Month: July 2023

Initially an undeniable washout, the latter part of the week saw a subtropical, south-westerly airstream hit the UK but there was nothing ‘subtropical’ about the birds seen locally. There was, however, another tantalising tern – again momentarily – this time in the Nene Valley.    

In the absence of any other qualifying waterfowl, the Hollowell Ruddy Shelduck stood up to be counted, remaining on site throughout the period. With the national status review of this species ongoing, multiples have been seen on the east coast, as well as inland, including a flock of five in Norfolk within the last ten days.

For the second week running, a Common Quail was heard in the county – this particular individual turning out to be a real fly-by-night, calling as it moved over Kettering during the last hour of darkness on 27th and clearly choosing to follow in the nocturnal wing flaps of the bird recorded over Higham Ferrers on 10th June.

Continuing its summer sojourn, last week’s adult Black-necked Grebe remained in the vicinity of Maytrees Hide at Pitsford Res until at least 25th, when it became noticeably more mobile. It was not reported subsequently.

This week’s waders were limited to a single Whimbrel flying south-west over Stanwick GP on 22nd, followed by a run of Black-tailed Godwits, which included six at Summer Leys LNR on 23rd, two there the next day and, on 25th, singles at both Stanford Res and Stanwick GP.

An adult Caspian Gull at the latter locality on 22nd was the first of the autumn, backed by a supporting cast of eleven Yellow-legged Gulls there on the same date. Further down the Nene Valley, Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR produced more Yellow-legged Gulls with an adult on 22nd, two adults on 24th and several on 28th, while two adults were at Pitsford on 24th.

But, once again, the bird of the week slot was firmly occupied by another fly-by-night of a different sort – the probable Caspian Tern, which quickly departed to the east from Summer Leys within one minute of its discovery, early in the afternoon of 23rd, leaving its observer somewhat bemused. After recovering from the initial shock, the ‘probable’ was upgraded to a ‘certain’ and the rest, as they say, is history. With the UK experiencing a relative glut of this species in 2023, whether this bird was the wanderer that visited Hollowell last week, or if it was a different individual, it is impossible to say.

Summer Leys also produced a Bittern, which was only seen twice in flight on the same date as the above tern.

Making a return this week, Ospreys were clocked at Earls Barton GP’s western extremity on 22nd and 27th, Thrapston GP on 24th and 25th and at Hollowell on 27th and 28th. A further movement of Marsh Harriers was also evident, with single juveniles at Summer Leys on 23rd and 26th, Titchmarsh LNR on 25th and over Byfield on 26th.

Now firmly in the throes of autumn passage, Common Redstarts were, once again, well represented by twos at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 23rd-24th and 28th and at Harrington AF on the latter date, while singles were at Woodford Halse on 24th and 27th. New birds were found at Hollowell, Pitsford and Summer Leys on 24th, the bird at the last locality, a fresh juvenile, remaining until 27th.

A further sign of autumn, if ever it were needed, was the arrival of up to three Whinchats at Stanford Res on 23rd, remaining until at least 26th.

While the unseasonal, topsy-turvy weather conditions persisted throughout the week, many eyes became focussed on a certain east coast Giga-rarity but Northants produced its own Mega in the shape of a fine adult Caspian Tern.

This week’s ducks deluxe, however, included the female Ruddy Shelduck remaining at Hollowell Res throughout and a Garganey at Daventry CP on 20th-21st, while last week’s female Red-crested Pochard stayed at Stanford Res until 17th. Another Red-crested Pochard – this time a drake – visited Pitsford Res on 20th.

The fourth Common Quail of the year was a male heard singing at Stanford early in the morning of 20th. Audible from the dam car park, it was still present later in the evening and, unlike the previous three, offering a sound opportunity for those who wanted to catch up with it. It was not heard the following day.

From pristine spring adults to tanned summer juveniles, this year has been pleasingly awash with Black-necked Grebes and, out of last week’s four at Thrapston GP, an adult and a juvenile stayed on until at least 17th. Another juvenile also appeared at Stanford on 15th, while an adult turned up at Pitsford for the last two days of the week.

In contrast to last week, wader numbers were slightly down, and included just a single Black-tailed Godwit at Summer Leys on 16th-17th. Remarkably, feathers from both a juvenile and an adult Black-tailed Godwit were identified as remnants of a Peregrine’s prey at a site in north Northamptonshire during the week, as were tail feathers from a Bar-tailed Godwit.

In at the eleventh hour, a Ruff was found at Summer Leys on the evening of 21st, a Greenshank visited Hollowell Res on 20th-21st and two Sanderlings were reported from Clifford Hill GP on 19th.

Larids this week were restricted to Yellow-legged Gulls with one at Ditchford GP on 15th and two visiting Stanwick on 18th. On past form, numbers appear likely to build at the latter site as we move further into the autumn.

But never mind gulls as bird of the week, by a country mile, was the county’s seventh-ever Caspian Tern – a well-earned discovery by the County Recorder at Hollowell Res on the evening of 18th. Unfortunately for everyone else, the bird took to the air within a minute of its discovery and headed off high north. Alas, it did not return. Despite a wide gap in occurrence dates for the last one, in 2020, it was considered to be the same individual wide-ranging across the UK. The current year has proven to be a good one as far as this species occurring in the UK is concerned.

On the raptor front, Marsh Harriers came squarely to the fore with singles at Clifford Hill GP on 19th, Summer Leys on 19th-20th and at Harrington AF on 21st.

Propping up the passerines this week was Common Redstart, a series of sightings comprising singles at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 15th, Woodford Halse NR on 17th and at both Harrington AF and Stanford Res the following day – the latter trapped and ringed. Multiples included three at the traditional site around the Percy Pilcher Monument at Stanford on Avon on 20th, three at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 21st and two at Harrington AF on the same date.

While the Jetstream remained well to the south of the UK, ushering in a series of low pressure systems with attendant unsettled weather, there was clear evidence that autumn passage was now well underway on all fronts.

Against a background of slowly building numbers of wildfowl, two Barnacle Geese constituted a barrel-scrapingly desperate find at Clifford Hill GP on 12th – a frustratingly feral ‘C-list’ bird, on the cusp of not even being mentioned … While not in quite the same category but receiving ever-enduring short shrift from the masses, the Hollowell Ruddy Shelduck remained throughout the period.

Meanwhile, Garganey numbers were up on last week, with two new birds appearing – one at Daventry CP and the other at Thrapston GP – both on 10th. New in at Stanford Res was a female Red-crested Pochard on 11th, also seeing out the period there.

Easily upstaging all of those above, though, was a flock of four Black-necked Grebes discovered at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR on 12th. The flock comprised one adult and three recently fledged juveniles in various stages of moult, with only the juveniles remaining there the following day. Four is not unprecedented but the July date is early – this species normally making its first autumn appearance during the latter part of August.

With wader passage already well underway, the first Whimbrel of the autumn was picked up flying west over Stanford on 11th, while the movement of Black-tailed Godwits continued unabated with singles at Hollowell on 8th, Stanford on 9th and Summer Leys LNR on 10th. The latter date also saw three more at Stanford and two at Stanwick GP, where three were also present the following day. An adult male Ruff, briefly at Summer Leys on 9th, was also the first of the autumn while, hot on its heels there the following day, a Wood Sandpiper dropped in for good measure.

Summer Leys also produced a Greenshank on 10th but this species was not exclusively the preserve of the Leys – Hollowell also hung on to last week’s bird, which remained on 8th-9th, while it, or another, was there on 12th-14th.

The first Mediterranean Gull of the autumn was, unusually, an adult present briefly at Stanwick GP on 10th. The first juvenile is no doubt on the cards for the near future.

This week’s raptor slot was again occupied exclusively by Ospreys, which were seen at four localities, namely Hollowell, where two were present on 8th, Thrapston, where singles were fishing on 10th and 12th, while both Pitsford Res and Summer Leys produced birds on 12th.

One bird which, in recent years, has rocketed to red status as a result of the conservation initiatives stemming from its drastic UK decline, is Turtle Dove. Although there have been a handful of local records this year, their presence has been kept under wraps because of disturbance at possible breeding localities. One paid a flying visit to Earls Barton GP/Summer Leys on 8th but, unfortunately, it did not linger.

Making the briefest of comebacks following its wane in popularity, the male Bearded Tit resurfaced in the reedbed below the Fishing Lodge at Pitsford on 10th.

Another autumn ‘first’ was a Common Redstart at the favoured site of the hedgerow behind the Percy Pilcher monument, at Stanford on Avon, on 9th. This one was quickly followed by further singles at Harrington AF on 12th and Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 12th-14th. And, to round off, Common Crossbills still seem to be coming, with at least six at Fermyn Woods CP on 10th.

Although the first week of July pretty much delivered déjà vu as far as the week’s birding was concerned, the arrival of a couple of wader species indicated it was game on for autumn passage …

Last week’s Garganey, found at Summer Leys LNR on 27th, remained faithful to the Scrape there throughout the period, while Hollowell Res also hung on to its ageing female Ruddy Shelduck, now in its fourth year of returning to the site after arriving as a first-summer there in May 2019.

July, however, got off to a good start with Black-tailed Godwits found at four sites, kicking off with one at Earls Barton GP’s Hardwater Lake on 2nd and it, or another, there on 5th. Three visited Pitsford Res on 4th, while numbers grew throughout the day at Summer Leys on 7th, culminating in a total of seven present. The latter date also saw five on the dam at Stanford Res.

The end of the week also saw the arrival of a Greenshank at Hollowell Res.

A Yellow-legged Gull was off the dam at Pitsford on 4th.

Single Ospreys visited Hollowell on 1st and Ravensthorpe Res on 3rd and, as per last week, there wasn’t a sniff of any other scarce raptors.

And Pitsford’s fine male Bearded Tit made it well into the week just gone … but was nowhere to be seen after 5th.

A largely dry week in terms of both weather and birds as the summer slowdown finally kicked in.

That’s not to say there was nothing to look at or no new birds as, falling squarely into the latter category, a Garganey was discovered at Summer Leys LNR on 27th and remained on site until at least 30th. And, for Ruddy Shelduck fans, the regular female present at Winwick Pools on 26th had moved to its former favoured haunt of Hollowell Res by the week’s end.

Although southbound wader passage was clearly underway, there was nothing to shout about this week, while an adult Yellow-legged Gull at Ravensthorpe Res on 25th served to prop up the local larids.

Aside from single Ospreys dropping into the regular hotspot of Hollowell on 26th and 30th, one flew north-east along the Nene Valley at Summer Leys early in the morning of 24th and, continuing in the same direction, was logged passing over Stanwick GP some 15 minutes later. Elsewhere, two well-grown nestlings – male and female – were ringed by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation at a nest in the county on 26th.

Pitsford’s showy male Bearded Tit continued to perform throughout the week and is by no means the first site record, which is confirmed as being back in 1965 and found by a certain Robert Bullock …

Meanwhile, Crossbills continued to filter through and these included singles flying south-west over both Harry’s Park Wood and Stanford Res on 25th, a female at Hollowell Res on 26th, two flying over Earls Barton and six at Pitsford Res on 27th and two south over Harrington AF on 29th.