Plan B

Initially the plan today was to head over to the Brecks and hopefully catch up with a Goshawk or two but unfortunately this did not come to pass and so I was left with a bit of a gap in my appointments book.  For some time I've had been toying with the idea of walking along the Nene from Wellingborough as far as Ditchford and so took the opportunity provided by the Brecks bale out to go over and have a stroll.

A few views from the riverbank.

Once I'd left the embankment area and its many swans behind I began to find a few birds to look at. First up were a pair of Oystercatchers next to one of the lakes, this species is now a regular visitor to the Nene Valley and indeed I found another pair not long afterwards. There are still rather a lot of Wigeon to be found though wildfowl numbers in general were low.  A trio of Goldeneyes were still present while a similar number of Shelducks provided the only other duck highlight. A yellow-legged gull next to one of the lakes was probably a Herring rather than an actual Yellow-legged.

There were plenty of ponies today.

A cronking Raven made a noisy flypast while a Cetti's Warbler sang loudly as it moved around the edges of one of the lakes. Blustery conditions seemed to appeal to both the local buzzards and kites and both species showed well. Wellingborough also joined the Northants Peregrine club as one tussled with a corvid on the edges of the town but given how many pigeons were present around the Whitworth mill it's perhaps not that much of a surprise. Not much else of note and the arrival of a heavy shower which had far too much hail for my liking seemed like as good a time as any to throw in the towel.

Bird selection.