Author: Mike Alibone

With little rain, and winds chiefly from the south-west, local temperatures reached a balmy 15°C at the week’s end. The local birdscape remained largely unchanged, although the discovery of the year’s first Bearded Tits, headed up by an exceptionally showy male, proved to be a popular draw throughout the period.

Wildfowl continued in very much the same vein as last week with, in the north-west of the county, the female Ruddy Shelduck still at Winwick Pools on 11th and the drake Red-crested Pochard seeing another week out at Stanford Res. Another drake was found at Pitsford Res on 15th. Not so far away, Ravensthorpe’s female Ring-necked Duck remained faithful to the location, moving into its fourth week on site at the end of the period. The same could not be said for the female Greater Scaup in the same area as it alternated between Hollowell and Ravensthorpe but it was still present at the latter site at the week’s end. Blatherwycke Lake’s drake, found on 10th, remained until at least 12th.

After wildfowl, and in the absence of any notable waders, gulls rule the wetlands. This week’s pick of the crop includes the first-winter Mediterranean Gull again in the roost at Stanford on 12th and 13th and an adult at Daventry CP, briefly, on 17th.

Stanford also produced an adult Caspian Gull on 13th, two adults and a near-adult were at Hollowell on the same date, a first-winter was at DIRFT 3 on 16th and two first-winters were at Daventry CP the following day.

Daventry also held a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull on 17th, while the regular wintering adult was still at Pitsford on 14th and 15th.

The first Short-eared Owl of 2023 was seen between Canons Ashby and Eydon on 12th. There have been very few about over the current winter period with the last being seen at Daventry CP on 15th December 2022.

Similarly, the first Bearded Tits of the year appeared at Stanwick GP on 11th. Two were present until 13th, after which a particularly showy male remained on site, wooing the crowds and revealing itself as a true exhibitionist, until the week’s end.

At the rather more subtle end of the scale, further up the Nene Valley, two Siberian Chiffchaffs remained at Ecton SF until at least 13th, while Stonechat numbers appeared to fall away to just two at Ditchford GP on 12th and the same number at Earls Barton GP on 15th-17th.

A mainly westerly airstream, a series of overnight frosts and generally dry conditions throughout appeared to have little influence on what was being seen over the review period. With nearly all of last week’s rares still in place, things remained pretty much unchanged as the week panned out.

A goose-free week means we can avoid the debate on whether or not some locally reported species are truly wild – or can we? Some interesting news emerged this week concerning the female Ruddy Shelduck which has been visiting the north-west of the county for the last few years. Seen at Winwick Pools on 8th and 9th, the local farmer has confirmed its presence there on most days over the last three winters, normally arriving in November and, one year, staying until April. This explains its more often than not absence from Hollowell and several other regularly birded localities in the area … but where does it go during the spring and summer months?

Meanwhile, last week’s female Red-crested Pochard stayed at Summer Leys LNR until at least 8th and the long-staying drake remained on site at Stanford Res throughout the period. Similarly settled, the Ravensthorpe Ring-necked Duck saw another week out and the female Greater Scaup appears now to be favouring the latter site over its former abode at nearby Hollowell. Another Greater Scaup – this time a drake – was found at Blatherwycke Lake on the last day of the week. The fine drake Smew lingered at Pitsford Res until at least 6th and a Slavonian Grebe was present at the same site on 5th but apparently not since.

The sole representative for this week’s waders was Jack Snipe, one of which was present at Hollowell between 6th and 10th and the other was in the Brampton Valley below Brixworth on the first of those two dates.

And as for gulls … in terms of species, it was all pretty much as last week, with Stanford’s roost pulling in two Mediterranean Gulls – an adult on 7th and a first-winter on 9th and 10th. It also produced a near-adult Caspian Gull on 8th and three (two adults and a third-winter) on 10th. Hollowell held four adult Caspians on 8th and two adults and a second-winter on 10th, while two adults were among the many large gulls at DIRFT 3 on 8th.

The Brampton Valley played host to this week’s raptors on 6th, when a Marsh Harrier was seen near Blueberry Farm and a Merlin was below Hanging Houghton.

Passerines were at a premium during the period, with just one Siberian Chiffchaff identified at Ecton SF between 4th and 9th, the number of Common Chiffchaffs there also down in numbers compared to a couple of weeks ago.

And that just leaves Stonechat, with twos at Ditchford GP, Oundle Water Meadows and Pitsford – all on 6th, singles at Burton Latimer and Earls Barton GP on the same date, two again at Pitsford on 9th and one at Hartwell on 10th.

After last week’s wet and windy washout, daily frosts ensued and daytime temperatures plummeted, bottoming out at a chilly 2°C, as a northerly, Arctic airstream quickly took hold. New birds were in short supply, however, and the main attraction for some this week was a female Greater Scaup at Hollowell Reservoir.

Seemingly settled after its discovery on 16th, this bird remained faithful to the eastern side of the reservoir throughout the remainder of the period. Over the last 5 years, Greater Scaup has averaged 11 records annually. No doubt there will be more to come.

Other ducks were available, of course, including the long-staying drake Red-crested Pochard clocking up another week at Stanford Res and the female remaining at Hardingstone GP until at least 17th. Also lingering until the latter date was a drake Smew at Pitsford Res.

The county’s only Pink-footed Goose – normally to be found at Ravensthorpe Res – left the latter site with Greylags on 20th to visit nearby Hollowell.

Once again, the week’s one notable wader species was limited to Jack Snipe with singles at three localities, which included both the Brampton Valley and Summer Leys on 17th and Hollowell, three days later, on 20th.

Gull numbers were down on last week and much of the action was to be had at the significantly sizeable gull roost at Stanford, where what was presumably the previous week’s first-winter Mediterranean Gull was seen on 19th. Two adult Caspian Gulls were also there on 14th, followed by one on 19th, while the regular adult at Hollowell was joined there by a second-winter on 16th. Single adult Yellow-legged Gulls visited both Naseby and Pitsford Reservoirs on 18th and Hardingstone GP on 19th.

The winter so far has not been the greatest for numbers of Cattle Egrets. The local Nene Valley population appears to have taken a dive and birds are currently by no means guaranteed at the localities at which they once were. Weather-related or not, the period’s sole record relates to just one, flying west over Summer Leys, on 15th.

Also down this week were raptors, with just a Marsh Harrier flying west at Pitsford on 14th representing the poorest showing for some appreciable time.

But on a more promising note, heading up the period’s passerines were at least two Siberian Chiffchaffs, discovered at Ecton SF on the last day of the week. Once again they were present with some twenty to thirty wintering Common Chiffchaffs, in the traditional place which normally attracts them, along the outflow into the River Nene. This outflow has its own microclimate, in which ‘warmer than ambient’ effluent water allows insects to develop and emerge throughout the winter. By no means annual here, they have been observed in previous winters from the locally famous ‘Bridge of Sibes’ or, in down-to-earth alphanumeric reference terms, bridge K121.

Identification is not always straightforward but we are better clued up than we were ten years ago (see here). Another bird showing characteristics of this race was found at Stortons GP on 15th and was still present there on 19th. This bird showed a minor excess of olive and yellow in its plumage and may simply be a variant colloquially known as fulvescens, usually associated with having originated from the western end of this (sub)species range. Common Chiffchaffs can, sometimes, also be quite grey, representing a potential ID pitfall. So, is Siberian Chiffchaff a species in waiting? The likelihood is high. Birdlife international have now split it …

Less challenging things abound, however, and the week’s Stonechats were found at Hollowell, Pitsford and Earls Barton GP, where there were one, two and three, respectively.

A Hawfinch was reported briefly at Yardley Gobion on 18th.

Looking initially like a largely flat week, the continuation of above average temperatures, rain and an erratic, wuthering wind off the Atlantic probably did little to lift local spirits. Factor in fleeting occurrences of the rare and the scarce, along with birds tantalisingly off limits and, arguably for many, there was seemingly little to shout about.  

Routine reservoir watching established the ongoing presence of the Pink-footed Goose at Ravensthorpe, lingering until the end of the week. Also remaining on site throughout was the drake Red-crested Pochard at Stanford, while the female at Hardingstone GP went unreported after 8th. Pitsford continued to host two drake Smews until at least 8th, with one still present on 13th and a Greater Scaup was reported in Scaldwell Bay there, also on 8th.

The week’s only waders of note were Jack Snipes – one at Barnes Meadow LNR on 8th followed, on 9th, by one at Summer Leys LNR and two at Ditchford GP.

Hot on the heels of last week’s adult at Daventry CP was another Kittiwake – this time a first-winter and, this time, in the gull roost at Stanford on 9th. The past week has seen a number of records across the Midlands, namely in Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

The Stanford gull roost also produced the county’s first Mediterranean Gull of 2023, a first-winter, on 12th and it continued to work its magnetic magic by pulling in the highest single site total of Caspian Gulls with five (four adults and a third-winter) there on 13th. DIRFT 3 delivered two Caspian Gulls – a third-winter and a first-winter on 9th, while the regular adult was at Hollowell Res on 7th-9th and 12th-13th and single adults were at Stanford on 9th-10th and Ditchford GP on 12th.

Once again outnumbered by the above species, single adult Yellow-legged Gulls visited Hardingstone GP on 7th and Ditchford GP on 12th, while Pitsford Res retained its regular adult on 12th-13th.

On the raptor front, Merlins were not in short supply but, as ever, being in the right place at the right time was a prerequisite for connecting with them. In this respect, single flyovers were seen at Yardley Gobion on 9th, New Duston (Northampton) on 12th and at Earls Barton GP on 13th.

As for passerines, well, once again, the same out-of-reach group of Waxwings made it into the news for the second week running. Tantalisingly close, the twenty or so birds on the wrong side of the River Ouse that is Buckinghamshire, were again seen in, and around, Stony Stratford on 10th, when it was reported that, for a second time, some had crossed into Northants, briefly visiting the rear gardens of some local houses. So near, yet so far …

By contrast, things were going swimmingly along Mary’s Lane at Earls Barton, where one Yellow-browed Warbler continued to perform throughout the weekend of 7th-8th. Come the working week, however, in line with the old proverb, all good things must come to an end – they did … and there was no subsequent sign of it.

Stonechats appeared settled at four localities, with four at Earls Barton on 12th, twos at Pitsford on 8th and at Raunds CP on 13th and one at Hollowell on 9th.

Arguably for some, in terms of local rarity, the bird of the week slot was occupied by Twite, two of which were found close to the Grand Union Canal near Yardley Gobion, on 9th. If accepted, these would constitute only the fourth county record this century, the previous three being at Ditchford in December 2014, Pitsford in October 2011 and Borough Hill in October 2000. Twite was formerly a scarce, but almost annual, winter visitor, numbers of which peaked in the 1970s, with a flock of forty-one at Pitsford Res – the prime location for this species – in January 1976. Records continued through the 80s with notably smaller numbers, waning considerably in the 90s, when the last was down to just one in 1998. This represents a sad reflection of its precarious status in England, having suffered a steep decline this century, with the breeding population falling by 75% between 1999 and 2013.

A mild, wet and frequently windy backdrop to the local birding landscape set the scene for the first week of 2023. And while the dynamic duo of Yellow-browed Warblers clearly constituted the main point of focus for the new year, potentially more alluring fare lurked, overshadowed, in the background …

The bird quite literally in question, then, was an interesting-looking drake Aythya duck found during the last hour of daylight on 2nd, at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR. Initially identified and announced as a Greater Scaup, the subsequent publication of an image and videos quickly led to a debate over its true identity and a dichotomy of opinion has given rise to the emergence of a Lesser Scaup camp versus a pro-hybrid faction. While the quality of the published media do not allow detailed, feather-by-feather analysis, there were some pointers clearly leading the identification away from Greater Scaup.

Most evident was the head shape, which aligns convincingly with that of Lesser Scaup and was instrumental in setting alarm bells ringing. While an assessment of the true feather patterning on the flanks and mantle was just out of reach, there was no ‘write-off’ plumage feature to exclude that species. Plumage does not tell the whole story, however. The perceived size, shape and bulk appeared to match those of nearby Pochards, suggesting that this bird’s dimensions fall outside the parameters generally associated with the more compact appearance of Lesser Scaup and therefore point to a hybrid – suggested by some as being likely between Tufted Duck and Pochard. Advocates of Lesser Scaup point out, however, that there is an overlap in size between Pochard and Lesser Scaup, arguing the point that this bird could simply be one of the latter, at the top end of the size range. The jury is currently out, the bird hasn’t been seen again and hopes are high that it will reappear, providing the opportunity for greater scrutiny, ultimately leading to a positive identification. On the same date this bird was seen, a Greater Scaup was reported from Pitsford Res and, two days later, another was also reported from Summer Leys LNR.  

And so from stranger things to things less complicated, a Pink-footed Goose accompanied a flock of Greylags as they flew in to Daventry CP on 6th and the local female Ruddy Shelduck made its first appearance of 2023 at Hollowell Res on 1st-2nd.

This week’s Red-crested Pochards were limited to the long-staying drake at Stanford Res and the female at Hardingstone GP – both remaining throughout the period. Last week’s two drake Smews at Pitsford had grown to three on 1st, dwindling to just one by the period’s end, while a ‘redhead’ was discovered at Blatherwycke Lake on 2nd.

A wholly unexpected visitor to Daventry CP – at least during in January – was an adult Kittiwake, which was found loitering on the dam there during the morning of 5th. Approachable and seemingly moribund, it had departed by the afternoon and was no doubt the same bird which had been exhibiting the same ‘teasing’ behaviour at nearby Draycote Res, Warwickshire the previous day, before flying off strongly with other gulls.

Of far more regular occurrence, this week’s only to be expected gulls included up to two adult Caspian Gulls in the roost, nightly, at Stanford, two adults off the dam at Pitsford on 2nd and 5th and one at Hollowell on 2nd. Surprisingly outnumbered by the previous species, single Yellow-legged Gulls were seen at Pitsford on 1st, Stanford on 4th and at both Daventry CP and Hardingstone GP on 5th.

Remember the male Hen Harrier seen between Mears Ashby and Earls Barton, then later over Summer Leys LNR on 27th December? Well, it’s still around, having been seen again over Sywell Road, just east of Mears Ashby, on the afternoon of 3rd. And following two in the county last week, a male Merlin was seen near West Farndon on 6th.

Turning to passerines it would seem that, as far as Northamptonshire is concerned, flyover Waxwings are in vogue and, as if serving to underline this, a flock of approximately twenty was reported flying ‘well into Northants’ from Buckinghamshire, across the River Ouse, toward Cosgrove on 5th. In the context of the current so-called ‘invasion’, with the vast majority of birds in Scotland and northern England, this double-figure flock constitutes a sensationally large number for a location so far south and inland in the UK. The chance of nailing any down locally seems, at present, equivalent to a lottery win …

This is certainly not the case with the two crowd-pleasing Yellow-browed Warblers at Earls Barton GP, both of which were present until at least 2nd, with at least one remaining until the week’s end. Undoubtedly presenting the best photographic opportunity of all time in the UK, these birds have been highly obliging, regularly showing well and low to the masses, down to just a few metres – so much so that the observation area has now become a veritable mud bath!

Ending with a splash of colour, the week’s Stonechats were seen at Catesby, Earls Barton GP, Ecton SF, Hollowell, Pitsford and Sywell CP.

As the temperature dropped to minus 9°C in the early hours on the last day of the period, the week just gone gave us a taste of what winters used to be like, in the days when we were all made of sterner stuff. Although new birds were on offer, the continuing cold spell also delivered some casualties.

And the sub-zero temperatures resulted in increasingly extensive ice and more bodies of water freezing over, the resultant effect of which was a clear-out of wildfowl from many localities. Such displacements are not without reward, though, and, disregarding the appearance of a Barnacle Goose at Kislingbury GP on 10th, eight Pink-footed Geese flew east over Hartwell on 15th and the Ravensthorpe bird was still in place at the week’s end.

Red-crested Pochards were here and there, with Stanford’s quota up to seven again on 10th and the two drakes still at Kislingbury on the same date. By the following day, just one drake remained at Stanford and two drakes were found on Mary’s Lake at Earls Barton GP, while 14th saw three (two drakes) at Daventry CP.

Two new Smew – a drake and a ‘redhead’ – were found at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR on the last day of the week.

Sadly, two days after initially being reported, the period’s only Cattle Egret was found dead at Thorpe Malsor Res on 16th. Accompanying a small flock of sheep and having been present since at least 11th, it had become approachable down to 2 metres and it appears safe to conclude that its death resulted from not being able to find enough food in the frozen conditions. No other Cattle Egrets were reported from the usual localities during the week.

A juvenile Shag paid a brief visit to Daventry on the morning of 14th, checking out before midday, ahead of the expanding icy conditions which resulted in 90% of the water’s surface there being frozen by the following day. This is the second record for Daventry in 2022 and the fifth for the year as a whole – two at Pitsford and one in Towcester.

Maintaining their winter presence in the Nene Valley, Marsh Harriers were seen at Summer Leys LNR on 10th, Stanwick GP on 13th and at Titchmarsh LNR on 16th.

Obviously it’s not a standout time of year for waders, so the week’s tally remained low and was restricted to a meagre crop of a Black-tailed Godwit at Titchmarsh LNR on 16th and two Jack Snipes at Hollowell and Pitsford on 11th and 13th, respectively.

Gulls, too, had dwindled to just two adult Caspian Gulls at Hollowell on 11th and one there again on 16th, plus single adult Yellow-legged Gulls at Pitsford on 11th and 14th. Despite the sustained, icy, northerly blow, the number of ‘white-wingers’ remains surprisingly small, nationwide, so the chance of anything dropping in from the Arctic in the near future remains low.

This week’s token Short-eared Owl flew west-north-west over Daventry CP on 15th, while the period’s two Merlins were both seen on 14th – one at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell and the other near Burton Latimer.

Apart from the – or ‘a’ – Bearded Tit heard calling near the Visitor Centre at Stanwick, this week’s standout passerine was a Yellow-browed Warbler which showed briefly on the island in Mary’s Lake at Earls Barton GP during the last couple of hours of daylight on 16th. The observer’s caveat to the effect that Hume’s Warbler could not be ruled out, along with this bird’s appearance at one of the county’s most popular birding locations, should be more than enough to ensure it is searched for over the ensuing days.

Making news for a different reason, however, was the Black Redstart that turned up inside Northampton General Hospital on 12th. An apparent male, it was initially reported by on-site personnel as a ‘pigeon’ trapped in a room, until photographed and subsequently identified by a member of staff, who opened the window to free the bird. A bizarre story indeed.

Otherwise, Stonechats provided a smidgeon of entertainment at six localities, which included Ditchford GP, Earls Barton GP, Hollowell Res, Sywell CP and Upton CP/Kislingbury GP, with a maximum of at least seven at Hollowell on 11th.

Following one over Oundle last week, another Crossbill was seen at Pitsford on 13th. Hopefully, 2023 will turn out to be a better year for this species than 2022 has.