Month: February 2024

Hints of spring faced challenging bouts of heavy rain over the week, the latter adding significantly to an already waterlogged landscape in many areas. And, as for the birds …

Stanford Reservoir’s Pink-footed Goose remained in the area until at least 21st, venturing briefly into Northants on 18th. Further down in the county, at Pitsford Res, a Whooper Swan was reported from Brixworth CP on 20th, while Clifford Hill GP delivered the week’s best duck, a ‘redhead’ Smew, from 21st to 23rd. Only the second one of this year so far, its behaviour and its favoured area of the pit were identical to the bird there during the first week of January, suggesting it may well be the same individual making a return visit.

This week’s scarce wader tally failed to progress beyond three Jack Snipes at Daventry CP on 19th and one at Hollowell Res on 23rd.

Gulls, too, were thin on the ground with a first-winter Caspian Gull at Ravensthorpe Res on 19th and two adult Caspians at nearby Hollowell on 23rd, while Pitsford unsurprisingly dished up an adult Yellow-legged Gull on 17th.

Cattle Egrets enjoyed some decent exposure across the county this week with birds present at five localities. Ditchford GP saw a peak of five on 20th with at least two still present on 23rd. At Summer Leys LNR, the two present daily since 13th February remained settled throughout the week, with a third bird reported there on 20th, while the Stanford Res/Stanford on Avon commuter was still present on 18th and further singles were at Kislingbury GP/Upton CP on 17th-18th and Stanwick GP on 20th.

A male Marsh Harrier scraped into the week’s proceedings, being seen at Summer Leys on 17th.

As with last week, Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and Neville’s Lodge, Finedon both shared Short-eared Owls with up to two at the first of these throughout the week and the same number at the latter site up to 18th. One was also trapped and ringed in the Brampton Valley, between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton, on 18th – this site, alongside Blueberry Farm, continuing to hold a roving male Merlin.

The week’s passerine contingent was at a low ebb, the highlight being a group of nine Waxwings discovered flycatching from bushes alongside the A605 Oundle bypass on 18th. Now seemingly failing to generate the excitement they did at the turn of the year, this group appeared not to pull any punters.

So, that just leaves Stonechats, numbers of which picked up considerably this week with birds present at eleven localities. Most notable were approximately ten at Hinton AF on 18th, nine at Daventry CP on 22nd and eight at Hollowell Res on 23rd. Elsewhere, between one and four were present in the Brampton Valley, at Clifford Hill, Ditchford, Earls Barton GP, Stanford, Stortons GP, Summer Leys and Upton.

A somewhat subdued week saw continuing high water levels, although rainfall was significantly lower than that during the week prior. Unfortunately, there was little to shout about in terms of new arrivals and more than a feeling that we are, at present, just bumping along the bottom.  For avid birders in the field, trying to find new birds was, as they say, rather like pulling teeth but Sand Martin in Kent and Swallow in Dorset this week hint that things, in general, are on the move …

Locally, though, it was back to basics, kicking off with Stanford Reservoir’s Pink-footed Goose still present on the Northants side of the border on 10th. Two Bewick’s Swans were reported at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (South) on 15th but there was no sign of any there the following day. Last week’s drake Green-winged Teal at Stanwick GP scraped in to steal the crown in this week’s lineup on 10th but there was not even a sniff of it thereafter. A drake Red-crested Pochard found at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (North) on the same date was likely the bird present at nearby Billing GP’s Ecton Lake on 27th January.

This week’s waders were last week’s waders with a Ruff still at Stanwick on 10th and a Jack Snipe at Hollowell Res on the same date, plus at least four more of the latter still at Daventry CP between 12th and 15th.

Gulls were few and far between and included two second-winter Mediterranean Gulls – Stanford and Pitsford Res producing one apiece on 12th and 16th, respectively, while an adult Yellow-legged Gull was present at DIRFT 3 on 11th.

Cattle Egrets were a little more obliging this week, with one commuting between Stanford Res and nearby Stanford on Avon, on and off, throughout the week. One was also at Stanwick on 15th and two were mobile around Summer Leys LNR between 13th and 16th.

Summer Leys also produced an immature male Marsh Harrier on 10th and 12th, the same bird being present further up the valley at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (South) on the last of these two dates. One, possibly the same individual, also visited Stanwick on 13th. It’s not so long ago that Marsh Harrier was a scarce passage migrant in the county and, in 1971, this species was Britain’s rarest breeding raptor with just one pair at Minsmere in Suffolk. Since then, after intense conservation efforts, one estimate puts the UK population at between 590 and 695 breeding pairs – undoubtedly the source of our recent wintering birds.

Short-eared Owls remained prominent in the news with Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and Neville’s Lodge, Finedon carving up this week’s quota between them, each locality producing up to four birds throughout the period.

Two Merlins comprised a male between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton, in the Brampton Valley on 13th and a female/immature at Pitsford Res on 16th.

As far as this week’s Waxwings were concerned, a dozen or so were seen flying away from Dallington Cemetery (Duston, Northampton), just before dusk on 10th – and that was the first and last that was seen of them. Following the Duston Vanishers, Northamptonshire was left wanting, while, not a million miles away in suburban Milton Keynes, numbers went from strength to strength, with at least seventy-five on the eastern outskirts of the city near Kingston by the week’s end. Needless to say, the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire all enjoyed double-figure flocks.

The Brampton Valley, Daventry, Earls Barton, Hollowell, Stanwick and Summer Leys all held Stonechats this week, with the highest count of five at Hollowell on 10th, while Crossbills scraped in with single birds over Daventry on 14th and at East Carlton CP the following day.

In contrast to the previous week, this week endured considerable precipitation over an already waterlogged landscape, resulting in rapidly developing floodwater – particularly in the Nene Valley – by the week’s end. The early part of the week, however, saw the arrival of another North American duck …

Yes, looking beyond the Pink-footed Goose that was still at Stanford Res as the week came to a close, Northamptonshire’s sixteenth Green-winged Teal was found at Stanwick GP on 6th by veteran Stanwickeer, Steve Fisher, during an early morning sortie around the site.

Stanwick (and Steve) has a track record for producing this species which, since the first county record at nearby Ditchford GP in 1980, has previously occurred there in five different years. In fact, early spring during the three consecutive years, 2007-2009, produced one that was considered to be the same returning individual and was therefore classed as only one record. It’s been an eight-year wait since the last, which was at Daventry CP in  2016 (details here and here).

Green-winged Teal was dropped from the BBRC list of species requiring submission from 1991 and it was considered a sub-species of ‘Eurasian’ Teal until 2001, when the BOU awarded it full species status.

Aside from the above, both first-winter Greater Scaups remained in place at Hollowell Res and Grendon Lakes (Earls Barton GP) on 4th and 5th, respectively.

The week’s waders were limited to a Ruff at Stanwick on 7th and seven Jack Snipes at Daventry CP on 5th.

Gull numbers were down over the period with a Caspian Gull (unaged) reported from Summer Leys LNR on 3rd, three (an adult and two first-winters) at Daventry CP on 5th and just a first-winter at the latter site on 9th. Two Yellow-legged Gulls (unaged) were reported from Summer Leys on 3rd and a first-winter was at Daventry CP on 5th.

Cattle Egrets were seen on single dates only at Ditchford GP on 4th, Wicksteed Water Meadows NR on 7th and Summer Leys on 9th, nor were there any subsequent reports of a Glossy Ibis seen in flight at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR in the fading light of 3rd.

After one there last week, Stanford produced the period’s only Marsh Harrier when one flew east on 7th.

Short-eared Owls were again in evidence with one at Harrington AF on 4th, up to three at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell between 5th and 7th and, on the latter date, three at Neville’s Lodge, Finedon and one in the Brampton Valley between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton.

In line with last week, Blueberry Farm delivered a Merlin – this time a female – on 7th and a female/immature was also seen at Harrington AF on 4th.

After 5th, it was all quiet on the Waxwing front, this being the last date on which the Corby seven were seen. Still, we can’t complain after their having enjoyed a good innings, being virtually nailed down at this site for more than five weeks.

Stonechats were again found at five localities, the highest single site count being six at Earls Barton GP on 4th, while Crossbills crept back into double figures with up to twelve being seen at the ever-reliable Fineshade Wood until at least 7th.

A largely dry week – both weatherwise and new birdwise – saw higher-than-average temperatures in the latter half but there was still plenty of entertainment out there to keep the birding pace going.

There were few new wildfowl during the period and the Pink-footed Goose that appeared at Stanford Res on 2nd appears likely to be the Hollowell Res bird out on a jolly. A drake Red-crested Pochard was found on Ecton Lake, at Billing GP, on 27th, while the female Ring-necked Duck remained at Titchmarsh LNR (Thrapston GP) until 28th but was not seen thereafter. Hollowell hung on to its first-winter drake Greater Scaup throughout, as did Grendon Lakes its rather more advanced individual.

With numbers up on last week, Jack Snipe was again the only standout wader. A maximum of twelve at Daventry CP on 29th was the highest count, followed by two at Hollowell between 28th and 2nd and one at Barnes Meadow LNR, Northampton on 29th.

The scarcer gulls were still out there to be had and these included single adult Caspian Gulls in the roost at Stanford on 29th and 31st, a first-winter at Daventry on 29th and an adult roosting at Summer Leys LNR on 30th. With a notable absence of the formerly regular adult from Pitsford Res of late, the only Yellow-legged Gulls this week were a first-winter at Daventry on 29th, an adult at Summer Leys on 30th and a third-winter in the roost at Stanford on 31st.

Nowadays less engaging and often prone to playing hide and seek, Pitsford’s Great Northern Diver was seen on 27th and 31st.

Cattle Egrets kept a surprisingly low profile and while one was seen at Stanford on 27th and 1st, it spent the intervening period in a nearby sheep field, over the border, in Leicestershire. One was also reported from Summer Leys on 29th.

Keeping up appearances, Marsh Harriers maintained their winter presence in the Nene Valley, where there were three independent sightings within the Earls Barton GP complex on 28th. One also provided observers at Stanford with a locally rare winter record when it flew east over the reservoir on the following day.

A ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier was clocked over Harrington AF during the last hour of daylight on 30th, while the gathering dusk on 28th-29th also saw the emergence of four Short-eared Owls at Neville’s Lodge, near Finedon. In a bid to rival the Finedon four, Blueberry Farm, Maidwell delivered its own twilight quartet on 1st.

Blueberry and the wider environs of the Brampton Valley also delivered a male Merlin on 29th-30th.

And so to Waxwings. Having increased to five birds in the latter part of last week, the Corby clan attracted a further new recruit on the first day of this one, only to move on up again to seven birds on 2nd. During this period, however, they became more mobile and unreliable, their appearances being more sporadic, with would-be observers going home empty-handed. That’s not to say they were the only ones available this week. A nice, Sunday afternoon find of twelve at Brackmills CP, Northampton proved to be a pull for those quick off the mark on 28th but their stay extended only until 09.15 the following morning, when they headed off south-west, toward Wootton. In addition to these, a lone bird was seen briefly in the vicinity of the entrance to the Hanson gravel processing plant at Earls Barton GP on 28th.

Stonechats were found at five localities – down from last week’s eleven – the highest count being a respectable seven at Hollowell on the last day of the week.

With numbers also down, Crossbills crept into the week’s line-up with at least one bird present at Longcroft Road, Corby on 1st and a rather meagre two at Fineshade Wood the following day.