Home Whin

 My computer ate an upgrade which had an almost fatal effect on it so I was unable to post any blog updates for a bit (is that the sound of cheering I hear!?). Happily (for me at least that is) I have somehow managed to sort the issue and things are up and running again. Although I'm blaming the problem on that pesky update I suspect that my computer almost died from the shock of the last post - how dare I post something interesting!

Grey Wagtail.

After the heady heights scaled on the trip up north it was always going to be a bit of a struggle to find anything to match it so Monday's travels (on the 30th) were always going to be a bit of an anti climax. It wasn't all dull however and I managed to find some good stuff on my local wanderings. The weather was typical August bank holiday fare with clouds covering the sun and some very light drizzle at times but at least it was warm. My watching began near the town's STW where for the second week running I failed to find any migrants. It wasn't a total waste of time however as I got great views of one of this year's Grey Wagtails and also a brief view of a Kingfisher.

Whinchat and Speckled Wood.

My walk continued on to Willowbrook Industrial Estate where my migrant search finally met with some success. Two Whinchats were seen near the pond in the area where Alan Shorrock found one last year. A search of the wider area added two more taking the total to four representing my highest Corby total for some years. While looking at the chats a Reed Warbler popped out of cover but it turned out to be the only other thing of note apart from a single Speckled Wood.

Mute Swan

On my way home I had a quick look at the pond near the A43 where I couldn't find much to look at though the family of swans are still in residence.