Newsround 17th to 23rd January 2026

Unsettled weather and continuing wet conditions were the hallmarks of a week which saw few surprises and an apparent thinning out in numbers of winter geese.

As in previous weeks, Pink-footed Goose made it into the period when a group flew over Desborough, calling, prior to first light on 19th, while a putative Tundra Bean Goose was retrospectively identified from photographs taken at Summer Leys LNR on 20th.

Compared to the previous week, fewer sites held White-fronted Geese, with the highest count coming again from Stanford Res, where fifty-seven were present on 20th. Elsewhere, nine were at Blatherwycke Lake on 17th, seven were at Summer Leys on 23rd following six there on 20th and four on 19th and 22nd. Pitsford Res held just two on 19th, while the lone adult with the local geese at Hollowell Res was still present there on 17th.

Thrapston’s Town Lake continued to hold two Red-crested Pochards and two Greater Scaups until at least 22nd and the frequently evasive drake Ring-necked Duck also resurfaced there on 20th, having last been seen on 11th. Further west along the valley, a bird believed to be a drake hybrid Ring-necked Duck x Tufted Duck was found at Ditchford GP’s Wilson’s Pits on the last day of the period.

Pitsford’s primary offering remained the Black-necked Grebe, still to be found in the general area of Pintail Bay and The Narrows on 18th.

On the wader front, Black-tailed Godwits continued to feature as an unusual local winter visitor, with one continuing its occupation of Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR until at least 19th, while one was seen again at Summer Leys on 22nd. A single Jack Snipe was also present at the latter site on 23rd.

And there was little on offer in the shape of gulls this week, an adult Caspian Gull being seen at Summer Leys on 19th, 20th and 22nd, while the roost at Stanford held an adult and a first-winter on 20th and a first-winter again on 23rd. Even thinner on the ground were Yellow-legged Gulls, with just a single adult at Pitsford on 22nd.

Last week’s end of period deluge likely accounted for the subsequent disappearance of the one remaining Glossy Ibis after its favoured area around Wellingborough Embankment became highly waterlogged. However, with water levels quickly subsiding, it was back there again, albeit intermittently, from 18th until the week’s end. Appearances of one at Summer Leys daily from 20th leads to the assumption that they are one and the same, as the two sites are little more than 3 km apart and they were not seen simultaneously. Some may beg to differ but until proven one way or the other, the jury’s still out …

Following the one-day bird in the previous week, the favoured marshy field at Wellingborough embankment was paid another visit by a Cattle Egret on 20th, although it wasn’t seen thereafter.

And more Marsh Harrier magic was always on the cards this week with five Nene Valley locations in the frame for supplying one or two throughout the period. One was at Titchmarsh on 19th and 20th, roosting there on the latter date while, on the same dates, Stanwick produced an immature male and a wing-tagged individual, respectively. Summer Leys came up trumps with three, including the wing-tagged ‘J4’ immature male on 20th, one on 21st and two (one tagged) on 22nd, while nearby Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (North) saw one flying west on 22nd and one or two were seen at Ditchford GP on 23rd.

Heading up this week’s passerines was last week’s Firecrest at Thrapston GP, remaining faithful to the same area of scrub, on 17th-18th.

Eight Stonechats at Ditchford GP’s Townholme Meadows on 22nd is the highest single site total so far this year, with twos only in the Brampton Valley between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton on 17th and 21st, at Deene Lake on 17th and at both Ditchford and Pitsford on 18th.

And aside from one in flight over Wellingborough Lock on 18th and six at Yardley Chase on 20th, the much-favoured areas of Wakerley Great Wood and the Brampton Valley’s Gamboro Plantation continued to produce Crossbills – the first of these locations holding up to fifteen between 17th and 20th, while the latter held up to ten between 17th and 21st.

And with Corn Buntings now hardwired into the area between Deanshanger and Wicken, a massive count of thirty-one there on 18th became the highest onsite total to date, single-figure tallies being made on 17th, 19th and 20th.