I had a day off work today and used the time to visit the DIRFT site in the south west of the county with Alan Shorrock. Our target was a Great Grey Shrike which has been present here since November at least. All shrikes are uncommon or just plain rare in Northants so it's always good to get a chance to catch up with one.
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| Record shots of the shrike. |
The large DIRFT site is an unlovely and large logistics hub between Crick and Rugby with very limited places to park, we found a spot in a lay by next to the A5. Following a bridleway that crosses part of the site produced sightings of Stonechat, some Reed Buntings and a Grey Wagtail. After several minutes of scanning I picked the shrike out at some distance. We made our way towards the bird hoping for closer views though at this point it did a bit of a disappearing act.
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| Pitsford Dam and Dabchicks. |
Alan refound it a few minutes later and though still distant I did at least manage a few record shots. It showed on and off for the next forty minutes or so to a small but appreciative audience of birders. Few other birds of note were seen and we took the decision to move on.
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| Pochard and Lapwing. |
Pitsford reservoir had plenty of people but few interesting birds, a Great White Egret was seen near the dam and another from the causeway. Plenty of ducks were also seen from the causeway but we couldn't find the reported Smew among them. With the light beginning to fade and a thought that things were not going to improve we gave up for the day and left for home.
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| Another view of the star bird. |
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