Newsround – 30th September to 6th October 2023

A west to south-westerly airstream delivered a largely warm week with temperatures well above average for early October. But as we move ever closer to the bottom of the autumnal helter-skelter, with new birds proving increasingly hard to come by, a briefly staying suburban Wryneck was a nice find for one, early in the week.

A quick look at wildfowl reveals the renewed presence this week of Hollowell Reservoir’s Pink-footed Goose, on 6th, and the female Ruddy Shelduck between 1st and 3rd. A Garganey at Stanford Res on 3rd and 6th provided a welcome distraction for the site’s regular watchers from the lingering quartet of drake Red-crested Pochards, present there throughout the period.

With migrant wader numbers continuing to ebb, the first Jack Snipe of the season checked in at Hollowell on 3rd and Ruff numbers dwindled to just one at Stanwick GP between 30th and 2nd and two there on 3rd, followed by one at Earls Barton GP on 6th.

On the Larid front, a crisp first-winter Mediterranean Gull briefly joined the pre-roost of gulls off the dam at Pitsford Res on 4th, before quickly moving off south-west. Upsizing, single Caspian Gulls included a juvenile/first-winter at Pitsford on 3rd, an adult at Hollowell – also on 3rd, a second-winter at Stanford on 4th, when the German-ringed adult was again at Naseby Res, and an adult at Ravensthorpe Res on 6th.

Yellow-legged Gull numbers were up on last week. Pitsford produced the maximum count of seven on 3rd, the same site holding one on 30th, two on 4th and three on 6th. Elsewhere, four were at Stanwick on 2nd, followed by one there the next day, at least four were at Wicksteed Park Lake, Kettering on 3rd with two there on 6th and singles visited Summer Leys on 1st, 2nd and 5th, Thrapston GP on 1st and Earls Barton on 6th.

Summer Leys’ potentially resident Bittern surfaced on 30th but was not seen thereafter and, seemingly coming back thick and fast, Cattle Egrets reached double-figures at Stanwick. Twelve were present there on 3rd, although only two could be found on site the next day, while one again visited Summer Leys on the last day of the week.

Edging ever closer to winter, a ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier was found between Blueberry Farm and nearby Dale Farm, Maidwell on 30th and in sharp contrast to last week, Marsh Harriers were down to just one, at Stanford Res, on 4th. Two Merlins also put in an appearance – one at Stanwick on 1st and the other at Stanford three days later, on 4th.

Potentially bird of the week was a Wryneck in suburbia, seen for only a short period of time at Dallington Cemetery, Northampton very late in the afternoon of 1st. Alas, it chose not to hang around to be admired.

Otherwise, numbers of scarce passerine migrants continued to fall and, like last week, just two Common Redstarts were found – both on 30th – with one located between Lamport and Scaldwell and the other hanging on at Blueberry Farm from the previous day. The week’s sole Whinchat – and maybe the last one of 2023 – was also at Blueberry Farm on the same date. Numbers of Stonechats ramped up considerably, though. By the week’s end, they had been found at ten locations, comprising Brampton Valley, Clifford Hill GP, Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (north and south), Hannington, Harrington AF, Hollowell, Old, Pitsford and Stanford, with five of these producing four birds apiece.

While the last day of September saw no big ships sailing, there were still Northern Wheatears to be had or even trapped and ringed. As it happened, one was, at Pitsford, while two hung on in the Brampton Valley from last week.

Which leaves just White Wagtail, two of which were identified at Pitsford on 4th. Largely ignored in autumn, probably because of the flood of grey juveniles of both alba races, there must surely be more coming through than are reported. That all-important grey rump is key to their separation but there are quite a number of intermediates which pose problems. Fifty shades and all that …