New Arrivals

A bit of a trek today taking in Weldon, Deenethorpe, Deene and Priors Hall where a decent selection of wildlife was seen. While nothing rare was seen there was at least several new species for the year.

Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Corby Old Village had a singing Chiffchaff which turned out to be the first of eighteen seen or heard today. Weldon for its part had a singing male Blackcap, my first this year and there was another a little later on at Priors Hall. Although I managed a couple of good photos today my shot of this particular chap was distinctly duff. Leaving Weldon I thought that I'd caught up with my first female Brimstone of 2019 but was surprised to find that it was in fact a Large White. This is by far my earliest with my first sightings in both 2017 and 2018 being in May!

Large White and Raven.

Walking along Bears Lane produced sightings of two Ravens feeding on a field edge, this was probably the pair from Harry's Park Wood. Things went a little quiet for a bit until I got to the edge of Deenethorpe airfield where both a Comma and a male Brimstone were present between the field and Weldon Park Wood. On the airfield itself a Small Tortoiseshell was doing its best to shelter from a fairly strong breeze.

Butterfly and moth selection.

Deene Lake inflow was awash so there was no sign of any waders but there were at least plenty of Teal still about. The main lake had three pairs of Shelduck amongst the commoner fare and there was another male Brimstone nearby. Another little lull followed until I got to Priors Hall where more butterfly sightings made for an interesting time. A further six male Brimstones were seen but these were outnumbered by ten Peacocks. In addition to these three more Commas and another Small Tortoiseshell were found and I also saw an Orange Underwing moth which may well have been my first. Other interesting wildlife on view here included a Smooth Newt. Birds were not ignored either with a Woodcock being flushed and a Tawny Owl hooting but the best bird was a Little Ringed Plover in the quarry area. The lake here held an OK selection of wildfowl and these included two Pochards.

Smooth Newt and Little Ringed Plover.

Not much else to report except to say that another Peacock was seen at Weldon.

Yellowhammer.