Month: October 2019

With more unsettled weather afoot, chilly northerlies swung quickly to south-westerlies, bringing rain, bluster and birds. In the last week before taking the unwelcome plunge into late afternoon darkness for the next few months, leaf-fall accelerated and migration continued apace – especially where passerines were concerned – with the reservoirs at Pitsford and Stanford again delivering the best in class.

Looking set for the long haul, the adult Whooper Swan remained all week at Thrapston GP, while four adults flew north over Pitsford Res on 21st and another adult was found at Summer Leys LNR on 25th. The female Ruddy Shelduck was still at Ravensthorpe Res on 19th and the continued presence of one Red-crested Pochard at Clifford Hill GP was eclipsed by three at Pitsford on 25th. More Greater Scaup arrived this week and included three at Daventry CP on 22nd, one of which – a juvenile – remained until 25th, while the juvenile at Pitsford on 13th reappeared there on 24th.

The number of Cattle Egrets present at Stanwick varied by the day and included a maximum of six on 21st, while Great Egrets were reported from the usual localities, including reservoirs at Hollowell, Pitsford and Stanford and gravel pits at Stanwick, Summer Leys and Thrapston, with no more than two at any locality.

Waders were understandably thin on the ground. With the recognised passage period now over and water levels at local reservoirs unseasonally high after the past few weeks’ persistent rain, it is, after all, hardly surprising. So a Ruff at Stanwick on 23rd and a Jack Snipe at Ditchford GP on 22nd, were all local observers were able to squeeze out of this week’s birding.

Just one Mediterranean Gull – a first-winter – found its way to the county this week, when a first-winter appeared in the roost at Boddington Res on 22nd, this date also producing a respectable site total of ten Yellow-legged Gulls at the same locality. Singles of the latter were also seen at Hollowell, Pitsford and Thrapston.

The first Short-eared Owl of the autumn/winter period was found on Borough Hill on 19th, quickly followed the next day by another at Harrington AF, where a Merlin was seen also on 19th, the same individual possibly accounting for one reported in the nearby Brampton Valley during the week.

Following small numbers Waxwings turning up in Orkney and Shetland as early as 2nd October and with many localities on the east coast and across the Midlands (and even Scilly) pulling in the odd bird, three making a five-minute stopover at Stanford on 25th is perhaps not as surprising as it may at first seem. Are we in for a Waxwing Winter? When and where will the next ones be in the county and who will be the claimant? The bets are on …

Much rarer locally than those jingling, colourful and charismatic berry-gobblers and altogether much less flamboyant, Woodlark remains highly prized in Northamptonshire. On 23rd, two circled Pitsford’s Scaldwell Bay before flying north. With just three previous records this century (2001, 2014, 2016) and ten in the last fifty years, it’s a puzzle as to why we don’t see more. The above two, along with earlier reports of singles at Woodford on 1st January and Pitsford on 15th April, will give us our best-ever year for this species, assuming all records are formally submitted and subsequently accepted by the local records committee.

There were no more Yellow-broweds this week but continuing the rare warblers theme was an ‘eastern’ Lesser Whitethroat at Stanwick on 21st. With the east coast – particularly East Yorkshire – having produced a number of candidates for Siberian blythi and a possible Turkestan halimodendri in the past couple of weeks, its occurrence comes as no real surprise. Siberian Lesser Whitethroat has already occurred in Northants in recent years – the first, a wintering bird, in 2014 (1, 2, 3) and the second, trapped and ringed in 2015.

Stanford scored another ‘back of the net’ with a Firecrest trapped and ringed on 25th. More good stuff from the Stanford Ringing Group before the autumn’s out, I’ll wager! Stonechats continued to be seen at Borough Hill, Clifford Hill, Pitsford Res, in the Brampton Valley and at Harrington AF, where vizmig fly-overs included the hunky Anthus duo of Rock Pipit and Water Pipit on 19th and 20th respectively. With five Common Crossbills flying over Stanwick on 20th, this week the passerines have it, the passerines have it!

The weather remained largely unsettled, with heavy rain and sporadic showers, backed by blustery south to south-westerly winds during the early part of the week. The period’s highlight was a Yellow-browed Warbler, trapped and ringed … where else other than at Stanford Reservoir.

Last week’s adult Whooper Swan was present all week at Thrapston GP, where hopefully it will remain for the winter. Also remaining – though highly mobile – was at least one Ruddy Shelduck, a female having been seen at Foxholes Fisheries (Crick) on 12th and it seems likely this was the same individual seen briefly at Stanford Res later the same day and again at Ravensthorpe Res on 18th.

A juvenile drake Red-crested Pochard visited Clifford Hill GP on 12th and two were present there on 15th but it was Pitsford Res which produced the best diving ducks this week, with a juvenile Greater Scaup on 13th followed by five Common Scoters two days later, on 15th. Unfortunately, this was the best we could manage during a week when, just over the county boundary in Leicestershire, Rutland Water pulled in a fine drake Lesser Scaup. Spitting distance from Northants, again, as we remain the only Midlands county to have missed out on adding this species to our list. One day, maybe, one day …

Up to six Cattle Egrets remained at Stanwick throughout, as did up to two Great Egrets with more of the latter including singles at Ditchford GP, Thrapston and Summer Leys, Two at Pitsford and three at Stanford. On 17th, Stanford also produced a Marsh Harrier, which drifted away toward the reservoir’s namesake, Stanford on Avon, in the latter half of the morning.

Wader-wise, it was again slim pickings, which consisted of a late Whimbrel flying west over Grafton Regis on 15th and a Ruff at Stanwick the following day, on 16th.

With most of them long gone, any report of a Common Sandpiper at this time of the year is guaranteed to quicken the pulse. How well was it seen? Spotted Sandpiper ruled out? So, the chances of the late example of the aforementioned Common, which turned up on the dam at Pitsford on 17th, being one of the latter surely had to be higher than normal. But no such luck. Well, this is Northamptonshire, don’t forget and, just like Lesser Scaup, we’re still owed one – big time!

And so to gulls, with Mediterranean Gull topping the bill and kicking off with a first-winter on land cleared for housing at Upton Park (Northampton) on 12th and an adult in the roost at Boddington Res on the same date, plus a second-winter there on 18th. The roost off the sailing club at Pitsford then produced an adult and a second-winter on 13th, a second-winter on 16th, an adult again on 17th and an adult plus a first-winter on 18th, while the maximum counts of Yellow-legged Gulls were nine in the roost at Pitsford on 16th and six at Boddington on 12th and 18th. Surprisingly, last week’s juvenile Arctic Tern lingered, still being at Hollowell Res on 16th.

Thanks to the IOC, ‘new order’ raptors appeared in the shape of a Merlin or two – at Harrington AF on 16th and 18th.

Once again, those hallowed nets of the Stanford Ringing Group delivered Northamptonshire’s fourteenth Yellow-browed Warbler on 12th. With more than four hundred on the east coast during the past week (and six hundred the week before that) it came as no real surprise – especially when the group’s track record is taken into consideration.

With Northern Willow Warbler, Siberian Chiffchaff, Dusky Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Icterine Warbler and Siberian Lesser Whitethroat all ‘back of the net’ in recent years, the group is almost duty-bound to trap the obligatory Yellow-browed every year. This one is their fifth (including one at nearby Naseby Res) in addition to one which managed to avoid the nets altogether in October 2016!

Also at Stanford, a Ring Ouzel was discovered near the dam on 15th, remaining there until the next day, when one was also found in a Spratton garden.

Stonechat numbers dwindled to ones and twos at Stanford Res, Harrington AF and in the Brampton Valley, while what seems highly likely to be the last Northern Wheatear was the bird lingering on the dam at Pitsford Res from last week until 15th.

An unsettled week with a strong, predominantly westerly airflow saw a couple of potentially weather-related arrivals in the respective shapes of Dark-bellied Brent Goose and Gannet, amid more winter thrushes and the autumn’s first Bramblings.

At least some reward for a seemingly endless succession of early morning visits by one observer to Stanwick GP appeared in the form of a Dark-bellied Brent Goose on the Main Lake there, albeit briefly, on 6th. Further down the valley, at Thrapston GP, there was speculation that the adult Whooper Swan there on 7th-8th was last winter’s ‘ugly duckling’ all grown up and back for the winter. Let’s see if it stays. Meanwhile, in the north of the county, the roving Ruddy Shelducks were still making sporadic appearances – the drake at Stanford Res on 8th and the female returning to Hollowell Res on 10th.

Up to six Cattle Egrets remained at Stanwick until at least 10th, the same site being visited by a Great Egret on 5th and again on 10th. Great Egrets were also at Ditchford GP on 5th, Stanford on 6th and 8th, Thrapston on 6th-7th, Pitsford Res on 7th and 9th and Summer Leys LNR on 9th-10th. Two were also at the latter locality on 5th and 7th and at Pitsford on 5th and 6th, while three visited Stanford on 11th.

It would have been surprising if we hadn’t had at least one seabird in the county over the past couple of weeks, so the juvenile Gannet found grounded at Gretton Weir on 8th was not entirely unexpected, even if the locality in which it occurred was. Discovered shortly before midday, it had disappeared when the observer returned later in the day. September is the peak month in Northants but early October has also produced numerous records.

And by the time we hit October it’s usually all over for the waders – this year so far proving to be no exception. A Ruff at Stanwick on 6th and the two Greenshanks remaining at Pitsford until the same date constituted this week’s meagre tally.

Conversely, Mediterranean Gull was well represented by a mix of ages, primarily at the Pitsford gull roost, where two first-winters and a second-winter were present on 5th, single second-winters on 6th and 8th, an adult and three first-winters on 7th and an adult on 10th. Elsewhere, a first-winter was at Panattoni Park (Northampton) on 7th and the gull roost at Boddington Res produced an adult on 10th, as well as an adult hybrid Mediterranean Gull x Black-headed Gull on 8th.

Hollowell Res produced the only Caspian Gull of the week, a first-winter on 10th, while the maximum count of Yellow-legged Gulls was ten in the roost at Pitsford on 5th and single-figure counts came from Boddington and Hollowell. A juvenile Arctic Tern, typically late, was found at the latter locality on 10th.

Passerine migrants were unsurprisingly on the wane this week although, in the wake of hundreds of recent east coast records, a Yellow-browed Warbler was reported in flight in a Duston (Northampton) garden on 7th. Common Redstarts hung on with one in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton on 5th, while Stonechats were seen in ones

and twos at Brampton Valley, Harrington AF, Panattoni Park and Pitsford, although four were at Hollowell on 10th. Northern Wheatears were still represented by singles at Panattoni Park on 5th-6th, Harrington on 6th and Pitsford from 6th to 10th.