Newsround 6th to 19th June 2026

It’s June and, while the quest for the best continued, with migration in meltdown, sightings of rare and scarce birds were sparse, to say the least …

A drake Red-crested Pochard at Ecton SF on 17th is undoubtedly the seemingly resident bird that has developed a liking for the River Nene between there and Earls Barton GP over the past year or so.

After some concern expressed a couple of weeks ago about the decline in occurrences of Quail in the county, two more were located during the period – single singing males in fields south of Clifford Hill GP on 6th and north-west of Aldwincle on 13th. May records across the UK are said to be significantly higher than average this year.

Waders were not entirely absent either, with two Avocets present at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR on 6th and two at Earls Barton GP on 8th. Nine Whimbrels flying south over Daventry CP on 17th and a Greenshank at Titchmarsh NR on 15th begs the question: is autumn migration now underway?

And an adult Yellow-legged Gull at Summer Leys LNR on 8th-10th was somewhat unusual for the locality and time of year.

A Black Tern dropped in at Stanford Res on 14th.

Black Tern, Stanford Res, 14th June 2026 (Chris Hubbard)

Bitterns were logged at Titchmarsh NR on 6th and daily from 12th to 17th, with two there on 15th, while singles were seen at Summer Leys on 8th, 10th and 16th. And aside from one again at Clifford Hill GP on 6th, the number of Cattle Egrets rose to twenty at their Nene Valley breeding site, where nine adults and three broods totalling eleven unfledged young were counted on 12th.

After a week with no reports, the period’s Ospreys were on the up with birds found at four localities. Apart from two at Pitsford Res on 13th, singles were seen there on 8th, 12th and 17th, at Titchmarsh NR on 6th-7th, at Stanford on 15th and at Hollowell Res on 19th.