Red-backed Shrike – Northants birds

It is, of course, late May – historically the peak time for the cream of the spring crop to be produced and, with UK temperatures reaching a record-breaking 35.1°C for May, the heat was on, the week delivering big time with a bird not seen in Northamptonshire for thirty-four years …

But before all that, there is more standard fare – including a fine calibre rare – to go through. More Garganeys came our way, with a drake again at Stanford Res on 24th being quickly followed by a pair at Earls Barton GP’s New Workings (South) the next day, the latter site producing three Red-crested Pochards on 29th.

And following the first of the year last week, another Quail broke silence – this time in the Brampton Valley near Blueberry Farm on 23rd, with likely the same bird again between Cottesbrooke and Hanging Houghton on 29th.

After three records already this year, the fourth was to be added this week when two Common Cranes flew east from fields near Holcot on 25th. One on the ground would no doubt be much appreciated.

Unsurprisingly, given where we are on the calendar, the week’s waders were much reduced in numbers compared to those of previous weeks. Avocets were seen daily at Summer Leys LNR, peaking at four there on 28th, while one that turned up at Stanford Res on 26th was the first to be seen there since 2017.

Avocet, Stanford Res, 26th May 2026 (Chris Hubbard)

The only other noteworthy wader was a Sanderling at the now rapidly drying out Winter Flood Pools at Lilbourne Meadows NR on 25th.

Sanderling, Lilbourne Meadows NR, 25th May 2026 (Mike Alibone)

A first-summer Little Gull arrived at Summer Leys on 28th, being joined there by another on the following day.

The latter locality also produced a batch of Bittern sightings with singles on 23rd, 25th and 29th, while one was also seen at Thrapston GP’s Titchmarsh NR on 23rd and 27th. Cattle Egrets were also in evidence with one in flight over the River Nene at Denford on 23rd, three in fields between Aynho and Clifton on 24th, and one at Clifford Hill GP on 29th.

Fishing or on the fly, the week’s Ospreys were to be seen at Thrapston GP’s Elinor Trout Lake on 23rd and 27th, at Pitsford Res on 24th-25th and at Hollowell Res on 29th and, once again, Marsh Harriers were restricted to a lone male over Stortons GP on 26th-27th.

It’s not often that the period’s passerines knock everything else into a cocked hat but that was clearly the case this week … but it wasn’t all plain sailing from an observer’s point of view. Early morning on 29th gave rise to the discovery of a female Red-backed Shrike at Summer Leys. Seen only briefly, it did not linger, much to the disappointment of the many ready to scramble if the news came through that it was still present. There have been only seven previous county records so far this century, the most recent of which were in 2022 and 2024 and, prior to that, in 2015.

As nice as it might have been, its rarity was totally eclipsed by an entirely different animal altogether. Another early morning discovery in the shape of a singing male Savi’s Warbler was made at Stortons GP on 26th. Initially heard reeling in the reedbed, brown and dandy it made its way close to the top of the reeds on a number of occasions, much to the delight of an appreciative gathering of those who were on site in time to see it before it decided to lay low after mid to late morning. There was a repeat performance the following day but it failed to show to anything like the same extent. And after that? Gone.

Male Savi’s Warbler, Stortons GP, 26th May 2026 (Tyler Atkinson)

With only three previous records – including one present at two localities within the same area of the Nene Valley – this is only the fourth for Northamptonshire and the first for thirty-four years …

Numbers of breeding pairs of Savi’s Warblers in the UK hit thirty in the late 1970s but were running at possibly eight pairs in 2023 (British Birds Rare Breeding Birds Panel, 2024), while Keller et al (2020) showed how the range of Savi’s Warbler has shifted north and east in Europe since the 1980s, with considerable loss of range in western Europe, such as in France. What impact this will have for future records in Northamptonshire and the wider UK remains to be seen.

The movement of the jet stream to the north of the UK brought us a settled and dry week with temperatures reaching the high twenties for three consecutive days, thereby designated a heatwave. But one bird in particular generated heat of a different kind in the northern reaches of the county, up on the border with Leicestershire …

And it certainly wasn’t the female Ruddy Shelduck which, after its usual protracted absence at this time of the year, was back at Hollowell Res on 28th. Nor was it the Red-crested Pochard at Pitsford Res on the same date.

Following last week’s call for a Common Quail in the county, and after the suggestion that there may potentially be a long wait in the offing, as if by magic, three came along at once. Unlike buses, though, they were not easy to catch up with, or so it seems. On the evening of 25th, two males were singing north of Walgrave with one reportedly still present the following evening and two again on 28th. Meanwhile, another was discovered singing less than 5 km to the north-west, at Harrington AF, also on 26th.

A quick review of past occurrences suggests they are holding steady after a sharp peak in records between the late ‘80s and late ‘90s and there have been only four blank years in the last 55 years, namely 1985 and a run in 1973-75.

And while the aforementioned species is arriving, waders are on their way back. Against a countywide backcloth of smaller numbers of Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and Dunlin, an impressive flock of thirty summer-plumaged Black-tailed Godwits dropped in at Stanwick GP’s Main Lake on the last day of the week.

Sticking with Stanwick, three Mediterranean Gulls – two adults and a first-summer – flew south-west over the site on 25th, while a sub-adult Yellow-legged Gull visited Stanford Res on the same date.

It’s not too late for a spring Little Tern and, to prove it, one was found mobile around Hollowell on 22nd – the fifth for the county this year.

Little Tern, Hollowell Res, 22nd June 2024 (Jon Cook)

Bitterns continued to be seen at two sites, while Cattle Egrets maintained a low profile with singles at Stanwick on 27th and Earls Barton GP the following day.

It was all quiet on the Osprey front, too, with singles at Pitsford on 25th-26th and 28th, and at Hollowell on the latter date, while a total of six young birds from nests in the county were ringed on 26th. This week’s Marsh Harrier was last week’s Marsh Harrier – a standout, abraded individual that again visited Stanwick GP on 24th.

Although set to tantalise and tease, the birding gods smiled on Northamptonshire – albeit momentarily – this week when a female Red-backed Shrike was found in the southern extremity of Leicestershire, just north of Cottingham. Discovered early in the morning of 23rd, it remained on the wrong side of the line until mid-afternoon, when it briefly border-hopped into our own good county before promptly returning to Leicestershire.

Female Red-backed Shrike, Cottingham, 23rd June 2024 (Steve Nichols)

Following the popular 2022 juvenile at Duston, this is only the fifteenth record for the county since 1971. In some respects, the occurrence of this week’s bird is not really out of context, given the phenomenal numbers recorded in the UK during late spring. The overwhelming majority were along the east coast, from Kent to Shetland, with more than 350 being recorded during the last ten days of May alone.