Low pressure in the North Atlantic dragged up warm air from southern climes mid-period but new birds on the scene this week were not in the easiest of places to observe, as well as failing to linger for anyone keen to catch up with them …
Last week’s eight Barnacle Geese remained in the vicinity of Clifford Hill GP throughout the period and the drake Red-crested Pochard first seen at Pitsford Res on 24th was still present there on 26th.
After spring’s meagre offering of just three short-staying individuals, the first Grey Plover to materialise so far this autumn was seen in flight over Hollowell Res on 29th. A single Curlew appeared at Earls Barton GP on 28th, while Daventry CP and Ravensthorpe Res carved up the week’s Black-tailed Godwits between them – two from the previous week remaining at the former locality until 27th, after which they were replaced by a new individual from 29th until 2nd, and one at the latter site from 26th until 1st.
Ruffs from last week spilled over into this week with one at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR remaining, being seen there on 26th and 29th, and the one at Pitsford similarly staying on until 27th. Two, presumably new birds, were present at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (South) on 28th-29th, with at least one still present on 2nd.
Adding to the autumn’s already good numbers of Spotted Redshanks, two more were found at Titchmarsh this week, on 28th. Greenshanks were few and far between, though, with singles at Pitsford on 27th and Hollowell Res on 28th, followed by two at Titchmarsh on 30th.
On the Larid front, it was all pretty much the same as the previous week. Single Caspian Gulls included first-winters at both Hollowell and Summer Leys LNR on 28th and at Earls Barton GP on 30th, while the German-ringed adult male extended its stay at Naseby Res until at least 28th. There were fewer Yellow-legged Gulls than of late, Pitsford holding on to at least two throughout the period, with singles at Ditchford GP on 27th, Summer Leys on 28th, and at both Daventry and Titchmarsh on 29th.
Back in the frame this week was Glossy Ibis. Two or, conceivably, just one individual accounted for short-stay drop-ins at Daventry on 26th and at Lilbourne Meadows NR on 2nd. It’s a mere 12 km between the two sites, as the ibis flies …
The period’s Bitterns were all seen in one place – that being Summer Leys, where at least one was occasionally on view, five days out of seven. And a few more Cattle Egrets comprised four at Blatherwycke Lake on 26th and singles at Wicksteed Park, Kettering on 29th and at Stanwick GP on 1st.
And, after last week’s hefty raptor cocktail, it appears we were set to see with more of the same. An Osprey reported in flight over Islip on 26th was merely a passing shot compared to the juvenile which appears to have become settled in the general locale of Earls Barton GP since late August, the latter chalking up another week on site.
Marsh Harriers were still to be found in favoured areas, with singles at Earls Barton/Summer Leys on 26th, 27th, 29th and 2nd, near Burton Latimer on 29th and at both Stanwick GP and Titchmarsh on 30th.
More surprises again materialised in the shape of White-tailed Eagles with a juvenile reported near Rushton on 27th and a possible over Kingsthorpe, Northampton on 30th. Just like buses, it seems …
And another Merlin made it into the mix this week when a male was at Little Harrowden on 26th.
On the passerine front, the autumn’s first Ring Ouzel, a female, was found on the outskirts of Northampton at Brackmills CP on 27th, while another ‘autumn first’ appeared in the shape of a Black Redstart at the Royal Mail Midlands Super Hub at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) on 30th – a monstrous building and not the easiest to view with the area visibly restricted. The two previous birds earlier in the year were largely off limits so another, more accessible bird, would no doubt be welcomed.
Just the one Whinchat, at Clifford Hill GP on 2nd, represented dwindling numbers over the past couple of weeks, during which time Stonechats have increased significantly. Burton Latimer, Creaton, Ditchford, Earls Barton, Hollowell, Lilbourne Meadows, Pitsford, Summer Leys and Thrapston all produced varying numbers of the latter, with Pitsford delivering the highest count of eleven on 1st.
And last, but not least, another species which has been tricky to connect with locally in recent years is Rock Pipit. Apart from a Scandinavian race individual at Summer Leys on 23rd April being the only one for the year so far, single birds arrived on cue this week at Daventry on 28th and Pitsford on 29th-30th.
