Brass Monkeys Beware?

 Well it's safe to say that winter has very definitely arrived bringing with it plummeting temperatures and heavy frosts. I had enough time before work to have another quick look at the area near to the sewage works. Perhaps not surprisingly the ponds have all but frozen over which has meant an exodus of Teal. Many of the other species that were seen on my previous visit also appear to have abandoned ship with just  Redpoll and Grey Wagtail remaining. Best bird during my walk was a Green Sandpiper at the stream, they're scarce visitors here which are usually brought in by cold weather. Not wishing to cause to much disturbance I left after a short space of time, the birds need every minute of these short winter days to find food.

Green Sandpiper and Buzzard

Short But Sweet

 A nice bright start to the morning was enough to tempt me into taking a pre work stroll along to the area near the STW. While I didn't see anything too exotic I did at least enjoy a productive little visit.

A couple of aerial views.

Patch regulars such as Grey Wagtail and Teal were all present and correct and a large tit flock contained at least one Treecreeper. Choosing to shun the company of its cousins a Marsh Tit was travelling solo while another singleton ploughing a lonely furrow was a Chiffchaff calling near the ponds. There were several Redpolls hanging around the area with a flock at least eight seen several times while I was walking around.

Walk Along The Nene

 For the first time in what seems like ages I decided to board the X4 and head over to Oundle. My plan was to walk along the stretch of the Nene between the north bridge and the marina and afterwards take a look at Barnwell CP. Conditions were poor, although it mostly stayed dry the light quality was awful from the start and did not improve to any great extent during the day.

Stonechat and Redwing.

My best bird of the day was also one of the first when a Crossbill flew over calling as it went near Ashton footbridge. In the same area a Marsh Tit was noted near the mill, others were seen further along the river and also at Barnwell. Another species showing more than once during my walk was Kingfisher though none hung around long enough for pictures. Between Ashton footbridge and Ashton lock a female Stonechat was found as she moved along a fence line near the river. Plenty of winter thrushes were seen with Fieldfares outnumbering Redwings by some margin. The floods near Lower Barnwell Lock seemed a little quiet with just a single drake Shoveller joining fifty or so Wigeon.

Shovellers and Nuthatch

At Barnwell CP there were at least two Chiffchaffs as well as the usual selection of commoner species. A fairly large flock of Siskins were feeding in alders next to the Nene and I enjoyed good views of Nuthatches from Kingfisher Hide as well as some close Shovellers. I left after a relatively short space of time pausing long enough to enjoy a couple of pints before boarding my bus home.

Siskin and Wren.

Rain Again At Rutland

 Winter finally seemed to arrive today at Rutland Water as Alan Shorrock and I wandered along the dam. Some early sunshine gave way to rain showers with some falling as ice crystals, I'm glad that I had the thermals on! Despite the increasingly damp conditions we saw a selection of interesting birds even though a flotilla of yachts and fishing boats were causing some unwelcome disturbance.

Whooper Swans

Goosanders featured strongly today with at least sixteen being noted and these included a number of drakes. A female Scaup showed briefly before being flushed by something which caused her and the Tufties she was associating with to fly off towards the north arm. Some trumpeting calls alerted us to a couple of Whooper Swans flying eastwards across the dam, they were followed by four more a little later on. Wildfowl numbers still seem quite low but there were a few Goldeneyes on view and I'd imagine the north easterly winds will bring in more over the next few days. Attempts to find the Great Northern Diver were unsuccessful and we didn't manage to find much else of note. 

Goosanders and Goldeneyes

Not That Interesting

 Some days just aren't as interesting as others and today definitely fell into that category. My travels took me to Weldon and Willowbrook Industrial Estate before I finished by taking in both the North and South Gullets at Priors Hall. It was a mild and rather grey day with any sunshine being hazy and not quite warm enough to tempt any late insects out.

Fallow Deer

At the A43 pond a drake Tufted Duck broke the Mallard monopoly but there was nothing else of note. Willowbrook was quiet, a pair of Snipe were the highlight while some mammalian interest was provided by a herd of Fallow Deer. The gullets did nothing much to raise interest levels, three Pochard were on the quarry lake but the best part of my day was the couple of pints that I enjoyed in the George!

Fieldfare and Red Kite

Welland Valley Not A Washout

 We've had quite a lot of rain recently and I've seen several flooded areas while out and about on my travels. This made me think that a walk along the Welland Valley might be productive and so I set out this morning with that goal in mind. My trek through the town was pretty tedious with only a flock of Fieldfares flying over Coronation Park to relieve the boredom. The tedium continued as some floodwater below Cottingham had not attracted that many birds and so I walked on towards Rockingham hoping for a change of fortune.

Buzzard

Things were beginning to look unpromising with little in the way of floods and only a small selection of common birds to report. Rockingham was passed and I continued on towards Gretton with little to report. Relief finally came nearer Gretton when I reached an area with some flooding that had brought in a lot of gulls. Large numbers of Lapwings were swirling over the fields occasionally landing but always nervous and ready to take flight. Joining them were six Dunlins while at least one hundred and twenty Golden Plovers were noted. I decided to leave the valley behind and walked up towards the escarpment near Brookfield Plantation. Any hope of seeing decent birds was dashed by a party of recreational killers blasting away at some hapless creatures nearby. More were shooting in Brookfield though I did at least manage to see some Redpolls and Siskins in spite of the noise. My stroll past the Peregrine site on my way home failed to produce any sightings.

Lapwings, Dunlins and Golden Plovers

Wild Goose Chase

 A rare day off from work saw myself and Alan Shorrock heading off in the direction of Stanwick Lakes in the Nene Valley. Thankfully it was sunny for most of the day with just a suggestion of a breeze and another high point was the relative lack of folk around, normally I have to endure weekend visits when the place is packed with people.

Juvenile Brent Goose

We began by checking out the main lake where a juvenile Brent Goose had been reported in the morning. I hadn't seen Brent in the county before so I was happy to get a first view even though it was distant. Deciding to try and get better views we checked again from the barbeque area near the Visitor Centre where the views though an improvement were still underwhelming. From the Treehouse Hide the bird remained distant but we did get some half decent scope views even though the light conditions were challenging. Despite the rubbishy nature of my record shots I enjoyed seeing my first Northants Brent Goose. Not a great deal else on the lake to report other than a single Great White Egret.

Carder Bee and Common Darter

Attempts to find the reported Bearded Tit on the causeway were unsuccessful, it was reported today, we gave it some time but couldn't find it. We moved on to the North Lake, on our way a single female Common Darter was seen basking and so too was a bumblebee. A very distant Cattle Egret was a welcome addition to our daylist but was also pretty much our last bird of note today.