Ecton Excels

 A report of a Siberian Chiffchaff at Ecton STW persuaded Alan Shorrock that a road trip might be in order and I was more than happy to tag along with him. With the use of one of the local birding maps from the Northamptonshire Birding blog we managed to find the site but had to wait for a thick mist to lift. Once the viewing conditions had cleared up we were treated to a good selection of local birds.

The mist soon lifted to reveal some goodies

Arriving at bridge K121 we saw two Little Egrets, a Green Sandpiper was also glimpsed as it flew off up the outflow stream. Soon afterwards a Kingfisher repeated this disappearing trick though it did return a little later and treat us to some decent views. Several Common Chiffchaffs were flitting around the bridge and numbers built up as the morning progressed. We managed to find first one and then a second tristis type Chiffy and one or the other showed reasonably well during our stay. Neither called while we were there but I'm reasonably happy that both were Siberians. Showing well at times was a Cetti's Warbler which gave my best ever county views of this often elusive species.

Distant Jack Snipe and closer Cetti's Warbler

Several Green Sandpipers had returned to the outflow stream but these were overshadowed by a Jack Snipe which gave us prolonged though fairly distant views of this often difficult to see species. A Common Snipe later joined its smaller relative for a while providing a good comparison. Grey Wagtails also found the banks of the stream attractive and at least two were seen while Water Rails crossed the channel on a couple of occasions. Alan picked out a flyby Great White Egret which was another good bird to add to the list. Having eventually left the site several celebratory pints were downed in the Saxon Tavern in nearby Earls Barton, a good end to a good day!

Three views of tristis type Chiffchaffs