Not Quite So Floody Marvelous!

 With the past week having seen quite a bit of rain and even a fall of snow I decided to take my exercise walk along the Welland Valley by way of East Carlton Park. Our local council have closed the car park here due to the current lockdown and I hoped that the mutt masses might have been diminished somewhat since my last visit. With a decent amount of sunshine and some blue skies to enjoy it turned out to be a pleasant stroll in milder conditions than of late.

Starling and Nuthatch.

Walking through Corby I passed the town's boating lake where the drake Pochard continues its stay, this is the only one that I've seen this year in the county. Leaving the town brought a sighting of a Raven near the Fourways garage that seemed to be playing a version of musical pylons as flew from one to the other. Perhaps the biggest surprise came along the Harborough Road near Cottingham where a fine looking male Blackcap was noted, although some lucky people have had them visit their gardens I've never seen a January one in the county before.

Rook and Wood Pigeon

Dog numbers were great reduced at East Carlton though that didn't help me find any of the hoped for Bramblings. What I did see was a good selection of the commoner woodland species including Nuthatch and some rather attractive looking Bullfinches. From here I made my way to the valley via Middleton and Cottingham and I was pleased to see that the floods had returned. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything to match last month's Bewick's Swans and most of the birds that I did see were either Common or Black-headed Gulls. Beyond Rockingham there was a small selection of dabbling ducks on the Rutland side of the border while a flock of Lapwings nearer Gretton contained a single Golden Plover.

Welland Valley Wildfowl

After a heart testing yomp up the hill from the valley bottom I found myself close to Brookfield Plantation. A fox was a nice find as I don't see much in the way of native mammals and it certainly made a change from Grey Squirrels! One of the larger puddles had attracted a Green Sandpiper which flew up calling noisily before disappearing in the direction of the valley. Brookfield was rather quiet with just Siskin and Grey Wagtail being noteworthy though the day ended on an almost predictable high with the sighting of a Peregrine at its favoured spot. It did at least give me the chance to try my latest camera out, hope you enjoy yet another Peregrine pic!

Take a wild guess!

Monday Morning In Brookfield.....Again

 I'm beginning to establish something of a routine with my birding excursions, Deene on a Sunday and Brookfield on Monday. While neither tends to produce too many rarities they do generally provide some welcome peace and quiet as well as the odd good bird. Today did nothing to buck the trend as once again I managed to find a couple of mildly interesting things to look at.

Peregrine and Goldcrest.

Monday Peregrines are almost as regular as visits to Brookfield and I managed to find one at the regular spot sheltering out of what was quite a cool wind. In the plantation I initially struggled to find much but after a couple of hours I'd accumulated a bit of a list. Several large mixed tit flocks were making their way through the woods and I also encountered a small group of Goldcrests. There were one or two Siskins noted passing overhead and I later found a large flock of fifty plus feeding in alders near the crossroads. A Raven was glimpsed over one of the rides and I saw another displaying over the fields near Gretton. Nuthatches are rather scarce birds in Brookfield so I was glad to hear one or two calling, they made a nice change to the Pheasants and Jays that normally provide the soundtrack. Both species of the commoner woodpeckers were noted though that was that really as far as noteworthy stuff went and I soon called a halt to proceedings and sey off for home.

Male and female Siskin.

Lockdown 3

 Now that the country has entered its third period of lockdown I am having to do my birding as part of a daily exercise regime. Given that there does not appear to be a limit on how long we can be out as long as we remain local my stroll today took me to Deene and back via Deenethorpe and Weldon. Although it remains very cold it was sunny and at least slightly warmer than the last few days.

Raven and Meadow Pipit.

My walk took me through Willowbrook Industrial Estate where I failed to find any Stonechats. Several Meadow Pipits were noted and a Raven was calling from the old Rockingham Speedway grandstand. Kirby Lane failed to produce much of interest until the very end where it meets the Deene to Harringworth road. Here a flock of Lapwings had a single Golden Plover for company which was my first of the year. The farm ponds at Deene were all frozen except one which held a selection of ducks and some dabchicks, a drake Shoveller was probably the pick. A Kingfisher showed along one of the channels at the dam though it was too distant for pics. Best bird at the main lake was a Great White Egret which took off and headed eastwards in the direction of Blatherwycke. Other birds included a growing number of Tufted Ducks and the nine Shelduck while the inflow held a single Snipe and  a large number of Teal.

Golden Plover and Snipe.

At Deenethorpe village a Kingfisher showed well but distantly while the airfield was fairly quiet except for a Redpoll. Not too much to see for the rest of the walk though I did see a few typically open country species such as Linnet, Yellowhammer and Skylark between the A427 and Harry's Park Wood.

Kestrel and Kingfisher

Ending on a High

 Today marked my last day of freedom before my liberty is cruelly snatched away by the need to earn a living. Deciding to keep things local I headed over to Brookfield Plantation which offered some respite from a cold northeasterly wind and shelter from a succession of showers. On my way to the wood I stopped off to admire one of our local Peregrines at one of its favourite loafing spots.

Yet another Peregrine pic.

My arrival at Brookfield coincided with one of the heavier showers and I spent a few minutes sheltering under a pine tree. Once the rain had moved on I emerged from cover to find two Green Sandpipers flying up from the flooded bottom of the old quarry. The likely cause of their alarm appeared immediately afterwards in the rather diminutive form of an adult male Merlin flashing past. I rarely see Merlins in Northants (about once every six or seven years) so this was a rare treat and I'm always surprised by how small they are. Continuing my walk through the plantation produced a few more year ticks in the form of Coal Tit and Goldcrest while other highlights included Grey Wagtail, Siskin, several Teal and a pair of Ravens.

Oh What a Smew-tiful Morning!

 I scrounged a lift from someone in my household and made the short trip over the border to Eyebrook Reservoir. There I took a socially distanced stroll around the res hoping to catch up with the small number of Smew that are wintering here. Although there were a few showers to dodge it wasn't too bad weather wise and I enjoyed my walk.

Drake (top) and redhead Smews

My Smew quest did not take long to fulfill as I found a grand total of seven within yards of leaving the carpark at Stoke Dry. A drake and two redheads were feeding just off the Leicestershire bank on the other side of the res to me and a further three drakes and a redhead were feeding in the middle. Although the poor light and distance made for some challenging conditions for photography I managed to get a record shot or two. Amongst the other wildfowl seen were a group of six Pintails as well as the commoner stuff.

Goosander and Dunlins

From the bridge I saw two female Goosanders fishing in the Eye Brook itself and heard both Siskins and Redpolls. A little further on there were at least fifty three Dunlin feeding out on the mud in company with a lot of Lapwing. My first Raven of the year flew over causing far less disturbance than a passing Sparrowhawk. One of the redhead Smews showed a little closer from a gap in the hedge and I stopped to admire it for a few minutes, after all we don't get too many opportunities to admire these attractive ducks in Northants. One final highlight to mention were a small numbers of Tree Sparrows frequenting the hedges near the bottom of the hill. 

Goldeneye and Teal

Chatty

 A lovely sunny morning today albeit one that was a little on the chilly side, I made a rare winter visit to Priors Hall. This used to be one of my favourite winter birding sites but massive development over the last five or six years has all but ruined it. Today's visit is unlikely to make me visit any more often though it wasn't quite a total waste of time.

Weldon ducks and Lapwings

On my way through Weldon I stopped at the A43 pond where the usual selection of birds was on offer with a good double figure count of Gadwalls being the highlight. Moving on towards Priors I stopped to check a large flock of Lapwings in the old quarry. At Priors itself most of the ponds were frozen and there was a distinct lack of birdlife to watch. Small numbers of Siskins were noted and I flushed a Woodcock which flew up from under my feet almost causing a heart attack! Little else was seen until I reached the northern bit near Kirby Lane where a male Stonechat was feeding.

Buzzard and Crow spat and Stonechat.

On my way home I stopped off at Willowbrook Industrial Estate where I looked for the Stonechats that Alan Shorrock tipped me off about. It took a while but I eventually found the pair which I watched for ten minutes or so before heading for home.

Priors Hall.

In With The New

 So it's bye bye to dreary old 2020 and time to welcome in 2021 with the hope that things may eventually return to some sort of normality. I'm currently behaving pretty much as if we're in lockdown so my birding trips are all more or less within walking distance of my home. Today I took the well travelled path to Deene Lake by way of Weldon and Deenethorpe. While the weather was for the most part fairly drab I did at least manage to avoid the heavier spells of rain.

Common Snipe and synchronized Shelduck upending

My first bird of the year turned out to be Starling and it was soon followed by others as I walked towards Weldon. In the village the doggy paddling pool was more of a skating rink as the pond in the Woodland Park had frozen. Best birds were Siskin and Grey Wagtail, one of each being noted. Plenty of winter thrushes are still  about and both species are now beginning to enter towns and villages as they widen their search for food. The walk along the A427 towards Deenethorpe Airfield produced a single Redpoll though I found a flock of about ten a little later on at the airfield itself. Open country species such as Skylark and Yellowhammer were noted and a decent sized flock of Meadow Pipits were also found.

Egyptian Geese and first winter drake Shoveller

Deene Lake's water level has risen again though there was still some exposed mud showing at the inflow. Just as well too perhaps as my first two Snipe of the winter showed well if distantly. Wildfowl numbers were up again on the main lake where Shelduck numbers had risen to nine. Teals once again numbered a hundred plus and I scanned through them again in my continuing though still unsuccessful search for a Green-winged. A pair of Egyptian Geese were also present on the banks of the lake and may well have been the ones from the farm ponds that I saw on my previous visit.

Grey Squirrel

Little else was found between here and Corby as Kirby Lane was very quiet indeed. Still records will show that this as well as being my first day's birding of the year will also be my best, I'm unlikely to see this many year ticks on any other day until 2022!