Northern Wheatear – Northants birds

Newsround 21st to 27th March 2026

Posted on March 28, 2026 by Mike Alibone

A mixed bag of weather ushered in five new summer visitors, while the week ended on a relatively cool note.

This year’s first Common Redstart is the earliest ever … by a clear four days.

With wildfowl firmly on the move, two adult Whooper Swans at Thrapston GP on the last day of the period are the only ones since 2nd and 3rd Jan, when singles were present at Hollowell Res and Clifford Hill GP, respectively.

Whooper Swans, Thrapston GP, 27th March 2026 (Bob Bullock)

And after an apparent absence of eighteen days, the Nene Valley Ring-necked Duck was back again at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR on 23rd and 24th – its ability to disappear for long periods is uncanny and unmatched. More Common Scoters paid the county a visit this week, with a drake at Titchmarsh NR on 22nd and two at Clifford Hill the following day.

The period’s waders included three Black-tailed Godwits at Titchmarsh NR on 23rd and a run of Ruffs, comprising seven at Ditchford GP’s Irthlingborough Lakes & Meadows NR on 23rd-24th, dropping to one there on 26th, two at Earls Barton GP on 21st and singles at Summer Leys LNR on 21st and 27th.

Ruff, Summer Leys LNR, 27th March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

Two Jack Snipes were at Upton CP on 22nd and two at Ditchford the following day.

Hot on the heels of last week’s Kittiwakes were three or four more – all adults – at Thrapston GP on 26th-27th and at both Clifford Hill and Ravensthorpe, also on 27th. Nice but trivial in comparison to flocks of seventeen and forty-five over two sites in adjacent Buckinghamshire on 26th … A Mediterranean Gull visited Hardingstone GP on 23rd, the week’s only Caspian Gull was at Hollowell Res on 27th, while a single adult Yellow-legged Gull remained at Pitsford Res on 23rd and 25th.

The Red-throated Diver at Hollowell extended its stay there by yet another week.

Although seen almost daily up to 26th, there were no further reports of the Glossy Ibis at Summer Leys thereafter.

The period’s Cattle Egrets were limited to three together on farmland immediately north-east of Ringstead GP’s Kinewell Lake, on 27th.

Following the first Ospreys last week, two more flyovers passed Pitsford on 25th and Boddington Res, two days later, on 27th. Marsh Harriers fanned out a bit, single birds being seen at Earls Barton on 21st, Titchmarsh on 23rd-24th, over Irthlingborough and at Ditchford GP on 23rd, at Summer Leys on 23rd and 27th, at Stanwick GP on 24th and Clifford Hill on 26th.

Marsh Harrier, Summer Leys LNR, 23rd March 2026 (Alan Coles)

And aside from the aforementioned incoming passerines, a Black Redstart stuck rigidly to the species’ rules of late and turned up … yep … in a private garden, this time in Kettering. More Northern Wheatears were likely on the cards and they duly arrived – two at Clopton on 25th and singles near Everdon and at Harrington AF on 26th and at Clifford Hill on 27th.

On 23rd, a Scandinavian Rock Pipit paid a brief visit to Summer Leys, much to the delight of local photographers being in the right place at the right time. A smart bird and the first this year of a species which has become increasingly difficult to connect with in the county in recent years.

Scandinavian Rock Pipit, Summer Leys LNR, 23rd March 2026 (Russell Simpson)

Which just leaves Crossbills, singles of which were seen at Pitsford 22nd and Hollowell on 24th.

Newsround 14th to 20th March 2026

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Mike Alibone

A high pressure system over the country in the latter part of the week gave rise to above average temperatures and saw the wind direction change from south westerlies to an airflow with an easterly bias. Four new species were added to the county yearlist, only two of which were summer visitors …

And while there were no early birds, both Osprey and Northern Wheatear clocked on in an expectedly timely fashion.

Numbers of wildfowl took a tumble, the only birds of note being eleven White-fronted Geese which dropped in, briefly, at Ringstead GP on the last day of the week.

Barely had we passed mid-March and the second Common Crane of the year was notched up – another flyover and again at the eastern end of the county – this time at Lyveden New Bield, between Brigstock and Stoke Doyle, on 20th.

And Ravensthorpe’s Slavonian Grebe completed a 26-day stay on 17th, after which there were no further reports.

On the wader front, the second and third Avocet records for the year were not totally unexpected and included one at Pitsford Res on 15th, followed by one at Earls Barton GP on 18th being joined there by another the next day.

Avocets, Earls Barton GP, 19th March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

Summer Leys produced all the period’s Black-tailed Godwits, with one on 14th, sixteen on 17th and at least one on 19th.

Black-tailed Godwits, Summer Leys LNR, 17th March 2026 (James Underwood)

Further down the Nene Valley, five Ruffs at Ditchford GP’s Townholme Meadows constituted another first for the year on 20th, while single Jack Snipes were seen at Hollowell Res between 15th and 20th and at Pitsford on the latter date. Pitsford also continued to hold on to its wintering Common Sandpiper, seen only sporadically but still present on the causeway there on 19th.

And just over two weeks after the first Kittiwake of the year came six together, at Pitsford, on 16th, while the period’s only Mediterranean Gull – a first-winter – visited Stanford Res on three consecutive days from 14th. Other gulls were available, of course, including two second-winter Caspian Gulls at Clifford Hill GP on 15th, two adults at Hollowell on 18th and a single adult at Ravensthorpe on the same date. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was present at Pitsford on 16th-17th and two visited Ravensthorpe on 18th.

The Red-throated Diver at Hollowell extended its stay there by another week.

And the Summer Leys Glossy Ibis similarly saw another week out on site.

Glossy Ibis, Summer Leys LNR, 17th March 2026 (James Underwood)

Glossy Ibis, Summer Leys LNR, 20th March 2026 (Leslie Fox)

The latter location also produced sightings of Bittern on 14th and 19th, while a Cattle Egret scraped into the period, appearing at Kislingbury GP on the first of these two dates.

Flying high north over Harrington AF on 18th, the year’s first Osprey was quickly followed by another over Hollowell two days later, on 20th. No doubt there’ll be many more to come … And now part of the furniture, it seems, Marsh Harriers were still around at Summer Leys, where single birds were seen on 14th, 16th and 18th, with two present on 17th. Nearby, in the wider reaches of Earls Barton GP, singles were at Quarry Walk on 14th and at New Workings (South) on 20th. A ‘ringtail’ Hen Harrier flew west over Harrington AF on 16th.

And the week’s other first summer visitor arrived on 17th in the shape of a smart male Northern Wheatear at Clifford Hill GP, hot on the tail of which were three more – all males – the following day, at Blueberry Hill Maidwell, in the Brampton Valley between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton, and at Harrington AF.

Male Northern Wheatear, Clifford Hill GP, 17th March 2026 (Mike Alibone)

An early spring White Wagtail was found on a manure heap between Earls Barton and Ecton on 20th and the only Water Pipit so far this year flew over, calling, at Pitsford on the same date.

It’s been a tremendous winter – and indeed last year – for Crossbills and they are still with us, one being seen at Gamboro Plantation, east of Cottesbrooke, on 14th, five over Denton Wood, Yardley Chase on 16th and several at Pitsford Res on 20th.

Newsround 1st to 7th November 2025

Posted on November 8, 2025December 26, 2025 by Mike Alibone

A sustained southerly airstream rendered the first week of November considerably mild, weatherwise, and arguably, the same could be said regarding the period’s birds – certainly from a new arrivals perspective. However, there was still plenty to see in terms of hangers-on, including the Lesser Scaup – now seemingly settled at Ditchford – continuing as the main attraction, proving popular with locals and visitors alike.

Yes, bold as brass on Ditchford GP’s ‘Big Lake’, little more than a hop, skip and a jump from the busy Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre car park, the drake Lesser Scaup remained throughout the week, currently looking like it could be set to see the winter out. In the world of birds, though, unpredictability reigns supreme, so only time will tell …

Drake Lesser Scaup, Ditchford GP, 5th November 2025 (Mike Alibone)

There were surprisingly few wildfowl in this week’s supporting cast, though, with four Whooper Swans appearing momentarily at Clifford Hill GP on the morning of 3rd and a small number of reservoir-based Red-crested Pochards, comprising four at Stanford on 2nd, with two there from 3rd to 5th, and one at Ravensthorpe on the last of these two dates.

With migration pretty much flatlining in the wader camp, the lingering Black-tailed Godwit saw another week out at Daventry CP and a Jack Snipe still showed occasionally at Summer Leys LNR, while two of the latter were at Ditchford on 7th. A single Dunlin at Clifford Hill GP on 6th is perhaps scraping the barrel these days but serves as a stark reminder that, back in the day, it was a regular occurrence for a flock exceeding two hundred to spend late autumn and winter at a water-depleted Pitsford Res. How times have changed …

On par for the course, though, a second-winter Mediterranean Gull was present at Earls Barton GP’s Mary’s Lake on 7th, this site now regularly pulling in respectable numbers of larger gulls with two recent individuals showing some signs of hybridisation displaying a Caspian Gull influence. However, examples of the real McCoy were to be found in the gull roost at Stanford on 1st and 3rd, a third-winter visited Daventry CP on 3rd and 6th, a first-winter was at Summer Leys on 4th and two adults and a first-winter were at Hollowell Res on 5th. The week’s Yellow-legged Gull quota included one at Clifford Hill GP from 1st to 6th, an adult at Mary’s Lake on 5th, a first-winter at Daventry on 5th followed by an adult there on 6th and three at Pitsford on 7th.

The three Glossy Ibises held out at Summer Leys throughout the week.

Glossy Ibis, Summer Leys LNR, 5th November 2025 (Mike Alibone)

Summer Leys also produced single Marsh Harriers on 2nd-3rd and again on 7th, while two were at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR on 2nd.

Marsh Harriers, Titchmarsh NR, 2nd November 2025 (Kev Jeffries)

And heading the cast of the week’s passerines was a Black Redstart on 5th at Harrington AF, a site which has become increasingly steeped in disquiet of late as a result of dubious and illicit activities, including hare coursing, shooting and wanton damage to a parked vehicle. All perhaps enough to discourage birders from going to look for it … as there were no further reports.

Stonechats were found at Clifford Hill, Ditchford, Earls Barton, Harrington, Hollowell, Pitsford and Summer Leys, with Earls Barton and Pitsford producing the highest counts of five apiece.