Monday, 25 November 2019

Otter Dodging

Back to my usual routine on a Monday and that meant Barnwell once again, sadly the weather had an all too familiar ring to it as well with grey skies predominant. Unfortunately for me the fish munching super weasels did not show despite my spending a few bum numbing hours in the hide. Given that the river is looking a little clearer at the moment it could be that they've moved on for a bit. That other star of previous shows, Kingfisher, showed but only distantly and for a short space of time. I'm beginning to suspect that they think Kingfisher Hide is an instruction rather than a viewing spot!

Distant Kingfisher and closer Nuthatch.

Without any other distractions I had plenty of time to enjoy the usual selection of birds as they came down to feed on seedy handouts. Marsh Tits were probably the most interesting species seen though I always like to get good views of Nuthatch. Away from the hides there seemed to be a lot of winter thrushes on the move while several small groups of Siskins were seen in the park.


Tits.

With time moving on I had to make my excuses and leave, if I'd known that my bus would be forty five minutes late I might perhaps have stayed a bit longer. Wish Oundle was within reasonable walking distance.

Dunnock, obligatory Barnwell Robin and Grey Squirrel.

Sunday, 24 November 2019

Not So Sunny Sunday

Happy to wake free of any ill effects from a gig that I went to last night (ringing ears and slightly tender head being the norm) I began today's nature spotting at Upper Benefield. From here I took the minor road along towards Deenethorpe and onwards to Deene and Weldon.

One of the sun's brief appearances.

With a Great Grey Shrike currently causing a few local birders to drift towards DIRFT in the south of the county it was hard not to think of the similar bird that wintered in this area a few years ago. I looked but couldn't find anything to match that quality today. Tree Sparrows did appear about half way along the lane and they joined other farmland species such as Skylark and Yellowhammer on the list. Both buzzards and kites appeared to be keeping low and it could be that the grey conditions may have been to blame. Good numbers of Lapwing were noted with their usual close escorts of gulls while many Pheasants were also seen.

Hedgerow Robin and roadside Kestrel.

Deene Lake inflow held plenty of Teal and a Green Sandpiper as well as a Kingfisher. The main lake still holds fairly low numbers of birds though there were five Shelduck and a vocal Black Swan. Nothing much to add from the farm ponds and little to report either from Kirby Lane. By the time I reached Priors Hall it looked as if the sun might make an appearance though sadly it turned out to be no more than a brief interlude before the grey conditions took hold once again.

Swan duo at Deene.

A Woodcock that took off from practically under my feet almost caused a brown trouser incident, happily a second caused slightly less alarm. Priors Hall is often a good place for wintering Woodcocks, hopefully the continuing development will leave some habitat for them. Three Snipe flushed from the wet margins of the largest pond took my wader tally for the day to four, there were well over a hundred Lapwing in the quarry too. Also to be seen on the quarry lake were my only Wigeon of the day and a drake Pochard. Good numbers of Siskin were present on site and at least one Redpoll was with them. Not a great deal of other wildlife was noted today though there was a group of about fifteen Fallow Deer at Priors.

Fallow Deer.

Arriving at Weldon some time before my bus gave my just enough time to pop into the George for a pint which was arguably my highlight of the day.

Monday, 18 November 2019

Ear We Go.

Monday is normally Barnwell day but not this time around. Alan Shorrock and I decided to cast the net a little wider and so we headed popped along to Deeping Lakes in Lincolnshire. My break from routine turned out to be a very good idea as we enjoyed not only some good wildlife also but some beautiful sunshine too.

Deeping Lakes and late Common Darter.

Deeping Lakes is one of the few publicised sites for Long-eared Owl and that I suspect is because the owls roost on an island on one of the lakes and are well away from encroaching birders or photographers. We managed to see one bird and several duff record shots were taken. Of the other birds on site a female Goosander was perhaps the best though there was a reasonable quantity of Goldeneye too. With the sun being warm in those spots sheltered from the wind I checked any likely spots for late Common Darters and I was delighted to find a male. I always underestimate the toughness of these little dragons, I don't expect an advent darter this year but who knows?

Awesome Owl, dreadful pictures.

Our next stop was at March Farmers in the Nene Washes where a reasonable number of Whooper Swans were seen. The floods held plenty of Wigeon and also a decent number of Pintails. Alan picked out a distant Marsh Harrier but in truth the area seemed rather quiet so we moved on to nearby Eldernell.

Nene Washes views.

One of the targets here were Short-eared Owls and we were lucky enough to encounter three roosting in a hedge. While none showed that clearly I attempted more dodgy owl record shots. The shorties were not the only owly action either as a Barn Owl showed on at least two occasions. Some distinctive calls lead Alan to pick out a small group of about eight Cranes, a little later we were able to raise this total to over thirty. Vying with the cranes for our attention was a ringtail Hen Harrier which was hunting the margins of the floods, several marsh Harriers were also active. A Stonechat and a few more Whooper Swans rounded off the day with the gathering dusk bringing proceedings to an end.

Short-eared Owls.

Sunday, 17 November 2019

Back to Brookfield

After yesterday's sun filled day packed with ottery goodness it was back to more routine sort of fare today. Leaving the house with the now almost traditional Sunday grey skies I headed over to Brookfield Plantation where I arrived just in time for the now familiar rain. Such unpleasant conditions thankfully did not last too long and some welcome blue skies put in an appearance.

Brookfield Ride.

While the wildlife didn't quite hit the heights of yesterday it was still interesting enough. Brookfield is one of the quietest places in the town and it makes listening for bird calls that little bit easier. Coal Tits and Goldcrests were perhaps the commoner species as you might expect in a conifer plantation but there were plenty of other tits too including Marsh. Nuthatches are a relatively new arrival to the wood so it was good to hear a couple today. Of the finches noted it was Siskins that were perhaps the more interesting. Several parties were encountered during my walk though this is traditionally a good site for this species.

More Brookfield views.

Ravens are a recent success story and their recolonization of Northamptonshire is one the most welcome features of the last few years. I saw some of my first in Brookfield just after their reappearance and it's always good to encounter them here. A calling bird alerted me to an overflying bird as it headed over in the direction of Kirby Hall. What counts as a bit of a site rarity, Mistle Thrush, was a good find with one singing bird and another doing the ratchet call as it passed over.

Goldcrest and Peregrine pair.

A few Fallow Deer were seen but there was little else of interest during my walk through the wood. On the way home I checked one of the local sites and eventually found a Peregrine after some scanning. I concentrated on trying to get some presentable records shots of the bird and in doing so I'm embarrassed to say that I completely failed to see another bird just a metre or two away from the original one. It was only while checking the pics at home that the presence of the other came to light - oops! What makes it worst is that I really thought that I'd given the area a thorough going over, what else do I miss in the course of a day?

Saturday, 16 November 2019

Sunny Day Off

A pre dawn departure for me as I decided to spend my day off work in the Oundle area. Unusually my bus was if anything early and I found myself at Barnwell CP just as the first hints of light were beginning to show. Cawing crows and ticking Robins provided a soundtrack as I made my way to the Kingfisher Hide where I hoped once again to watch some otters. Memories of parties past came to mind when I opened the hide door as a very distinct smell filled the air. Opening the flaps helped to disperse the fug somewhat and my urge to listen to Dark Side of the Moon faded.

Water levels are high.

In the dim pre dawn light I could just make out the dark shapes of voles moving around the woodpiles, at least four were present. Gradually more birds woke up and both Wren and Dunnock could be heard. A flock of five Cormorants landed but didn't stay long while a Mistle Thrush rattled somewhere in the park. I was joined by another observer after about an hour and he sprinkled a little seed around outside which had the desired affect in that it attracted both voles and birds.

Nosy Nuthatch and Great Tit.

Ripples and a trail of bubbles alerted us to the presence of an otter and we had some prolonged views. Unfortunately the poor light coupled with the animal's movements meant that my attempts at photography were dire, a whole load of blurry dross had to be deleted. After five or ten minutes the otter swam out of sight and I amused myself by watching the Nuthatches, Marsh Tit and the Bank Voles moving around in front of us. Shrill whistles signalled a brief fly past by a Kingfisher which did not appear to stop. More calls revealed a pair of Kestrels chasing a Peregrine out of their patch, this was my first sighting in the park.

Robin and Chaffinch.

By now the sun was beginning to shine and I decided that a walk might be in order. With all the rain that we have suffered recently it was no surprise to see the swollen Nene and the flooded fields neighbouring the park. Scores of Black-headed Gulls joined crows and Lapwings feeding and the distinctive calls of kites could be heard. While scanning Mill Lake I was pleased to see another otter feeding and I made my way to the section of bank nearest to the animal.

Bank Voles.

Luckily for me both light and animal were much more conducive to photography and I got a few decent pics. At one point the otter swam directly towards me and I'm sure that it was intending to come out on the bank where I was standing. When it got to about about six foot from my position it finally seemed to realise that I was there and beat a hasty retreat. The close encounter did not however appear to frighten it too much as I was able to enjoy further views including watching it hauling out on to some flattened reeds. In the end I left it to continue its business and went for a walk to look at the floods.


Otter.

High water levels inhibited my progress though I did see an Egyptian Goose again near to the marina and both Little Egret and Grey Heron wading on the edges of the flood. Retracing my steps and taking a different route allowed me to have a look at the A605 floods. No surprises though five species of dabbling ducks were noted, I'm guessing it must have been siesta time as most were kipping! Despite some pleasant sunshine no insects of note were seen and I also dipped on Peregrine at the church but it didn't really matter as today belonged to those otters.

Egyptian Goose.

Monday, 11 November 2019

If It's Monday Then It Must Be Barnwell (And Raining).

Otters were the reason to once again to take the well travelled road over to Barnwell CP, the now all too familiar rain did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. Settling down for the long run in the Kingfisher Hide I was struck by just how quiet the lake and its surrounds were and I began my vigil with fairly low expectations.

Another poor Otter shot.

The regular single Dabchick had been joined by two associates but they had the lake pretty much to themselves until a family party of surprisingly noisy Mute Swans arrived. About twenty minutes after my arrival I caught a brief glimpse of two otters and although they did a very credible disappearing act the sighting gave me grounds for hope. Another bloke arrived soon after the otters had gone and both of us sat in hope of further sightings as the waiting began. Patience certainly turned out to be the order of the day as several hours passed. Two brief sightings of Kingfisher helped to relief the gloom while a succession of passerines passed through. Fairly persistent and often quite heavy rain stopped me from going for a wander and during this period only a couple of voles scampering between log piles provided any mammalian interest.

Robin and Nuthatch

Eventually the rain stopped and the sun put in a welcome appearance followed very soon after by an Otter. It was in view on and off for about ten minutes though on the few occasions it stopped for any length of time I was unable to get a decent picture. Happily watching otters is always more fun than photographing them so I wasn't too disappointed. After our welcome visitor had gone on its way I made my excuses and left allowing some time for a quick walk around the park. Nearby floodwater held numbers of gulls and Lapwings and also a few herons towering over them.

Blue Tit and Dabchicks

Despite the sunshine I couldn't find any late insects and suspect that a cold northerly wind may have played a part. It's easy to write the dragonfly season off but there could still be some of those tough little Common Darters lurking about somewhere, hopefully I'll find them!

Rain soaked Mallard and Grey Heron.

Sunday, 10 November 2019

A Little BIt of Rain Must Fall

Nice to know that the recent tradition of rain on Sunday continues as Alan Shorrock and I found out at Eyebrook Reservoir this morning. We had headed over there with the idea of catching up with the Red-throated Diver that has been here for about a week. Lots of searching sadly failed to deliver the goods and nor did we manage to find the Smew that has been reported recently either. Although we were a little disappointed by our double dip the morning was not a total failure.


Eyebrook Views.

Alan found a Great White Egret fairly soon after we arrived and although the bird was always distant it did at least hang around. There was a decent number of wildfowl around the res of which the highlights for me were fifteen Pintails, this elegant species is always worth watching. Several Goldeneye were also noted and were my first local ones of the winter. The extensive mud up at the sharp end had attracted thirteen Dunlin and some Lapwing though we missed out on the two Redshank that were reported by another observer. Nothing much else of note to report apart from a couple of Ravens that were heard croaking as they passed over.

Brown Rat and Grey Squirrel with Coal Tit.

Once we had finally decided that it was time to move on we returned to Corby and the town's Willowbrook Industrial Estate where Alan had seen at least one Stonechat on recent visits. True to form we managed to find a male and then a female near to Rockingham Speedway, these were my first in the Corby area for some time. I was also pleased to find a pond which looks as if it may have some potential for dragonflies. While none were seen today we did at least hear a few Siskins flying over, this winter is turning out to be a good one for this little finch.

Stonechats