Sunday's wildlife

Hello

More ringing took place today this time at Linford Lakes on the outskirts of Milton Keynes. Kenny Cramer is the principal ringer on site and had envisaged catching good numbers of thrushes. His prediction proved accurate with catches of 12 Blackbirds, a Fieldfare, and a very impressive 52 Redwings. It seems that there are particularly large numbers of Redwings circulating in the UK currently, perhaps initially assisted with the easterly airflows of the early autumn. The British Trust for Ornithology is reporting that it is possible it may be a record year for this species.

Other birds caught at Linford today included a Reed Bunting, four Goldcrests, a Bullfinch, a Siskin, a Goldfinch, a Treecreeper, a Green Woodpecker and a female Blackcap; a total of 81 captures of 14 species is a very good session.

Further ringing is planned for Harrington Airfield this week with the potential for more thrush ringing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Public access to the ringing areas will be restricted but the concrete track and footpaths will remain unaffected.

Birds at Harrington Airfield today included a female Peregrine and about fifty Golden Plovers.

Pitsford Reservoir retains good birds, Jacob Spinks today locating two Great White Egrets, a drake Smew, a Redshank, two Green Sandpipers, a Dunlin, 10+ Snipe and a Peregrine, and I saw an adult Caspian Gull in the roost off the Sailing Club.

Wildlife watching at Ravensthorpe Reservoir is also to a high standard currently and today's sightings included two Otters on show again this afternoon, three Great White Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Water Rail and a party of redpoll sp in the birches there.

The cold temperatures of today have brought many birds in to the garden including a couple of Nuthatches and about three Tree Sparrows.

Regards

Neil M

Ducks on parade!

 Images taken at Pitsford Reservoir by Robin Gossage
depict (from top to bottom) Goldeneye, Shoveler and Teal.

Saturday county birding

Hello

Jacob Spinks was at Pitsford Reservoir today and his tally of birds were made up of a Caspian Gull, a Yellow-legged Gull, a drake Smew, two Great White Egrets, a Redshank, a Green Sandpiper and a Chiffchaff.

Clive Bowley was at Sywell Country Park and located a single adult Whooper Swan showing nicely.

Eleanor was at Staverton again today where four Ravens were in situ and the conifers there attracted at least ten Crossbills. At Ravensthorpe Reservoir there were again two Otters on show from the causeway and two Great White Egrets. Nearer to home and a Barn Owl and a pair of Stonechat were present in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Whooper Swan
courtesy of Clive Bowley

Pitsford ringing

Hello

A two hour netting session at Pitsford Reservoir this morning quickly provided 71 captures in Christies Copse, situated on the west side of the Walgrave Bay. Forty-one of these were new birds with the remaining thirty birds being mostly re-trap tits from previous efforts or the on-going nest-box scheme. The bird feeders pull in tits from around the reservoir and it is rather concerning how few young tits from the nest-boxes have been accounted for, further evidence of a poor breeding season locally for both Blue and Great Tits. Only one Coal Tit was a surprise but it is likely that had we kept the nets open for longer more Coal Tits would have been caught.

Highlights included a Redwing, two Song Thrushes, eleven Goldcrests, two Willow Tits and two Marsh Tits.

Other birds recorded in this section of the bay included a pair of Red-crested Pochard (male and female), at least one Water Rail, three Woodcock, a Green Sandpiper, a Kingfisher and a couple of vocal Ravens. Another two Kingfishers and a Green Sandpiper were in Yacht Bay at the other end of the reservoir with a flock of about twelve Golden Plovers over fields near to Scaldwell village.

Regards

Neil M

Green Sandpiper at Pitsford Reservoir
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

A Jay at Weston Mill,
Northampton back on
the frosty 29th November!
Images courtesy of John Gamble.

South Northants Ringing

Hello

Chris Payne and John Boland were fully employed ringing this morning at Bradden in South Northants processing over eighty birds in woodland habitat. This excellent total was made up of 22 Blue Tits, 33 Great Tits, 2 Coal Tits, a Marsh Tit, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 9 Chaffinches, 9 Goldfinches, 5 Robins, 2 Dunnocks and singles of Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Blackbird and a Sparrowhawk.

Chris went on to see a male and female Blackcap in his Greens Norton apple tree garden on his arrival home.

Michael Wood was at Blueberry Farm today and saw a Short-eared Owl and the usual pair of Stonechat was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Tit

Nuthatch

Sparrowhawk

Images courtesy of Chris Payne.

Wild Bird Feeding Stations

Great White Egret at
Pitsford Reservoir courtesy
of Cathy Ryden.

Hello

I spent most of today visiting wild bird feeding stations and ensuring there was plenty of food on offer in these cold temperatures. A Siskin was present at Kelmarsh Hall but otherwise it was quiet; Scotland Wood was the venue for some very vocal Nuthatches and the Marsh Tits came straight in for broadcast sunflower seeds.

Birds visible from the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station at Pitsford Reservoir at lunchtime amounted to just a single Great White Egret, three first winter Scaup and a couple of Pintail.

At least one Grey Wagtail was present at Brixworth Water Treatment Works and a pair of Stonechat remain in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

An afternoon walk at Harrington Airfield was a great way to appreciate the amazing colours created by the setting sun but the birds were mostly absent with just five Golden Plovers whizzing about.

CNX338 is a ring number read on a Goldcrest at Pitsford Reservoir on 13th November and it transpires that this bird was first caught and ringed at Theddlethorpe St Helen, Mablethorpe on the Lincolnshire coast on 11th October 2016. This bird exhibited top of the scale biometrics when processed at Pitsford and the circumstances suggest that this was a continental bird still very much on a SSW bearing. It took this little mite 33 days to travel 139km from Mablethorpe to Pitsford.

Confirmation has now been received that the Grey Wagtail caught at Pitsford Res on 13th November already bearing a ring was originally ringed as a nestling at Stanford Reservoir on 14th July 2016. This bird clearly hasn't travelled too far since fledging on the Northants/Leicestershire border.

Regards

Neil M

Goldcrest

Siskin.
Relatively few around so
far this season but they are
likely to increase in the back
half of the winter...

A cold morning at Pitsford Reservoir...

Hello

Dave Francis and team conducted some ringing at Pitsford Reservoir this morning and assessed 57 captures which included 6 new Blackbirds, 4 new Song Thrushes, 2 new Redwings and a re-trap Fieldfare which was first ringed at Pitsford in January 2015 (but has obviously travelled many hundreds of miles since then). Other captures involved two new Marsh Tits, 4 Reed Buntings and a Yellowhammer.

Also this morning a Kingfisher and a pair of Stonechat were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and birds south of the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir included two drake Goosanders, a Green Sandpiper, two Grey Wagtails, six Siskins, two redpoll sp and a Little Owl again.

Birds visible at Harrington Airfield this afternoon were eighty Golden Plovers, an immature female Peregrine, two Woodcock and a Short-eared Owl.

Regards

Neil M

A close up of a Goldcrest
caught at the week-end at
Harrington Airfield. The dark
 malar stripe extending downwards
 from the base of the bill has a tendency to
 make Goldcrests look sad...

Image courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

An image of Pitsford Reservoir
at dawn on the coldest morning
of the season so far...

Image courtesy of Lynne Barnett.

'Redhead' Smew south of the
causeway at Pitsford Reservoir
today...

Images courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Drake Teal

Drake Shoveler

Both images taken at Pitsford Reservoir
today by Cathy Ryden.

Reservoir Birding

Hello

Neil Hasdell birded at Pitsford Reservoir today and notched up three Great White Egrets, a Common Scoter and four Scaup all north of the causeway and two Little Owls and a Green Sandpiper south of the causeway.

This afternoon Cathy Ryden was at Ravensthorpe Reservoir again and saw two Great White Egrets which were pretty mobile, and two Otters on show too...

Regards

Neil M

Little Owl at Pitsford
Reservoir courtesy
of  Neil Hasdell. Image taken
by iphone through a Leica
telescope.

Chaffinch
Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Images this afternoon from
 Ravensthorpe Reservoir
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Brampton Valley birds

Hello

Didn't have to travel far today to come across good birds! The remains of the sunflower crop in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton attracted a Greenfinch flock numbering about sixty birds, with much smaller numbers of Goldfinch and Linnet. It was probably these that attracted a female Merlin this morning as she hunted the open expanse fields at the usual high speed Merlin pace!

Also present was the Short-eared Owl again and one of the pairs of Stonechat put in an appearance.

Regards

Neil M

Greenfinch

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Merlin

(Image taken Scillies 2015).

Sunday ringing

Hello

John Woollett and team enjoyed a successful ringing experience at Stortons Gravel Pits today with 65 captures made up of 38 new birds and 27 re-traps. Highlights included two new Cetti's Warblers, a Chiffchaff, 7 Goldcrests, 4 Blackbirds and 8 Redwings.

A second day of ringing at Harrington Airfield succeeded in 86 captures dominated by migrant thrushes. Flock after flock of Redwings streamed in from the south-east, most flocks also including plenty of Fieldfares. Several hundreds of birds were involved as we watched some of them funnel down into the berry bushes on the old airfield with others lingering briefly and then passing over.

As a result we managed to catch and ring 66 new Redwings and 7 Fieldfares. None of the birds caught yesterday were caught again today, further proof of the nomadic behaviour of these birds during the autumn and winter. The vast majority of the Redwings handled and assessed during the last two days have been young birds hatched this year.

Other birds noted at Harrington Airfield amounted to about seventy Golden Plovers, a Barn Owl and a fly-over Siskin.

We managed to find time to watch over the gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon and picked out two Caspian Gulls (adult and a third year) amongst the 8,000 or so gulls roosting there plus the usual Grey Wagtail.

Regards

Neil M

Caspian Gull at Pitsford
Reservoir (image taken in
March 2016)

Thrushes galore...

Hello

This morning four Stonechats and a Barn Owl were in the Brampton Valley again below Hanging Houghton and later in the morning Staverton hosted at least four Ravens. A wander around Borough Hill Country Park (Daventry) provided views of a high-flying Short-eared Owl being mobbed as it passed over the hill towards Daventry town and two Woodcock were flushed from a hedgerow there.

Chris Payne caught 34 Goldfinches in his Greens Norton garden today in addition to several common birds and watched a male Blackcap feeding on apples there. Chris has caught and ringed 410 Goldfinches this year, the majority coming to feeders in his garden.

More bird ringing at Harrington Airfield today provided 87 captures, the majority of them being thrushes, made up of 42 Redwings, 2 Song Thrushes, 14 Blackbirds and 8 Fieldfares. Two re-trap Green Woodpeckers added a splash of colour and a Woodcock was caught and ringed.

Other birds noted included three distant and unidentified 'wild' swans flying distantly to the north (Bewick's or Whoopers), two calling individuals of Waxwings flying south over the complex (at 8.40am and about an hour later), several small flocks of Golden Plovers probably amounting to over fifty birds, visible migration of big gulls and Woodpigeon flocks, a couple of Siskins and two Ravens.

At about 3pm this afternoon it was possible to see two Otters and two Great White Egrets (together) from the causeway at Ravensthorpe Reservoir.

Regards

Neil M

Fieldfare

Green Woodpecker
Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Woodcock
Courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Birds caught and ringed
at Harrington Airfield today.

Black Friday birds

Hello

A Grey Wagtail remained at Hanging Houghton this morning and birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton included a Short-eared Owl (morning only), a Barn Owl and two pairs of Stonechat. Two Ravens were over Brixworth Country Park heading towards Brixworth village.

Single Siskins were at Kelmarsh Hall and Scotland Wood this morning and this afternoon Harrington Airfield hosted a Woodcock, approximately thirty Golden Plovers and a Siskin or two. Ringing will take place over the week-end in an effort to monitor winter thrushes and parts of the complex will be out of bounds (public footpaths and the concrete track not affected).

John Woollett re-trapped a Goldfinch in his Astcote garden on 23rd November which he first ringed in the garden in December 2011. John has caught it on two other occasions during this period so this five year old finch must make a bee-line for John's garden every winter!

Regards

Neil M

Golden Plovers

Ravens

Birds of Thursday...

Hello

Cathy Ryden visited Hollowell Reservoir on a couple of occasions today and notched up a Great White Egret, a Barnacle Goose and a pair of Goosander.

This morning Eleanor located a Short-eared Owl and two pairs of Stonechat in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton, between the Brampton Valley Way and the Gamboro' Plantation.

An afternoon visit to Harrington Airfield didn't turn up the Hen Harrier but a Peregrine was there eating prey (probably a Golden Plover). Just over a hundred Golden Plover were present but not surprisingly were very nervous...

Ringing operations are planned for Harrington Airfield this coming week-end and therefore access to the old airstrip and bunkers will be affected. The concrete track and public footpaths remain unaffected. Anyone wishing to help or watch the session are invited to make contact beforehand.

Regards

Neil M

No not a double-headed goose,
but a Barnacle Goose standing in
front of a Canada Goose!

Courtesy of Cathy Ryden,

Goosander at Hollowell Res
courtesy of Cathy Ryden.

Portrait of a drake
Pintail by Robin Gossage.

Pitsford WeBS count

Recent images from
David Arden of the Otters
at Ravensthorpe Reservoir

Hello

Chris Payne continues to monitor the turnover of Goldfinches at his ringing sites in South Northants and on Saturday he caught and ringed twenty more birds at Greens Norton and today ten more at Bradden, together with ten Chaffinches, a Goldcrest and other common birds.

Today a small band of us completed the Pitsford Reservoir WeBS count and although there were no surprises there was a good haul of interesting species. We could only be sure of four Great White Egrets (there could have been five) and counted 16 Little Egrets, four Scaup north of the causeway, a drake Goosander, 24 Pintail, two drake Red-crested Pochard and a pair of Red-crested Pochard x Mallard hybrids (male and female). Waders were made up of a Redshank, two Green Sandpipers and 27 Snipe.

An adult male Peregrine was also present plus the regular adult Yellow-legged Gull, two Ravens, four Kingfishers and at least one Stonechat. Other birds included three Grey Wagtails, two Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap.

Cathy Ryden again located an Otter at Ravensthorpe Reservoir this afternoon and again the Great White Egret and a Kingfisher were also present.

Regards

Neil M

Great White Egret

Lapwings

Pochard

Hen Harrier

Hello

No birding for me today and Eleanor's opportunities were limited due to other commitments. However she managed a circuit of Harrington Airfield and was rewarded with a 'ringtail' Hen Harrier flying around at about 3.45pm and a female Peregrine flying over. A pair of Stonechat were again between the Brampton Valley Way and Gamboro' Plantation west of Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Peregrines.

 Variable in size and plumage, and with a difference
 in 'jizz' it is normally possible to identify
the gender of your Peregrine. The males
are nimble and athletic and regularly take
on more manoeuvrable prey such as waders,
Starlings and a variety of passerines up to
size of pigeons. Occasionally they attack birds
such as Teal and in coastal areas they regularly
take petrels, shearwaters etc. The heavier and
larger females can take larger prey and sometimes
'run down' less manoeuvrable prey such  as larger
wildfowl, gulls, Fieldfares and the like. However
the supreme hunting skills of  the Peregrine means that
no bird is safe and they have been known to take prey
ranging in size between the diminutive Goldcrest
right up to geese, herons and the like. We now see the
Peregrine far more regularly in Northamptonshire
and it is clear that some individuals probably spend
long periods of time here during the non-breeding
season and a few summer too.