Cooler temperatures for the weekend

Hello

A much cooler and quieter day for birds today with some sharp wintry showers.

The four White-fronted Geese were at Wadenhoe Water Meadows at lunchtime, a Great White Egret being there too, but later the geese moved to the Titchmarsh reserve at Thrapston Pits.

Four Wheatears were located at Borough Hill Country Park, Daventry this morning, a Little Ringed Plover was at the DIRFT3/A5 pools near Lilbourne and a Swallow was at Hollowell Reservoir this afternoon.

Two Green Sandpipers were still in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning. Small numbers of Siskins were noted at Scotland Wood, Kelmarsh Hall and Cottesbrooke today and Ravens were active at Old village, Scaldwell village, Scotland Wood, Pitsford Reservoir and Cottesbrooke. 

Sixty Goldeneye were in the Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon and Stanford Reservoir attracted fourteen Sand Martins and three Ravens.

Of the recent flock of fourteen Waxwings at Far Cotton two birds were colour-ringed. We still await details of one of the birds but news was soon back about the other. This is a female first ringed at Kincorth, Aberdeen on 30th November 2022 and subsequently re-sighted in Denmark on 26th January 2023. This year, prior to visiting us here this month in Northants she was sighted at Abergele in North Wales on 1st January and then Harborne, Birmingham on 1st February. These details have been supplied by the Grampian Ringing Group.

Regards

Neil M

Male Reed Bunting
courtesy of John Tilly.

Robin courtesy of
John Tilly.

Little Egret courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

March quality birds

Hello

Today a WeBS count was completed at Ditchford Pits and it initially seemed very quiet with little west of Ditchford Lane except two Egyptian Geese and two Oystercatchers a handful of Cetti's Warblers and a Grey Wagtail. To the east of Ditchford Pits it was more interesting with four Cattle Egrets, eight Little Egrets, two Jack Snipe, seventeen Common Snipe, a Kingfisher, several Cetti's Warblers and a Grey Wagtail. A Willow Warbler was at Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows.

An excellent variety of scarce birds were available in the county today - it wasn't many years ago when the month of March was perhaps the least exciting month on the birding calendar but not this year!

A 'redhead' Smew was in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir today and two Sand Martins were off the causeway with three Ravens at nearby Holcot village. An Osprey was at Hollowell Reservoir early this morning and at nearby Ravensthorpe Reservoir a Glossy Ibis flew over low heading north west at 11.40am. A Pink-footed Goose and two Shelduck were at Stanford Reservoir and a drake Common Scoter graced Boddington Reservoir.

In the Nene Valley Summer Leys LNR again hosted two Cattle Egrets, six Little Ringed Plovers and a Swallow with three Shelduck, a Redshank, a Green Sandpiper and two Oystercatchers at the Earls Barton working quarry. Clifford Hill Pits attracted a drake Red-crested Pochard, a Little Ringed Plover, a Great White Egret and a Wheatear (which have been scarce so far this spring). Four White-fronted Geese at Wadenhoe Water Meadows must be the birds from Thrapston Pits last week.

An Osprey flew north near Braunston this evening and at Duston the attenuation pool off Sandy Lane was still the venue for two Mealy Redpolls, some Lesser Redpolls and Siskin.

More garden-visiting Siskins included five at Moulton, three in Duston and six in Brixworth with two at Woodford Halse in addition to a male Redpoll.

Some ringing in a garden on the east side of Northampton produced seventeen Siskins, thirteen Goldfinches, three Greenfinches and a Blackcap in addition to standard garden birds.

Four Short-eared Owls remain in a field with no public access west of Lamport village and a few Siskins were in the village at Hanging Houghton.

Regards

Neil M

Yellowhammer at Pitsford
Reservoir courtesy of Tony
Stanford.

Red-legged Partridges courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Common Snipe courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

First year male Siskin
courtesy of John Tilly.

Pitsford Reservoir at dawn (yesterday).

A White Stork and more spring migrants

Hello

A dull, cloudy day with mild temperatures and sunny spells and a couple of very light showers made today rather pleasant.

The two Mealy Redpolls were still with Lesser Redpolls at the attenuation pond off Sandy Lane, Duston today.

Daventry Country Park was the latest venue to attract a Cattle Egret and a first year Caspian Gull and a first year Yellow-legged Gull were present too. Nuthatches on-site were seen looking over a nest box.

The 'redhead' Smew was still at Clifford Hill Pits today plus a Little Ringed Plover and two Oystercatchers. Perhaps the bird of the day was John's observation of a White Stork over Hemington flying towards Barnwell at 10am this morning.

Summer Leys LNR provided sightings of a Cattle Egret, a Little Ringed Plover and twenty Sand Martins and Pitsford Reservoir hosted a drake Red-crested Pochard off the Old Scaldwell Road, about thirty Common Snipe, two Jack Snipe, several Sand Martins, a male Brambling and both Ravens and a Curlew heard calling. Two Ravens were at Hanging Houghton today and two Short-eared Owls remain in private fields west of Lamport village.

A Wheatear was at Stanford Reservoir this evening plus two Oystercatchers and two Shelduck and Hollowell Reservoir managed a pair of Pintail, two Jack Snipe and two Common Snipe. A male Blackcap was in a Woodford Halse garden, still attracted to apples despite the mild conditions.

A little garden bird ringing at Greens Norton this morning provided three Greenfinches, fifteen Goldfinches and seven Siskins as migrant finches still remain with us. One of the Siskins was a bird first ringed as a juvenile in Aberdeenshire in July last year, further evidence that this influx of Siskins seem to be bound for Scotland.

Regards

Neil M

It is that time of the year!
 Spring lambs by John Tilly.

Tree Sparrow courtesy
of Jane Neill.

 The numbers of this dapper bird
 continue to plummet in the county
 and this species seems to be going
 the same way as the Willow Tit despite
 lots of efforts locally to support them.

Basic map showing
where today's control Siskin
was originally caught
and ringed an Aberdeenshire,
and Greens Norton where
encountered this morning.

Map courtesy of
Nick Wood.

Swallows, Redpolls and Siskins.

Hello

A wet morning but mild conditions, dryer in the afternoon but more showers in the evening.

A Siskin and a Reed Bunting were in our Hanging Houghton garden this morning and yesterday a Weston Favell garden attracted a pair of Blackcaps, a Siskin and a Redpoll.

At Pitsford Reservoir today the long-staying adult Yellow-legged Gull was off the dam and north of the causeway two Swallows were seen plus about thirty Common Snipe, a Jack Snipe and an Oystercatcher.

The two 'frosty' Mealy Redpolls remained at the Sandy Lane attenuation pond on the outskirts of Duston with a dwindling Lesser Redpoll flock and the Smew was again at Clifford Hill Pits this afternoon.

Summer Leys LNR hosted a Cattle Egret, a Great White Egret, two Redpolls and a small flock of Siskins.

Fifteen Sand Martins and a Swallow were at the Titchmarsh Reserve at Thrapston Pits this afternoon and two Shelduck and three Little Egrets were the best at Stanford Reservoir. A Curlew flew through at Stanwick Pits this morning where there were also six Redshanks and a Goosander.

Half a dozen Siskins were at Scotland Wood today and at least three were at Kelmarsh Hall.

A flock of about a hundred Waxwings were again in the centre of Milton Keynes today (at the Milton Keynes Christian Centre) where they have been showing very well - it is likely that we have flocks in the county secreted away somewhere.

Regards

Neil M

Yep more Siskins...
fabulous little finches!
Images courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Lesser Redpoll courtesy
 of Tony Stanford.

Little Egret in all it's spring
 finery at Abington Park,
Northampton yesterday
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Not much different!

Hello

A very spring-like day today - dull, breezy and with intervals of sunshine and the odd shower thrown in!

Chiffchaffs continue to pile in with hedgerows, copses, willows and garden vegetation all providing foraging and song-posts for these harbingers of spring! However little else seems to be different and apart from gulls, wagtails and Meadow Pipits it was difficult to witness diurnal migration today.

A few Siskins and fifty Fieldfares with up to a dozen Redwings were still with us east of Cottesbrooke village and birds showing at Harrington Airfield involved approximately one hundred and five Golden Plovers, a pair of Grey Partridge and three Ravens.

Hollowell Reservoir continues to attract two Jack Snipe and seven Common Snipe and Stanford Reservoir's birds amounted to a Pink-footed Goose, a Goosander and a Water Rail.

The two Mealy Redpolls remain at the Sandy Lane attenuation pool on the outskirts of Duston with a small flock of Lessers and a pair of Pintail and four Oystercatchers were on flooded fields next to Upton Mill.

The Earls Barton Pits complex today (including Summer Leys LNR and the New Workings) came up with two Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret, a Shelduck, eight or nine Redshanks, eleven Common Snipe, two Oystercatchers, two Little Ringed Plovers, four Green Sandpipers, two Redpolls and five Siskins.

Two Short-eared Owls remain in a field west of Lamport but rarely fly during daylight conditions.

Regards

Neil M

Teal courtesy of
Tony Stanford.

Male Pied Wagtail
courtesy of John Tilly.

Pitsford WeBS count

Hello

It was the last Pitsford Reservoir WeBS count of the season today and a slog around in the wet and mud was nevertheless very enjoyable even if it was rather quiet. Very little of interest between the causeway and the dam with the best being eight singing Chiffchaffs, four Redpolls and thirty Siskins. Things fared a little better north of the causeway with a pair of Raven at a new nest, up to ten Siskins, fifteen singing Chiffchaffs, two Yellow-legged Gulls (fourth and second calendar years), a 'redhead' Smew rather briefly in the Scaldwell Bay, two Jack Snipe, approximately ninety Common Snipe and three Kingfishers. Marsh Tits were on territory at three different areas on the reserve and Rooks, Grey Herons and Cormorants were nesting in reasonable numbers.

The fourteen Waxwings were again at Far Cotton, Northampton next to the In 'n' Out Express MOT garage off the Towcester Road first thing but couldn't be found later in the day. It could be that they have simply moved further along the river in search of appropriate food. A Peregrine was active overhead.

Two or three Wheatears were in fields between Clipston and Great Oxendon this morning but didn't appear to linger and six Little Egrets and a Shelduck were the best on offer at Stanford Reservoir. A Raven was at Walgrave village, a dozen Siskins were at Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate and a Cattle Egret was a good local record at Clifford Hill Pits.

Garden feeders continue to attract migrant finches with five Siskins in a Brixworth garden, two Siskins and a Brambling at Moulton and a garden in Weston Favell, Northampton attracting three Blackcaps, seven Siskins and a Lesser Redpoll. Some garden bird ringing near Overstone today resulted in nine Siskins and six Goldfinches being newly ringed. A Lesser Redpoll remains at Summer Leys LNR feeding station and a Redpoll was noted at Everdon Stubbs this morning.

Up to three Peregrines at St Mary's church, Higham Ferrers made it a busy affair and it seems that the pair in residence are seemingly new birds with last year's surviving female currently absent. A Raven was at Little Harrowden and three were over Sywell and the regular all white Magpie was still at Ashton Treatment Works today.

Two White Storks flew north at Cosgrove at lunchtime and appeared to be moving along the Tove Valley but with no further reports. An Osprey was seen flying north over Bozenham Mill towards Hanslope a little later. Two Sand Martins were at Quarry Lake, Priors Hall, Corby, a Curlew flew north-east over Stanwick Pits this morning and a Water Rail remained at Spring Marsh in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth.

Regards

Neil M

Peregrine courtesy 
of Tony Stanford.

Black-headed Gull.

Redshank courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

Wonderful Waxwings

Hello

For me the highlight of the day was a flock of fourteen Waxwings in Northampton and they showed well today next to the River Nene at Far Cotton next to the In 'n' Out Autocentre and Aldi store off the Towcester Road. Feeding mostly on rose hip berries (many of which are rotting and are rejected by the birds), these birds are typically unafraid of people and showed well today. At least one and maybe two of these birds are sporting colour rings and are likely to originate from the activities of the Grampian Ringing Group in Scotland. In an urban environment other birds seen there included a Peregrine, four Red Kites, a Little Egret, a Lesser Redpoll and a Chiffchaff.

At least one Mealy Redpoll was with a small group of Lesser Redpolls at the Sandy Lane attenuation pond on the outskirts of Duston, Northampton.

In the Nene Valley there was a Marsh Harrier at Stanwick Pits early this morning and the 'redhead' Smew was still on the main barrage lake at Clifford Hill Pits. At Summer Leys LNR a Marsh Harrier and a Merlin were good raptor sightings and other birds included thirty Common Snipe, ten Redshanks, a Dunlin and four Sand Martins. Four Green Sandpipers and a Redshank were at the New Workings, Earls Barton. Two Sand Martins were at Stortons Pits this evening.

A Water Rail was at Spring Pond on the Brampton Valley Way below Brixworth and two Green Sandpipers were nearby. 

An adult Yellow-legged Gull was off the dam at Pitsford Reservoir this morning and a Pink-footed Goose and two Oystercatchers were at Stanford Reservoir.

A Blackcap was coming to apples in a Duston garden today and garden Siskins included two at Moulton and two at Brixworth. A female Sparrowhawk took a Collared Dove in our Hanging Houghton garden today.

Regards

Neil M

The Far Cotton
Waxwings today.

Lingering Siskins

Hello

A pleasant spring morning even if a little cool first thing, then a cloudier afternoon and rain this evening. Chiffchaffs have now moved into the county in plentiful numbers with birds being seen and heard in a variety of locations.

Evidence that at least some of the Siskins from this spring's influx are still with us and that many are lingering where there is a qualitative food supply before moving on again.

At Kelmarsh Hall today some ringing assessment and training resulted in one hundred and seven birds being processed, sixty-seven of them being re-trapped birds with forty newly-ringed. Of five Siskins processed, two of them were re-traps from previous sessions locally. Of fifteen Goldfinches processed, ten were re-traps from earlier in the year or the previous winter of 2022/2023. Of ten Chaffinches encountered only one was fit enough to be ringed, the remainder all suffering from the awful disease that affects their legs and feet, and these birds were released straightaway once extracted from mist nets. Two new male Nuthatches added some more style to the proceedings! A re-trapped male Great Spotted Woodpecker was initially ringed in March 2017 and so will be at least eight years old this year. It was also re-trapped at the same site in March and November 2021 suggesting Kelmarsh Hall is very much it's home! Two Ravens were noisy there today.

At Greens Norton today Chris Payne caught and processed thirty Goldfinches and six Siskins.

David enjoyed watching a male Brambling on his garden feeder at Spratton today and repeats of birds in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton included a Barn Owl, two Grey Wagtails and two Green Sandpipers. The lingering Peregrine remains at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and two Short-eared Owls remain on private land west of Lamport.

At Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon there was a Kingfisher in the Scaldwell Bay and an immature male Merlin arrived in the Walgrave Bay after pursuing a Pied Wagtail low over fields, then had a quick go at an unknown passerine at the boundary fence and then made a particularly sustained attack on a Sand Martin with the little hirundine being able to keep out of the way of the talons until the Merlin gave up and moved on. Two Sand Martins were also seen at the dam at Pitsford Reservoir in the morning.

At Ditchford Pits there was a Cattle Egret at Chester House Lake and a first year Caspian Gull was present at Summer Leys LNR this morning with a male Marsh Harrier at Quarry Walk.

Two Mealy Redpolls were still present with Lesser Redpolls at New Sandy Lane attenuation pond in Duston this morning with a belated report from yesterday of nine Waxwings in Northampton by the River Nene off the Southern Approach Retail Park south west of Smyths Toy Superstore.

Clifford Hill Pits today attracted three Shelduck, seven Goosanders and two Oystercatchers and a pair of Grey Partridges were seen in a field between Woodford village and the old A604 this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Male Siskin at Kelmarsh
Hall today courtesy of
Bethan Clyne.

Male Siskin at Greens Norton
today courtesy of Chris Payne.

Great Tit courtesy
of Bethan Clyne.

Kestrel courtesy of
Robin Gossage.

Nene Valley birding

Hello

Very mild today but some short snappy showers kept me looking up!

During the spring the Nene Valley with its succession of gravel pits, wet meadows and remnant river system tends to dominate the county in providing the most interesting birds and the reservoirs (often with high water levels) struggle to compete.

An immature male Merlin was the best bird seen at Harrington Airfield this morning as it hunted over the top fields - the singing Skylarks well above it ignored it completely! Other birds included a flock of about one hundred and thirty-two Golden Plovers, a pair of Grey Partridge and a Raven. Two Green Sandpipers remain in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton. The repetitive phrases of a singing Blackcap in the village sounds unlike a British breeder and reminds me of the birds I've heard singing in the Pyrenees and south France.

An Osprey and a 'redhead' Smew were at Eyebrook Reservoir today and five Sand Martins were feeding over the feeder stream end of Hollowell Reservoir.

Summer Leys LNR provided views of two Cattle Egrets, two Black-tailed Godwits, a Pintail and a fly-through Peregrine with a Little Ringed Plover and three Green Sandpipers at Earls Barton New Workings and a Barn Owl at Mary's Lake. Over at Ditchford Pits the female Ring-necked Duck was still at Higham Lake/Main Pit at lunchtime and a Marsh Harrier flew south west through Stanwick Pits early this morning.

Thrapston Pits including the Titchmarsh reserve held plenty of birds with initial sightings of a Ruff and two Redshanks and two Sand Martins on Titchmarsh by Nick and followed up by Eleanor who pretty much walked the whole complex in the afternoon with two adult Little Gulls on Town Lake, two Cattle Egrets with a mass of birds on flooded meadows between Thorpe Waterville and Aldwincle, four Great White Egrets, four Egyptian Geese, at least two Oystercatchers, four Cetti's Warblers and at least six Chiffchaffs.

Nine Waxwings were reported at Priors Hall Walk, Corby today in much the same place where birds were showing so well earlier in the year. A few Siskins were again at Scotland Wood and Kelmarsh Hall.

Regards

Neil M

Great Spotted Woodpecker
with a height advantage
 courtesy of Tony Stanford.

Common Buzzard courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Goldfinch courtesy
 of John Tilly.

Brown Hare at
Harrington Airfield.

The slow journey into Spring!

Hello

Mild temperatures and pleasant spring weather this morning with the odd light shower gave way to cloudier and wetter conditions this afternoon.

Brimstone butterflies and other insects were on show today and there was a Red Admiral butterfly on the wing in the Holcot Bay, Pitsford Reservoir. It is only in recent years that adult Red Admirals have been able to overwinter in the UK successfully.

At Pitsford Reservoir it remains pretty quiet with high water levels and the best birds noted north of the causeway only amounted to a Kingfisher, a Grey Wagtail, a singing Siskin and a couple of Chiffchaffs. A drake Mandarin Duck flew south over the dam this afternoon.

Birds still in situ in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton included the two Grey Wagtails, two Green Sandpipers and Chiffchaff with still the female Peregrine at Blueberry Farm near Maidwell. A singing Chiffchaff was in our Hanging Houghton garden today and a singing Blackcap was nearby.

A first winter Caspian Gull was at Daventry Country Park this morning and a Little Ringed Plover was on floodwater next to the canal at Braunston.

An adult Mediterranean Gull was at Stanwick Pits this morning and Summer Leys LNR attracted at least two Cattle Egrets, a Great White Egret, two Black-tailed Godwits, three Oystercatchers, at least five Redshanks, over sixty Golden Plovers, a Common Snipe, seven Siskins and a Lesser Redpoll. Yesterday there was a drake Red-crested Pochard, a Goosander, a Green Sandpiper and Shelduck at Quarry Walk.

A pair of Peregrines were in the Duston area of Northampton this morning and noticeable movers over the county in good numbers today included Common Gulls and Fieldfares.

Regards

Neil M

Lesser Redpoll courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Goldfinch courtesy
of Tony Stanford.

Great White Egrets
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Little Ringed Plover
courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Chiffchaffs, finches and gulls on the move

Hello

A mild, dry and breezy day was welcome after all the rain!

Today and it was the turn of Clifford Hill Pits to shine with the 'redhead' Smew still present but also a Knot (a scarce wader at any time of the year), a Little Gull and a Kingfisher. The Ditchford Pits complex still retained the female Ring-necked Duck on the main pit and the drake Garganey on a flooded field next to Otter Lake on the Irhlingborough Lakes and Meadows reserve. At Earls Barton Pits two Cattle Egrets were in a field next to Mary's Lake and two Black-tailed Godwits were with Golden Plovers on the Summer Leys reserve..

The gull roost at Stanford Reservoir accounted for eight hundred Common Gulls which have very much been on the move the last two days, plus a Caspian Gull.

A Cattle Egret was located at Wicksteed Park Lake this afternoon and at least one Mealy Redpoll was still at the attenuation pond off New Sandy Lane, Duston early this afternoon.

In the Brampton Valley today there were still two Bramblings with Goldfinches between Brixworth and Hanging Houghton and two Grey Wagtails and two Green Sandpipers in the valley below Hanging Houghton. The Peregrine was present for it's third day at nearby Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and two Short-eared Owls made a brief appearance west of the Brampton Valley Way below Lamport. A few incoming Chiffchaffs are present in a variety of locations as they begin to make their presence felt.

With two Ospreys back already at Rutland Water, the nest cam is in operation with a bird arrived at it's nest in Scotland way back on the 8th March so heads up for some of our local birds returning!

A modest ringing session at Kelmarsh Hall mostly just utilising a single mist net provided sixty-nine captures made up of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, six Great Tits, twenty-seven Blue Tits, a Long-tailed Tit, six Goldcrests, two Treecreepers, a Chaffinch, six Greenfinches, seven Siskins and twelve Goldfinches. Other birds present were two Ravens, a Chiffchaff and a Grey Wagtail.  

Regards

Neil M

Treecreeper at Kelmarsh
today courtesy of Jane
Neill.

  

Female and male Siskins
at Kelmarsh today courtesy
of Jane Neill.

Drake Tufted Duck.

Cob Mute Swan.