Bird Report

 News that the new Northants Bird Report was out and available to buy in Oundle pretty much decided my itinerary for me today. Instead of taking the trusty X4 I headed off in the company of Alan Shorrock with a view to doing a spot of birding. The weather was great with sunny skies predominating and if the birds were far from interesting it was at least a good walk!

Cormorant

Barnwell CP offered little with just a Chiffchaff and a selection of common birds to enjoy. A walk along the Nene towards the A605 floods added nothing of note while the floods themselves held a reasonable group of Wigeon with lesser numbers of Teal and Shoveller. I was lucky enough to grab the last copy of the bird report in the book shop and it's no surprise it's been selling quickly as it's more than up to its normal high standard.

Shelduck and Snipe

On the way back to Corby we stopped at the inflow at Deene Lake where the water levels are high. Six Shelduck had joined the usual Teal and we also saw a Snipe but there was not much else to report. Afterwards it was a trip to the pub and a few beers - Merry Christmas everyone, I hope that you have a good one.

Merry Christmas!

Winter Waders

 When the last World Cup final was taking place Phil Rogers, Alan Shorrock and I were chasing butterflies and damselflies in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. No chance of that today unfortunately as the cold spell continued for the morning at least and my travel plans were nowhere near as ambitious. My local wanderings took me past the STW and on to Willowbrook Industrial Estate before ending in Weldon.

Still cold at Willowbrook this morning.

Waders featured quite prominently this morning, the first was a Woodcock seen at Weldon Industrial estate on the edge of the steelworks. Lapwings were moving through at the neighbouring Willowbrook Industrial with one moving north and a further twenty one going westwards. When the forecast icy rain began one landed very close to me before taking off when it realised that I was there while another was noted flying low over Weldon. Concluding the wader contribution were two Snipe at the stream near the frozen A43 pond in Weldon.

Under observation

There was not much else to report from today's stroll, Grey Wagtails were noted in the Old Village and near the STW. A female Stonechat was found at Willowbrook Industrial when it was disturbed by a herd of Fallow Deer running through the dead thistle stems on which it was perching but that was it apart from a number of winter thrushes.

Stonechat

A little bit of ringing news to report from yesterday relating to a Mute Swan at Town Lake in Thrapston. The bird, a pen, was bearing an orange ring with black lettering with the characters 4CJS and was rung at Wellingborough Embankment on the 22/10/16. Although she's clearly no globe trotter in terms of her wanderings she does at least show commendable loyalty to Northamptonshire!

Out In The Cold

 If the weather guessers are to be believed today was the last day of the current cold snap, I'm guessing it can't come soon enough for much of our wildlife. Alan Shorrock and I braved sunny but frigid conditions in order to explore the Thrapston Gravel Pits complex. With much of the water frozen and the frost whitened ground hard underfoot it must be difficult for many species to feed and I wonder how many birds we may have lost during the past week.

Kingfisher and Black-tailed Godwit

After arriving at the Aldwincle nature reserve we made our way along the river towards the site of the new North Hide. A Cetti's Warbler sang briefly and we heard Kingfisher several times as we walked. On the only ice free patch of the lake there was a selection of duck but nothing too interesting. Water Rail was squealing from near the hide and a Chiffchaff was calling, we managed to catch a glimpse of one of those Kingfishers too but only briefly before it flew off. Our local wildlife trust seem to have been quite industrious of late and from a second new hide we saw Great White Egret and also a Black-tailed Godwit having a snooze on the ice. The walk towards the town lake yielded several Snipe view but little else apart from a Stonechat.

Robin and Shovellers

Much of the town lake was frozen over though there was quite a stretch of open water mid way out. Perhaps as many as forty Pochard were feeding or kipping here and a similar number of Shovellers too. At this point with the evening drawing in we decided to turn around and head back towards the car park seeing another Stonechat and a few more Snipe as we went.

Fog

 Quite a contrast with the weather from yesterday as the blue sky and sunshine were replaced by fog which hung around for most of the day. Visibility ranged from poor to dreadful as the fog eddied and stirred, occasionally lifting but never enough to suggest it would clear. Birding was difficult as I walked from Weldon to Deene Lake and back and I might have been better off staying at home!

Flights cancelled at Deenethorpe Airfield and GWE at Deene

There was little of note beyond the commonplace as I walked towards Deenethorpe and little at the airfield itself. A Redpoll was seen in the village while the nearby inflow at Deene Lake hosted some Siskins and a calling Water Rail. The main lake was all but frozen though a Great White Egret was noted near the dam. These elegant herons may have lost their rarity status but they're still uncommon here. Moving on and the farm ponds were all but iced up too though a couple of Coots and Dabchicks were seen on the only ice free patch. Little else worth mentioning apart from a couple of Snipe flushed at Willowbrook Industrial Estate.

Dabchick and Coot

A frozen Deene Lake.

Eyebrook Smews

 Yesterday (the 10th) Alan Shorrock and I took the relatively short trip to Eyebrook where clear blue skies and sunshine could not conceal the fact that it was very cold. Although our trip was cut short  by the noisy antics of some recreational killers in neighbouring fields we enjoyed a reasonable day.

Pink-footed Goose and Pintails.

First bird to make it on to the daylist was a Pink-footed Goose associating with the Greylag flock at the bottom of the hill on the west side. It's tempting to think that this was the bird we saw previously but there's no way of telling for sure. A single Dunlin was present in the bay south of the island where a small number of Lapwings had also gathered. Some Pintails added some understated class to the ducks feeding  north of the island, there were at least twenty on the res today. Even this class act had to take second place to the star performers however which were four drake and three redhead Smew. While they were always rather distant it was still good to see these attractive little ducks feeding in the sunshine. There was a small cluster of gulls on the ice which momentarily had a Redshank join them and a Great White Egret was feeding along the stream near the bridge. Passerines were represented by a pair of Stonechats and a few Siskins but by now the guns were blasting away and we opted to leave.

Distant redhead Smew and Great White Egret

A quick visit to Blatherwycke failed to produce any sightings of the hoped for Hawfinches and we only saw a small selection of commoner passerines. With the sun beginning to set and the temperatures falling we called it quits and headed back to Corby.

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.