Orca!

Hello

The bird ringing at Harrington Airfield today in cooler, cloudy conditions than of late provided sixty-eight captures of thirteen species. Most were new birds again and included both residents and migrants too.

The total was made up of four Blackbirds, seventeen Yellowhammers, five Dunnocks, four Blue Tits, twelve Linnets, singles of Robin, Goldfinch, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler, eleven Whitethroats, two Blackcaps, seven Willow Warblers and two Lesser Whitethroats.

This is the third and final ringing session at Harrington this week. Birds seen on-site there today included a Raven, six Grey Partridges and a Turtle Dove.

A dead Polecat at the side of the A508 on the outskirts of Brixworth today was the first I've seen for quite a while.

Eric's birding exploits on the Titchmarsh reserve today resulted in observations of just a single Great White Egret, but the three Ospreys present there today must have been spectacular!

Regards

Neil M

One of the highlights of our
super trip to Iceland in June
was encountering a large pod
of Orca or Killer Whales.

Birds of yellow.

Hello

Eric Graham's resilience and persistence has been paying off all summer with his regular visits to the Titchmarsh Reserve, and again today he thoroughly enjoyed his wildlife observations with plenty of birds on offer including now three Great White Egrets. Years ago we all used to enjoy encountering mixed warbler and tit flocks as these roving bands (often of juvenile birds) roamed the hedgerows and woodland edges. In recent years this has become a far less common sight, but Eric found such a flock at Titchmarsh today and among the throng marvelled at the vivid yellows of the juvenile Willow Warblers. Other birds on the reserve today included two Black-tailed Godwits in the wader channel and a Green Sandpiper.

An adult Yellow-legged Gull was perched imperiously on one of the buoys near to the Maytrees Hide at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon, a regular spot for it, and a Snipe flushed up from in front of the hide. A gathered flock of 43 non-breeding Great Crested Grebes in full summer plumage garb nevertheless reminds us that autumn as far as the birds are concerned is upon us!

We are fortunate to have grass fields bordering our back garden here at Hanging Houghton, often containing livestock. There have been transitory Yellow Wagtails visiting the fields regularly during the last month, partly no doubt attracted to the cattle. This afternoon three or four of these birds were on the house roof which was a little closer than normal!

Regards

Neil M

Willow Warbler
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Male Yellow Wagtail.

Harrington ringing today...

Hello

A second consecutive day of ringing at Harrington Airfield today provided 69 captures of fifteen species, 59 of them being new birds. An increase in the number of Linnets gathered in a post-breeding flock was at least a hundred birds strong.

Birds examined today were made up of three Blackbirds, thirteen Yellowhammers, two Greenfinches, four Dunnocks, a Great Tit, three Blue Tits, a Sedge Warbler, two Reed Warblers, three Blackcaps, fifteen Whitethroats, four Willow Warblers, a Reed Bunting, a Chaffinch, fourteen Linnets and two Goldfinches.

A Nuthatch was on-site today, a Turtle Dove was seen briefly and three Tree Sparrows flew south.

Regards

Neil M

Blackcap.

Linnet.

Sedge Warbler.

Willow Warbler.

All images courtesy
of John Tilly.

Crassula, Mudwort and Yellowhammers!

Hello

Tony Vials visited Hollowell Reservoir this morning and confirmed that much of the small plant growth on the mud foreshore is the invasive Crassula helmsii or New Zealand Pigmyweed. He did find plenty of specimens of Mudwort too, another plant renown for taking advantage of draw down zone conditions. Waders present included singletons of Snipe, Dunlin and Ringed Plover and four Common Sandpipers.

A bird ringing session took place at Harrington Airfield this morning resulting in the temporary capture and processing of 93 birds of 14 species which were all new birds apart from four re-trap adult Yellowhammers. The vast majority were birds fledged this year.

The total was made up of two Blackbirds, twenty-five Yellowhammers, fifteen Dunnocks, two Great Tits, fourteen Blue Tits, two Robins, seven Willow Warblers, seventeen Whitethroats, four Chaffinches and singles of Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Goldfinch, Linnet and Greenfinch.

Other birds on-site included a Redstart between the gravel compound and the first bunker and four Ravens over high up.

More ringing is planned tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday and access restrictions remain in place.

A Raven again paid Hanging Houghton a visit this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Setting up the ringing nets.
Image courtesy of John Hunt.

Mudwort.
Courtesy of Tony Vials.

Tor (top) has been competing again
and in addition to the rosettes displayed
he came first today in an event which tests
agility and obedience. Jaeger (bottom) is
only a very young dog and can't compete yet
but he entered a fun event today and won his
first rosette for completing a clear round!

More signs of autumn...

Hello

A Barn Owl was noisy at Hanging Houghton during the early hours of this morning.

From daybreak it became clear that there had been quite a movement of Willow Warblers with at least three here in the garden and birds seen and heard everywhere I have been today...

A ringing session at Stortons Pits today was productive with over forty birds caught of thirteen species all before 10am when it became just a little too warm!

This total was made up of two Sedge Warblers, twelve Reed Warblers, five Blackcaps, four Whitethroats, six Garden Warblers, two Willow Warblers, four Goldfinches, a Greenfinch, a Reed Bunting, two Dunnocks, a Robin, five Blue Tits and three Great Tits.

As the ringers were packing up a Bittern was seen in flight and then it dropped into a reed bed at the edge of the reserve close to Edgar Mobbs Way.

The best birds seen at Harrington Airfield today were a pair of Grey Partridge with eight or nine young! A reminder that access this week to the old airstrip and bunkers is restricted due to bird ringing activities. At the moment it is planned to operate there on Monday and Tuesday this week and possibly Thursday too. Access along the footpaths and concrete track remains unaffected.

Regards

Neil M

Grey Partridge.

Bittern.

Juvenile Willow Warbler.

Saturday's offerings

Hello

Debbie and Eric revisited Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston today and saw much the same birds as yesterday which included two Great White Egrets and the Turnstone. In addition an Osprey showed well there and a Common Sandpiper appeared too.

A Raven was at Hanging Houghton today and interesting insects in the garden included several Hornets, a Southern Hawker dragonfly and butterflies such as Painted Lady, Comma and Brimstone.

Summer Leys is a favourite nature reserve but for some time now road access to the reserve from Great Doddington village has not been possible due to damage caused to the bridge. It is likely that this road closure will persist as a long term issue and access is only possible from the Wollaston village direction. My thanks to John Tilly for the latest update.

Regards

Neil M

Common Tern.
Courtesy of David Jackson.

Raven.

Southern Hawker dragonfly.

August warmth

Hello

Eric's regular visits to Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston continued today and he saw the two Great White Egrets, six Little Egrets, a Turnstone on the long island and an adult Yellow-legged Gull.

A ringing session at Linford Lakes this morning provided 65 captures of 16 species, 59 of which were new birds. Warblers included a Sedge Warbler, 17 Reed Warblers, 3 Blackcaps, 2 Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff. There were plenty of tits and common birds, perhaps the most noteworthy being two Song Thrushes, two Reed Buntings, a Goldfinch and a Treecreeper.

Scanning from the Old Scaldwell Road Feeding Station at Pitsford Reservoir this evening yielded views of a single Garganey, the five eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard and a roost of nineteen Little Egrets on The Point. One or two Raven could be heard calling in trees on the north side of the Scaldwell Bay.

Regards

Neil M

Little Egret.

Sedge Warbler
courtesy of Kenny Cramer.

Images of Pitsford Reservoir scenes.

Here comes the heat again!

Hello

Very pleasant weather today and Eleanor's early morning foray in the Brampton Valley and the area around Blueberry Farm provided multiple raptor sightings and a migrant Redstart in a field hedge.

At one stage today one of our garden buddleias attracted migrants in the form of a Willow Warbler, a Painted Lady butterfly and a Hummingbird Hawk-Moth all at the same time!

Four days ago I caught an adult male Goldfinch in the garden and initially didn't recognise the  number inscribed on the ring it was wearing. It turns out that this bird was first ringed in our garden in May 2010 (an adult bird then) and re-trapped here in 2016. This means that this little finch is at least nine years old, very old in Goldfinch years. He seemed in fine fettle and hopefully has a couple more years left in him yet! The oldest known Goldfinch is recorded as 10 years, two days old!

Two days ago Eleanor picked up a weary racing pigeon in the Brampton Valley which is now recuperating here at home. Enquiries indicate that it was released in Marseilles on the south coast of France on Saturday and normally resides in Windsor, London! Obviously he has overshot home and time will tell how or when he finally arrives!

This evening a visit to Hollowell Reservoir provided a view of an Osprey which then went off towards Naseby/Welford Reservoirs. The water level is dropping here and the foreshore attracted three Black-tailed Godwits, a couple of Common Sandpipers, a Snipe and a Little Ringed Plover despite the mud being covered in the invasive plant crassula. Other birds included two Black Swans and four Little Egrets. The gull roost at Pitsford Reservoir contained at least four Yellow-legged Gulls and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, all the gulls picking off a big hatch of insects on a still, sultry and very warm evening.

Kenny Cramer has recently returned from a sea-bird ringing expedition on the low lying rocks off the north of Scotland known as Sule Skerry. His report and accompanying images can be found by clicking on the 'Ringing' Tab on this blog and scrolling down...

Regards

Neil M

Osprey and Black-
tailed Godwit at
Hollowell Reservoir
this evening...

NN6 birding...

Hello

Yesterday (Tuesday) wasn't memorable for wildlife, a walk in the evening at Harrington Airfield provided sightings of a Turtle Dove and a pair of Grey Partridge and a growing flock of Linnet that is currently forty to fifty strong. There are plans afoot to run a ringing session at this site on Monday next week when much of the old airstrip and bushes will be out of bounds. Access along footpaths and the concrete track will be unaffected.

Today and the pair of Raven again made a short visit to Hanging Houghton village and the bio blitz team at Pitsford Reservoir (on the reserve north of the causeway) watched an Osprey being mobbed by the Marsh Harrier!

Regards

Neil M

Cock Linnet
courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Great Crested Grebe
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Stock Dove.

Osprey with trout.

Late July birding

Hello

Despite being out and about quite a bit yesterday (Sunday), we really didn't connect with any birds of particular note. Eleanor saw a single Turtle Dove at Harrington Airfield and I saw eight Little Egrets and at least four Yellow-legged Gulls from the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir in the evening. The anticipated increase in terns and possibly gulls and a few waders at Pitsford just didn't materialise!

This morning (Monday) and a pair of Raven paid Hanging Houghton village a visit, and a Silver-washed Fritillary spent a short time on one of the garden buddleia in blustery conditions (another new butterfly for the garden)!

Eric was at Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston again this morning and located the two Great White Egrets again plus three Little Egrets, a Green Sandpiper, a Hobby, a Spotted Flycatcher and a 'reeling' Grasshopper Warbler still.

Two more Ravens were at Staverton again today and this evening the summering Marsh Harrier was again at Pitsford Reservoir, hunting the east side of the Holcot and Walgrave bays. There was also a decent summer flock of 120 Pochard and eight Little Egrets.

Regards

Neil M

Marsh Harrier.

Raven.

Pochard.

Northants Bird Club Indoor Meeting 1st Aug

Hello

The next indoor meeting of the Northants Bird Club will be this coming Wednesday (1st Aug) commencing at 7.30pm. The venue will be the Fishing Lodge at Pitsford Reservoir and all are welcome.

The presentation 'Patagonia' is a photographic record of a trip in 2017 to Chile, Argentina and a day in Brazil to see the special wildlife and landscape on offer in these South American countries. Tour participants were Wendy and Robin Gossage and Eleanor and myself. All the images have been provided by Robin which I hope to present appropriately!

This presentation is instead of the planned Red Kite talk by Dr Rebecca Thomas who is currently unwell and her talk has been postponed for a future date.

As usual there will be minimal notices and formalities, but there will be hot drinks and biscuits on hand and I hope you find the evening enjoyable!

Regards

Neil M

Guanaco.

American Kestrels.

Both images courtesy of Robin Gossage.

The Glaucous Gull

Hello


Many people will know that I enjoy watching gulls! Big, bold and beautiful they are frequently an identification challenge and there aren't many places in the world where they don't inhabit or visit. For many, the idea of watching gulls or 'sea-gulls' if you like is a big turn-off - they tend not to sing beautifully, they can regularly be found at landfill sites, sewer works, ports, industrial sites and other such delightful places, some are predatory and of course some have developed a tendency to mug holiday makers of ice creams!


Anyway whilst in Iceland I was hoping we would see some 'white-winged gulls', a small group of species which tend to visit the British Isles during the winter months in varying numbers and one of the reasons why some of us (sad!) birders go visiting landfill sites (the few that are left) and reservoir roost sites during the short days of winter in the hope of seeing one.


In Iceland we saw small numbers of Iceland Gulls (which strangely enough don't normally breed there) and rather larger numbers of the Glaucous Gulls (which do breed there). At one particular small town harbour we came across a fishing boat that was off-loading its catch of fish and not surprisingly this activity attracted a large number of gulls hoping to take advantage. The most numerous gull around the boat and pier was the Glaucous Gull...


Regards


Neil M

Bold, intelligent and in
stunning plumage with a
beautiful soft grey upperside,
pure white wing-tips and no
dark feathers anywhere, these
large, ghostly gulls are generally
a little larger than Herring Gulls
and only just a little smaller than
 most Great Black-backed Gulls.
All these images relate to adult
birds which are likely to be at least
 five years old. It is likely that picture
 seven (head shot) relates to a male bird
with a large bill and more the proportions
 of a Great Black-backed Gull...