Goodbye 2017....

Although I don't keep a year list the last day or two of the year always feels a little flat as I wait for the next year to kick off.  This morning once the rain had eased I headed over to Oundle for one final stroll along the Nene and while nothing of any great note was found it was still rather a pleasant wander.

Flooded fields around Oundle.

Walking out via the south bridge it was obvious that melting snow and recent rainfall had pushed the level of the river up and caused a lot of flooding to the surrounding fields. Flocks of Black-headed Gulls and those other great opportunists the corvids were not slow to take advantage of this changing landscape and congregated around and on the many new lakes in good numbers. At the marina the usual pair of Egyptian Geese were swimming around the boats, another was seen in a flooded field across the river from Barnwell CP.

Birds were not slow to take advantage of the floods.

A little way beyond the marina a large flock of geese were present on another flooded field and other floods attracted numbers of Wigeon and Shoveller. Lapwings too were drawn to the same area and a flock of about two hundred or so were feeding in a water logged field while a single Golden Plover was heard as it flew overhead. Grey Heron and Little Egret were noted hunting around the edges of several of these flooded areas while flocks of thrushes mainly preferred the drier areas.

Barnwell birds, the Robin was certainly not shy!

I had to turn around at the Lower Barnwell lock as the water level was too high for even my willies and so had some time to stroll around Barnwell CP. Not surprisingly it was busy with families and dog walkers and birds were in short supply. The feeders at Lowlands hide had not been filled so were quiet apart from a few Blue Tits and a few species feeding on the ground below. Several of the commoner passerines were found in other parts of the park but there really was not much else to report. With a little bit of time to kill before my bus I popped in for a couple of pints of Pedigree, a Happy New Year to all, cheers.

Grey Heron.

Boxing Day at Blatherwycke

As it was my last day off I wanted to use it wisely and so scrounged a lift over to Blatherwycke lake from where I walked home. Arriving just after eight I was treated to a wonderful sunrise that bathed the whole area  in glorious light. There was the usual selection of wildfowl on view including a large number of Mute Swans. Highlight amongst the ducks were the Mandarins, ca 10 were seen up against the bank on the opposite side of the lake in the bit nearest Kingscliffe. A feint whiff of Spring must have been in the air as the drakes were playing very close attention to the females, a large group of Mallards seemed similarly distracted.

Sunrise and swans at Blatherwycke.

From the bridge in the village a couple of Little Egrets and a Grey Heron were fishing while one of the Chinese Geese was grazing on the bank. Lots of Greylags were about too, most of them were feeding in surrounding fields. A drake Wigeon seen from here had some green showing on its head and the crown stripe seemed white rather than yellowish so it may have had a few American Wigeon genes mixed in.

Greylags and a Wigeon that has perhaps a hint of American in its ancestry.

The churchyard delivered a late Christmas present in the shape of two Hawfinches one of which posed for a minute or two at the top of a tree. Several Siskins were seen as well, this is definitely proving to be a better winter for this species than the last. A pair of Red Kites stayed close to the area and looked superb in the sunlight. Also showing well were a couple of Mistle Thrushes feeding on Rowan berries in one of the cottage gardens.

Red Kite and Hawfinch.

Naturally this being Blatherwycke I had to have a peek over the fence to see what was occurring in the menagerie. Rheas and wallabies seemed to be the order of the day with a few of each including several leucistic individuals present. Three Black Swan cygnets were also observed, I wonder if individuals from here  escape to visit both the lake here and the one at Deene?

Just a normal day at Blatherwycke!

A large flock of thrushes near Bulwick village included more Mistles and several hundred Fieldfares. Not much else was noted until Deene Lake which itself was rather quiet though there was a large number of geese on the main part. The inflow was awash so there were no Snipe or Green Sands but Teal numbers were high.

The female Stonechat was back at the airfield.

A large flock of buntings at Deenethorpe were checked just in case something exotic was around but I had to be content with Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers. The star of the show here though was the female Stonechat which had reappeared after a few blank visits, it was nice to know that she had survived the cold weather earlier in the month. That was it though as far as interesting stuff went, a few more buntings were seen at Bears Lane but that really was that.

Another view of the Hawfinch.

Escaping All the Fuss

Having done all my seasonal shopping early for a change I decided to escape the people packed town and other places so full of bustling and busy last minute shoppers. Wanting to check the Laundimer and Harry's Park woods complex out for crossbills meant a rather longish walk alongside some busy roads during which only a couple of Marsh Tits were seen. At the entrance to the woods a small party of Siskins were heard, many others showed during the morning. Bullfinches too proved to be present in decent numbers as well.

Another view of the wing turbine near Weldon.

One thing did become apparent fairly quickly and that was that the pine cone crop appeared to have failed this year as very few were about. This may well have explained the complete absence of any crossbills whatsoever, a three hour wander around certainly failed to produce any for me at least. There was not a great deal else to see either in all honesty, a few large tit flocks entertained briefly as I searched through them but failed to find something different.

A few views from today.

The local kites and buzzards did show well, a stiff breeze certainly seemed to their liking while a couple of Kestrels were also observed. Not much in the way of other wildlife to see with just a single Muntjac noted as it bounded up one of the narrower rides. With a few little chores left to do at home I decided to bale at this point and leave with the harsh calls of Jays sending me on my way.

Red Kites.

Birds 2017 (Britain)

2017 was by no means a vintage year in birding terms, I made very few trips beyond the county border while birding within the county was steady if not spectacular.

White-billed Diver.

A first highlight of the year was a flock of Waxwings in Kettering town centre, 24 in all but they did not pose for any photographs. These were part of a large nationwide invasion and although they first reached Northants in the Autumn I did not catch up with any local ones until these birds. Next up was the very obliging inland White-billed Diver in Lincolnshire which turned out to be my only life tick in Britain this year. Decent back up to this bird came in the form of a Ring-necked Duck at Kirby GP.

Waxwings were seen at two sites in the county during 2017.

More Waxwings featured on the 19th of February when a large flock of about fifty were seen at Wootton in Northampton, this was far and away my largest ever county flock. A visit to Pitsford on the same date provided some good views of both Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes. Another local twitch to Sywell CP got me my first county Whooper Swan for years on the fifth of March. Other local highlights at this time included Bramblings at several sites and also a nice flooded area near Oundle which attracted several species of waders during the Spring.

Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes were both seen at Pitsford Reservoir.

Another local twitch over to Stanford Reservoir for three Black-winged Stilts on the 20th of April was successful and were my first in the county, with an increasing number of records in the UK this may become more regular event in Northants.

The Stanford Stilts and one of the East Leake Bee-eaters.

Things then went a bit quiet as I spent most of the Summer looking at insects though I managed to make my annual visit to Norfolk for good views of Nightjar, always a highlight of any year. A further Summer jaunt, this time to East Leake in Nottinghamshire gave me the chance to see four Bee-eaters, a rare treat in Britain.

Not a bad day, Red-necked and Grey Phalaropes.

It was not until the 8th of October that I went on another out of county birding trip, this time to North Norfolk where the headline acts were A Red-necked Phalarope at Kelling and a Grey Phalarope at Cley. This was the first time that I've seen two species of Phalarope on the same day, shame that there had been no Wilson's a little closer than Kent! November saw me return to Norfolk for a short break with my wife. While not a birding trip I did see a couple of Twites at Wells, a Great White Egret at Holkham and two Cattle Egrets at Stiffkey. Great Whites continue to do well in Northants too, I saw birds at both Summer Leys and Pitsford during the year.

Egrets, I've had a few, Cattle and Great White.

The late Autumn and early winter period were spent looking for Hawfinches as large numbers of them had arrived in Britain as part of an unprecedented arrival. Initially I managed to avoid them totally at first though sightings of further county Whooper Swans, a Jack Snipe and Bramblings were as welcome as always. I finally managed to catch up with a couple of Hawfinches at East Carlton Park on the 9th of December and they barring anything spectacular turning up during the final ten days were the last highlight of 2017.

Not a great picture but a good bird, Hawfinch at East Carlton CP.

Merry Christmas

Well folks it's that time of the year again and I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully it will deliver whatever it is that you want or need but none of the stuff that you don't, we can hope can't we? As ever I'm a slave to tradition so here's a picture of a Robin from Monday's visit to Barnwell.

That's Better

All thoughts of yesterday's grey and gloomy conditions were soon forgotten as soon as I got to walking along the Nene at Oundle. A beautiful palette of pastel pinks, oranges and blues  greeted the sunrise and there was just a hint of mist to soften the colours a little. Frost had coated the grass white but while it was much colder than yesterday it was an altogether much nicer experience.

A couple of river views.

Wrens were my constant companions, hyperactive little balls of feathers churring as they foraged in riverside vegetation. Occasionally one would burst into song joining the many Robins in a winter chorus. Somewhat further on a Great Tit was giving its teacher teacher call, a little optimistic given the cold weather we will have to endure between now and Spring. Mallards, Mute Swans and Moorhens were once again the commonest species and there was the odd Cormorant or Heron fishing along the river.

Unusual visitors to this stretch of the Nene.

The recent cold snap had clearly moved a few waterfowl on as a group of about fifteen Wigeon, four Gadwall and a Dabchick were seen on the Nene. Numbers of both Canada and Grey Lag Geese had increased and a large gaggle were feeding near to the Lower Barnwell Lock. Although it was frozen today the flooded area that attracted waders in the Spring is growing larger and may produce further goodies a little later into the season. At the moment it seemed to be a magnet for Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits, a flock of about ten Lapwings choosing to pass over rather than land.

Wren and Long-tailed Tit.

Closer to the marina a Kingfisher showed briefly and there were two Egyptian Geese next to the clubhouse. Most of the lakes were frozen over which meant that wildfowl away from the river were scarce. Barnwell CP once again provided good views of passerines from Lowlands Hide with Marsh Tit in particular showing well. Other parts of the park had Siskins and the winter thrushes but that was it as far as things went.

Egyptian Geese.

These walks along the river never really provide any truly unusual birds, you could probably see nearly everything I see within about two minutes of hitting Pitsford or another lake but sometimes it's more about the all-round experience and a pleasant walk in lovely conditions is a pretty fine way of spending time. Oh and the chance to swig a couple of pints of Pedigree while going through photos in the pub is none too shoddy either!

Three from Barnwell.

Birds 2017 ( foreign trips)

 Roundabout this time of the year I like to do a bit of a review covering my wildlife observations and having already covered both dragonflies and butterflies I thought that I might now review my birding highlights. I thought that I would begin by dealing with those species seen on my four foreign jaunts.

Star of Riga, a Goshawk.

Only one of my trips was a dedicated wildlife watching excursion, the rest were relaxation breaks with my wife although I always managed to see something of interest wherever I ended up. Our first trip of the year was to Riga in January where we enjoyed a few cold but enjoyable days in the city. Undoubted birding star here was a Goshawk that showed very well in one of the city parks providing my best ever views of this magnificent species. Other highlights included nice views of both Long-tailed Duck and Goosander while another city park provided views of Crested Tits and northern Bullfinches.

Some Polish highlights....

The end of April saw me venturing to eastern Poland with Naturetrek on what is likely to be my only ever excursion with this company. It's no reflection on them, they organise a very good trip, it's just that I don't like the living in a bubble type experience that this kind of trip supplies. Birding on this excursion was excellent and I managed two (unphotographed ) lifers, Grey-headed Woodpecker (at last!) and Thrush Nightingale but there were many other highlights. Pick of the raptors were several Lesser Spotted Eagles and more Goshawks, always a treat. Two species of storks and Crane were also noted, several groups of the latter were moving through on migration. Smaller birds were represented by six species of woodpecker, Waxwings returning north, a Hoopoe, Hawfinches, Crested Tits, Savi's Warbler, Penduline Tit and some immaculate Collared Flycatchers. Straying away from the birds for a sec a Wolf, Pine Marten and of course Bison more than held up the mammals end.

...and a few more.

May saw us heading off for a few days to Fuengirola where I seized the opportunity to get out a couple of times. In the mountains above Benalmadena a pair of Black Wheatears were feeding young and I also saw Dartford Warbler and Thekla Lark. The Guadahorce reserve near Malaga did not disappoint and I once again caught up with White-headed Ducks as well as Red Crested Pochards.

Spring Spanish goodies.

In October we returned to this part of Spain and this time around I got a lifer albeit a bit of a plastic one in the shape of Common Waxbill. For some reason a large number had arrived in the area and I was treated to many good views, strange that it took nearly twenty years of regular visits before I caught up with them but better late than never eh? Lots of other good stuff included at least eleven Greater Flamingos at the reserve as well as more White-headed Ducks

Spain Autumnal Birds 

So 2017 turned out to be a decent year with three new species which was my best result abroad in any one year for ages. Next year has got a little to live up to but whatever happens I'm sure it will be pretty entertaining looking for more goodies, I can't wait!

Lifer! Common Waxbill.