Pitsford ringing

Hello

Pitsford Reservoir was the venue for ringing in both the Scaldwell and Walgrave bays today, with about a hundred birds captured. Newly arrived Garden Warblers were the most common bird caught with thirteen being ringed. Other warblers included a Lesser Whitethroat, four Blackcaps, two Reed Warblers and four Chiffchaffs. 

Other birds of interest included a Grey Heron which blundered in to a mist net and when extracted proved to be a bird which had done exactly the same thing in 2014! Watching the Grey Herons in the shallows during the last two days, some of them are concentrating on capturing the young of water-birds and are successfully catching young Moorhens, Coots and Mallard ducklings. Normally this is by espying a family, taking flight and simply plucking an unsuspecting youngster out of the water often with the parents in close attendance.

Other birds caught during ringing operations today included eight Blackbirds, three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Goldcrests, two Reed Buntings, four Bullfinches and a Willow Tit.

Regards

Neil M

Muslin Moth.

Courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Grey Heron.

Courtesy of Jacob Spinks.

Lesser Whitethroat.

Garden Warbler.

Blackcap.

Pitsford Reservoir Common Bird Census

Hello

Debbie and Eric Graham continued their local patchwork birding today with another stroll around the Titchmarsh reserve near Thrapston. With a sudden increase in green foliage it is now becoming more difficult to see our summer migrants, but again there were plenty of common warblers in song and a couple of hidden Nightingales too. Swifts and martins had increased in number and a Cuckoo was still present as were two Little Egrets.

I completed a Common Bird Census around the reserve section of Pitsford Reservoir this morning. Five Black Terns were present first thing but had departed by mid-morning. Other wildlife interests included the pair of Oystercatcher, excellent numbers of very vocal Garden Warblers, two singing Lesser Whitethroats, a singing Spotted Flycatcher, three Marsh Tits, a singing Willow Tit and a singing Nuthatch. Two Grass Snakes were my first of the year and the regular Muntjac now have one or two resident Roe Deer to munch alongside.

A quick visit to Fermyn Wood Country Park this afternoon was sufficient to see singletons of Dingy Skipper butterfly and a submerged Great Crested Newt.

Regards

Neil M

Male Muntjac sporting
his 'fangs' and a cloven ear!

Pitsford Reservoir

Singing Song Thrush
at Pitsford Reservoir.
The relatively low numbers
of Song Thrush on the reserve
nevertheless appear to be stable.

Cormorant nesting tree
at Pitsford Reservoir. With
young in the nest since March,
the Walgrave Bay will be a noisy
place until the last individuals
fledge in September!

A Rook with impeccable
table manners at Fermyn
Country Park!

Image courtesy of Sarah Gibbs.

Great Crested Newt at
Fermyn Country Park

Courtesy of Sarah Gibbs.

Teasel at Fermyn CP.

Courtesy of Sarah Gibbs.

Dingy Skipper butterfly
at Fermyn Wood CP.

Courtesy of Sarah Gibbs.

Early Purple Orchid.

Grafton Park Wood..

A few more images from France...

Hello

Yesterday Cathy Ryden noted eight Yellow Wagtails at Hollowell Reservoir and today a visit to Blatherwycke Lake provided views of an Oystercatcher and a Hobby with a singing Nightingale at nearby Glapthorn Cow Pasture.

Today Eleanor watched a Kingfisher carrying small fish on a couple of occasions along the Brampton brook below Hanging Houghton, suggesting breeding nearby. A singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in the The Hill field at Blueberry Farm...

Regards

Neil M

Coypu, the Camargue, France

An animal that used to be present
in East Anglia until eradicated last
century...

Raven.
 Provence, France.

Male Common Redstart.
Provence, France.

Medley of images!

Curlew

Courtesy of John Hallam.

Tree Sparrow

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Long-tailed Tit

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Grey Heron

Courtesy of Chris Payne.

Great Northern Diver

Courtesy of Chris Payne

Orange-tipped Butterfly

Courtesy of Simon Hales.

Ringing Brixworth STW

Hello

A ringing session at Brixworth Sewer Treatment Works today yielded 44 birds made up of 21 Swallows, 3 House Martins, a Yellow Wagtail, 5 Pied Wagtails, 2 Goldfinches, a Chaffinch, 4 Reed Buntings, 4 Starlings and 3 Magpies. Two of the Swallows were re-traps from May 2014 and August 2015, and were adult females when first caught and ringed. How many miles have they clocked up since then, which would have included visits as far as South Africa and back?

This afternoon and evening, birds visible from the dam at Pitsford Reservoir included six Black Terns, a Redshank, a Kingfisher and a family party of Grey Wagtails.

Regards

Neil M

Male Yellow Wagtail

Magpie

House Martin

All images courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

Pitsford waders...

Hello

A male Grey Wagtail was singing from rooftop buildings just behind Kingsthorpe shopping front off the Harborough Road on the outskirts of Northampton this afternoon.

The wet conditions today caused some north-bound migrants to stall and linger at Pitsford Reservoir. This afternoon and evening three Black Terns were visible from the causeway as was a Hobby, eight Dunlin and four Common Sandpipers. The dam area attracted a further three Common Sandpipers plus two Turnstones and a Sanderling.

Regards

Neil M

Fawsley Park

Mandarin Duck

Sparrowhawk

Some more images from
 Fawsley Park on Sunday,
 courtesy of Cathy Ryden

Images from Pitsford Reservoir...

Hello

Over the week-end our early starts provided a couple of observations of roadside Barn Owls in the Brixworth area, but on Friday another one was picked up as a casualty just outside Walgrave village. This bird was also ringed so we will find out in due course something about it's history. 

Yesterday (Sunday) and an Otter was again seen at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, the first sighting I've heard of for a little while.

A walk around Welford Reservoir this morning provided at least four Common Sandpipers and a Spotted Flycatcher. A quick visit to Naseby Reservoir didn't provide anything of note. A singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in the Hill Field at Blueberry Farm.

Jacob Spinks was at Pitsford Reservoir this evening and watched two Black Terns in the Scaldwell Bay and two Lesser Redpolls by the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station.

Regards

Neil M

Black Tern in front of
one of the new tern rafts
in the Scaldwell Bay at
Pitsford Reservoir.

Courtesy of Jacob Spinks

Common Tern

Coot

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Tufted Duck

Great Crested Grebe

All above images taken
yesterday at Pitsford Reservoir.

And warmer again...

Hello

John Woollett and team committed to some ringing at Stortons Gravel Pits this morning and warblers made up the major part of the catch. Forty-seven birds were captured with 13 Reed Warblers, 14 Sedge Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 2 Whitethroats, 5 Blackcaps and 4 Cetti's Warblers. One of the Reed Warblers was pretty ancient, first being ringed there as an adult way back in 2006!

Nick Wood completed a Breeding Bird Survey at Chase Park Farm, Yardley Chase today, a survey he has been completing there since 2007. For the first time ever, today he located a singing Nightingale on the survey plot.

Another BOS Long Day Count was completed today, this time it being the turn of SP55 to the south and west of Daventry. Fawsley Park is key to the diversity of species in this part of the world and today birds there included a Common Sandpiper, two or three Mandarin Ducks, a Grey Wagtail, Raven, at least one Kingfisher, Tawny and Little Owls, Water Rail and a Spotted Flycatcher. Almost certainly the best bird of the day, had it been confirmed, was a possible Serin which flew over at 5.50am this morning. The call was good but the bird wasn't located overhead in time and instead was depicted as a small finch bounding away and not to be seen or heard of since. Without at least some visual characteristics in addition to the flight call, it was another one of those that got away. Frustrating but that's birding sometimes!

A walk up to and around Badby Wood was worth it just to see the carpets of Bluebells, but more good birds here included a mobile singing Redstart and another Spotted Flycatcher.

Other sites in SP55 yielded Tree Sparrow, an adult male Peregrine, Yellow Wagtails and Lesser Whitethroats.

A Black Tern was again present in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today and a pale, dark-billed tern as seen with the Common Terns by Jacob Spinks defied identification...

Regards

Neil M

The Bluebells of
Badby Wood.

Drake Mandarin Duck
Fawsley Park.

All images courtesy of
Cathy Ryden.

It's warming up!

Hello

Eric Graham was over at the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston GP this morning and enjoyed watching a Nightingale providing a singing lesson to the many warblers now in residence. Other birds included Black Terns and a pair of Egyptian Geese.

Kenny Cramer enjoyed a quality ringing session at Linford Lakes on the outskirts of Milton Keynes with 42 birds captured and processed which included 31 new ones. Warblers dominated with three Willow Warblers, two Chiffchaffs, eight Blackcaps, four Garden Warblers, seven Reed Warblers and two Sedge Warblers. One of the Garden Warblers was already ringed from elsewhere...

A Banbury Ornithological Society Long Day Count was completed in SP54 today which is the 10km square in South Northants north of Middleton Cheney. A total of 68 bird species were recorded which included 3-4 Spotted Flycatchers, Kingfishers at two sites, a singing Grey Wagtail, a Raven with young, Tawny and Little Owls and a foraging Willow Tit. The early morning start also provided good viewing of scarcer mammals, notably Noctule-type Bats, Roe Deer and Water Vole.

This afternoon, a single Black Tern was visible from the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir, flying with Common Terns in the Scaldwell Bay, and a singing Grasshopper Warbler remains in the Hill Field at Blueberry Farm.

Regards

Neil M

Blue Tit.
Common but stunning!

Garden Warbler

Ravensthorpe Reservoir.

All images courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Local bird ringing

Hello

Dave Francis completed his first CES ringing session of the season at Pitsford Reservoir today and caught 56 birds of 18 species. These included seven Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, a Reed Warbler, six Chiffchaffs, three Reed Buntings, three Treecreepers, two Bullfinches, a Yellowhammer, a Song Thrush, a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit.

A more modest ringing session at Harrington Airfield this morning provided 35 captures which included three Blackcaps, two Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, four Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff and ten Yellowhammers. Both Whitethroats were returning adults to the site being first caught and ringed there last year. Three of the Willow Warblers were also returning adults from 2015 and 2014. Both these latter species would have wintered south of the Sahara but these waifs have made it back to breed in the same few bushes at Harrington Airfield. Amazing!

Transitory migrants at Harrington seemed to be in short supply today, but two Wheatears were still present...

Regards

Neil M

Willow Warbler

Whitethroat

The warm weather continues...

Hello

Ken Spriggs and Andy Cooke were out on the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Gravel Pits today and enjoyed some good birding which included two Black Terns, two Cuckoos, three Nightingales (two showing well) and the usual myriad of warblers which included good views of the normally difficult-to see Cetti's Warbler.

Harrington Airfield was much quieter today but hosted two Wheatears, a Hobby, a singing Lesser Whitethroat and at least one pair of Grey Partridge. There will be some bird ringing conducted on-site there tomorrow in the vicinity of the bunkers and old airstrip and this area will be out of bounds during this time. The footpaths and access to the concrete track remain unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Grey Heron and youngsters
Hardingstone Gravel Pits.

Courtesy of Graham Bentley.

Singing male Blackbird.

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Cuckoo at Ravensthorpe
Reservoir yesterday.

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Fancy a chat?

Hello

A quick tour of Harrington Airfield this afternoon was good for seven Wheatears and two Whinchats.

A similarly quick walk around Welford Reservoir this afternoon yielded two or three Common Sandpipers but little else.

So a few images from last week's trip to Provence in France...

Regards

Neil M

Coypu

Western Bonelli's Warbler

Griffon Vulture