The weather was mixed with variable light winds as we entered a lean week in which potential headline birds came no closer than being possibles or near misses.
Two Garganeys were present at Summer Leys LNR on 18th while the drake Red-crested Pochard remained there until at least 16th. A Black Kite drifting west over Peterborough early in the evening of 16th was clearly destined not to be found in Northants, or was it? A report of a ‘possible’ over Broughton early the next day was not positively identified by the observer and a ‘ninety-nine percenter’ was (back?) in the Peterborough area, at Norman Cross – just 5 km east of the Northants county border – early on 18th. While hopeful of connecting with the Peterborough Black Kite over Irthlingborough on 16th, one optimistic sky-scanner picked up what was most likely a female Red-footed Falcon heading high north-west but this, too, looks like being another one that got away … A reminder that autumn is just around the corner came in the shape of Green Sandpipers at Summer Leys on 18th and at Stanwick GP on 19th, while single Curlews visited Clifford Hill GP on 17th and Chacombe on 18th and four were found at a suitable breeding site on the first of these two dates.
Northants birds 