Not That Interesting

 Some days just aren't as interesting as others and today definitely fell into that category. My travels took me to Weldon and Willowbrook Industrial Estate before I finished by taking in both the North and South Gullets at Priors Hall. It was a mild and rather grey day with any sunshine being hazy and not quite warm enough to tempt any late insects out.

Fallow Deer

At the A43 pond a drake Tufted Duck broke the Mallard monopoly but there was nothing else of note. Willowbrook was quiet, a pair of Snipe were the highlight while some mammalian interest was provided by a herd of Fallow Deer. The gullets did nothing much to raise interest levels, three Pochard were on the quarry lake but the best part of my day was the couple of pints that I enjoyed in the George!

Fieldfare and Red Kite

Welland Valley Not A Washout

 We've had quite a lot of rain recently and I've seen several flooded areas while out and about on my travels. This made me think that a walk along the Welland Valley might be productive and so I set out this morning with that goal in mind. My trek through the town was pretty tedious with only a flock of Fieldfares flying over Coronation Park to relieve the boredom. The tedium continued as some floodwater below Cottingham had not attracted that many birds and so I walked on towards Rockingham hoping for a change of fortune.

Buzzard

Things were beginning to look unpromising with little in the way of floods and only a small selection of common birds to report. Rockingham was passed and I continued on towards Gretton with little to report. Relief finally came nearer Gretton when I reached an area with some flooding that had brought in a lot of gulls. Large numbers of Lapwings were swirling over the fields occasionally landing but always nervous and ready to take flight. Joining them were six Dunlins while at least one hundred and twenty Golden Plovers were noted. I decided to leave the valley behind and walked up towards the escarpment near Brookfield Plantation. Any hope of seeing decent birds was dashed by a party of recreational killers blasting away at some hapless creatures nearby. More were shooting in Brookfield though I did at least manage to see some Redpolls and Siskins in spite of the noise. My stroll past the Peregrine site on my way home failed to produce any sightings.

Lapwings, Dunlins and Golden Plovers

Wild Goose Chase

 A rare day off from work saw myself and Alan Shorrock heading off in the direction of Stanwick Lakes in the Nene Valley. Thankfully it was sunny for most of the day with just a suggestion of a breeze and another high point was the relative lack of folk around, normally I have to endure weekend visits when the place is packed with people.

Juvenile Brent Goose

We began by checking out the main lake where a juvenile Brent Goose had been reported in the morning. I hadn't seen Brent in the county before so I was happy to get a first view even though it was distant. Deciding to try and get better views we checked again from the barbeque area near the Visitor Centre where the views though an improvement were still underwhelming. From the Treehouse Hide the bird remained distant but we did get some half decent scope views even though the light conditions were challenging. Despite the rubbishy nature of my record shots I enjoyed seeing my first Northants Brent Goose. Not a great deal else on the lake to report other than a single Great White Egret.

Carder Bee and Common Darter

Attempts to find the reported Bearded Tit on the causeway were unsuccessful, it was reported today, we gave it some time but couldn't find it. We moved on to the North Lake, on our way a single female Common Darter was seen basking and so too was a bumblebee. A very distant Cattle Egret was a welcome addition to our daylist but was also pretty much our last bird of note today.

Rock Pipit Revisited

 Thanks to some research on the part of Alan Shorrock more details relating to the Normanton Rock Pipit have emerged.

Rock Pipit.

PAA was rung on the island of Vastra Norrskar in the Vaasa archipelago off the coast of west Finland. It was rung by Asseri Laitinen on the 26th of September 2022 and was the last Rock Pipit to be rung that season. The bird travelled about 1735km in a SW direction before being seen at Rutland Water. Presumably the bird was of the littoralis subsp.

Darters Dally

 It was nice to see some sunshine today on my walk in the Weldon area having endured several days of the wet stuff recently. I didn't venture any further than Priors Hall but still managed to catch up with a few interesting things.

Drake Wigeon and female Stonechat

My first stop was at the A43 pond where a drake Wigeon was only my second record at this site. Willowbrook Industrial Estate hosted a female Stonechat which was presumably one of the pair that appear to be wintering in the area. The south gullet at Priors Hall was quiet though the quarry lake did have three Pochards, another drake Wigeon and several Teal present.

Common Darters

A sustained sunny spell at the ponds at Priors Hall tempted over ten Common Darters out, it was good to know that some survived last week's rain. Even better was a sighting of a single male Migrant Hawker which though not photographed was my latest ever. Another insect active in the autumnal sunshine was a Peacock which matched the antics of most of its ilk by not hanging around to pose for pics! Not many birds to report though Siskins and Redwings were present in reasonable numbers.

Rocking At Rutland

 A rather grey and frequently drizzly day that saw Alan Shorrock and I heading over to Rutland Water. We restricted our efforts to the bit between the dam and Normanton church and enjoyed an interesting session. First bird to pique our interest was an adult Mediterrannean Gull which I picked out among the many Black-headeds just to the west of the dam. Good if distant views were obtained and a few ropey record shots were obtained. From here we began walking towards the church contending with persistent drizzle as we did so.

Mediterrannean Gull

On the way to the church a female Goosander provided some interest as she fed just off the shore. Initial efforts to locate the reported Great Northern Diver from the church came to nothing but the building did at least provide some shelter from the worsening conditions. While scanning the water Alan heard a Rock Pipit which flew from the church on to the shore before being lost to view. Our attempts to relocate it did eventually bear fruit and we watched the bird for some time as it fed with two Pieds and one Grey Wagtail. Whilst watching it we became aware that the bird was ringed having a standard silver ring on its left leg and a blue ring on its right. Alan was able to read the ring and his suspicion was that it read PAA. Initial research suggests that this was a Finnish ringed bird, I'll keep you posted if this can be confirmed. 

Rock Pipit possibly ringed in Finland.

While walking back to the car I picked out the Great Northern Diver which though initially rather distant did swim closer. Both Shozzer and I were surprised when the bird began to call, I've never heard Great Northerns calling in the UK before. We were treated to sustained views as the bird swam towards the dam paralleling our course as we headed back to the car. With the weather showing no signs of improvement and with some good birds already in the bag we opted to call it quits and abandon our plan to visit Eyebrook on the way home.

Foggy Start, Misty Finish

 Eldernell is a name that always sends an involuntary shudder up my spine as memories of howling gales and sub zero temperatures come to the surface. This morning Alan Shorrock and I would have been grateful for some of that wind as a thick fog had descended reducing visibility to a few hundred yards. It lingered for much of the morning before clearing for a while in the early afternoon. Respite was relatively brief however as an evening mist rolled in leading to another reduction in visibility which prompted us to leave.

Whooper Swans

Despite the fog we managed to see a good selection of birds of which Bittern was the highlight. Alan picked it out flying in from the marsh before it landed in a reedbed next to a lake near the carpark. A Great White Egret was also noted which with Grey Heron took our heron total to three. That same lake that sheltered the Bittern hosted a good selection of duck of which CA10 Pintail were the pick. Somewhat later in the morning the ducks were joined by an immature Whooper Swan, other Whoopers were seen out on the washes. Raptors always feature to some degree here and five species were noted today with Marsh Harrier and Peregrine being the highlights. Not too much in the way of passerines to report though Redpoll was heard and several Stonechats were seen. Eldernell is a noted spot for Cranes nowadays and we were treated to distant views of a pair of adults with an immature. Final act of the day was a Short-eared Owl which had risen up above the swirling mist to escape the attentions of a pesky crow.

Pintails and Roe Deer

Not much in the way of non bird life was on view though we did see a number of Roe Deer feeding out on the washes. Perhaps surprisingly given the conditions a Peacock butterfly was seen briefly, if it has any sense it will be searching out a suitable spot in which to hibernate!

A rare appearance by the sun!

Echoes

 A grey start to the day soon gave way to some sunnier conditions which made my walk in the Weldon area very nice indeed. As well as visiting the village itself I extended my stroll as far as Priors Hall where I had a look at some of the ponds.

Meadow Pipit and Peacock

Nothing to report from the A43 pond and the South Gullet at Priors Hall was quiet too apart from a few Siskins. My arrival at the ponds coincided with the sun breaking through the clouds and this led to the emergence of rather a lot of Common Darters. Over fifty were noted and these included many ovipositing pairs. Half a dozen Willow Emeralds were seen too and these almost matched my latest ever seen last year on the 15th. I wonder if the mildness continues how long the emeralds can go on for. It wasn't just the odes enjoying the sunshine as a Peacock was seen too and this one actually hung around long enough for me to get some pictures. Several Siskins and a Kingfisher provided the bird interest.

Willow Emerald and Common Darters

Returning to Weldon I decided to have a look at the pond in the Woodland Park where more darters and emeralds were seen. My highlight here was a Migrant Hawker which may be my latest sighting ever. I couldn't get a pic but it was still nice to see three species of ode so late in the year, a real echo of summer. Content with my haul I headed off to catch my bus by way of the George.

Eurohub Excursion

 Another pre work stroll today and as I had to go to Tesco anyway I decided to have a look around the Eurohub. Conditions were similar to yesterday and once again I managed to see a few interesting bits and bobs.

Willow Emerald.

Best bird was a Raven croaking away somewhere nearby and a Grey Wagtail was heard as it passed over. Several Redpolls were also noted, they were probably attracted by the many birches in the area. In a repeat of yesterday a Peacock was discovered but unlike yesterday it settled briefly, too briefly for me to get a snap sadly. Some time was spent checking waterside vegetation for Willow Emeralds despite it being pretty early in the morning. Luckily my optimism was rewarded when I discovered a male warming itself up on one of the Hawthorns. With the damsel in the bag I decided that I couldn't put that shopping off any longer and headed off to jostle with the masses.

Morning Stroll

 I'm on the pm shift at work this week which gave me enough time to have a walk around the area near the STW. A mild south westerly wind and some sunny spells made for a pleasant stroll and I saw a few interesting things too which is always nice.

Sparrowhawk

A Grey Wagtail passed overhead as I walked through the village, I could just about hear it over the noise of the traffic. My arrival at the STW was marked by a croaking Raven which took off from one of the pylons before flapping away. Small numbers of Redwing are feeding on this year's crop of haws and another sign of autumn was a flock of about sixteen Teal on the ponds. Causing a brief disturbance amongst the passerines was a male Sparrowhawk which flew through quickly. Several Redpolls were present in the general area while a small number of Siskins were also noted. One small trace of the summer past was a Peacock butterfly which was basking on fallen leaves before I disturbed it.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Rutland Water Doesn't Disappoint

 Alan Shorrock and I crossed over the border today in order to visit Rutland Water for a spot of autumnal birding. Morning mist hampered our early efforts but thankfully conditions improved gradually for a while before rain brought things to a close later on in the afternoon.

Great White Egret

Our first stop was near Hambleton and it was here that the pesky mist really affected visibility, in addition to the unfavourable conditions there was a lot of boat traffic from assorted fishermen and canoes. Given this it was perhaps not surprising that we spent over an hour here with little to justify our efforts apart from an Egyptian Goose and some of the commoner wildfowl. Deciding that a change of scenery might bring about a change of fortune we moved on to Burley Fishponds and the north arm. Here the mist had mostly lifted and we were treated to a selection of decent birds. Five species of wader included a Curlew and several Dunlins while a small flock of Golden Plover passed overhead. A male Sparrowhawk spooked the collection of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits that were feeding on the shore while a little later on a Marsh Harrier did a similar thing to some of the ducks. Our attempts to locate the reported Slavonian Grebe came to naught though we did find a Yellow-legged Gull and a few Great White Egrets before we moved on.

Great Northern Diver

Our last stop was on the south shore near the dam where a Great Northern Diver had been seen over the past couple of days. At least half a dozen Goosanders were my first of the autumn and Alan found a small group of four immature Shags off the dam. I haven't seen any reports of Shags here recently so these may well have been new arrivals. I found the diver quite close in to the shore but by now the threatened rain had begun and I had to content myself with a few quickly taken record shots. With the camera safely stowed we enjoyed some decent views of the Great Northern as it swam off in the direction of Normanton church. Not wanting to get drenched we threw the towel in and headed back to the car for the journey home.

Drizzly Saturday

 A grey and often wet Saturday which if not quite a damp squib provided no fireworks either. My ambitions were limited and I ventured no further than the ridge between Gretton and Rockingham taking in Brookfield Plantation on the way. 

Brookfield on the outward leg of my stroll was busy with tit flocks and a single Siskin. Near the flooded quarry I saw a Redpoll and there were several Bullfinches feeding on dried blackberries. Numbers of winter thrushes are on the rise with Fieldfares now beginning to make their presence felt, a flock of fifty plus passed overhead. On the edge of the private wood a large flock of Siskins were noted and another Redpoll was seen. Returning through the plantation produced a sighting of my first Woodcock of the autumn, Brookfield is a reliable spot to find wintering birds. No sign of any Peregrines at their usual spot today suggesting that they may have been off hunting somewhere.

No pictures today, poor light and dampness plus a lack of interesting subjects being the reason.