Redshanks Return

A morning walk around one of my regular stomping grounds between the north and south bridges at Oundle in beautiful Springlike conditions proved to be enjoyable if not massively interesting. While waiting for my bus the usual melodic notes of the regular Song Thrush were all but drowned out by the far from melodic chacks and rattles of the resident Magpies. If the pair return to nest in one of my neighbours bushes then I may well have to invest in a gun!

Song Thrush and Greylags.

My walk along the Nene did not produce much apart from a few bachelor Mallards and several Greylag Geese until I got to Ashton Mill. A Chiffchaff was singing from trees near to the lock where a Grey Wagtail was feeding. The floodwater here had attracted four species of dabbling ducks of which a drake Shoveller was the most attractive. Continuing on my way I heard and saw both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, the former in particular seem quite common around here.

Wrens seemed to be everywhere today.

Close to the A605 the floodwater had a large number of Wigeon grazing around its edges and there were many Teals of which most appeared to be sleeping. Good numbers of Shovellers were present but I couldn't find any Pintails amongst them. Last Spring a growing number of Redshanks were drawn to this area and today I found three, there were also nine Common Snipe and rather a lot of Lapwings. It will be interesting to see whether any other species pass through on migration.

One of today's Redshanks.

Barnwell CP had at least two more Chiffchaffs singing while both Marsh Tit and Nuthatch showed well from Lowlands Hide. Not much else here although I did glimpse a butterfly, not quite well enough to I.D it though, it's frustrating but no doubt there will be others.

Chiffchaff and Marsh Tit from Barnwell CP.

Spring is in the Air

A lovely morning with a distinct hint of Spring in the air. I was able to scrounge a lift over to Blatherwycke Lake from where I walked back via Deene, Priors Hall and Weldon. Four drake Mandarins were in their usual spot and there was also two Egyptian Geese. Somewhere between five and nine Shelduck were in the general area including a pair prospecting around one of the barns. No signs of Hawfinch around the church but I did get decent views of Nuthatch. A peek over the usual fence revealed a selection of wallabies and several Rheas.

Images from Blatherwycke including a wallaby with joey.

Wandering back along the road towards Deene I enjoyed the songs of many Skylarks and Yellowhammers while flocks of Fieldfares and Starlings were moving eastwards. It seems as if plenty of Meadow Pipits were passing through too, I heard them throughout the day.  A nice discovery was a small colony of Tree Sparrows in some Ivy clad trees near to the A43, it's always nice to find this scarce species in new areas.

Mistle Thrush and Tree Sparrows.

A singing Chiffchaff in a small wood close to Deene church was my first of the Spring, there were at least two more at Priors Hall later. The main lake held eighteen Shelduck but not much else while the farm ponds had little to add. Rather a lot of bees were active today and they included some small ones feeding on Lesser Celandines.

Coltsfoot flowers and bumble bee

A detour through Priors Hall turned out to be worth while with a selection of good stuff on view. Four male Brimstones and a Peacock were my first butterflies since January while several flowering Sallows were attracting plenty of bumble bees. Despite all the signs of Spring three Woodcocks and a flock of seventeen Teal spoke more of winter. The lake in the quarry held about twenty Wigeon while numbers of Pochard had risen to eight, there were good numbers of Tufted Ducks too while a large number of gulls were present. Little Ringed Plover numbers had gone up to three while an Oystercatcher was a welcome find.

Priors waders.

Not much in Weldon though another male Brimstone was seen as I made my way to the pub.

Blue Skies Return.

Once again I think that Northamptonshire avoided the worst of this latest wintery spell compared with what I've seen on the telly. Walking along the lanes between Upper Benefield and Deenethorpe it was surprising how much green was on view. Lots of lambs out at the moment, not sure that they've enjoyed the last couple of days too much but they seemed lively enough.

Scenes from Benefield.

Tree Sparrows were seen at several points along the lane and they were also present around the barns near to Burn Coppice. Winter thrushes, mainly Fieldfares, were feeding on clearer areas in the company of Meadow Pipits while little coveys of Red-legged Partridges whirred away on panicked wings. Feeding with those sparrows around the barns was a large flock of Yellowhammers and smaller numbers of both Reed Buntings and Chaffinches.

Along the lane to Deenethorpe.

Deene Lake inflow was awash but still held at least half a dozen Snipe as well as a hundred plus Teal. On the main lake wildfowl numbers were low but at least eighteen Shelduck were feeding. I would imagine that any prospecting pairs have returned to the lake for the time being until the weather picks up. The farm ponds were very quiet with just a few Gadwalls keeping the regular Mute Swans company.

Deene Lake Inflow.

A Snipe was seen flying along Kirby Lane before it settled into one of the roadside fields. Not much else until the A43 pond at Weldon but even here was quiet. A single Mute Swan joined a Mallard, a Coot and a pair of Tufted Ducks, perhaps the pond froze during the cold snap. The Woodland Park was jam packed with pooches and although I found several Grey Wags along the stream there was not much else to report. Now is there any chance that Spring can finally begin?

Grey Wagtail before being flushed by mutts.

I Hate Sequels!

Plunging temperatures and very chilly winds were the order of the day as the baby beast took an uncomfortable bite out of our burgeoning Spring. No thoughts of Summer migrants or butterflies this morning when I made only the briefest of sorties out into the white. Throughout the previous week I've heard numerous Redwings passing over and even a Snipe, I hope for their sake that they managed to find somewhere a little more hospitable than here!

The church at Corby old village.

Suffering from a rather bad cold but fed up with sitting in a mound of used tissues I braved the elements to go as far as the old patch. The sight of a gent with a shouldered gun passing me on the way out as I wandered in did not fill me with hope, I've never seen this before here and hope not to see it again. As it turned out it was very quiet indeed with a Muntjac being the best thing  on view. Very few birds were seen and I really couldn't find anything of note

View from the patch.

. Deciding enough was enough I called it quits and headed off home for more Lemsips and tissues. Hopefully Spring will be back on track before too long, I'm missing my dragonflies and butterflies!

Slow Slog in the Rain

I was suffering from a mild case of Spoonbill envy as I left the house this morning on my way to Oundle. Having seen the weather forecast I decided that it might be best to visit somewhere with hides just in case.

Scenes from a soggy Oundle.

Lots of floodwater around Oundle which meant that my usual route was impassable in places. Although I'd hoped to see some waders it was wildfowl that was taking advantage of the conditions with the five commoner dabbling ducks showing well. Plenty of Black-headed Gulls on the floodwater too which were perhaps migrants returning to breeding sites as most were adults. Very little else around here so I went on my way to Barnwell CP where I sought some shelter from the light rain.

A few of the usual suspects.

Barnwell was quiet as well and I couldn't find much of interest although I enjoyed getting close views of the commoner species. With the weather showing no signs of letting up and having enjoyed a couple of decent days I decided to call it quits and headed off to enjoy a pint or two of Pedigree

Play Misty for Me

With a Mother's Day meal booked I had to keep things relatively close to home today and so went no further than Priors Hall. Early morning mist made things more than a little difficult but thankfully the sun burned its way through the murk and I found a few bits and bobs to have a squint at.

It's not just Gorillas in the mist.

As visibility was so duff to begin with I relied on my ears to check what was around. It sounded as if plenty of Redwings were still about and I also heard my first Bullfinch song of the Spring so far. Geese are always a feature of this time of year and I heard several pairs passing overhead. By the time I reached Weldon Industrial Estate the mist was just beginning to clear though the herd of about twelve Fallow Deer that I saw here were still pretty obscured. Deer here must be fairly used to humans now and these were no where near as skittish as usual.

Priors goodies.

Now that the veil of mist had all but cleared I decided to pop into Priors Hall to see what was around and I'm glad that I did as it was fairly productive. A Brown Hare was the first find, it shot off over the almost lunar style landscape. Near the main lake a Shelduck was preening, they're quite regular here in Spring. This site is really improving for wildfowl and three Pochards which still remain rather scarce around here joined two Teal, ten or more Mallards and five Tufted Ducks. Two Mute Swans also seem to have settled in and there was also a few Greylags, four Cormorants, a Dabchick, a fishing Little Egret as well as Coots to watch. Lapwings are beginning to return and they shared the area with my first Spring migrant of the year, a Little Ringed Plover which was found feeding next to one of the pools.

Wandering Greylags are a feature of Spring days.

Satisfied that I had seen everything I then headed over to Weldon where I checked the A43 pond first. With the ice now gone birds have been quick to return. Five Canada Geese  were a nice find and their numbers were matched by Greylags. Nine Tufties were present too while Coots, Dabchick and Mallards had also returned. Even the other pond had something to see with a pair of adult Mute Swans joining the immature, not sure that it's going to be allowed to stay for much longer though! A pair of Gadwalls added to the days total though they didn't stay long, both birds headed off towards Priors.

Mute Swan and Gadwall.

With a bit of warm(ish) sunshine filtering down I started to look for any early butterflies and with this in mind I dropped in to the old patch. It turned out that things had more of a wintery vibe here as the only things that I could find were several Redwings, a small flock of Siskins and a Woodcock which I flushed from near the entrance. With time now very much an issue I left it at that and headed off home more than happy with the morning's viewing.

Lesser Celandines.

Here Comes the Summer*

* Summer Leys that is!

A day off work was enough to set me off spotting again and this time I chose to broaden my horizons by grabbing the faithful old X4 and heading off to Summer Leys. It was raining as I walked up to the town centre to catch my bus but the rest of the day was thankfully mostly dry.

Foal with mum.

Spring is lambing season and while the little beggars are undeniably cute it was good to see a new foal amongst the ponies at Earls Barton. One of the local dog walkers told me that it was around five days old and the sprightly little blighter certainly had more energy than I do! Mill Lane had the usual Skylarks singing while close to the mill itself both Snipe and Teal were flushed from a watery ditch. Cormorant Lake (not sure what other people call it) had a good selection of ducks and the total included good numbers of both Pochard and Shoveller.

Great White Egret.

Not much else until I got to the reserve where a Great White Egret was the first bird of note, they may not be that rare these days but they're still nice to see. On the main lake a good number of Goldeneyes were seen though there was not much else of note out on the water. Around at the feeding station an impressive number of Reed Buntings were present as well as plenty of the usual visitors. My favourites here were two Bramblings, the female was very obliging. Having enjoyed a chat with the fellow that keeps the feeders stocked (good work matey!) I continued on around the site passing a rather quiet Mary's Lake on the way.

A selection from the feeders.

On the margins of the main lake I watched a Little Egret struggling with a Perch. It kept picking it up and dropping it and was possibly a case of biting off more than it could chew. After numerous attempts to eat it the Egret appeared to give up and the fish was left on the bank, no doubt some other opportunist will benefit!

A couple of views of Little Egret with Perch.

Walking back along to the village a pair of Oystercatchers and another Great White Egret were at Hardwater Lake until flushed by a fisherman. The Oiks didn't go too far but the Egret headed off up river. Nothing else to report though a pint of Blue Moon wheat beer in the Old Swan as I waited for my bus was pretty good.

Oystercatcher.
 

Bye Bye Winter?

I had to pop over to Kettering this morning so my choice of walk was easy enough, a wander around Wicksteed Park seemed just the ticket. Much of the recent snow has now melted and the ponds and lakes are gradually becoming free of ice. Once the sun came out it was actually quite warm and I found myself, perhaps optimistically, looking for butterflies!

Some of the ducks on show today.

The main lake although frozen in places had plenty of birds with Tufted Ducks and Coots the commonest. A lot more Teal about this morning but it's about this time of year when passage birds are moving through. What was new were a pair of Wigeon grazing near the small model boat pond, I haven't seen them here too often. Another scarce bird was a Snipe flushed from the bankside vegetation, I can't recall whether I've seen one here before. Plenty of Redwings were feeding on the verdant grass, the thaw could not have come any sooner for these birds. They were not totally in the clear however as a Sparrowhawk sent them and some accompanying Fieldfares packing.

Blue Tit and Carrion Crow.

Much the usual selection of birds on the fishing lake with diving ducks dominating proceedings though half a dozen Shovellers were still present. A flyby Kingfisher was a welcome sight, I always worry about them during cold spells. Both Grey Herons and Little Egrets joined it and the Cormorants in making things tough for the fishes.

The sun put in a welcome appearance.

Not for the first time it was the Great Crested Grebes that took most of my attention. I watched the pair head wagging and exchanging weed and saw with some surprise one of them climb out on to the ice. She (and it was definitely she) then appeared to present herself to the male bird who remained swimming nearby. Adopting what appeared to be a submissive position did not tempt her partner out so she repeated the process. Finally the penny appeared to drop and he joined her on the ice where he did his bit for the future of his species. Having finished their business both returned to the water and then swam off together.

Grebe courtship is going well!

Walking past a patch of Reedmace I noted some wispy bits floating downwards and then a small bird busily pecking at one of the seed heads. Hoping that I might have stumbled across something very good indeed I raised my bins...to reveal a Blue Tit! Oh well I'll have to keep looking for something rarer but it wasn't today as soon after I had to head off into town.