Passing Through

 It felt more like winter today at Summer Leys with a cold wind, grey skies and rain making for an unpleasant experience. On my first trip out since my holiday I joined Alan Shorrock on a walk around part of the reserve. If the weather seemed a little unseasonal then the birding did not with plenty of migrants on site including more than a few year firsts.

Common Sandpiper and Sedge Warbler

From Rotary Hide we saw plenty of hirundines feeding low over the water, most were Swallows and Sand Martins though there were a few House Martins mixed in with them too. A Common Sandpiper was noted from here and what I presume was the same bird was seen at various other spots on the reserve during our walk. The scrubby area near the car park hosted a Sedge Warbler as well as a couple of Garden Warblers while the best from Pioneer was a Little Ringed Plover. On the walk between Pioneer and Paul Britten Hide I heard both Cuckoo and Lesser Whitethroat.

Little and Ringed Plovers and Black-tailed Godwits

Paul Britten Hide delivered some good birding, Alan picked out several Yellow and also a White Wagtail while I found a Black-tailed Godwit. A few Swifts were feeding above the lakes and there was a good number of Common Terns too. While sitting in the hide we watched as a flock of seven more Black-tailed Godwits landed briefly on Gull Island before heading off over Great Doddington. If the godwits stay was brief then that of four Whimbrels, also on Gull Island, was even shorter, there was just enough time to identify them before they set off again on their travels northwards. Another wader noted from the hide was a Ringed Plover which also appeared to favour Gull Island. Once we had left the hide we didn't manage to add much more to our list with the only other bird of note on the reserve itself being Reed Warbler. Having got back to the car in Mary's Lane we were about to stow the gear when a Peregrine delayed matters. First a male and then an immature female were seen causing more than a little alarm amongst the local bird population. On the way home we popped into Wellingborough for a pint, it was nice to have a decent beer after swigging too much lager in Majorca.

Yellow Wagtail, Sand Martin and Peregrine