I fancied doing something a bit scary for Halloween and so decided to head over to Kettering, it really is quite frightening how bad this place is nowadays compared to even a few years ago! Before I sampled the dubious delights of the run down town centre I popped into Wicksteed Park for a quick look around.
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| Shovellors and Lesser Black-backed Gull |
Both Redwings and a Grey Wagtail flew over while I waited for my bus this morning and unusually it was on time. Luckily the grey and drizzly conditions were beginning to give way to a few sunny periods by the time that I arrived at the park and it was nice to see some blue after yesterday's murk. There wasn't much to look at on the main lake, a small selection of ducks that included Shoveller and a squawking mob of the commoner gulls being the best on offer. Around the fishing lake I heard Cetti's Warbler and saw Chiffchaff but it was all a little on the dull side. In the arboretum a Sparrowhawk scared the life out of the local passerines and was rewarded for its efforts by attracting an escort of Magpies, I saw the Sprawk again at the neighbouring water meadows. Skylarks are still on the move and I heard several passing over on my wanderings around the park. With little to look at and a growing number of people beginning to arrive I left but not before I saw a Red Admiral fluttering around some Ivy.
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| Cormorant and Coots |
The neighbouring water meadows were similarly dull and I didn't hang around for too long before heading off to look at the local Peregrines. This promising plan sadly did not survive contact with reality as none of the falcons were on site while I was there. I'm guessing that they were off having some Halloween fun of their own and scaring birds at a nearby spot. By the time I'd moved on and reached the town centre I decided that I'd suffered enough and so caught the return bus home as soon as possible.
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| Scrounging squirrel |
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