Arrivals

A more dedicated student of migration than me might have been tempted to spend a bit of time listening for Common Scoters passing over last night, there has after all been a series of Northants records over the last couple of nights. Unfortunately the temptation provided by a large bag of dry roast peanuts and several cans of beer proved beyond my capacity to resist and I left any scoter listening exploits to others.

Brookfield Plantation.

This morning dawned sunny and bright and for my exercise stroll today I chose to go to Brookfield plantation where a complete lack of other people meant that it was easy to stick to the government's social gathering rules. Wind direction has moved around the compass and is now coming from the south which means more favourable conditions for inbound migrants. Two Blackcaps were my first of the year and it was nice to hear their songs again. Somewhat later I saw two House Martins over my garden, a good early record for this species. No other new arrivals were noted though there were a few other birds of interest.

Brimstones.

When I heard a couple of loudly squawking Jays I thought it was a low flying Buzzard labouriously flapping upwards that had alarmed them. A couple of hooting calls revealed that the cause of their consternation was in fact a Tawny Owl and given that the Jay calls seemed to last forever it suggested that the owl had no intention of moving! At least two Dabchicks were heard, one on one of Brookfield's many ponds and the other at the nearby flooded quarry. Also heard was a Raven, Brookfield is not a bad place for this species. Most of the Siskins have now moved on but at least one was heard today as it passed overhead.

Peacock and Comma.

Butterflies were active today in reasonable numbers but it's still the same four species that I'm seeing. With the improvement in the weather I'd hoped to see either an Orange-tip or a Speckled Wood but that clearly will have to wait for another day. It was nice to see my first female Brimstones of the year, there were at least six of this species including males noted. Commonest was once again Peacock with a double figure count being recorded. Three Commas and a Small Tortoiseshell completed the list in the plantation.

Small Tortoiseshell.