Month: March 2020

Sunshine and south-easterlies. With some rather nice weather conditions, conducive to migration, things took a turn for the worse halfway through the period as the coronavirus lockdown situation ensued, putting paid to most birders’ activities.

Hanging on in there until 22nd was Clifford Hill GP’s first-summer Dark-bellied Brent Goose, while Stanford Res’ nine Pink-footed Geese again entered Northamptonshire airspace briefly on 21st and 23rd. Back at Clifford Hill, the two drake Greater Scaups were still present on 23rd – at least one of which remained on 27th and the adult female was back at Stanwick GP on 22nd.

Clifford Hill also hung on to its two summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebes until at least 21st and on the same date, a Bittern was discovered at Stanford Res before quickly flying off into Leicestershire. Apart from two at Stanwick on 22nd, single Great Egrets were still to be found at Ditchford GP, Kislingbury GP, Pitsford Res, Stanford on Avon, Summer Leys LNR and Thrapston GP

The year’s second Osprey was picked up heading over Bulwick on 21st and, for the second consecutive week, Avocets were again seen in the Nene Valley, when two were found at Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows LNR on 26th. Initially present on Dragonfly Lake, they moved to Townholme Meadow, where they were visible from a bedroom window in Irthlingborough – now there’s lockdown birding for you! They were still present the next day. Other notable passage waders included a Black-tailed Godwit at the same locality, a Knot at Clifford Hill GP on 22nd and a Ruff for a short time at Summer Leys the following day, while a Jack Snipe was at Boddington Res on 26th.

More Mediterranean Gulls this week were two adults on Mary’s Lake, Earls Barton GP on 25th but that was about it as far as gulls were concerned. Single Short-eared Owls were still in evidence at Borough Hill on 21st and near Stanford Res on 21st-23rd, while a Merlin flew north over Chipping Warden, early in the morning of 21st.

Bird of the week without a doubt, though, was a Hooded Crow seen in fields east of the track down to Elinor Trout Lake at Thrapston GP on the afternoon of 23rd. It didn’t linger, as is typical of local occurrences of this species and if accepted, it will be only the third in the county this century, the previous two being flyover singles at Alderton on 7th November 2018 and at Summer Leys on 28th March 2019.

Another ‘first’ for the year this week was a singing male Willow Warbler at Stortons GP on 22nd but it was ‘outsung’ by a something smaller, with more pulling power – a male Firecrest at Ravensthorpe Res on 21st, which delighted all who turned up to admire it, pre-lockdown, on 22nd.

Meanwhile, following last week’s first, Northern Wheatears continued to pass through in small numbers with singles at both Borough Hill and Stanford Res on 21st, Clifford Hill GP on 21st-22nd and Wollaston STW on 23rd.

This is likely to be the last weekly report for some time – for obvious reasons – but for anyone able to travel safely, within government ruling, to local sites then please continue to share records.

A mild, south-westerly airstream ensured temperatures touched the higher side of seasonal average throughout the most part of the week, providing a much-needed boost for spring migrants. And it happened – migration with a capital ‘M’ – the county seeing the arrival of a decent number of ‘firsts’ for the year.

One of these, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, was found at Clifford Hill GP on 17th, remaining there until the week’s end, while there was a surprising re-emergence, on 15th, of the nine Pink-footed Geese originally found at Stanford Res on 8th February but absent from there since 18th of the same month. Clearly they had been lurking undetected, somewhere in the vicinity and they were still present in the area on 19th.

More long-stayers included the two drake Greater Scaups at Clifford Hill GP all week, while the adult female left Stanwick GP and returned to adjacent Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows LNR, where it was still present on 18th.

Staying with the Nene Valley, two summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebes were found on the Main Barrage Lake at Clifford Hill GP as the week drew to a close on the afternoon of 20th.

Some distance further downriver, the Stanwick Cattle Egrets went back to playing hard to get, with just two on show early in the day on 15th. Unsurprisingly, the opposite was true when it came to the distribution of Great Egrets, which were present at seven localities, Thrapston GP once again hosting the week’s maximum of four, also on 15th.

The same site packed a punch on 18th, when it delivered the year’s first Osprey, eying up Elinor Trout Lake from a strategically located pylon.

Wader passage picked up from the very start of the period, commencing with an Avocet at Boddington Res on 14th and five more during the day at Summer Leys LNR. Together, they formed part of a wider overland movement involving birds in Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire, London, Oxfordshire and Staffordshire on the same date. More will surely follow as spring advances.

Summer Leys was also responsible for producing another ‘first’ for the year in the shape of a Little Ringed Plover on 19th and the same site also held on to a Knot from 16th until 19th, the same individual no doubt having been seen flying southwest from Stanwick on 15th. Remarkably, the Knot total swelled to five at Summer Leys, albeit briefly, on 18th.

The same reserve pulled in seven Black-tailed Godwits early in the day on 20th. Rounding off the wader tally were four Jack Snipes still at Hollowell Res on 14th and an amazing total of nine together in one small flooded area behind the dam at Daventry CP on 18th – surely a record count for this species at the site.

After a dismal absence of gulls last week, evidence that Mediterranean Gull passage was underway appeared in the form of an adult at Stanwick on 16th, a first-winter at Daventry CP on 19th and one at Summer Leys the following day. Hollowell produced a first-winter Caspian Gull on 14th, while twos of Yellow-legged Gulls were logged at Summer Leys on 14th and Daventry CP on 18th.

Merlins were also on the move, the week producing singles at Stanford Res and over the feeding station at Summer Leys – both on 20th, while Stanford was also the venue for the appearance of the year’s first Swallow, over the dam there, on 19th. Despite the obvious feeling of spring in the air, the wintering Siberian Chiffchaff along the outflow stream at Ecton SF was still in situ on 19th and, with British winterers sometimes staying into April, it may yet stick around for another week or two. The same may not be said for Stonechats, though. After being recorded at seven localities last week, there was only one report of three at Clifford Hill GP during the period, this site also producing a rather mobile and elusive male Black Redstart on 17th. But arguably, the most attractive and, therefore, popular harbinger of spring – Northern Wheatear – made its 2020 debut this week, on 16th, when one was trapped and ringed at Brixworth STW. Its appearance coincided with a large fall involving hundreds on the south coast, with Dorset, for example, logging more than two hundred and thirty on the same date. Others quickly followed, including singles at Upton CP (Northampton) on 18th, Summer Leys on 19th-20th and at Harrington AF, Hartwell and Maidwell – all on 20th. Surprisingly, none was photographed …

Against the continuing blustery – though relatively mild – conditions, the wheels of spring continued to turn this week, albeit slowly, with the arrival of the first Sand Martin on 7th.  Beyond that, there were few surprises.

Although they have no doubt been there since the early part of the year, the two first-winter drake Scaups at Clifford Hill GP were back in the news this week, having moulted into their adult finery. They remained until at least 11th. Meanwhile, the female had returned to Stanwick GP on 8th, after last week’s visit to nearby Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows LNR.

Pleasingly, the Cattle Egrets mobile in the same area had regrouped, the famous five now all back together around Stanwick’s Roadside Lake, remaining there throughout the week. With some now sporting exquisite summer plumage, as well as having undergone a change in bare part colour, Great Egrets maintained their presence in the county, being logged at ten localities, with a maximum of three at Thrapston GP on 8th.

While a total absence of rare and scarce gulls this week may be welcome news to some, there was little to fill the gap, save the flock of ten Ruffs which dropped into Summer Leys unexpectedly for just thirty minutes on 7th and up to two Jack Snipes at Hollowell Res between 10th and 13th.

Old faithfuls remaining from weeks gone by included one of Stanford’s Short-eared Owls, which was still performing well on 8th and the Siberian Chiffchaff along the outflow stream that is home to a high concentration of Chironomids at Ecton SF on 10th.

Remaining Stonechats is a sure sign that winter is still not quite over and done, so seven sites supporting between one and three birds apiece means there is a way to go yet. Winter 2019-20 has proven to be a good year for them.

But one species which we are now seeing in lower numbers of late is Water Pipit, one of which was located at the county’s previously foremost wintering site, Ditchford GP, on 13th. This, so far, is the only one to have been found in the county this winter.

In a nod to the arrival of meteorological spring this week, a singing Chiffchaff at a non-wintering locality provided a hint of many more migrants to come but it was the first Black-bellied Dipper for twenty-four years which drew the crowds during its three-day stay in the county.

A female Scaup at Ditchford GP’s Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows on 5th was the sole representative of this week’s Anseriformes. Surely more is on the cards from this group over the next few weeks as things start to move throughout the early part of the spring. But just a hop, skip and a jump to the Watersports Pit, west of Ditchford Lane saw last week’s four Cattle Egrets now down to three on 6th, while Great Egrets continued to be found at eight localities, with no more than two at any one site. Further down the Nene Valley, the first Marsh Harrier of the year appeared at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR on 5th.

Things were looking up again for gulls, with March normally seeing a good deal of northward movement – particularly for Mediterranean Gulls, an adult of which was at Daventry CP on 5th-6th.

The year’s second Iceland Gull – again an adult – joined the throng at Rushton Landfill on 6th, the same site hosting a third-winter Caspian Gull on the same date, while a third-winter Yellow-legged Gull visited Daventry CP on 2nd, followed by a fourth-winter there the next day. Keep watching those gull roosts!

Harrington AF hung on to its Short-eared Owl until at least 29th, Borough Hill still had two on 6th and the Stanford Res bird notched up another week, still being present on 5th. Stonechats were still on station at Borough Hill (six), Hartwell, where there were five and Stanford, two, while singles at Harrington and Thrapston appeared to be new birds.

But bird of the week and, so far, the year was the first Northamptonshire Black-bellied Dipper – or any Dipper come to that – for almost a quarter of a century. Oh, yes. On display at Sywell CP for only two and a half days, it attracted the attention of more than just a steady procession of admiring birders, narrowly escaping the talons of a Sparrowhawk on two occasions, one of which was neatly captured on film by Graham Norris.

With Black-bellied Dipper now a national rarity, how long will we have to wait for the next one?