Month: March 2026

Newsround 21st to 27th March 2026

Posted on by Mike Alibone

A mixed bag of weather ushered in five new summer visitors, while the week ended on a relatively cool note.

This year’s first Common Redstart is the earliest ever … by a clear four days.

With wildfowl firmly on the move, two adult Whooper Swans at Thrapston GP on the last day of the period are the only ones since 2nd and 3rd Jan, when singles were present at Hollowell Res and Clifford Hill GP, respectively.

Whooper Swans, Thrapston GP, 27th March 2026 (Bob Bullock)

And after an apparent absence of eighteen days, the Nene Valley Ring-necked Duck was back again at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR on 23rd and 24th – its ability to disappear for long periods is uncanny and unmatched. More Common Scoters paid the county a visit this week, with a drake at Titchmarsh NR on 22nd and two at Clifford Hill the following day.

The period’s waders included three Black-tailed Godwits at Titchmarsh NR on 23rd and a run of Ruffs, comprising seven at Ditchford GP’s Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows NR on 23rd-24th, dropping to one there on 26th, two at Earls Barton GP on 21st and singles at Summer Leys LNR on 21st and 27th.

Ruff, Summer Leys LNR, 27th March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

Two Jack Snipes were at Upton CP on 22nd and two at Ditchford the following day.

Hot on the heels of last week’s Kittiwakes were three or four more – all adults – at Thrapston GP on 26th-27th and at both Clifford Hill and Ravensthorpe, also on 27th. Nice but trivial in comparison to flocks of seventeen and forty-five over two sites in adjacent Buckinghamshire on 26th … A Mediterranean Gull visited Hardingstone GP on 23rd, the week’s only Caspian Gull was at Hollowell Res on 27th, while a single adult Yellow-legged Gull remained at Pitsford Res on 23rd and 25th.

The Red-throated Diver at Hollowell extended its stay there by yet another week.

Although seen almost daily up to 26th, there were no further reports of the Glossy Ibis at Summer Leys thereafter.

The period’s Cattle Egrets were limited to three together on farmland immediately north-east of Ringstead GP’s Kinewell Lake, on 27th.

Following the first Ospreys last week, two more flyovers passed Pitsford on 25th and Boddington Res, two days later, on 27th. Marsh Harriers fanned out a bit, single birds being seen at Earls Barton on 21st, Titchmarsh on 23rd-24th, over Irthlingborough and at Ditchford GP on 23rd, at Summer Leys on 23rd and 27th, at Stanwick GP on 24th and Clifford Hill on 26th.

Marsh Harrier, Summer Leys LNR, 23rd March 2026 (Alan Coles)

And aside from the aforementioned incoming passerines, a Black Redstart stuck rigidly to the species’ rules of late and turned up … yep … in a private garden, this time in Kettering. More Northern Wheatears were likely on the cards and they duly arrived – two at Clopton on 25th and singles near Everdon and at Harrington AF on 26th and at Clifford Hill on 27th.

On 23rd, a Scandinavian Rock Pipit paid a brief visit to Summer Leys, much to the delight of local photographers being in the right place at the right time. A smart bird and the first this year of a species which has become increasingly difficult to connect with in the county in recent years.

Scandinavian Rock Pipit, Summer Leys LNR, 23rd March 2026 (Russell Simpson)

Which just leaves Crossbills, singles of which were seen at Pitsford 22nd and Hollowell on 24th.

Newsround 14th to 20th March 2026

Posted on by Mike Alibone

A high pressure system over the country in the latter part of the week gave rise to above average temperatures and saw the wind direction change from south westerlies to an airflow with an easterly bias. Four new species were added to the county yearlist, only two of which were summer visitors …

And while there were no early birds, both Osprey and Northern Wheatear clocked on in an expectedly timely fashion.

Numbers of wildfowl took a tumble, the only birds of note being eleven White-fronted Geese which dropped in, briefly, at Ringstead GP on the last day of the week.

Barely had we passed mid-March and the second Common Crane of the year was notched up – another flyover and again at the eastern end of the county – this time at Lyveden New Bield, between Brigstock and Stoke Doyle, on 20th.

And Ravensthorpe’s Slavonian Grebe completed a 26-day stay on 17th, after which there were no further reports.

On the wader front, the second and third Avocet records for the year were not totally unexpected and included one at Pitsford Res on 15th, followed by one at Earls Barton GP on 18th being joined there by another the next day.

Avocets, Earls Barton GP, 19th March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

Summer Leys produced all the period’s Black-tailed Godwits, with one on 14th, sixteen on 17th and at least one on 19th.

Black-tailed Godwits, Summer Leys LNR, 17th March 2026 (James Underwood)

Further down the Nene Valley, five Ruffs at Ditchford GP’s Townholme Meadows constituted another first for the year on 20th, while single Jack Snipes were seen at Hollowell Res between 15th and 20th and at Pitsford on the latter date. Pitsford also continued to hold on to its wintering Common Sandpiper, seen only sporadically but still present on the causeway there on 19th.

And just over two weeks after the first Kittiwake of the year came six together, at Pitsford, on 16th, while the period’s only Mediterranean Gull – a first-winter – visited Stanford Res on three consecutive days from 14th. Other gulls were available, of course, including two second-winter Caspian Gulls at Clifford Hill GP on 15th, two adults at Hollowell on 18th and a single adult at Ravensthorpe on the same date. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was present at Pitsford on 16th-17th and two visited Ravensthorpe on 18th.

The Red-throated Diver at Hollowell extended its stay there by another week.

And the Summer Leys Glossy Ibis similarly saw another week out on site.

Glossy Ibis, Summer Leys LNR, 17th March 2026 (James Underwood)
Glossy Ibis, Summer Leys LNR, 20th March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

The latter location also produced sightings of Bittern on 14th and 19th, while a Cattle Egret scraped into the period, appearing at Kislingbury GP on the first of these two dates.

Flying high north over Harrington AF on 18th, the year’s first Osprey was quickly followed by another over Hollowell two days later, on 20th. No doubt there’ll be many more to come … And now part of the furniture, it seems, Marsh Harriers were still around at Summer Leys, where single birds were seen on 14th, 16th and 18th, with two present on 17th. Nearby, in the wider reaches of Earls Barton GP, singles were at Quarry Walk on 14th and at New Workings (South) on 20th. A ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier flew west over Harrington AF on 16th.

And the week’s other first summer visitor arrived on 17th in the shape of a smart male Northern Wheatear at Clifford Hill GP, hot on the tail of which were three more – all males – the following day, at Blueberry Hill Maidwell, in the Brampton Valley between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton, and at Harrington AF.

Male Northern Wheatear, Clifford Hill GP, 17th March 2026 (Mike Alibone)

An early spring White Wagtail was found on a manure heap between Earls Barton and Ecton on 20th and the only Water Pipit so far this year flew over, calling, at Pitsford on the same date.

It’s been a tremendous winter – and indeed last year – for Crossbills and they are still with us, one being seen at Gamboro Plantation, east of Cottesbrooke, on 14th, five over Denton Wood, Yardley Chase on 16th and several at Pitsford Res on 20th.

Newsround 7th to 13th March 2026

Posted on by Mike Alibone

A westerly to south-westerly bias to the wind direction this week may not have been in the best interest of migrants from the deep south but there were signs of the beginning of a winter goose clear-out, while some of the county’s recent scarcer visitors sat tight.  

New in, however, was an early bird in the shape of a Whimbrel – the first of the year – at Clifford Hill GP on 7th.

This individual proved itself a record-breaker, comfortably beating the county’s previous earliest of one over Ravensthorpe Res on 10th March 2012. While by and large classed as a summer visitor, the UK supports a very small, but growing, wintering population with a concentration along the south coast of England, as well as some in Southern Ireland.

The week’s geese included a Pink-footed Goose found between Chipping Warden and West Farndon on 8th – the same date being the last on which the long-staying Tundra Bean Goose, along with its supporting cast of up to twenty-three White-fronted Geese, was seen at Ringstead GP. With regard to the latter species, the Stanwick seven were, appropriately enough, last seen on 7th, while the settled flock of up to thirty-seven remained in the vicinity of Stanford on Avon until the week’s end.

The female Ruddy Shelduck was still present at Lilbourne Meadows up to 9th but was not reported thereafter, the same being applicable to the drake Smew at Clifford Hill GP. New in, however, were two Common Scoters making a short stopover at Daventry CP, also on 9th and on the back of an inland movement across the Midlands and Northern England.

Common Scoters, Daventry CP, 9th March 2026 (Gary Pullan)

Having moved to Ditchford GP, last week’s Red-necked Grebe continued to prove elusive, having shifted to Big Lake there on 10th, the week’s only sighting, and there were no subsequent reports. By stark contrast, Ravensthorpe’s Slavonian Grebe extended its stay, being seen daily throughout the period.

Slavonian Grebe, Ravensthorpe Res, 13th March 2026 (Jim Urwin)

And aside from the aforementioned Whimbrel, the week’s prime waders were limited to a Black-tailed Godwit on floods in the Welland Valley near Harringworth on 7th and a Jack Snipe at Hollowell Res on 9th.

Mediterranean Gulls, part of the March movement menu, included a first-winter in the roost at Stanford Res on 8th-9th, an adult at Daventry on 10th and 12th and a first-winter at Hollowell on 13th.

Adult Mediterranean Gull, Daventry CP, 10th March 2026 (Gary Pullan)

Three Caspian Gulls – an adult and two third-winters – were at Clifford Hill GP on 7th, followed by a second-winter there on 9th, while an adult visited Earls Barton GP’s New Workings on 13th. The week’s sole Yellow-legged Gull was an adult at Clifford Hill on 7th.

Attracting scant attention after nearly five weeks in residence, the Red-throated Diver remained settled at Hollowell throughout the period.

Red-throated Diver, Hollowell Res, 13th March 2026 (Jon Cook)

And while the Glossy Ibis continued to busy itself at Summer Leys for yet another week, further down the Nene Valley three Cattle Egrets turned up at Stanwick on 7th before one was subsequently found on floodwater at Oundle on 13th.

Sticking with said valley, Marsh Harriers continued their presence at the hub which is Summer Leys, where at least two were seen – including the frequently present first-year male, wing-tagged ‘J4’ – between 10th and 12th. Elsewhere, singles were found at nearby Earls Barton GP’s New Workings on 9th and at Stanwick on 7th.

Marsh Harrier, Summer Leys LNR, 10th March 2026 (Alan Coles)

In the Brampton Valley, a ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier flew south-east between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton on 8th.

The week’s passerines were seriously thin on the ground, with just a small number of Crossbills at Harlestone Firs on 7th and five Corn Buntings between Deanshanger and Wicken on 9th.

Newsround 28th February to 6th March 2026

Posted on by Mike Alibone

We crossed the line into meteorological spring this week and to mark it came the first summer visitors of the year, aided and abetted by the continuing southerly airstream. Two additional firsts for the year also made their way to the county and with winter now firmly in recession, it’s time to reflect on some quality birds while at same time looking forward to what’s on the immediate horizon.

Yes, the summer visitor clock has again started ticking, spring is beginning to unfold …and not a moment too soon.

First up, predictably, was Sand Martin, with the initial arrival of three at Thrapston GP on 1st, quickly followed by one at Priors Hall, Corby on 3rd, two at Pitsford Res on 5th and, on 6th, three near Oundle and sixteen at Thrapston. But no sooner had this initial rush began than we saw a record-breaker in the shape of two Little Ringed Plovers at Clifford Hill GP on 4th, beating the county’s previous earliest, on 7th March in 2021, by a clear three days.

However, we’re not done with winter just yet – and what a winter it’s been. Class wildfowl continue to dominate with the Tundra Bean Goose seeing out another week in company with twenty-three White-fronted Geese in the Denford/Ringstead area.

Tundra Bean Goose, Denford, 28th February 2026 (James Underwood)
Tundra Bean Goose, Denford, 28th February 2026 (Tyler Atkinson)

Other White-fronted Geese also remained settled in certain favoured localities, the largest concentration being up to thirty-eight at Stanford on Avon throughout the period. Eighteen lingered by the River Nene at Warmington Mill until at least 1st and seven extended their stay by another week at Stanwick GP.

White-fronted Geese, Stanford on Avon, 2nd March 2026 (Mike Alibone)
White-fronted Geese, Stanford on Avon, 4th March 2026 (Mike Alibone)

Appearing on and off across a range of sites in northwestern Northants, the annually wintering female Ruddy Shelduck dropped into Lilbourne Meadows NR on 4th, remaining there until the end of the week.

The drake Ring-necked Duck continued to attract interest at Ringstead GP, where it was showing until at least 5th.

Drake Ring-necked Duck, Ringstead GP, 28th February 2026 (James Underwood)
Drake Ring-necked Duck, Ringstead GP, 28th February 2026 (Tyler Atkinson)

Likewise, the drake Lesser Scaup held out on the River Nene at Clifford Hill GP until the same date, while the long-staying drake Smew also enjoyed another week on the lakes there.

Drake Lesser Scaup, Clifford Hill GP, 3rd March 2026 (Bob Bullock)

Having spent a full seven days at Ringstead, last week’s Red-necked Grebe was nowhere to be seen after the 28th until, that is, it resurfaced on 4th a mere 8 km up the river valley at Ditchford GP, where it was still present at the week’s end.

Red-necked Grebe, Ringstead GP, 28th February 2026 (James Underwood)
Red-necked Grebe, Ringstead GP, 28th February 2026 (Tyler Atkinson)

And the previous week’s Slavonian Grebe was still present at Ravensthorpe Res on the first day of the period, remaining there throughout the week. Despite appearing to have gone missing for the five days, 21st-25th February, it has proven itself a skulker, hiding in overhanging vegetation, where it can easily be overlooked.

Slavonian Grebe, Ravensthorpe Res, 2nd March 2026 (Mike Alibone)

Although not a summer visitor, further representing waders as another first for the year were two Avocets at Earls Barton GP on 3rd, alongside other inland sightings in the UK during the week.

Avocets, Earls Barton GP, 3rd March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

Other waders were on offer, even if thin on the ground, including a Black-tailed Godwit at Summer Leys LNR on 2nd, the same date also producing three Jack Snipes at Daventry CP and two at Hollowell. Classed as a summer visitor, although odd birds appear locally in winter, a Common Sandpiper at Pitsford on 5th was no doubt the wintering individual seen sporadically there during past weeks.

And another new bird for the year this week was an adult Kittiwake which spent a short period of time at Summer Leys on 28th. More to come, no doubt.

Adult Kittiwake, Summer Leys LNR, 28th February 2026 (Tyler Atkinson)

Sticking with larids, March begins to see spring movements of Mediterranean Gulls taking place, the 4th giving rise to two adults in the roost at Stanford Res and two – also adults – at Summer Leys. One of the latter two carried a metal ring on its right leg and was back on site, alone, on 6th.

Adult Mediterranean Gull, Summer Leys LNR, 6th March 2026 (Mike Alibone)

Caspian Gulls were present at Earls Barton GP, where there was a first-winter on 28th, down the road at Summer Leys, where the settled adult remained between 28th and 5th, and at Hollowell, where there was an adult on 2nd and two adults on 5th. A single adult Yellow-legged Gull was still to be found at Pitsford on 2nd.

The Red-throated Diver, now in its fourth week, remained throughout the period, being seen at both Hollowell and Ravensthorpe, although apparently having now developed a preference for the first of these two sites.

Back in the Nene Valley, Summer Leys continued to retain its showy Glossy Ibis, while a Bittern was caught on a trail camera at Ditchford GP’s Rushden Lakes and four Cattle Egrets visited Thrapston/Titchmarsh NR on 4th.

Glossy Ibis, Summer Leys LNR, 28th February 2026 (James Underwood)

The recent flurry of Marsh Harriers calmed somewhat with singles at Summer Leys on 28th, 1st, 3rd and 6th and one at Stanwick on the last of these dates.

And propped up by the Daventry Siberian Chiffchaff on 2nd and 5th, the week’s passerines were at a low ebb with just four Stonechats at Ringstead GP on 1st and singles at Lilbourne Meadows on 1st and at Hollowell on 5th. Compared to recent weeks, the number of Crossbills dwindled to singles over Ravensthorpe Res on 3rd and at Scotland Wood, Kelmarsh on 5th.