Blast From The Past

 Alan Shorrock and I ventured out into the Northamptonshire countryside today choosing to visit a few of the lesser known sites rather than sticking with the more tried and tested county locations. There was none of the forecast mist that might have affected our morning, there was some rain but this didn't amount to much and was offset to some degree by some morning sunshine.

Mistle Thrush and Wigeon

We began by checking out one of our larger woodlands where we failed to find any of the hoped for Crossbills although we did hear a call which could have been this species. Several Siskins were heard but overall it was rather quiet and we didn't linger here for too long. Next up was one of the lakes that dot this part of the county and we spent some time in the area. A large flock of Redwings were present, my first county ones of the winter, and they were joined by several Mistle Thrushes. On the lake itself a selection of the commoner wildfowl was present and it looked as if Egyptian Goose might be the highlight.  A further scan with the scope drew my attention to a sleeping duck which looked remarkably like a Ruddy Duck. I was somewhat taken back at this as Ruddy Ducks have been all but shot out of the UK birding scene and I really thought they had been consigned to the past. I put Shozzer on to the bird and he agreed with my I.D. I'm keeping the location secret as I don't want this one to meet the same fate as all the others, while I'm in broad agreement with the measures taken to preserve the White-headed Duck  I miss the charismatic Ruddies and wouldn't want this one to get shot.

Ruddy Duck

The slumbering Ruddy eventually woke and we watched it diving for a while before it decided to nod off yet again. Although the light was poor and the bird stayed fairly distant I managed to get a few record shots of what might turn out to be my last county sighting. We left her snoozing and headed for the Cross Keys in King's Cliffe where we raised a pint in her honour.