Month: December 2014

The past week’s weather was largely uneventful, the winds veering between north-westerly and south-westerly, bringing little rain with varying temperatures hovering around the average. With just about all winter visitors now in, expectations for new arrivals in late December are normally low …

The three European White-fronted Geese, which were originally found at Pitsford Res on 12th, relocated at Sywell CP on 16th – where they stayed until at least 21st – were back with the goose flock at Pitsford on 23rd, while the same flock continued to hold the two

long-staying Ruddy Shelducks on the same date. Two female Red-crested Pochards were still at Stanford Res on 26th and remain the only ones seen in the county during the period and the first-winter drake Scaup was still being seen at Hollowell Res until 24th. The only truly new bird of the week was a female Ring-necked Duck discovered at Billing GP on 24th and still present on 26th. Its appearance was significantly different to that of last month’s individual at Wicksteed Park Lake and so – moult notwithstanding – this one makes it into the record books as the county’s sixth.

 

This week’s Smew comprised single drakes at Ravensthorpe Res on 20th and Pitsford Res on 26th with three ‘redheads’ at Pitsford Res 20th and one on 26th.

Vying for top site total for Great White Egrets, Ditchford GP produced two on 24th, equalling this week’s ‘count’ at Pitsford Res on 20th but beating just the one at Summer Leys LNR all week. The only raptors of note were a male Merlin at in Brampton Valley on 23rd and single Peregrines at Pitsford Res and Harrington AF – both on 20th.

Golden Plovers have climbed with site maxima reaching approximately seven hundred and fifty at Stanwick GP and approximately two hundred at Harrington AF – both on 20thh, while the only report of Common Snipe was the bare minimum of one at Ravensthorpe Res on the same date and a Jack Snipe was at Ditchford GP on 21st. Other waders were two Redshanks at Stanwick GP – also on 20th – with eight there the following day and one at Clifford Hill GP on 24th and two Green Sandpipers were at Ravensthorpe Res on 20th. The 24th produced the only rare gulls of the period with an adult Mediterranean Gull at Stanford Res and two Caspian Gulls – an adult and a second-winter – at Stanwick GP.

A Ring-necked Parakeet was again in Abington Park, Northampton on 26th and belated news came through of a Firecrest in a Cogenhoe garden on 16th. Three Chiffchaffs – singles at Stanwick GP and Ditchford GP on 21st and at Stanford Res on 24th – surely do not truly reflect the size of the wintering population. Similarly, two male Central European Blackcaps – one a Duston, Northampton garden on 20th and the other in a Kingsthorpe, Northampton the following day are also not representative. Two Stonechats remained at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 20th, two were at Summer Leys LNR the following day and singles were at opposite ends of Ditchford GP on 23rd and 24th.

With a dominating westerly airstream, ‘rollercoaster’ was the buzzword for the week’s weather, which started cold, became mild and ended with temperatures again depressed – some areas experiencing a 13°C shift in temperature within the space of 24 hours. A few more winter visitors arrived …

Last week’s three European White-fronted Geese, which were seen only briefly at Pitsford Res on 12th, managed to evade would-be observers at the weekend and made it out under the radar to Sywell CP, where they were relocated on 16th. These three, still present at the week’s end, constitute the only record of this species in the county so far this year.

Another Pink-footed Goose was found with Greylags in the north of the county – this time at Blatherwycke Lake on 17th, while the two Ruddy Shelducks were still at Pitsford Res on 14th. Last week’s drake Red-crested Pochard was again at Stortons GP on 13th, also visiting nearby Hardingstone GP on 15th-17th and the two females remained at Stanford Res until at least 14th, while the first-winter drake Scaup remained at Hollowell Res all week. The Stortons GP ‘redhead’ Smew was still present on 13th, with up to three ‘redheads’ at Pitsford Res all week and the first classic ‘white nun’ of the winter was found at Ravensthorpe Res on 19th.

Highly mobile and frequently distant, a Great Northern Diver discovered at Pitsford Res on 13th, and subsequently present until at least 16th, was not entirely unexpected and, if past form is anything to go by, it seems likely to remain throughout the winter. Up to three Great White Egrets continued to be seen intermittently at Pitsford Res, while the Summer Leys LNR individual was still present there on 18th.

Unseasonal for Northants, a Marsh Harrier flew over the A45 close to Clifford Hill GP on 16th but apart from this the only other raptors of note were a male Merlin at Harrington AF on 13th-14th and single Peregrines at Stanford Res and Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 13th, Blatherwycke Lake and Higham Ferrers on 17th and two near Hardingstone GP on the same date.

Numbers of Golden Plovers were low this week, with up to one hundred and fifty at Harrington AF between 14th and 16th, while counts of Common Snipe were also low, with one at Stanford Res on 13th and eleven at Pitsford Res and three at Sywell CP on 16th. Single Redshanks appeared at Pitsford Res on 13th and at Wicksteed Park Lake, Kettering the following day, while the week’s only Green Sandpipers were one at Ecton SF on 13th and two at Ravensthorpe Res on 19th. An adult Caspian Gull visited Stanford Res on 13th and the regular two adult Yellow-legged Gulls remained at Hollowell Res all week but, apart from these, there were no other noteworthy gulls. The first ‘white-winger’ of the winter is surely due any day now …

Central European Blackcaps rose to prominence – at least compared to last week – with a female in a Wellingborough garden on 13th, a male in a Northampton garden on 14th and a female there on 17th and a male and two females intermittently in a Sywell garden throughout the period.

Other wintering passerines of note were two Chiffchaffs at Ecton SF on 13th with two at Stanford Res the following day and up to six Stonechats at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell until at least 15th, two at Hollowell Res on the same date and one at Thrapston GP the following day.

A mixed bag of weather, including overnight frosts and rain, culminated in a rush of strong north-westerlies which made little difference to this week’s birding mosaic. Renewed interest in C-listers at both ends of the systematic list appeared to be the order of the day.

They have been dropped from recent reports – they breed and their numbers are increasing – but it’s still worth mentioning that Egyptian Goose produced an all-time high count of seventeen at Ditchford GP on 12th, while four Pink-footed Geese at Fotheringhay on 9th, three White-fronted Geese at Pitsford Res on 12th and a Dark-bellied Brent Goose at Stanford Res on 6th were a bit more on the money. Again, Red-crested Pochard numbers remained low with a drake at Stortons GP on 7th and 12th – visiting nearby Hardingstone GP on 11th – and two at Stanford Res on 12th, while the first-winter drake Scaup from Hollowell Res moved to nearby Ravensthorpe Res on 6th-7th, returning to Hollowell on 8th, where it remained until the week’s end.  Following the first two of the winter last week, more Smew moved in, with this week’s arrivals – all ‘redheads’ – including singles at Stortons GP from 6th to 12th, at Stanford Res from 7th to 12th and two at Ravensthorpe Res from 8th to 12th.

Two or three Great White Egrets were still being seen intermittently at Pitsford Res, another remained at Summer Leys LNR all week and another was at Ditchford GP on 12th, while the Black-necked Grebe remained on Thrapston GP’s Town Lake until at least 7th. This week’s raptors were limited to single Merlins at Harrington AF on 10th and Stanford Res on 7th with a Peregrine at the latter site on the same date.

Counts of Golden Plovers remain in the hundreds, with three hundred and thirty-one at Ditchford on 7th and approximately four hundred and forty there on 12th. Up to three Green Sandpipers at Ravensthorpe Res between 6th and 12th were the only ones this week as were three Common Snipe at Ecton SF on 6th and four at Stanford Res on the same date.

Rare larids this week mirrored last week, with an adult Mediterranean Gull at Stanford Res on 12th, an adult Caspian Gull there on 7th plus a first-winter at Ditchford GP on 12th and two adult Yellow-legged Gulls at Hollowell Res between 8th and 12th, with one at Ditchford GP on the latter date.

A Short-eared Owl was still hunting the fields at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 8th, while Ring-necked Parakeets continued to be seen in Abington Park, Northampton,

with up to two present until at least 9th but the only Central European Blackcap – a male – was in a Northampton garden on 10th and 12th. Other wintering passerines of note were four Chiffchaffs at Ecton SF on 6th with two at Stanford Res on the same date, eight at Ditchford GP on 12th and two Stonechats present at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 8th and at Ditchford GP and Pitsford Res on 12th.

The balmy south-easterlies and relatively high temperatures of the last two days of November rapidly gave way to colder winds from the north and temperatures fell with the commencement of the final month of the year. As the curtain began to slowly fall on 2014, the arrival of more seasonal fare marked the advent of winter proper …

Five Whooper Swans at Hollowell Res on 3rd are the first – and probably the last – record of the year, while the two Ruddy Shelducks continued to tough it out at Pitsford Res until the week’s end; will they make it into the New Year?

Red-crested Pochard numbers remained low with up to five at Pitsford Res between 29th and 1st and the two Wicksteed Park Lake birds were still there on 2nd, while a female Scaup was found at Stanford Res on 29th and the first-winter drake was still at Hollowell Res on 2nd. Against a flush of Goldeneye, the first Smew of the winter – both of them ‘redheads’ – arrived this week, one at Pitsford Res on 30th-1st and the other at Earls Barton GP on 3rd.

All three Great White Egrets were still being seen intermittently at Pitsford Res, another was again at Summer Leys LNR on 29th and 5th and one – perhaps the same – was reported from Stanwick GP on 4th. The Black-necked Grebe was still on Town Lake at Thrapston GP on 30th and the only raptors this week were single fly-over Peregrines at Stanford Res on 29th and at The Lakes/Clifford Hill GP on 2nd plus a male Hen Harrier at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 4th.

Counts of Golden Plovers comprised approximately three hundred at both Summer Leys LNR on 29th and Stanwick GP on 4th and one hundred were at Harrington AF on 2nd, while a Dunlin and a first-winter Knot – scarce in the county, especially in winter – visited Hollowell Res on the same date. Thirty-seven Common Snipe was a good count at Pitsford Res on 1st and single Redshanks were found at Stanford Res on 29th, Wicksteed Park Lake and Pitsford Res on 3rd and at Stanwick GP the following day.

Rare larids this week were restricted to an adult Mediterranean Gull at Pitsford Res on 1st, two Caspian Gulls (an adult and a second-winter) at Stanwick GP on 4th and a Yellow-legged Gull at Pitsford Res on 1st-2nd with two at Stanwick GP, again on 4th.

Winter wouldn’t be the same without at least one Ring-necked Parakeet appearing in Abington Park, Northampton – and so it was, on 30th while, across town, a male Central European Blackcap visited a Kingsthorpe garden on 29th followed by a female there on 4th and another female was in a Kettering garden on 2nd. Wintering Chiffchaffs numbered two each at Stanford Res on 29th and Stanwick GP on 4th, the latter site continuing to host spectacular nightly Starling murmurations, with one flock size estimated to be in the region of fifteen thousand to twenty thousand birds and frequently attracting the attention of local Sparrowhawks.

By contrast the only Stonechats this week were one at Thrapston GP on 29th and the usual two at Hollowell Res on 2nd.