Black-necked Grebe, Yellow Wagtails and butterflies!

Hello

A Black-necked Grebe at Daventry Country Park was the find of the day in the county and birds at Stanford Reservoir included a fly-over Curlew, two Barn Owls, two Willow Warblers, two Blackcaps and a Lesser Redpoll. 

With a big hatch of flies at Pitsford Reservoir the dam area today attracted twelve male Yellow Wagtails, a White Wagtail, three Meadow Pipits and extra Pied Wagtails. The adult Yellow-legged Gull was still present and other birds included a Raven, twenty Sand Martins, a Swallow and a singing Blackcap. South of the causeway there was a singing Willow Warbler and still reasonable numbers of Common Snipe with numbers somewhere between twenty-five and forty mostly hidden in the margins.

Welford Reservoir this evening hosted four Yellow Wagtails, a pair of Grey Wagtails, two Swallows and a Willow Warbler. A Barn Owl was hunting in fields between Tiffield and Pattishall and a Great White Egret remains in the vicinity of Barton Seagrave/Wicksteed Park.

Summer Leys LNR provided views of two Great White Egrets, two Black-tailed Godwits, six Redshank, a Little Ringed Plover, an Oystercatcher, a Common Snipe, about fifteen Sand Martins, a Sedge Warbler, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers and a Grass Snake. An Otter showed well at Stanwick Pits yesterday and today birds noted at Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston included a pair of Oystercatchers, two Great White Egrets, a Kingfisher, Blackcaps and Cetti's Warblers.

Three Yellow Wagtails and a White Wagtail were at Chelveston Airfield this evening and large numbers of butterflies were busy in the warm sunshine and included multiple records in the county of Holly Blue, Small Whites and slightly later emerging butterflies.

Clifford Hill Pits provided views of a Raven, two Little Ringed Plovers and a Yellow Wagtail and a Blackcap fed on apples in a Duston garden. Three Curlews were noted at Lilbourne Meadows Nature Reserve. At least one Osprey was fishing on the lake at Kelmarsh Hall this afternoon with two or three Siskins on the estate near the Brampton Valley Way.

Thirty Jackdaws joined a Carrion Crow, seven Stock Doves and twenty-five Woodpigeons feeding on our small back lawn this afternoon with smaller birds still including visiting Pied Wagtails, Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers.

Regards

Neil M

Sand Martin at Summer Leys
LNR today courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Common Buzzard courtesy
of John Tilly.

Yellow Wagtail at Pitsford Reservoir
today courtesy of Martin Swannell.

Black-tailed Godwits at Summer Leys
LNR today courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Spring Ringing

Hello

Some spring bird ringing at Woodford Halse today yielded thirty-six birds of thirteen species which included a Chiffchaff, a Treecreeper, a Goldcrest and six Yellowhammers. One of ten Blue Tits was a bird first ringed as a first year in 2018 and will be five years old this year. Other birds in the immediate vicinity included at least one more Chiffchaff, a Raven and up to four Redpolls with small numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares.

Barn Owls seen today included singles at Fosters Booth, Stanford Reservoir, Blueberry Farm (Maidwell) with two at Hanging Houghton.

Other birds at Stanford Reservoir included three Yellow Wagtails, two White Wagtails, six Little Egrets, two Shelducks, two Goosanders, two Swallows, two Willow Warblers and two Cetti's Warblers.

A Blackcap was again singing at Hanging Houghton and birds noted at Harrington Airfield included a Yellow Wagtail, a Willow Warbler and a pair of Grey Partridge. The female Ring-necked Duck was reported from Ravensthorpe Reservoir again today and birds at nearby Hollowell Reservoir included an Osprey, two Jack Snipe and six Common Snipe. A singing Blackcap was near the dam at Pitsford Reservoir.

Summer Leys LNR hosted singing Blackcaps and Willow Warblers, a Common Tern, Siskins, four Dunlin and two Little Ringed Plovers with a Marsh Harrier, an Egyptian Goose, a Water Rail, Common Terns, a Kingfisher, a Sedge Warbler and Swallows at Thrapston Pits this morning. A Marsh Harrier was also seen at Irthlingborough this evening and Clifford Hill Pits attracted a Peregrine, two Oystercatchers and a Little Ringed Plover.

Regards

Neil M

Male Yellowhammers at
Woodford Halse today.

Dunlin courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Local falcons

Hello

Birds at Stanford Reservoir today included a Blackcap, three Swallows, five Sand Martins, a Willow Warbler, an Oystercatcher and a Common Snipe.

Two Grey Wagtails were in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth this afternoon, there was a Barn Owl between the villages of Scaldwell and Old and an adult Yellow-legged Gull was off the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir.

A drake Goosander remains on the lakes at Abington Park, Northampton and a Redshank and seven Sand Martins were at Summer Leys LNR. A Willow Warbler and Mandarin Ducks were at Barnwell Country Park and a Barn Owl was just outside the village boundary at Hanging Houghton with a singing Blackcap in the village.

An Otter was seen at Market Harborough today and a Slow Worm was photographed at Fineshade Wood.

I have just returned from a Naturetrek tour in Poland where the main focus was finding the exciting mammals in and around the Bieszczady National Park. A separate page or tab entitled 'Poland March 2023' has been created on this blog for your perusal.

Regards

Neil M

Mating Peregrines courtesy
of David Smith.

Kestrel courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

A Kestrel caught and 
ringed at Linford Lakes
today courtesy of
Helen Franklin.

Movement at last!!

 At long last there has been a noticeable movement of new birds, hooray !!. Not that I have seen any of them.  All I could muster was a Northern Wheatear at Harrington Airfield and 3 different Barn Owls in my area.  The garden continues to be very busy and today when I looked out of the window I  saw 3 beautiful boys, a Brambling,  Reed Bunting and a Blackcap, bizarrely all sitting in the same bush. The Blackcap was enjoying an apple with the Brambling and Reed Bunting perched nearby.  I  know that  many folk have been lucky to have Blackcap wintering in their gardens but despite us feeding the birds with a  huge variety of feeds we struggle to attract these lovely Warblers, so I was delighted to see him.

I think that yesterday was a taster for things to come. At Hollowell Reservoir there were a couple of Common Terns which I think are the first ones to be recorded this spring and a Dunlin. A flock of 7 Barnacle Geese were seen flying west from Summer Leys.                     However today simply got better,  a Water Pipit was found at Ravensthorpe Reservoir and hung around until mid afternoon when it was seen to fly off.  The female Ring Necked Duck was still showing well there today.  An Osprey was seen at Pitsford Reservoir, a singing Sedge Warbler at Stanwick GP and a House Martin at Daventry CP.  But all was not over as 2 stunning drake Red Breasted Mergansers were found close to the dam at Daventry CP.   We don't get many of these birds turning up in the county and I understand that they were showing well, so it will be well worth the journey over to Daventry if they hang around.                                                                                                               Finally at least 250 Sand Martins moved through Hollowell Reservoir. 

I wonder what the next few days will bring, fingers crossed that we have some exciting sightings ahead. Just keep your ears and eyes open!!

Regards Eleanor 

A Full Stop!!

 It certainly feels as if everything has come to a full stop !!! Although I have been out and about everywhere seems to be extremely quiet with very few new birds being reported.  I did spend a rather pleasant few hours out ambling around fields below Hanging Houghton/Blueberry/Cottesbrooke with my 4 legged companions. Plenty of Common Buzzards and Red Kites enjoying the sunshine and light wind. I bumped into a pair of Stonechat and Barn Owl near Blueberry and a Yellow Wagtail and Northern Wheatear on the old nectar strip near "shrike hedge " below Hanging Houghton.  Surprisingly no butterflies today despite the warm sunshine.    Back home with a  cup of tea and time to watch the birds in our garden.  We continue to attract several Yellowhammers,  Reed Buntings and Pied Wagtails plus the odd Nuthatch,  Siskin and Brambling.  Our garden is quite busy at the moment,  plenty of frog spawn,  acrobatic squirrels and the hedgehogs have woken up !!

It would appear that everyone else is struggling to find birds at the moment too. The only birds of note reported today being  Willow Warbler at Brackley,  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at Salcey Forest and a pair of Shelduck at Lilbourne Meadows.   The weekend produced an Osprey over Welford, Ring Necked Duck and Mandarin at Ravensthorpe Reservoir and 2 Whooper Swans heading NW at Stanford Reservoir. 

Regards Eleanor 

Ringing at Stortons Pits

Hello

A team of ringers completed some assessment work at Stortons Pits today which resulted in the temporary capture and processing of forty-eight birds of eleven species. The star bird was a Reed Bunting first ringed in 2015 and not heard of again until this morning making it at least eight years old, very good going for this species and as a small bird in general. Six other Reed Buntings were caught and two Jays provided the glamour with other interesting species including two Cetti's Warblers, five Chiffchaffs, another local high catch of eight Dunnocks and a Song Thrush.

Regards

Neil M

The rather ancient Reed Bunting
courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Cetti's Warbler courtesy
of Chris Payne.

Jay courtesy of
Chris Payne.

Goldcrest portrait

Hello

Seemingly a relatively quiet day in the county today with few sightings reported.

A Grey Wagtail and a Siskin plus the usual buntings and Pied Wagtails were the best on offer in our windswept garden today. The aurora borealis was seen fairly well locally last night but not from where I was standing! A Hedgehog in our rear garden last night was the first I have noticed this spring.

The Peregrine pair at Higham Ferrers church now have three eggs so it's assumed the female will begin brooding soon.

A Raven and a Grey Wagtail were in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth this morning and there were six Sand Martins off the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir. A Raven was the only bird of note at Harrington Airfield.

In the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this afternoon a male Peregrine was chasing a flock of about eighty Golden Plovers and there was a Wheatear and approximately five hundred Fieldfares on the wet fields.

A Goosander was noted at Boddington Reservoir and a Swallow was seen at Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Pits, a Little Owl was near Ecton and a pair of Grey Wagtails were in Abington Park, Northampton.

Regards

Neil M

Goldcrest courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Spring sunshine, wind and rain

Hello

The morning sunshine today stimulated plenty of butterfly activity around the county which included Commas. With the wind strength increasing and rain setting in during the afternoon it was definitely a day of two halves!

Full marks to Adrian for finding a female Ring-necked Duck at Ringstead Pits today on Kinewell Lake, possibly a returning bird from last year. The female Ring-necked Duck further west was still present but had again abandoned Ravensthorpe for Hollowell Reservoir where it was positioned off the dam this morning.

A singing Willow Warbler was at Stanwick Pits first thing near Kingfisher Bridge and at Earls Barton Pits there were single Green Sandpipers at the quarry and briefly on the Summer Leys LNR where there were still Redshanks and a female Garganey was reported. The female Red-crested Pochard was still present. There is a Birdguides report of a Ruddy Shelduck being present this afternoon too. Three Ringed Plovers were also at Earls Barton quarry.

A Kingfisher and a pair of Oystercatchers were on the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston Pits today and there was a Grey Wagtail and a Barn Owl at Stortons Pits with a Blackcap yesterday.

Our garden is home to feeding Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings and a singing Siskin this afternoon. A Grey Wagtail regularly loops over the garden a couple of times each day.

A Swallow was seen at Ravensthorpe Reservoir this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Chiffchaffs courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Female Muntjac.

Windy but sunny out there!

Hello

Good news from the Higham Ferrers church Peregrine nest yesterday was that the female has now laid her second egg! Yesterday evening two of my ringing colleagues went out to try and catch and ring Tawny Owls at a site in Milton Keynes and ended up catching a Woodcock instead!

At Summer Leys LNR there were still some Black-tailed Godwits on-site at dawn this morning but then seemed to leave the reserve with numbers dropping from fifty to thirty-five and it appears they had all left by 7.30am. However seventeen Black-tailed Godwits arrived on the reserve at about 9.20am and a couple of minutes later there were thirty birds. Two Oystercatchers were also present and the sunshine produced twelve Brimstones, a Peacock and a Red Admiral butterfly, a Bee Fly and a basking Grass Snake. Brimstones, Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks were on the wing in a variety of locations in the county today.

At least one Curlew and displaying Lapwings were present on the Lilbourne Meadows reserve this morning with a pair of Ringed Plovers on the muddy pools nearby off the A5 near the Pro Logis and Royal Mail warehouses.

A male Peregrine and about two hundred and fifty Fieldfares were the highlights to a visit to a very windy Honey Hill near Cold Ashby. The female Ring-necked Duck was back off the causeway at Ravensthorpe Reservoir today. A Brambling was in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning and a Water Rail was heard squealing at Spring Marsh in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth. A Barn Owl was the only noteworthy bird at Harrington Airfield this afternoon.

Birds at Stanford Reservoir today included three Goosanders, a Shelduck, a Kingfisher, an Oystercatcher plus ten Sand Martins and more than a dozen Chiffchaffs.

Regards

Neil M

Fieldfare courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Mistle Thrush caught and
ringed recently.

Woodcock caught and ringed last
night, courtesy of Kenny Cramer.

Garden Stock Dove courtesy
of Jim Dunkley.

Black-tailed Godwits.

Hello

Black-tailed Godwits were the birds of the moment today when a fabulous flock of about one hundred and sixty-three turned up at Summer Leys LNR this morning and stayed all day, moving around the reserve. Likely to be Iceland-bound these birds appeared on a strong southerly wind today and may have roosted overnight.

Other birds at Summer Leys today included the long-staying female Red-crested Pochard, two Great White Egrets, six Common Snipe, six Redshank, two Oystercatchers, a Little Ringed Plover and a Chiffchaff. An adult male Sparrowhawk had a go at catching Snipe and Redshank but failed - perhaps the same bird photographed so well last year carrying a Common Snipe?

A Common Bird Census was completed around the reserve section of Pitsford Reservoir today, the early surveys are always valuable in assessing the strength in numbers of resident birds before they are swallowed up in the foliage later in the spring. With seventy-four singing Wrens and fifty-two singing Robins I think we can assume that these two species wintered successfully. Over thirty Chiffchaffs were noted on the reserve - they have really moved in during the last few days - and sixteen pairs of Long-tailed Tits were probably a significant underestimate. Fifteen Goldcrests (twelve singing) and eighteen Treecreepers (seven singing) suggest that most small birds on-site suffered minimal mortality during the cold months.

Three Kingfishers were seen, a Raven was noisy in the Walgrave Bay, there were a couple of small groups of Siskins probably numbering no more than half a dozen individuals and waders included an Oystercatcher, a Common Snipe and three Black-tailed Godwits. I saw at least thirteen Muntjac on my walk around the reserve and there were plenty of Redwings foraging in the leaf litter or sub-singing in trees.

A Yellow Wagtail and a hundred Fieldfares were in a field near Lamport Hall late this morning. Another flock of over a hundred Fieldfares were in fields between Showsley and Stoke Bruerne. A Wheatear and a Green Sandpiper were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton early this afternoon. Blackcaps were in gardens at Overstone Park and Scaldwell yesterday.

Ospreys were noted at three locations in the county today.

Jacob did well to photograph a ringed female Chaffinch in a Scaldwell garden back on 10th February 2023 and this has been confirmed as a Belgium-ringed individual first ringed as a first year bird on 10th November 2020 at Berendrecht, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Regards

Neil M

Map depicting locations of
Chaffinch first ringed in Belgium
and subsequently photographed in
Scaldwell. Map courtesy of Nick Wood.

Chaffinch courtesy of
John Tilly.

Male Sparrowhawk at Summer Leys
LNR today courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Black-tailed Godwits at Summer Leys
LNR today courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Black-tailed Godwits at Summer Leys LNR
today courtesy of Jim Dunkley.

Barn Owls, and an early Yellow Wagtail.

Hello

Unseen but tracked by satellite, a White-tailed Eagle from the re-introduction scheme flew south through the county yesterday afternoon, flying over Hollowell and Ravensthorpe Reservoirs at about 3pm. 

A Barn Owl was at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell yesterday afternoon and this evening there was another in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton. The bird found dead at Blueberry Farm a few days ago had been ringed locally so hadn't wandered far from it's natal area during it's life of nine and half years. Two Wheatears were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning, a Brambling and a Grey Wagtail were in our garden briefly and four Ravens were at Blueberry Farm.

Another Barn Owl was at Harrington Airfield this afternoon plus a pair of Grey Partridges and seventy Fieldfares flew north-east.

A Yellow Wagtail with a flock of 'alba' wagtails next to Elinor Lake at Thrapston Pits was a very good early season find by Nick today.

A female Red-crested Pochard was at Summer Leys LNR today and the adult Mediterranean Gull was seen as were eight Redshanks, four Common Snipe, a Cetti's Warbler and Chiffchaff. There was a liberal sprinkling of Chiffchaffs in the county today as they continue to arrive in numbers.

In the Brampton Valley below Brixworth birds noted included three Water Rails, three Grey Wagtails and several Chiffchaffs and the female Ruddy Shelduck was still at Winwick Pools today.

A ringing recovery was received today of a Redwing initially ringed at Harrington Airfield on 11th December 2021 which was subsequently recovered in Portugal at Mata de Lobos, Guarda on 11th February 2023 after being shot, sadly a common outcome for thrushes wintering in Iberia.

Regards

Neil M

Map depicting locations of
ringing and recovery of the
Redwing ringed at Harrington
Airfield and shot the following
winter in Portugal, courtesy
 of Nick Wood.

Barn Owl courtesy
of Kenny Cramer.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy
of Nathan Jones.

White-tailed Eagle.