Waxwings Are Still Hanging On

 I don't mind chasing other people's birds but it's nice to take a break from the more parasitical form of birding and look for your own stuff. It was with this aim in mind that I set out this morning to try and find some good birds of my own. Another relatively mild and sunny morning greeted me as I waited for my bus in Corby village, a Grey Wagtail passing overhead kept me entertained.

Red Kite and Stonechat

My journey was not a long one as I got off at the last stop in Weldon from where I walked towards Deenethorpe Airfield. A selection of farmland birds were on view and these included Reed Buntings while Skylarks filled the air with their songs. At the airfield a Barn Owl emerged from one of the nest boxes that dot the site, its flight into a nearby hedge dislodging a disgruntled sounding Jay which flew into nearby Weldon Park Wood. Another highlight here was a female Stonechat, this is a fairly reliable site for them in winter. Deene Lake inflow hosted a Snipe and a Green Sandpiper though my efforts to find a Green-winged Teal here came to naught as usual. Not much on the main lake though there was a minimum of thirteen Shelducks present.

Green Sandpiper, Snipe and Brown Hares

The walk from the farm ponds at Deene along Kirby Lane was uneventful with just a single Brown Hare of note. More hares were seen at Willowbrook Industrial Estate and at neighbouring Priors Hall. Birds at Willowbrook included a small flock of Yellowhammers and a Snipe and I also saw what I believe was an immature Caspian Gull.  After Willowbrook I went in search of someone else's birds again, I couldn't not pop in to see Alan's Waxwings given that I was so close!

Caspian Gull? - err no! and Waxwings

Not only are the Waxwings setting records for their length of stay but they're also gaining new recruits as the original four have been joined by two more birds. None were on view when I first arrived but after a short wait my patience was rewarded when the super six returned to the delight of myself and some other watchers. They stayed for about quarter of an hour before moving on yet again but not before I got some good views of them. It's looking as if the berry stocks are much depleted and I don't know how much longer the birds will remain but there's no doubt that they've entertained many people during their lengthy stay. Before heading back into Weldon I checked the quarry lake where a drake Wigeon and drake Pochard were welcome additions to the more regular species.

CORRECTION

Phew, it's a good job that nobody reads this guff as otherwise I'd look like a bit of an idiot. The "Caspian" Gull is a Herring Gull according to someone that knows about these things, I really should give up on trying to identify immature gulls.

Pochard, Wigeon and Little Egret

Double Yankee

 Alan Shorrock and I headed over to Titchmarsh Nature Reserve this morning where a Ring-necked Duck was once again present. Whether this was the bird from October or perhaps last year's bird returning is open to discussion but Northants is certainly getting its share of these North American visitors. Weatherwise it was a good combination of mainly sunny conditions with a slight frost but it was still fairly mild for a late January day.

Ring-necked Duck

On our way to North Hide we heard several Water Rails squealing and saw two Great White Egrets. A male Stonechat was also seen with a distant view of him perching on bullrushes the best we could manage before he disappeared. From the hide it didn't take to long to pick out the female Ring-necked and though always distant we got good views of her through the scopes. I managed a few record shots but they were definitely a bit on the dodgy side! There didn't appear to be that much else view though we did hear and see at least one Chiffchaff on the way back to the car park.

Green-winged Teal

From Titchmarsh we made our way along the A14 to Grafham Water where a male Green-winged Teal has been present for some time. Once again it did not take too long to find our quarry with the bird showing in Gaynes Cove. More record shots were taken with the results slightly better than those of the Ring-necked but not by much. We enjoyed fairly prolonged views of it before setting off to look for the reported Bewick's Swans. We had no luck with these and the only back up to the teal was a trio of Ringed Plovers. With time moving on we headed back into the county and a well deserved pint in the Dukes at Woodford.

De Haviland Chipmunk

Barnwell

 A better day than the forecast suggested it would be as the county braced itself for the arrival of yet another winter storm. There was quite a lot of sunshine on offer as I took a stroll around an icy Barnwell where the wind made its presence felt though it wasn't as cold as yesterday. Nothing too exciting to report though I enjoyed my stroll even if it didn't produce any goodies.

Plenty of ice at Barnwell

With most of the water frozen I had to accept that I wouldn't see any Kingfishers and instead settled for looking at passerines. Small numbers of Siskins were moving around the park and both winter thrushes were seen too. From the Lowlands Hide I heard a Water Rail calling and saw Marsh Tit and Nuthatch but that was it as far as interesting sightings went. With numbers of people and dogs on the rise I decided to leave the park and head along the river.

Barnwell selection

It was quiet along the river, a couple of herons were on view and a small group of Cormorants too. The flooded area was for the most part frozen with just a small patch of open water. This was enough to attract a small number of ducks that included Teal and Shoveller in their number. Best bird here was a Great White Egret, I don't see that many in this area, but that was as good as it got and I headed back into town soon after.

Great White Egret

Nice Way To Spend The Morning

 My brother David fancied popping over to the Fens this morning to look for both Long-eared and Tawny Owls, regular birding buddy Alan Shorrock and I decided to tag along with him. Eldernell was at its usual windy best and it was bitterly cold as we made our way along the edge of the frozen washes.

Tawny and Long-eared Owls

A chap with a thermal monocular helped us find a roosting Long-eared, there were two in the area but we could only find one of them. Happily this one showed rather well to the delight of both us and other birders that wandered along. Not too far along the bank was the now seemingly regular Tawny Owl snoozing away in its preferred hollow tree. Alan spotted a distant Crane nearby which showed OK at high mag through the scope, two more appeared as we watched it. Whooper Swans showed in reasonable numbers during our visit and we also saw three Stonechats on our travels. Fed up with the battering that we were receiving from the wind we elected to get in the car and head back towards Northants.

Distant Cranes and Stonechat

The first stop in the county was at Fineshade Wood where we hoped to catch up with some of the Crossbills that have been reported here recently. Having paid the eye watering parking fee we set off towards the wildlife hide from where many of the recent reports had come from. A quick check of the Caravan Club area for Hawfinch came to naught but we had more luck with our main targets, As we approached the hide Alan heard some Crossbills passing over and I picked them out soon after in the top of a spruce tree. We enjoyed some good views before they flew off  though we did get a few more sightings of them a little later on before we departed.

Crossbills

David was good enough to drop me off at Priors Hall where I hoped to connect with Alan's long staying Waxwings. Once again fortune favoured me as all four showed well to a small crowd of appreciative admirers. A hundred or more pictures later and I was ready to head into Weldon for my bus home but not before I had a celebratory pint in the George. 

Waxwings

Load Of Rubbish

A late start this morning which at least meant that I missed most of the frost before I set off for Brookfield Plantation in Corby. I did consider paying a call on Alan's Waxwings that are staying loyal to Priors Hall and would no doubt have looked stunning in the morning sunshine but as I'd already seen the Fab or Fantastic Four several times before I opted to look for my own stuff. (I'm guessing it depends on whether you're a superhero nerd or music fan that decides what you call them!).

Peregrines

On my way to the plantation I checked a few spots in Willowbrook Industrial Estate for Waxwings but couldn't find any. More success attended my visit to the local Peregrines as I managed to see both the male and female. It's been a while since I last caught up with these birds so it was good to reacquaint myself with them. Brookfield turned out to be fairly quiet, the only birds of note were Siskins, Marsh Tit and some Teal which flew up from several of the ponds. A herd of about fifteen  Fallow Deer ran across one of the rides but were too quick for me to photograph.

Rook and Raven

On my walk home I stopped at Napier Road to see if I could find any Stonechats - I couldn't! While here I noticed a large gathering of gulls and corvids drawn to a large skip outside one of the industrial bakeries. The cronking call of a Raven had me looking skywards and I took a photo of what turned out to be a Rook. The Raven was hanging around the skip with a few Carrion Crows while several curious Red Kites also drifted overhead, I'm not sure whether bread scraps would be to their taste. One of three Buzzards attracted some unwelcome attention from a crow before it drifted off towards Brookfield. Having resolved to pop in again on my next trip to the area I decided to call it a day and head for home.

Buzzard and Red Kite

Familiar Face At Frampton

 A beautiful sunny day saw Alan Shorrock and I taking a walk around Frampton Marsh. I don't often visit this site in winter but there were enough decent birds about to suggest that further visits at this time of year might be worthwhile.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Highlight was a Lesser Yellowlegs which was the same one that we saw back in September, apparently it's been at Frampton now for one hundred and seventeen days. We managed to get reasonable views of it though the bright sunshine made photography a bit of a challenge. Other waders present in the area included Avocets, some Ruffs and Black-tailed Godwits. Plenty of Golden Plovers and Lapwings were on the reserve and they were joined on the marshes by a few Curlews. Several Water Rails were heard squealing from the reedbeds where a flock of eighteen Bearded Tits were seen by others but sadly not by us.

Golden Plovers, Ruff and Lapwing

There were plenty of dabbling ducks taking advantage of the flooded areas with Wigeon being the commonest. Most attractive were the Pintails of which about fifty were seen with most on the reserve. Not too many diving ducks were noted but a female Scaup was a decent find. Several hundred Brent Geese came in from the saltmarsh and small parties of Pink-footed Geese were noted passing over, a flock of thirteen were on the flooded fields. A single Whooper Swan was probably the resident bird rather than a migrant. Last decent sighting of the day was an adult male Peregrine which Alan found sitting on one of the many fenceposts. It seems we picked the right time to leave as rain began to fall as we made our way back home.

Brent Geese, Pintail and Shoveller

Swanning Around

 I've been enjoying my birding so far this year having seen some decent birds on my travels. This morning I decided to do a spot of local stuff which is often something of an anti climax but that was definitely not the case this morning. In contrast to every other day this year so far it stayed dry and there was even some sunshine though a north easterly wind kept temperatures down.

Now I know how the Priors Hall Waxwings feel!

My walk down to Weldon was uneventful aside from the first of several Siskins noted today. In Weldon at the A43 pond there were a few ducks but not much else and a Redpoll was the highlight. Moving on to Willowbrook resulted in me finding an adult Yellow-legged Gull associating with Great Black Backs and Herrings just north of the Morrison's chilled warehouse. Nearer to the old Rockingham Speedway I decided to squelch my way across the open area in the hope of seeing my first county Snipes of the year. Before I started I stopped to watch a large herd of Fallow Deer grazing, they ran off when they got wind of my presence. My Snipe search produced seven birds, many of which squawked as they zig-zagged away. A pair of Stonechats showed distantly and other birds on site included Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Yellowhammer. Whilst trying to get better views of the chats I flushed a Jack Snipe which flew silently for a short distance before landing again. Willowbrook always used to host this species but I haven't seen any here for a few years.

Whooper Swans

I was on my way to Priors Hall when a text from Phil Rogers informed that twenty-three Whoopers and two Bewick's Swans had arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir. The kind offer of a lift saw myself and Phil watching the swans soon after. We heard the Whoopers before we saw them as the party of mostly adult birds were very vocal. They seemed a little fidgety with many of them flapping their wings suggesting that they wouldn't hang around for that long. Both of the Bewick's were feeding a little distance away from their noisy cousins though they eventually joined up with the Whoopers. Both Phil and I had other commitments so we didn't hang around for long though we did have enough time to pick out a drake Smew and at least eight Dunlins.

Bewick's Swans

Phil was good enough to drop me off at Priors Hall where I missed the Waxwings by about two minutes - just as well I'd already seen them! I  then took a stroll along the South Gullet but my efforts only produced another Redpoll and a small group of Tufted Ducks on the quarry lake. I had a lunch date with my family booked at the George in Weldon so threw the towel in around mid afternoon and headed off towards some welcome food and a pint or two.

Bewick's and Whooper comparison.