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The first week of winter and some may say, the end of anything new turning up, or was it? The Atlantic airstream brought predominantly south-westerly winds and rain and unseasonally high temperatures, peaking at 13ºC on both 3rd and 6th. Wildfowl were still the number one quarry for local birders in a week when persistent reservoir-watching paid dividends.

After last week’s Bewick’s Swans’ brief dalliance with Thrapston GP, another was found in Scaldwell Bay at Pitsford Res on 5th, remaining until the end of the week.

Overshadowing the eleven on-site Whooper Swans with its newly acquired celebrity status – Bewick’s have become really quite uncommon in Northants over the last decade or more – it attracted a steady stream of admirers, many of whom were willing to brave the rain for an optics-sodden glimpse in miserable conditions. Only one more Whooper was seen, the young bird now looking settled for the winter at Thrapston GP, where it remained all week. In the Nene Valley, the Pink-footed Goose was again seen at Stanwick GP on 5th and 6th and last week’s five White-fronted Geese, which had previously flown west over Ditchford GP on 25th, had clearly circled back and were also located at Stanwick on 5th, while another White-front was off the dam at Sywell CP on 7th.

Back at Stanwick, the Barnacle Goose was still present until at least 6th. The mobile female Ruddy Shelduck ventured north of the causeway at Pitsford Res, where it was seen on 4th and 6th. Meanwhile, at Ravensthorpe, the drake American Wigeon x Eurasian Wigeon hybrid failed to elicit any interest until at least 1st and the female Ferruginous Duck x Pochard hybrid was again seen at Pitsford on 3rd, where the week’s highest site total of Red-crested Pochards was fourteen on 6th. Elsewhere, last week’s two were still at Stanford Res until 3rd and the drake remained at Hollowell Res until 4th, while the first-winter Scaup also remained at Thrapston GP until at least 3rd and a female was found at Ditchford GP, remaining there until the week’s end. Apparently missing for most of last week, the drake Ring-necked Duck in Pitsford’s Scaldwell Bay reappeared on 1st, after which it was seen intermittently until 6th, although it remained elusive for a great deal of the time.

Another first for the winter, a juvenile Great Northern Diver, was discovered off the dam at Pitsford on 1st before promptly being joined by another there on 2nd. Although both were seen together on the latter date, only one has been reported subsequently, right through to the end of the period.

There was little change on the egret front, with the two Cattle Egrets still at the north-east end of the Stanwick GP complex on 6th, while up to two Great White Egrets continued to be seen there, with the same number at Hollowell Res, Ravensthorpe Res, Stanford Res and Thrapston GP, with three at Pitsford and one at Ditchford GP. Some of these will no doubt be duplicates where records from nearby localities are concerned.

The only raptor of note this week was a fine male Hen Harrier which flew west at Stanwick GP on 4th.

Pitsford continued to host the first-winter Black-tailed Godwit until at least 1st, along with the Ruff all week. There were also two Yellow-legged Gulls there on 5th, while another was logged at Hollowell Res the day before.

The Borough Hill Short-eared Owl remained until at least 1st, another was seen again at Harrington AF on 3rd and the Firecrest discovered near the feeding station at Pitsford Res on 29th was heard calling there again on 3rd. On the latter date, two Bearded Tits were discovered on land with no public access and eleven Crossbills were at Fineshade Wood on 4th.

And so it continues – almost wall-to-wall sunshine and no sign of any rain. Water levels are indeed falling and some of the more outlying and lesser watched sites have begun to attract waders. Both Cransley and Welford Reservoirs produced Common Sandpipers and Dunlins appeared on pools at Priors Hall, while the autumn’s first Greenshank was found at Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows on 30th June. Things can only get better …

The Summer Leys drake Garganey was joined by a female from 30th to 2nd, with only the female remaining until 3rd but the only other wildfowl of note were two drake Red-crested Pochards at Pitsford Res on 2nd.

Also doubling up, at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR, the hide-and-seek Great White Egret was joined by a second individual on 12th, with both still present the following day. Stretching the doubles theme perhaps a bit too much, a singing male Quail was heard between Billing GP and Cogenhoe on 13th, constituting only the second record for the county this year.

Two Marsh Harriers were also found – one at Pitsford Res between 30th and 4th, while the other was seen flying east at Summer Leys LNR on 2nd but the only other species of raptor to be recorded during the period was, unsurprisingly, Osprey. Singles were at Thrapston GP on 2nd, flying over the A605 nearby on 3rd, at Stanford Res on 7th and 8th and in flight over the A605 near Oundle on the latter date, while two flew high south over Corby on 4th.

If football isn’t coming home, then waders certainly are. Against a backcloth of small numbers of commoner species, more Black-tailed Godwits were found, with seven at Earls Barton GP on 5th, three at Stanwick GP on 6th and the same number at Summer Leys the following day but the highlight of the early autumn wader passage, so far, is the fine, summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank, which graced Summer Leys for a full five days from 1st before moving on. And if waders are on their way back so too, it seems, are gulls. July is the month when Yellow-legged Gulls begin to reappear and, following one at Pitsford Res on 6th, two were at Stanwick GP on 10th and 13th.

Meanwhile, on the passerine front, the same two species featured in the last round-up again make an appearance in this one. The singing male Firecrest was still at Badby Wood on 3rd and a lone Crossbill flew over Wellingborough’s Westminster Estate on 10th.

The spring’s unseasonally bitter weather continued into this week with the first two days of the period being largely wet with strong, cold, north-easterly winds making the daytime temperatures feel lower than the 6°C they actually were. Birders resorted to wearing gloves which, on the penultimate day of April, must have been a ‘first’ for many. Northants escaped the heavy rain and gales experienced by East Anglia and the south-east on the final day of the month, after which winds turned westerly and calmer, drier weather ensued, with temperatures up to the seasonal norm. The effect on migration was pronounced, with a number of grounded waders on 28th, as well as large concentrations of hirundines, followed by a big push of Arctic Terns through the county on 2nd.

Last week’s Summer Leys Garganey duo remained throughout the period and another drake was found at Thrapston GP on 3rd, while the male and female Red-crested Pochards were still at Kislingbury GP on 30th.

Single Great White Egrets were seen at Clifford Hill GP on 28th-29th, Earls Barton GP and Summer Leys on 29th and Billing GP on 30th, although all records could conceivably relate to just one Nene Valley wanderer.

At Pitsford Res, the summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebe discovered last week on 24th, remained until 3rd, frequently showing very well off the gorse bushes south of the causeway.

On the raptor front, there was a notable arrival of Hobbies this week, while single Ospreys were seen flying north between Barnwell CP and Oundle on 1st and at Hollowell Res on the same date. ‘Bird of the week’, however, was the Common Crane which flew high south-west over Wadenhoe during the afternoon of 3rd. This is approximately the 24th record for Northamptonshire.

On 28th, after two Whimbrels in flight over Thrapston GP, birders this week were given a taste of more of those eagerly awaited spring passage waders. A Bar-tailed Godwit flew east at Summer Leys and sixty-three Black-tailed Godwits made landfall at Clifford Hill GP during the adverse weather conditions on that date.

Three more visited Summer Leys on the following day and another stayed there for three days on 2nd-4th. Clifford Hill GP also attracted a Turnstone on 28th, while a Sanderling on the dam at Pitsford Res on 2nd was a classic early May visitor.

Some short-lived, adverse weather on 2nd produced dramatic numbers of Arctic Terns, with flocks of at least eighty-four at Clifford Hill GP, eighty at Pitsford Res and fifty-five at Hollowell Res. In the run up to this, smaller numbers included at least four at Clifford Hill GP on 28th, with sixteen there the following day; Pitsford had singles on 28th and 29th, eight on 30th and six on 1st; Hollowell produced one on 28th, when there were also two at Boddington Res; eleven visited Stanford Res on 29th, when there was also one at Stanwick, while he following day saw at least nine at Earls Barton GP and one at Daventry CP. Somewhat overshadowed by the above, the two mobile adult Mediterranean Gulls again visited Summer Leys on 29th.

The most unexpected bird of the week was the Wryneck discovered on the northern side of Thrapston GP during the last couple of hours of daylight on 4th, although it remained elusive in cover for most of the time. Almost annual, this species is recorded less frequently in spring than in autumn, so this was a nice find and a treat for the handful of birders who quickly managed to connect with it. The old railway track on the southern side of the same site produced a singing male Firecrest on 28th.

Chats and their ilk featured more weightily this week, although Common Redstarts were still unusually thin on the ground. Three, all males, included one-day birds at Harrington AF on 28th, Earls Barton GP on 2nd and Daventry CP on 3rd. Following the first last week, Whinchats appeared at two localities, with Clifford Hill GP producing one, possibly two, between 1st and 4th, while another was found near Long Buckby on the latter date and a rather late Stonechat was discovered near Cotterstock on 3rd.

Larger numbers of Northern Wheatears turned up this week with many, if not all, showing characteristics of the Greenland race leucorhoa (‘Greenland Wheatear’) which predominates in May. Singles were at Barnwell on 29th, Pitsford Res on 29th-30th and Summer Leys on 2nd, four were at Clifford Hill GP on 30th, two at Upper Benefield on 1st and two at Earls Barton GP on 3rd, nine were near Long Buckby on 4th and Clifford Hill GP enjoyed a run of up to twelve between 1st and 4th and four were at Fawsley Park on 3rd.

A male ‘Channel’ Wagtail (Blue-headed x Yellow hybrid) was found alongside Barnwell Brook, south of Barnwell on 29th and Clifford Hill GP produced the lion’s share of White Wagtails, with singles on 28th and 3rd and at least ten on 1st, while another was at Pitsford Res on 28th.