Here Kitty Kitty

Oundle continues to exert a pull on me at the moment, I had toyed with the idea of popping over to Deene but the prospect of looking over the floods won through. Once again the weather was far from ideal and though the morning mist soon lifted the almost constant drizzle and light rain lingered for most of my stay.

The first of nine Mandarins seen today.

A short way from the north bridge and near to the A605 a pair of Mandarins were staying close to one of the flooded areas, there were rather a lot of Black-headed Gulls moving through too. Ashton Mill had a singing Willow Warbler as well as Blackcap, the latter seem to be well established with quite a few seen during the morning. While the flooded bit between the river and the Ashton road held only a few of the commoner wildfowl species an area nearer to the footbridge had something altogether more interesting. Checking through a small flock of Black-headed Gulls bathing on one of the floods revealed not the hoped for Med but a completely unexpected adult Kittiwake. This Spring seems to have been rather good for this species but they don't normally appear away from reservoirs or the larger lakes. Having not seen one in the county for perhaps as long as thirty five years it was most certainly appreciated. A Sparrowhawk caused a certain amount of panic as it flew through while a group of about ten or so Swallows feeding low over the fields near Ashton Lock were my first this year.

Kittiwake, the star of the show.

Continuing on along the river I found a further three drake Mandarins and also had three Redshanks fly over, they headed in the direction of the A605 floods. Those floods had a good selection of duck which not only included a pair of Shelduck but also a leucistic Gadwall. The waters here have dropped slightly and as a result rather a lot of Teal had reappeared. Checking around the margins of the floods revealed a Black-tailed Godwit which is presumably the one that was reported earlier. Another wader in the form of an Oystercatcher flew through before landing next to yet more floodwater in a neighbouring ploughed field. Big surprise here was a Grasshopper Warbler which sang several times from the bushes in the field next to the Nene Way. I believe that this is my earliest UK one but would have to go through my notes to be sure. A further pair of Mandarins flew over and there was at least ten Lapwings around too.

Rubbishy record shot of the Black-tailed Godwit.

Mother Egyptian Goose still had her two goslings at the Marina but as the rain was getting a little heavier by now I headed over to Barnwell CP. A final two Mandarins of the day, making a total of nine were seen while Nuthatches proved to be very obliging from Lowlands hide. Additional Swallows were seen feeding over adjacent fields and a Kingfisher was my first for quite a while, I think the colder snaps must have been hard for them. With the morning now beginning to slip away I decided to call it quits having enjoyed one of my more interesting days.

Another Barnwell selection.