Author: Mike Alibone

A more northerly component to the airstream took hold during the period although, despite our having lost conditions conducive to migration, the first White-winged Black Tern for a decade dropped in and a decent wader movement continued – along with some eyebrow-raising reports which went under the radar of mainstream news channels …

Shaking off ‘winter’ wildfowl, it appears, is never done and dusted these days and so it was that a Pink-footed Goose dropping in at Stanford Res on 18th and 21st kept things going in this respect, although the late spring timing perhaps hints at a potentially suspect origin. Unblemished in this respect, however, was the drake Garganey found at Pitsford Res on 22nd, still present there the following day. Astonishingly, this is only the fourth record so far in 2025, so it’s shaping up to become the worst spring for this species in recent years. Having chalked up another week at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (South), the regular drake Red-crested Pochard seems set to be in it for the long haul …

Never out of the week’s wader lineup these days, Avocets were again at Clifford Hill GP, where four were present on 20th and two on 22nd. For some time now it’s been pretty much an open secret that they have bred at one site in the Nene Valley, where three pairs produced an unknown quantity of young, the first hatching as recently as 17th, but all are now at a point in time where they are facing their highest risk of predation as the site undergoes drainage.

Clifford Hill continued its run of Grey Plovers with one there on 19th-20th and we’re now into the prime season for ‘Tundra’ Ringed Plovers, one of which appeared at Lilbourne Meadows on 20th, still being there on 23rd.

The week’s only Whimbrel – a lone individual –paid a brief visit to Clifford Hill GP on 22nd, the same site producing three Turnstones on 19th and one on 20th, while three visited Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR, also on 19th.

Clifford Hill was again in the spotlight for a first for the year in the shape of a Knot, again on 19th.

Sticking with the Nene Valley, Earls Barton produced a Ruff at New Workings (South) on 19th-20th, the same bird moving downriver to Summer Leys on 22nd. The number of Sanderlings saw an increase on last week, with twos at both Clifford Hill and Earls Barton on 18th, one at the latter site on the following day, when three also visited Clifford Hill, where there was one again on 22nd.

Adding to the wader mix, another Wood Sandpiper was found at Lilbourne Meadows, remaining there the next day. Greenshanks were still on the move, with Earls Barton holding up to three between 19th and 23rd, one at Clifford Hill on 19th, plus one at Pitsford at the week’s end.

Unsurprisingly, there was little to shout about as far as gulls were concerned, with just two Yellow-legged Gulls on offer – one at Pitsford on 17th and the other, a first-summer, on floodwater at Braunston on 22nd.

And, after a long wait for many, at the pinnacle of the week’s obtainable rarities was Northamptonshire’s seventeenth ever White-winged Black Tern – and we’ll stick with the old school name as it paints a much more vivid picture, summing up nicely the very essence of the bird itself. Found at Summer Leys, late in the morning on 18th, this, the first in the county for ten years, had the good grace to stick around for at least nine hours, thereby enabling plenty of local birders to catch up with it. And what a bird it was …

Left very much in the shade were two Black Terns, downriver at Stanwick GP on the same date.

The period’s Bitterns consisted of just the one seen at Summer Leys on five days out of this week’s seven.

And while a Cattle Egret at Earls Barton on 23rd was the only one of its kind seen during the period, something a little more elevated in terms of appeal appeared in the shape of a Purple Heron reported in trees on the island in Ringstead GP’s Kinewell Lake, late in the afternoon of 19th. In a year that has produced a decent number already, another surely does not seem too unlikely.

The week’s Ospreys consisted of singles over Irchester CP on 17th, at Hollowell Res on 19th, Pitsford on 21st and 22nd and at Stanford, also on 22nd.

As for passerines, a Pied Flycatcher was seen briefly at Bucknell Wood on 18th but, going somewhat leftfield, how about the belated report of what could be inline to be Northamptonshire’s second ever Bluethroat – a male – being found between Kings Heath and Kingsthorpe Mill on 16th!? It’s been a long, long time since the first was seen at Ditchford GP on 26th June 1974 …

The largely south-westerly airstream continued as the country became sandwiched between an Atlantic low and a North Sea high pressure system. Unsurprisingly, there were more firsts for the year, set against a dramatic backcloth of mostly rain-driven Arctic Terns and some interesting waders.

Added to the summer visitor clock this week were Common Swift, two rather less common species and one now deemed scarce.

Aside from the lingering Pink-footed Goose and drake Red-crested Pochard – both in the Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (South) area, top wildfowl this week were a Garganey reported at the aforementioned site on 23rd and two Common Scoters at Ditchford GP’s Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows NR on the same date.

And as we edge closer toward May – generally acknowledged as the prime month for rare and scarce waders (and much, much more) – the mix was up on last week and included up to five Avocets at Earls Barton GP at the period’s end, plus six at Clifford Hill GP on 19th, followed by another three there on 24th.

Having laid claim to all of this year’s Grey Plovers so far, the latter locality once again produced another, on 23rd.

Not restricted to the Nene Valley and, therefore, unlike all of the above, single Whimbrels visited Clifford Hill on 19th, Pitsford Res on 22nd and both Lilbourne Meadows NR and Summer Leys LNR on 25th.

More Bar-tailed Godwits followed last week’s Summer Leys individual, with four single birds paying fleeting visits to both Clifford Hill and Stanwick GP on 21st and Clifford Hill and Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows on 23rd.

Solitary Black-tailed Godwits were also on the week’s agenda, appearing at Summer Leys on 19th and 24th and at Stanwick on 21st and Ditchford on 23rd, the latter having been present for several days prior to this date. Meanwhile, Clifford Hill remained ever fruitful, delivering the year’s first Wood Sandpiper on 23rd, although the latter moved on very quickly, evading all but a handful of birders who were quick off the mark. More Greenshanks came through during the period, including five on the dam at Hollowell Res on 19th, when four also visited Summer Leys. The remainder of the week’s quota were all at Earls Barton GP, which held two on 24th and singles on 20th and 25th.

Late April is not renowned for producing numbers of scarce gulls and this week turned out to be no real exception. Two adult Mediterranean Gulls spent the best part of the day at Summer Leys and adjacent Mary’s Lake on 21st but moved on thereafter.

Single adult Yellow-legged Gulls were logged at Priors Hall Quarry Lake on 19th, Earls Barton on 21st and Pitsford on 21st and 25th.

Leaving local Common Terns totally overshadowed, a significant standout feature of the week was the passage of Arctic Terns, impressive numbers of which pulsed through during, and immediately after, intermittent showers and heavy rain across the country. The largest flocks appeared on 21st, when approximate numbers were forty at Hollowell, at least twenty-five at Summer Leys and twenty at Clifford Hill. The following day saw sixteen at Thrapston GP and, on 23rd, Stanford Res scored twenty-eight, Stanwick’s total was nineteen in three separate groups, Clifford Hill’s sixteen and Boddington Res notched up eight. Lower numbers included four at Earls Barton on 24th and singles at both Boddington and Thrapston on 19th and one at Daventry CP on 21st.

Black Terns put in their first appearance of the year on 23rd, when two visited Stanford and one was seen at Summer Leys.

And, while we’re touching on Summer Leys, appearances by the Glossy Ibis there became increasingly intermittent and it went unreported after 20th. Making up for it – if only to a modest extent – two Spoonbills flew high north-east over the reserve late in the afternoon of 21st and at least one Bittern was present in the wider environs of the Earls Barton complex throughout, following two there on 19th. One was also at Cransley Res on 25th.

Continuing their relative scarcity, two Cattle Egrets paid a brief visit to Summer Leys on 21st and one was at Thrapston GP’s Elinor Trout Lake on the last day of the period.

After a week with no reports, Ospreys were seen at three localities, starting with a blue-ringed male, ‘1H7’, over Summer Leys and adjacent Mary’s Lake on 22nd. This individual originated from a brood in Rutland, where it was ringed as a pullus in 2022, arriving back there on 17th April when it was photographed at a local trout farm. So, quite clearly a different male to the one that visited Summer Leys on 4th April. The other two Osprey sightings came from Hollowell and Pitsford, both of which were on 25th.

Encounters with Marsh Harriers fell to just the one, at Summer Leys on 21st.

Heading up the cast of passerines, the week’s two Ring Ouzels were where you’d expect them to be – where else than in a field below Hanging Houghton, where there was a male on 20th, and at Harrington AF, which produced what was likely to be one mobile female between 22nd and 25th … but we’re not ruling out two.

And, on 25th, a female-type Black Redstart in the car park at Yarwell Mill in the far flung reaches of eastern Northants was perhaps considered too far away for most to take a punt on … The week’s Common Redstarts were limited to singles at Stanford on 20th, Harrington on 21st and Blueberry Farm, Maidwell on 22nd.

Northern Wheatears were about par for the time of year with a maximum count of four at Harrington AF on 21st and smaller numbers consisting of one at Earls Barton on 19th and one at Clifford Hill on the same date, followed by another there on 22nd, two on 22nd-23rd and one on 24th. Two were also at Harrington on 23rd.

Clifford Hill was also the venue for a female Blue-headed Wagtail, present there with a small group of Yellow Wagtails on 23rd-24th.

Also in the wagtail camp, reasonably good numbers of White Wagtails coming through during the period included a super seven at Earls Barton on 19th, followed by between two and four there from 22nd to 24th and singles at Clifford Hill on 20th, Pitsford on 21st and Summer Leys on 22nd.

A Tree Pipit between Althorp and Little Brington on 23rd was the first of the year and, who knows, may turn out to be the only one …

A largely dry week, weatherwise, delivered more inbound migrants which included another set of firsts for the year. While some winter visitors stubbornly refused to shift, however, there was the first hint that a number had upped sticks and moved on by the week’s end …

This week’s new summer visitors comprised White Wagtail, House Martin, Sedge Warbler, Yellow Wagtail and Willow Warbler.

While a Pink-footed Goose was seen at Stanford Res on 24th, the Nene Valley’s geese remained for different durations – the regular Pinkfoot in the Cogenhoe Mill/Earls Barton GP area extended its stay throughout the period but the seven wintering White-fronted Geese in the same area went unreported after 24th, as did the two at Ravensthorpe Res.

The drake Red-crested Pochard at Earls Barton GP and on the River Nene between Cogenhoe and Whiston Lock remained throughout the period but the drake Greater Scaup on Mary’s Lake at Earls Barton GP was not seen after 25th.

Though not a summer visitor, a new bird for the year was the Black-necked Grebe that turned up on 25th at Clifford Hill GP, where it was still to be found the following day.

The week’s waders were limited to three species, top of which again were Avocets at three gravel pit locations in the Nene Valley. Last week’s duo remained settled at Earls Barton throughout the period, while Clifford Hill GP hosted another two new arrivals on 22nd and one on 24th.

Summer Leys was the prime site for Black-tailed Godwits, with five there on 23rd and one on 27th-28th, while two visited floodwater at Lower Barnwell Lock, Oundle on 24th.

Aside from one at Ditchford GP on 24th, Jack Snipes continued to be seen at Hollowell Res, where up to two were present throughout the week.

In the scarce larid category, last week’s six Little Gulls at Earls Barton GP roosted overnight and were still to be found there, on New Workings (South), mid-afternoon on 22nd. An adult Mediterranean Gull flew east at Clifford Hill on 24th, while more typical fare in the shape of Yellow-legged Gulls included up to three at Pitsford Res between 22nd and 25th and an adult at Clifford Hill on 28th. Single first-winter Caspian Gulls visited Stanford on 23rd and Hollowell on 25th.

Long stayers from last year included the Great Northern Diver still at Pitsford on 25th and the somewhat relaxed Glossy Ibis at Summer Leys for yet another week …

Apparently having decided to move on after spending the last two and a half weeks at Clifford Hill, the Cattle Egret was nowhere to be seen after 26th. Elsewhere, four flew north-east from Stanwick GP’s Main Lake early on 25th.

And so to raptors, with Osprey sightings coming thick and fast from the Hollowell area, where one was seen daily from 26th to 28th and one flew east between Ravensthorpe and the Guilsborough to Teeton road on 25th. Another flew north over Boddington Res on 26th. The period’s Marsh Harriers were about par for the course, with singles at Stanwick on 22nd, Earls Barton on 24th and Summer Leys on 27th, while a ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier spent some time at Boddington Res on 24th.

On the passerine front … Single Northern Wheatears occurred in four locations with the Brampton Valley producing one on 22nd and 28th, Borough Hill hosting one on 24th, Clifford Hill retaining one from 24th to 28th, and Harrington AF delivering one on 22nd and 26th. And in addition to the aforementioned individuals on 22nd, single White Wagtails were found at Stanford and Summer Leys – both on 23rd. A Crossbill was present at Irchester CP on 28th.

As a postscript, first-ever record for Northants in the shape of a Northern Treecreeper (the north and east European nominate race, familiaris which also extends well into western Siberia) was present at Summer Leys during the preceding week. It transpires it was also first seen (and photographed) there on 23rd December 2024 and so has overwintered on site under the radar. It may still be present …