Black Sabbath?

A misty start to the day but a promise of some sun a little later in the proceedings was enough to convince me to head over to Priors Hall. Normally I walk  there but this morning I opted for the lazier option (blame it on a few beers last night if you must) and took the bus. A Jay in the village was nice but not too surprising as there are a lot around at the moment and it would seem that our Grey Wagtails are back.

Speckled Bush Cricket, probably common but my first.

Still a bit on the grey side at Priors so I concentrated on the birds though in truth there was not much to report from the quarry lake where a pair of Mute Swans were the highlight. Quite a lot of Meadow Pipits passing through and a few Swallows too but the highlight was an Oystercatcher flying through. Always a scarce species in the Corby area this is the first Autumn record that I've had. A Grey Wagtail, a site rarity, was probably a migrant too.

Face to face with a Speckled Wood.

By ten a few sunny spells began to develop and a few insects began to stir. A single Emerald damsel was found at one of the ponds while a Speckled Bush Cricket was found on the herpguard fence. This plastic shield is also popular with darters, I can only imagine that it retains heat for some time. A barking Muntjac made me jump a bit while I had a similar effect on a Brown Hare which raced away through the thistles. While looking for more dragonflies a Kingfisher zipped through, it's surprising how many I see nowadays.

Common Darters.

An ovipositing pair of Common Darters.

Around about midday the sunshine became more sustained and the number of darters, mainly Common though with a few Ruddies began to increase. Lots of mating activity noted and for the first time I managed to get some photographs. Migrant Hawkers began to appear in small numbers and these included an ovipositing female. One Southern hawker was also noted around the first pond.

Migrant Hawker.

With the the sun now beaming down I returned to the quarry where I checked the shallow puddles and pools for any signs of Red-veined Darters. No luck at all with this optimistic pursuit but I did get a picture of something which might be an old female Black Darter, I've put a picture on the Northants Facebook group's page and am keeping my fingers crossed!

Black Darter?.... I hope so!

A bit of spare time before my bus allowed me to head along to the Woodland Park but a cycling event prevented me from walking around the pond. I was able to walk along the stream though and found about half a dozen Banded Demoiselles which appeared to include a couple of newly emerged individuals amongst their number.

Banded Demoiselles, the red eyes suggest that the male at least is newly emerged.

A lot of Small Whites about today and Priors Hall had a few Speckled Woods and Small Heaths but otherwise butterfly numbers were low.

Another shot of coupled Common Darters.

Dipping on Darters at Pitsford.

A sighting of Red-veined Darter at Pitsford reservoir yesterday backed up by a cracking piccy prompted an after work twitch as a friend and I nipped over this afternoon. Stopping at the fishing lodge in order to buy a permit I checked the butterflies feeding on the buddleia bushes and enjoyed views of several Red Admirals, a Comma and a Small Tortoiseshell. A Migrant Hawker was hunting over the grassy area nearby and the signs looked encouraging.

Common Darter, nice but not quite what we were looking for.

Walking out towards Scaldwell hide we picked out a Ruff on the water's edge, the level is really low at the moment and the place is looking great for waders. A distant Great White Egret was picked out and a good number of duck was present. We reached the area where the darter was seen and there were a few darters living up to their name and darting around but sadly the sun disappeared behind the clouds and all activity ceased. From then onwards there were only brief bursts of sunshine and we could not add to our haul of Commons and one Ruddy. The duller weather did not deter a Southern Hawker which flew around us several times before heading off.

Ruff.

Green Sandpiper.

A scope of the surrounding shoreline produced some nice waders of which a Spotted Redshank was the pick. At least five Greenshanks, some of which were very vocal and a similar number of Ruff were picked out. Two Black-tailed Godwits and a Green Sandpiper joined a Common Sandpiper that we had seen earlier on the day list. Another treat was a brace of Whinchats which were my first in the county this year.

Red Admiral.

Other things of interest included Speckled Woods and Small Whites as well as a slightly strange looking Garden Spider with a yellowy looking abdomen.

My wife will not like this picture at all!

Wicksteed Return

Showing a complete lack of imagination I repeated last Monday's wander and returned to Wicksteed Park hoping that the brighter weather might encourage something in the way of some dragonfly activity. Sunny spells did entice three Migrant Hawkers out to hunt but there was nothing else on view and I will have to return yet again if I hope to find Willow Emeralds. No butterflies either though I did see a single Small White near to my bus stop in Corby, exciting stuff or what?

Adult Yellow-legged Gull

Despite a lack of insect activity I still rather enjoyed my walk as there were a few nice birds on view. Gull numbers have increased since last week with well over a hundred Black-headed to search through. Still no sign of a Med but there were an additional four species. As well as the Commons sharing the posts with the Black-heads there was a small flock of larger gulls, mainly Lesser Black-backs but also two Herrings and the day's highlight, an adult Yellow-legged Gull.

Another hopefully better pic of a Kingfisher.

Still only the regular waterfowl on the lake but at least the Mallards are beginning to look a little more respectable. For the second week running a male Kingfisher was seen, I still have not managed to get a decent picture of one but think I may have got slightly better snaps today. Little Egret numbers had risen to four and any anglers would probably not have enjoyed the increase in Cormorant numbers on the fishing lake.

Grey Wagtail.

Two for one deal this week on Little Egrets.

A few Meadow Pipits passing overhead and there were some Sand Martins in amongst the other hirundines. Nice views of Grey Wagtail near the boardwalk, a party of three were present and included at least one youngster. Finally a passing Sparrowhawk caused a little consternation amongst the tits before it spiralled upwards and drifted off towards Barton Segrave.

I hope that this Cormorant was not passing comment on my hunt for Willow Emeralds!

Run of the Mill

Not one of my most interesting days if I'm honest but still a few things to report as I repeated my walk of last week travelling around the Deenethorpe, Deene and Priors Hall area. Lots of sunshine first thing and conditions were quite pleasant though clouds took over from around about 9 o'clock.

A bit of this may be required if I want ot see more interesting stuff.

Bear's Lane had lots of Chaffinches in particular which may have included some migrants while numbers of Swallows continue to build. It may have been the promise of an easy meal that drew in a Hobby though this one was being pursued by two Carrion Crows so food may not have been its first priority. Still, Hobbies have been hard to come by for me this year so it was great to catch up with one. A few warblers along the lane included Chiffies, a Willow Warbler or two and Whitethroat.

Hornet enjoying a fruity breakfast.

For a third week in a row I was lucky enough to encounter Hornets and this time at least one of them fancied fruit for breakfast and so the other insects could live in peace. A first Red Admiral, one of five seen today, showed briefly but this was not a good day for insect watching. Lots of newly released Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges were about in the countryside around Deenethorpe Airfield, I can't believe that these creatures provide any sport being as they are so approachable and tame. Still if people derive their enjoyment from recreational killing who am I to judge? At least the shoots around here appear to leave our raptors alone.

Living targets, newly released R-l Partridges.

I was hoping to catch up with some passage migrants today and there were loads at the airfield but sadly for me they were all Meadow Pipits, at least sixty of them in fact. Plenty of the resident species here too with rather a lot of seed eaters such as Linnets and buntings. A Raven was seen to drive a Kestrel off and there was an impressive number of Red Kites on the wing.

Lots of Meadow Pipits moving through.

Linnets.

Deene Lake inflow was awash, the rains of the last week raising the water level and covering most of the mud. A result of this was that Green Sand numbers had dropped to one and that a lot of Teal had moved in. The Wheelie Bin Triangle was privileged to receive a royal visitor in the shape of a Kingfisher while the Lapwing flock had moved on. Nearby Deene churchyard had four Mistle Thrushes feeding on the many Yew berries, a big reduction from the twenty plus of last week but still nice to see while a Nuthatch was my first here.

Teal.

There has been a festival in Deene Park over the weekend which meant traffic was far greater than usual and there was a rise in the amount of rubbish around the area, Why can't people take their booze cans and bottles home with them? I enjoy a swig or two but I don't subject others to my rubbish. I don't want to come across like some grumpy old man but the selfishness and laziness of these morons really annoys me.

Insects were scarce today so this Common Darter was a good find.

Drizzle welcomed me to Priors Hall and although it passed over quickly it was enough to stop me from hanging about. A meagre haul of three Common Darters represented my total of dragonflies while rather a lot of Speckled Woods meant that my butterfly total doubled. The lake in the quarry held a good number of gulls but not much else. Priors Hall did though provide my rarest sighting for a while, an Avro Anson C 19 which made a welcome appearance.

Avro Anson C19.

If You go Down to the Woods Today... You Probably won't See That Much Actually.

A spell of sunshine after work was enough to see me heading out over to Eurohub for a look at the pond. I was continuing my optimistic or perhaps just plain fanciful search for Willow Emeralds. In this I was completely unsuccessful and indeed the only dragonfly of any sort seen today was a brief view of a female Southern Hawker. Butterflies too were in short supply with only Small White and Speckled Wood recorded. Birds fared a little better with a few sightings of a Kingfisher but all in all it was not a day to remember. A few more habitat shots of the pond below.

Two views taken from each end of the Eurohub pond.

The Wicky Man

With the Summer holidays now over I thought I might be able to enjoy a quieter visit to Wicksteed Park over in Kettering. As a result of the new school year beginning my bus was full of pupils heading out to be educated. I didn't know that "innitlikebro" was a word before and while I still have no clue as to its meaning I'm still glad to have been educated a little myself. The 7.56 bus left the train station in Corby at the same time as a train and I have a worrying suspicion that the train was reaching London at about the same time that I got off my bus, it's not an express service by any means. Had to admire the driver though, she was more like a modern day Boudicca at the reins of her chariot, fare blaggers were sent packing with a quick word while dodgy drivers were vanquished with a loud blast from the bus's horn. Always a pleasure to see a craftsperson at work.

A good place for a stag do.

With the weather a bit on the dismal side there was no prospect of insect activity and so I enjoyed what the birdlife had to offer. A Kingfisher was seen on several occasions, the colours always seem that little bit more HD in such conditions. Other fish botherers included a Cormorant, three Grey Herons and a pair of Little Egrets. The herons in particular seem accustomed to people and allowed a surprisingly close approach.

Kingfisher.

Grey Heron.

Not many ducks to watch and aside from three Shovellers consisted solely of a large number of Mallards. A pair of late nesting Great Crested Grebes sent a juvenile from another brood packing, there was at least one other young 'un about. Other successful breeders included Mute Swan, Moorhen and Coot. A growing flock of Black-headed Gulls had been joined by some Commons though I couldn't pick out anything else amongst them.

Little Egret shining in the dull conditions.

These looked pretty good too.

Quite a lot of passerine activity with several large flocks of tits roving around and also a few warblers such as Chiffchaff and Blackcap. A Great Spotted Woodpecker did pose obligingly in a dead tree but the duff light meant that any picture would have been pretty awful. This was not a problem though with a couple of Peacocks, they positively gleamed and looked as resplendent as ever.

Great Crested Grebes.

Simples me duck. No Russian accents for Kettering Meer cats.

A few non birdy things, the little trains are still giving rides around the park which meant taking a little more care when walking near the tracks, even a titchy train must hurt if it hits you!. Another and a rather impressive sight at that was a wicker sort of stag man thingy, I thought that the people of Kettering had been converted to Christianity but now I'm not so sure. If I'd seen anyone that looked remotely like Christopher Lee I'd have done a runner. One final thing, Wicksteed now has some Meer cats and I absolutely had to go and have a squint at them even if they did seem to be missing the African sun and appeared a bit dejected. Not sure if they had Russian or Kettering accents though.

Hazy Day of Autumn

A distinctly Autumnal chill in the air this morning that the occasional periods of weak and watery sunshine struggled to dispel. In fact Autumn definitely seemed to have gained the upper hand today with more and more leaves turning either yellow or orange. Lots of fruit about too with blackberries in particular hanging heavy on the bush. Elsewhere elderberries joined crab apples, haws, hips and sloes as well as hazel nuts and acorns in providing a banquet for the local wildlife.

Swallows choosing a natural spot to perch on.

Thinking that the conditions would not suit insects I picked what I hoped would be a decent route for birding taking in Weldon, Deenethorpe and Deene on my travels. At Bears Lane near Weldon a collection of the commoner bird species were noted while there was a Yellow Wagtail on the grass airstrip near Laundimer House, A Sparrowhawk flying low and fast had me thinking briefly of Merlin but the only falcon seen was a Kestrel.

Hornet on the look out for food.

Talking the public footpath across the fields I came across a patch of ivy in the hedgerow that leads down to the A427. For the second week running the ivy had attracted some insect life which in turn had served as a lure for some marauding Hornets. Several were hunting around the flowers and I watched one seize some prey before stinging it and then landing on some grass. The Hornet spent at least two minutes dealing with its victim, in this case a wasp, before flying away.

Good news for the Hornet, bad news for the wasp.

Very few butterflies about with just a few Speckled Woods and some Small Whites joining a Red Admiral on my day list. A dull period enlivened by two more Yellow Wagtails at Deenethorpe Airfield was only relieved at Deene Lake inflow. Here five Green Sandpipers were feeding and there were at least twenty five Lapwings. Good numbers of Moorhens and a few Teal fed around the WBT but there was not much else of note.

Green Sandpipers at Deene Lake.

Lapwings.

Behind the dam on the main lake I found at least two Small Red-eyed Damsels next to the stream where the family party of Grey Wagtails were still present. In the same area there were a couple of Blue-tailed Damsels and half a dozen Common Blues. One of the latter provided some elevensies for a female Southern Hawker. She made short order of her snack and was left with what looked like a blue lollipop stick within less than a minute after its capture as both the head and the thorax were munched first leaving just the thin abdomen which was then in turn discarded.

Small Red-eyed Damsel.

Southern Hawker and a bit of a Common Blue Damsel.

At the Home Farm ponds a small group of wildfowl included at least three Shovellers and a female Brown Hawker was seen ovipositing. From here conscious as I was of the increasingly threatening looking skies I headed home. Passing through the Priors Hall area I added more butterflies to my list with Small Heath, Green-veined White and Small Tortoiseshell being seen. Both species of darters and a few further sightings of Southern Hawker completed the tally of interesting stuff.

Compare the skies behind this kite with last week, not good!

Common Darter.