Sliding ever deeper into the golden days of autumn, raptor numbers are on the up alongside the only-to-be-expected migrants, of which four are the first returning birds of the season.
Throughout the period, the female Ruddy Shelduck remained at Stanford Res, having chosen to shun both Hollowell Res and Winwick Pools – at least for the time being. Other wildfowl included two juvenile Garganeys at Summer Leys LNR on 7th and two Red-crested Pochards – one at Billing Aquadrome on 29th and the other, an eclipse drake, at Pitsford Res from 4th until 9th.
A Black-necked Grebe was reported from Delta Pit, part of Ditchford GP’s Rushden Lakes complex, on the last day of the period.
Looking back at the previous Newsround, waders were clearly on the up in comparison to the meagre offering during the last full week of July. The autumn’s first Whimbrel flew south over Pitsford Res on 5th, while single figures of Black-tailed Godwits included singles at Summer Leys on 27th and Clifford Hill GP on 31st, two on the latter date at Stanwick GP and the same number at Clifford Hill on 8th. Stanwick also produced another seasonal first in the shape of two Ruffs on 6th, while Summer Leys accounted for most of the period’s Greenshanks, with two on 5th and singles on 31st, 6th, 7th and 9th. Elsewhere, further singles were at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (North) on 27th and at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh LNR on 5th.
The first Mediterranean Gull of the autumn, a juvenile, paid a brief visit to Stanwick before departing south-west on 5th, while more Caspian Gulls included a second-summer flying over Wicksteed Park Lake, Kettering on 7th and single juveniles at both Daventry CP and Stanwick two days later, on 9th.
Not to be outdone, Yellow-legged Gulls maintained a presence with Pitsford producing a maximum of five on 5th, while three were found at Stanwick on 9th, two visited Thrapston on 5th following one there on 2nd, two were at Daventry CP on 9th and a juvenile appeared at Wicksteed Park Lake on 7th.
A Bittern was at a potential breeding site on 3rd but numbers of Cattle Egrets rallied, with Stanwick hitting a high of twelve on 3rd and Lilbourne Meadows NR notching up its first-ever, a juvenile, from 31st to 2nd. Summer Leys produced just the one, on 1st.
And so to the period’s raptors and the two weeks just gone saw both Ospreys and Marsh Harriers aplenty … Ospreys were seen daily, the spotlights being on both Pitsford and Stanford, with three at the former site on 31st and 8th and four suspected there on at least one date. Stanford produced daily sightings with two on three dates while, elsewhere, singles were at Hollowell Res on 30th, 8th and 9th and at Thrapston on 3rd and 6th.
Marsh Harriers rose to prominence, also producing records daily across a collective of sites that included Brampton Valley, Harrington AF, Lilbourne Meadows, Pitsford, Stanford and Summer Leys and the latter site, along with Harrington, produced two different birds apiece.
Passerines were not to be outdone, of course and an unsubstantiated report of a Red-backed Shrike at Lilbourne Meadows on 2nd remained exactly that.
Considered a gift, it seems like many years ago, now, that Common Redstarts were seen locally in smaller numbers than they are these days. With autumn passage and post-breeding dispersal now in full flow for this species, these birds are being reported almost every day and from multiple localities. The period saw ones and twos at Blueberry Farm (Maidwell), in the Brampton Valley, Harrington, Honey Hill, Lamport, Lilbourne Meadows, Stortons GP and Woodford Halse.
Being seen almost daily, numbers of Whinchats have also begun to increase, falling in the shadow of the above and sharing a proportion of the same locations, namely Brampton Valley, Harrington, Hollowell and Pitsford. No more than two were found at any one site during the period. A single male Stonechat appeared at Harrington on 30th.
By contrast, Northern Wheatears have only just started moving, with the autumn’s first two being found at Hinton AF on 4th, followed by one between Cranford and Finedon three days later, on 7th.
And following on from the two over Blueberry Farm on 22nd, single Crossbills flew over Corby’s Eurohub on 7th and another flew north-west over Pitsford village the following day.
Northants birds 