Grey Still Holds Sway.

Dawn did not break this morning, no it sort of crept along in an almost apologetic sort of way, a bit like a guest who has turned up late to a church wedding and sidles in at the back of the church hoping that no one notices. These murky and grey sorts of day are turning out to be something of a bore. Having got up early again I saw the whole thing unfold and it was in truth a bit dull, I guess that I miss those lovely sunrises. Wanting to catch up with a Hawfinch I took a stroll out to East Carlton Park and so found myself walking through the town while it was still dark. The dawn chorus that I alluded to yesterday consisted mostly of Robins and Song Thrushes, I can't include the unlovely caws of crows or the tuneless rattle of Magpies in the list of songsters nor the chucking alarms of Blackbirds that seemed to fill the air.

Reindeer enjoying breakfast.

If Corby had a rare bird alert then the drake Pochard at the boating lake would have been headline news, it was perhaps the bird from last winter but who knows for sure? The usual gaggle of noisy Greylags were around too as well as all the usual other suspects. From here until East Carlton little of interest was noted but at least that meant that I made quicker progress. It looks to me as if anyone hoping to beat the battalion of dog walkers at ECP will be out of luck, I really think that there must be someone out twenty four hours a day and so despite getting here before half eight there were already lots of pooches running around. Thankfully despite this I managed to find a Hawfinch near to the entrance of the hall.  It was perched at the top of a beech a little to the right of the gate calling loudly, the emphatic sounding ticks are quite distinctive once learnt.

The still conditions meant that all manner of contraptions were on view
 

I didn't hang around too long after the finch disappeared because although there was a decent variety of the commoner birds to watch Sunday mornings are a little too busy. Pausing briefly to admire the local reindeers close to the church I then set off along the Welland Valley. Things were in truth more than a little on the dull side and not much at all of note was seen. One honourable exception to this was a flock of about fifteen Redpolls feeding on seed heads at a spot between Rockingham and Gretton, it was good to get a decent number for a change. While my photographic attempts were pretty dire the birds themselves were well worth watching,

Buzzards are quite common in the Welland Valley.

With a lunch date with my wife figuring largely on my schedule I made a successful ascent of Rockingham Hill before arriving at the pub. I did check out part of the town's Earlstrees industrial estate on my way just in case any Waxwings were around but that hope will have to remain unfulfilled for the mo.

Redpoll and a view of Rockingham Castle.
 

Egrets, I've Had a Few

I sacrificed one of my remaining days of holiday to dodge work and do something birdy. Not wanting to repeat the usual routine I decided to head over to Summer Leys and see what I could find. Taking the first bus from Corby town centre at some ungodly hour of the morning meant that I got to Earls Barton before dawn.

Great White Egret at Hardwater Lake.

Setting off in the pre dawn gloom I headed down Mill Lane watching an early bird Buzzard looking for worms in one of the fields. There was not a great deal to see on the first of the lakes, just the more usual wildfowl including Shoveller. A Green Woodpecker was calling loudly while a Mistle Thrush added its voice to the still rather meagre dawn chorus. A female Stonechat was found as it fed in a rough patch of vegetation next to the river but the light remained poor. Hardwater Lake held a Great White Egret which showed distantly, I managed a poor photo before a fusillade of gun fire sent it and some of the wildfowl packing. It seemed as if rather a lot of folks were out shooting this morning as another group had put out some Canada Geese decoys and were waiting around in a hide hoping to go about their bloody business.

A small party of Goldfinches and Siskins were feeding on the reserve.

At the reserve a Cetti's Warbler was singing and there was a small party of Siskins feeding in some Alders. From the first hide a reasonable selection of wildfowl were on view though there was nothing out of the ordinary. Pioneer Hide revealed a second GWE though just its head was showing as it peeked periscope like over a distant bank. Keen to get a better view I legged it round to the double-decker hide from where I was able to get some half decent views.  Edging closer I got a few photos, nothing special but better than my earlier efforts.

The Great White on the reserve showed better.

Lots of wildfowl from the screen and I may have inadvertently flushed the GWE, it was seen in flight heading away. Nothing too exciting on offer but I was happy to see Goldeneyes swimming amongst the commoner species. Large numbers of Lapwings were also on view and they were the only waders seen today. From here I moved on to the feeders where good numbers of passerines showed. Mary's Lake was notable for the number of Shovellers seen, I counted at least one hundred and ten feeding.

A couple of the passerines on view....

This was as far as I went and I made my way back pausing to enjoy further views of GWE from the double-decker, clearly it hadn't flown far. The day had one further pleasant surprise for me before I got to the village, a fine drake Pintail on the lake closest to Earls Barton Lock. I see so few of these striking looking ducks in the county so each one is appreciated. From here it was back to catch my bus stopping only to enjoy the company of not one but two Lancaster blondes in the Old Swan, it's a lovely beer and a very pleasant way of passing some time while waiting for a bus!

....and some of the wildfowl.

Oundle Again.

Back down to earth and back out in the county again with a walk along the Nene near Oundle and including the now customary diversion to Barnwell CP. As well as holding out a slim hope that I might stumble across an Otter I also wanted to check out the floodwater. Unfortunately neither part of this plan came to fruition because the Otters stayed very firmly undercover and the flood waters had frozen solid. Ah well you can't win them all.

Ashton Mill.

It was a rather dull and grey morning in contrast to yesterday's sun but at least the wind had dropped considerably. A stop at Ashton Mill provided what was possibly the best bird of the day, a Cetti's Warbler singing as usual from deep within cover close to the mill building. At the nearby lock a Little Egret was flushed, they're quite scarce around here and it made a change from the Grey Herons that I normally see. A Kingfisher showed well albeit distantly while a couple of swans looked as if they had been frozen in, I hope that there are no foxes about.

Mute Swans and a Kingfisher.

A little further along the river a large flock of geese were checked and as is usually the case nothing interesting was hidden amongst the Greylags. Raptors were fairly well represented with Red Kites and Buzzards showing well and there were a couple of Kestrels too. Teal are not that common along the river here so it was nice to stumble across a pair but aside from a Dabchick they were the only different water birds seen today.

A few of the usual suspects from Barnwell.

Oundle marina had the usual pair of Egyptian Geese swimming around the boats and another Kingfisher was seen. Nearby at the horse paddocks a Green Woodpecker was feeding on the ground, Great Spotteds had been drumming at several spots along my route. Moving on to Barnwell CP I found the normal sort of birds which included a Treecreeper. Several Bullfinches, a male and a couple of females, broke with their usual habits and were feeding on the ground. Few other things of note to report though a Redwing posed very nicely allowing me to take my best ever photos of this beautiful thrush.

A very obliging Redwing.

I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside

My Brother and I took a little break from county matters today and headed over to north Norfolk for a day of birding. Packing up some of my warmer clothes I set off expecting to see some quality stuff. Although it was a nice and sunny day the cold breeze meant that we had to endure some pretty cold conditions, thankfully it was worth it.

Sheringham birds and views.

Our day began at Sheringham where the target was the Purple Sandpipers that sometimes take temporary winter residence in this part of the world. Turnstones were the commonest species and many small flocks could be seen feeding along both the promenade and on the neighbouring beach and rocks. A stiff onshore breeze brought a few birds closer to shore, mainly Red-throated Divers and a few auks some of which were definitely Guillemots. On a rock close to the town's museum we found a group of three Purple Sands, my first for several years and they posed nicely too. Having found our target we then moved on as we had a list of places that we wanted to visit.

Stonechats at Salthouse.

Just a little further along the coast road we pulled in at Salthouse where our goal was to see the large flock of Snow Buntings that had been seen near Gramborough Hill, A stiff breeze made the prospect of seeing passerines a little unlikely and a period of searching confirmed our fears, there were none there. A pair of Stonechats were evidently made of sterner stuff and showed well while several more auks passed along the coast travelling east like many of the other species. Gulls are not normally my bag but even I couldn't ignore a first winter Glaucous speeding past in the direction of Cley. After this we left stopping briefly near Stiffkey in case the Cattle Egrets were showing but that hope turned out to be a little forlorn.

Awful record shot of one of eight Shorelarks at Holkham.

Lady Anne's Drive at Holkham on the other hand turned out to be rather good with decent numbers of both Brent and Pink-foots present while at least half a dozen Egyptian Geese favoured the same fields. We did not spend much time here because although a Marsh Harrier was appreciated it was the eight reported Shorelarks that were calling us. A twenty minute walk led us to the prize, a small flock of eight ignoring the many pooches to feed on the saltmarsh. While my record shots could only aspire to mediocrity it was still nice to see them. Having picked up this lovely species we set of for the car and from there made a final stop of the day to Titchwell.

Water Rail and Ringed Plover.

Plenty of cars as usual were parked up at the reserve but we did manage to find a space, it's so nice that the dog walking club leaves a few spots for birders here. A Water Rail showed very well from the path near to the centre, it's always good to get good views of this elusive species. Continuing our walk we headed out to the beach but this was by far the least interesting section of the day and only a few waders and a further sighting of  Marsh Harrier helped to pass the day. A nice bonus between the centre and the car park was a Chiffchaff, January records are always good. With the winter sun slipping closer to the horizon we decided to call it a day and set off on our way back to Northants. I'm not sure how many species we saw but it was a decent day and that's what counts isn't it?

A few more birds from Titchwell.

....and Hello 2018

As I mentioned previously I don't bother much with year lists but that does not mean that the 1st doesn't have any pull, I still like to get out and see what's about. Previous years have seen me go from one extreme to another, Western Sandpiper one year in Norfolk (backed up by Coue's Arctic Redpoll) to a dismal drenching down in Brixham spent dipping a diver. Today fell somewhere in between those two with a reasonable selection of species on offer.

Buzzards looking for worms and House Sparrow.

My first bird of the year was a Carrion Crow, it was heard cawing away before the curtains were even opened. A Rook followed soon afterwards and the drawn out wolf whistle of a Starling was heard while I was enjoying a coffee. By the time I'd left the Old Village I'd passed double figures and that included my first raptor, a Red Kite. Other species followed as I walked up Geddington Road with a large flock of tits being found joined as is so often the case by several Goldcrests. A high pitched whistle had me looking around at one point until I remembered it was coming from Weldon Woodland Park, a favourite dog walking area. The sound of a chap bellowing at what must have been a strong willed and evidently wayward hound confirmed this a moment later.

Lapwings and Grey Wagtail.

A couple of Buzzards were presumably feeding on worms at the grass airstrip near Laundimer House, a Raven called nearby. Heading out across the fields on the public footpath between Bears Lane and the A427 added a few more species, Meadow Pipit and Skylark and a flock of about thirty five Lapwings. Nearby at Deenethorpe Airfield a Snipe called as it zig-zagged off and away, a Grey Wagtail fed on a large heap of earth. Both species of the commoner bunting were found and a Brown Hare was noted as it sped away over the fields.

Deenethorpe Airfield.

Deene Lake inflow was as inundated with water as I can recall but despite this I managed to accidently flush seven Snipe as I went to take a photo. Even the Teals didn't seem too keen and numbers were low. On the main lake five Shelducks were seen and there was a small flock of half a dozen or so Pochards. Overall numbers of wildfowl seemed low, several spent shot gun cartridges suggested some recent disturbance while Great Crested Grebes had probably not returned after the last freeze. Numbers of geese though were high and there was at least one Black Swan present too.

The flooded inflow at Deene Lake.

By now a light rain had begun to fall and I stopped to eat some food at the church, a look for Hawfinches proved to be unsuccessful. The farm ponds were quiet too with just a Gadwall there and new birds from now on were hard to find. Passing Kirby Hall I decided to pop down for a visit and was most pleasantly surprised to find a pair of Willow Tits on the edge of a shelter belt. Around the hall a group of Peacocks were nice if obviously not tickable and a Muntjac was feeding on the edge of a field.

Scenes from Kirby Hall.

Last things of note were two separate small herds of Fallow Deer seen at Weldon Industrial Estate. Not a bad day overall with the odd decent thing to keep the day interesting.

Muntjac and Fallow Deer.

Goodbye 2017....

Although I don't keep a year list the last day or two of the year always feels a little flat as I wait for the next year to kick off.  This morning once the rain had eased I headed over to Oundle for one final stroll along the Nene and while nothing of any great note was found it was still rather a pleasant wander.

Flooded fields around Oundle.

Walking out via the south bridge it was obvious that melting snow and recent rainfall had pushed the level of the river up and caused a lot of flooding to the surrounding fields. Flocks of Black-headed Gulls and those other great opportunists the corvids were not slow to take advantage of this changing landscape and congregated around and on the many new lakes in good numbers. At the marina the usual pair of Egyptian Geese were swimming around the boats, another was seen in a flooded field across the river from Barnwell CP.

Birds were not slow to take advantage of the floods.

A little way beyond the marina a large flock of geese were present on another flooded field and other floods attracted numbers of Wigeon and Shoveller. Lapwings too were drawn to the same area and a flock of about two hundred or so were feeding in a water logged field while a single Golden Plover was heard as it flew overhead. Grey Heron and Little Egret were noted hunting around the edges of several of these flooded areas while flocks of thrushes mainly preferred the drier areas.

Barnwell birds, the Robin was certainly not shy!

I had to turn around at the Lower Barnwell lock as the water level was too high for even my willies and so had some time to stroll around Barnwell CP. Not surprisingly it was busy with families and dog walkers and birds were in short supply. The feeders at Lowlands hide had not been filled so were quiet apart from a few Blue Tits and a few species feeding on the ground below. Several of the commoner passerines were found in other parts of the park but there really was not much else to report. With a little bit of time to kill before my bus I popped in for a couple of pints of Pedigree, a Happy New Year to all, cheers.

Grey Heron.