple of pairs of Stonechat, a Goosander and several Crossbills.

Regards

Neil M

Penduline Tits

Hawfinch

Common Buzzard.

Displaying Raven.

Mandarin Ducks

To Norfolk and back...

Hello

Eleanor re-visited Blueberry Farm again first thing this morning and located two Short-eared Owls and a Barn Owl in Redgrass. A late afternoon visit to Harrington Airfield this afternoon provided a spectacle of 400 Fieldfares and 100 Redwing feeding on the top fields. An adult female Peregrine saw an opportunity and ploughed in to the monster flock, catching and consuming an unfortunate Fieldfare. A Short-eared Owl was located here too.

In the meantime I paid North Norfolk a quick visit today with a crew armed with cameras and optics... Wolferton Woods and Dersingham Bog was our first location, and in addition to plenty of Siskins we enjoyed a couple of vocal Woodlarks and a pair of Stonechat. Hunstanton was next and cliff-top viewing included gliding Fulmars, confiding Turnstones and blogging Brent Geese.

It's difficult not to go to the RSPB reserve at Titchwell when in this part of the world, and after enjoying the tame birds in the car park and feeding station which included more Siskins and Bramblings, we dawdled towards the coast. Typical birds were on show which included Marsh Harrier, more Brent Geese, common waders and close views of common wildfowl. A Water Pipit showed briefly a couple of times on the salt-marsh, rafts of Common Scoter bobbed on the grey waves and Sanderling sprinted on the beach ahead of the waves.

The walk back allowed us close views of Avocet, Grey Plover, Little Egret and others.

With birds on show at Pitsford Reservoir, we drove back to witness a flock of eleven Common Scoter visible from the dam, a Dunlin, the Ruddy Shelduck and a fine adult summer plumage Mediterranean Gull being chased by Common Gulls.

Regards

Neil M

Fulmars at Hunstanton

The Woodpigeon. Not just
capable of coping with our
influence on the environment
but being flexible enough
to successfully exploit it!

Turnstone at Hunstanton.

Owls, Brents and Feed-stations...

Hello

Eleanor took an early morning wander around Blueberry Farm today and again saw the two Short-eared Owls in Redgrass plus a Barn Owl. Two Kingfishers were on the brook in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton, with a hunting Barn Owl nearby.

Plenty of birds in the garden today which included a Tree Sparrow, half a dozen Yellowhammers, at least six Reed Buntings, a Brambling and the Canary x Goldfinch hybrid still.

After finishing a restock of the main feed station at Pitsford Reservoir this morning, I noticed a tight flock of ten Dark-bellied Brent Geese on the water in front of Maytrees Hide. These migrants were clearly resting and subsequently relocated south of the causeway on the open water in the main basin and visible from the dam (and were still present early afternoon).

Regards

Neil M

Barn and Short-eared Owls
at Blueberry Farm yesterday.
Eleanor's best efforts at long
range with a bridge camera...