Short Hop Over the Border

Today John Barn, my brother and I spent the morning birding at a few of the local spots as Mother's Day commitments meant that we couldn't travel too far. While the temperature had dropped by quite a margin in comparison with the past week there was still quite a bit of sunshine to enjoy.

View from the bridge at Eyebrook.

Our first port of call was a spot in Corby where we were treated to views of a female Peregrine eating a breakfast of pigeon. March really has been a good month for local Peregrines, hopefully a few will stay around to breed.

Drake Teal and displaying Great Crested Grebe.

From here we made our way to Eyebrook reservoir where we were greeted on arrival by singing Chiffchaff and Blackcap. On the water there were very few birds, just a few dabbling ducks, some grebes and a few Coots. Fairly large numbers of Common Gulls were passing through but there was little sign of any other migration. Probable highlight here were two Ospreys that made several appearances over the res. At one point a bird was seen off by a Red Kite which if nothing else served to demonstrate the success of local conservation measures. As well as these two there were also a few Buzzards but there was not much else of note on site apart from a t least one Tree Sparrow.

Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrow.

With a little time to spare we decided to pop over to Wakerley Wood for a look to see if any Crossbills were about. Luck was with us as John picked out a male in a tree next to the carpark. While looking for it I found his mate who looked very much as if she was collecting nest material. If this was the case then it's a rare occurrence as this species is a rare breeder in the county. After a couple of minutes the pair flew off over the path leaving three happy birders in their wake. A few Chiffchaffs were singing and we also heard both a Siskin and a Redpoll. There was not a great deal of other wildlife about though we did see a Peacock flying along one of the tracks.

The male Crossbill from Wakerley.