No Pain in the Rain

Alan Shorrock and I headed out today despite some persistent rain with the intention of finding some wildlife to gawp at. Given the soggy conditions this morning we decided to head for somewhere with hides and opted for Barnwell. Normally I'd never pop in here on a Sunday but I hoped that the yucky weather might keep saner folk at home, happily this proved to be the case.

An obliging Otter.

It did not take long once we had settled into Kingfisher Hide for things to start happening. Watching the cob Mute Swan trying to persuade his cygnets to leave was fairly entertaining but our attention was easily diverted by an Otter. Initially it was swimming around the small islands to the right of the hide, on one occasion climbing out on one to feed on a large fish, before swimming across in front of us. We enjoyed good views as it fished and watched it eat several smaller fishes before it swam off out of sight. Given that this was Alan's first attempt at seeing them here you would have to say that it was most definitely a case of beginners luck! To add to the interest Alan also picked out a Kingfisher which made a brief visit.

Mute Swans behaving badly.

On our way to Lowlands Hide we saw at least three Mandarins in their usual spot and also managed to flush a Green Woodpecker from an area of grass. The feeders were full today and attracted a lot of birds which included at least two pairs of Reed Buntings. Some kind of running event at the park meant that the birds were regularly disturbed by joggers but the birds were quick to return once the athletes had passed. Happy with our morning we popped into the café before moving on to the reserve at Thrapston.

Barnwell regulars.

Great White Egrets used to be a real rarity in the UK until quite recently but in recent years they have become regular in Northants, particularly in the winter. We saw at least four and perhaps five on our walk around today but despite their changing status I still enjoy looking at them. Grey Herons were present in good numbers too and there were at least three Little Egrets as well.

Great White Egrets.

Two pairs of Goosander were found and a good sized flock of about eighty Pochard were seen while there were also around twenty Goldeneyes. Raptors seen today included both Red Kites and Buzzards while Alan also saw a Sparrowhawk. One sign of the coming Spring (hopefully sooner rather than later!) was the pairs of Great Crested Grebe beginning to display. Having enjoyed our day's spotting we set off for home with blue skies and sunshine now holding sway.

Aldwinkle.