More Summer Arrivals

 My first stop on today's walk was the A43 pond at Weldon where a selection of common waterfowl included a double figure count of Tufted Ducks, several Siskins were also present  From there I moved on checking a local site for returning Ringed Plovers as I went. It took a couple of minutes of peering through the bins but I did find one and hear another, good news as this is currently their only breeding location in the county. Nearby at Willowbrook Industrial Estate I saw several herds of Fallow Deer but couldn't find any of the hoped for Wheatears. There was plenty of singing going on with Skylarks, at least one song flighting Meadow Pipit and several Chiffchaffs joining in. It seems as if these little warblers are now well established as I heard them at other spots too.

Ringed Plover and Fallow Deer

On the CBA playing field at Priors Hall a trio of Brown Hares were showing, I don't normally reveal locations for hares nowadays due to the unfortunate actions of coursers but this seems to be a secure enough site. A pair of Stonechats graced the North Gullet, the male was much showier than the female and gave some good views. Next door at the South Gullet half a dozen Sand Martins were there to gawp at as they fed near their colony. Mother's Day commitments brought my spotting to an early close and I had to head back towards Weldon to catch my bus home.

Brown Hare, Skylark, Sand Martin and Stonechat

Summer Comes To The Leys

 My day started with an early morning walk to the town centre so that I could grab the first bus to Earls Barton from where I took a stroll along the Nene to Summer Leys. For the duration of my wander the weather stayed dry if mostly grey and it felt fairly mild too. My visit was marked by sightings of some arriving Summer visitors and I'd imagine that the next few weeks will bring in many more.

LRP record shot and female Pintail.

Around Mill Lake many Cetti's Warblers were singing while on the lake itself there was a good number of Shoveller though not much else. On neighbouring Hardwater there were two hundred plus Wigeon which I checked through in case they had been joined by one of their American cousins - they hadn't! Heading to the reserve I could hear many Chiffchaffs singing, I suspected that they may have been newly arrived migrants though can't be sure. From Rotary hide I didn't see too much though things improved somewhat from Pioneer. Another birder put me on to a Little Ringed Plover on one of the islands as well as a female Pintail. News that a pair of Garganeys had been seen from Paul Britten hide saw me making my way along there pretty sharpish.

Distant drake Garganey and Redshank

On arrival I learnt that the Garganeys hadn't been seen on the scrape but rather on the opposite bank of the main lake. Worse still they hadn't been noted for a while though I didn't have much time to contemplate  dipping as another birder found them soon afterwards. Although distant they looked nice enough through the scope and were not surprisingly my first of the year. Summer Leys seems to be one of the most reliable spots for Garganeys and I'm glad that record looks set to continue. I didn't see much else from the hide other than a wisp of twelve Snipe and four Great White Egrets.

Snipe and Wigeon

The rest of my circuit of the reserve did not add much to my day list and I headed back along the river. Sadly the Saxon Tavern was closed but the Old Swan delivered a couple of very nice pints to help my wait for the bus pass pleasantly enough.

One of several new grass cutters!

Pintails And A Peregrine

 The prospect of there being a decent amount of flooding in the Welland Valley decided my day for me today. I set off just after eight and headed towards Brookfield Plantation. A check on my local Peregrines initially drew a blank but a bird flew in several minutes later and I was treated to some decent enough views through the bins. Brookfield was fairly quiet, a few Siskins were noted and the wild song of a Mistle Thrush provided an atmospheric soundtrack to my walk but other than that it wasn't great.

Peregrine and Red Kite

Emerging from the wood I took the footpath to the escarpment that overlooks the valley. From here I could see that there was indeed a few flooded areas to investigate and so I wasted no time in heading down towards the road. Hundreds of gulls were milling about, mostly Common and Black-headed which I checked for goodies but couldn't find any Meds or anything else amongst them. Very few Lapwings were drawn to the floods, I wonder if many left the area during the recent snowy weather and have yet to return. Both Starlings and thrushes were feeding on the wet grass, there was one large flock of five hundred plus of the former near Rockingham. Six species of dabbling duck were noted on the floods of which Pintails were the most interesting, at least eleven including seven drakes were observed. I don't see too many of these elegant ducks in Northants so I was happy to catch up with them today. Once I reached Rockingham I began my ascent up the hill and headed for home, not one of my best days but I've had worse.

Pintail record shots

Dip At Lings, Squelchy Feet At Cogenhoe But It Wasn't All Bad!

The snow which fell during the week had for the most part thawed by the time this afternoon came around. Before that however Alan Shorrock and I popped into Lings Wood in Northampton in the hope of catching up with Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. With some pleasant sunshine on offer I was hopeful of seeing or at least hearing one but sadly there was no trace of any today. In fairness there was not a great deal else to report other than a few Siskins and a couple of Sparrowhawks and so conceding defeat we threw the Lings towel in and set off for Ecton SF.

Grey Wagtail and Mink

Parking at Mill Lane in Cogenhoe we set off towards bridge 121 where the Siberian Chiffchaffs were noted earlier in the year. At the lock Shozzer spotted a Mink wandering among the caravans parked next to the Nene, it didn't pose for any decent pics but it did provide some half decent views. Several Grey Wagtails were also seen while the flooded fields hosted plenty of Greylags and Black-headed Gulls. We set off across the waterlogged field towards the bridge that crosses the Nene. The normally muddy path was submerged and to such a depth that it seeped into my wellies leading to some uncomfortably damp and cold feet. Ignoring the discomfort Alan and I headed off to bridge 121 where we hoped the Siberian Chiffies would be more obliging than the Lings 'peckers.

Siberian Chiffchaffs

Luck was with us at Ecton as at least two Sibes were still present and feeding with some of their commoner cousins. One was a dishevelled looking character that vaguely resembled a Bonelli's Warbler while the other was the traditional milky coffee colour type more typical of tristis Chiffies. Both showed well at times which is more than can be said for the Cetti's Warbler which only popped out a couple of times. We spent quite a lot of time watching the Chiffchaffs feeding before heading back through the flood towards the car. Returning to the lock I paused to empty the water out of my wellies and while doing so heard some Ring-necked Parakeets calling. Alan scanned a nearby wood and managed to see one in flight, I saw a couple more a little later on. A group of four treated us to good views as they flew across the river to visit some feeders in the caravan gardens. We enjoyed some good views before they flew back to the woods, these were my first for several years. Our birding day was brought to a conclusion and it was time to head off for a couple of pints in Earls Barton's Saxon Tavern.

Furtive Cetti's and Ring-necked Parakeet

Mediocre March Meander

 A bout of stomach trouble forced the postponement of a proposed trip in search of displaying Goshawks and that brought about an abrupt change of plan. Left looking for an alternative place to visit Alan Shorrock and I settled on a walk around the nature reserve at Aldwincle. The weather was a bit on the dull side and so too was the birding, we seem to have hit the early March doldrums. It's looking cold and wintery for the next week or so but I'm hoping that Spring arrives sooner rather than later.

GWE and distant Stonechat

Wildfowl numbers seem to be on the decline now though there were still ten plus Goldeneyes and double that number of Pochards while a single drake Pintail added some class to the day. Two pairs of Oystercatcher provided a sign that Spring is on the way and so too did a singing Chiffchaff. Other interesting passerines included a female Stonechat and a displaying Raven as well as several singing Cetti's Warbler. A minimum of three Water Rails were heard but not seen, three Great White Egrets were more obliging. Having completed a circuit of the reserve we elected to knock the birding on the head and headed off to the Duke's Arms for some welcome liquid refreshment.

Duck duo and Raven

Wicksteed Has The Anser

 I have to work on Saturday which means that my firm had to give me a day off in the week. Today was that day and I made use of my free time by taking a trip over to Wicksteed Park. Happily my bus was mostly free of schoolkids so I had a relatively peaceful journey. With the weather looking fine and the park not too busy I set off to look for the long staying Pink-footed Goose.

Don't call it Nelson! Pink-footed Goose

I'm happy to say that there was no wild goose chase on the cards for me as the bird was found very quickly. It was feeding close to the park's railway station in the company of some Greylags. There's always an element of doubt regarding single geese, a slight suspicion that they may have jumped a fence rather than crossed a sea. Whether Pinkies are a popular bird in captivity I don't know but there have been a few singletons reported locally this winter in the company of Greylags. Sadly this bird appears to have an injured left eye which may explain why it has hung around so long. Satisfied with my views and having taken plenty of pics I went for a stroll around the rest of the park.

Siskin and Reed Bunting

There was not a great deal else of note to report, a small group of Siskins were found in trees adjacent to the fishing lake and at least one of the males was singing. On the main lake a second Winter Yellow-legged Gull was keeping company with twenty or so Herrings before flying off with several other immatures. A lunch appointment with my wife in Corby meant that I couldn't loiter for too long and so I set off for my bus but not before having another peek at that goose.

Second Winter Yellow-legged Gull

Busy Barnwell

 A sunny Sunday morning is perhaps not the best time to visit Barnwell CP if you want to avoid disturbance. Unfortunately I work during the week and so I found myself joining the bustling throng of people that descended on the park today. Despite the hordes I had an enjoyable time photographing a selection of common species from the two hides.

Mandarins, Marsh Tit and Nuthatch

Kingfisher Hide was rather quiet, some squabbling geese and not much else were my reward for visiting. Rather more pleasing were two pairs of Mandarin Ducks joining the Mallard flock near the bridge on North Lake. Lowlands Hide unlike Kingfisher provided views of quite a few birds as they were tempted down by food put there by photographers. The highlight was perhaps a Marsh Tit though I always enjoy good views of Nuthatch too. Coal and Long-tailed Tits are unusual visitors to the feeders here so I was glad to see examples of both. As the park was by now becoming busier I decided to call it quits and so set off for a stroll along the river.

Long-tailed, Coal and Blue Tits

On the floods near the A605 there were decent numbers of Teal and Wigeon as well as a few Shoveller and Gadwall. A flock of about a hundred Lapwings were also present before they took off and headed out along the valley. Water levels are dropping here so it may not be too long before other waders pay a visit. After my look at the floods I headed off into town for a pint before catching my return bus home.

Blackbird, Jackdaw and Lapwings