Nene Valley Travels

Alan Shorrock and I visited a couple of sites in the Nene Valley beginning at Summer Leys. With the overnight rain having moved on we were left to enjoy clear though blustery conditions and light conditions were for the most part excellent.

Gadwall and Wigeon.

Although we checked the main lake several times the redhead Smew that has been in residence here for a while eluded us. Better luck met with our efforts to find the drake Red Crested Pochard which showed well though quite distantly from the screen hide. There were no other surprises amongst the wildfowl though a reasonable selection of the commoner species were on view.

Shoveller and Coot.

Now well established as uncommon winter visitors along the Nene Great White Egrets no longer raise eyebrows though they are still an elegant and attractive species. We were lucky enough to see two on our walk around one of which was over Pete Wild's Lake. Other birds of note were a Raven, Cetti's Warbler and at least one Buzzard.

Red Crested Pochard with Wigeon and Great White Egret.

From here we moved on to Stanwick Lakes, a sighting of four egrets feeding with cows seen from the car as we travelled along the A45 were certainly intriguing. Having parked the car we set off to see if we could find them again. While it took a bit of time we did eventually find the cows and some attendant egrets. Our problem was that the birds were distant and often out of view, a total of eight were present in the field. We were both reasonably sure that at least one Cattle was present but most of them were Littles. As we couldn't be a hundred percent sure given the distance and brevity of views it might be best to write this up as a possible Cattle Egret rather than a confirmed one. Luckily the identification of a further two Great Whites was much more straightforward.

Stanwick Lakes.

Other birds noted on our visit included two Egyptian Geese, a Raven, one or two Cetti's Warbler and Snipe.

Bit of a Bonus

Work was good enough to let me escape early today and I used the time to take a walk along the Nene at Oundle. Fancying a bit of a change from my usual routine I chose to walk to Cotterstock and back, it wasn't the most exciting of afternoons but it was alright.

River views.

Best birds of the day was a Chiffchaff spotted flycatching near the weir and a Snipe flushed from close to the town. Not a great deal else though both species of the commoner woodpecker were noted, also plenty of kites observed and at least one Grey Wagtail seen at Cotterstock Lock.

River regulars.

Popped into town where I picked up the latest copy of the Northants bird report (well worth buying at a bargain £ 7.50) I chose to dodge the Christmas Fair multitudes and instead checked the church for any Peregrines. None today though that might have been down to a combination of increased humanity and the time of day. So not my greatest day then but a trip along the river beats working any day of the week.

Blue is the Colour

Another day of blue skies and sunshine, so far December is shaping up to be much better than dreary old November. As I hoped to pick up a copy of the new bird report from the Oundle bookshop I headed over in that direction but was to be disappointed as it's not in stock yet. Despite drawing a blank on the report I still enjoyed a pleasant walk along the river and around neighbouring Barnwell CP.

Sunny morning.

There was an otter shaped blank at the park where the lake in front of Kingfisher Hide was partly frozen. While a Kingfisher did make a speedy flypast it didn't linger and nor did it return during my short stay there. Just the usual sort of birds were noted with Marsh Tits the best. Elsewhere around the park there were several small flocks of Siskins and also a few Bullfinches. A few Fieldfares and Redwings were seen but they were quite flighty and didn't hang around.

Siskin and Bullfinch.

Nearby at the marina another Kingfisher was as quick as the other one while the Egyptian Goose was still in the area. Large numbers of Lapwings were feeding in the large ploughed field near to the horse paddocks, there were also a few near the frozen A605 floods. A minimum of seven Snipe were also seen around the floods while several others were heard. Some reeds next to the Nene held a calling Chiffchaff, wintering birds often choose spots adjacent to water.

Jackdaws and Robin.

My day ended on a high note when I found an adult Peregrine on the spire of the church, It looks as if the recent work may have stopped so hopefully it will be a regular visitor here from now on.

Oundle Peregrine.

That Was OK

Some sunshine this morning for a change and it was nice to see blue skies. I kept things local and enjoyed a fairly decent if not wildly exciting day out.

Gadwall with Tufted Ducks and Buzzard.

Having got the bus down to Weldon I began by checking out the A43 pond where about ten Gadwall and half a dozen Tufted Ducks were the highlight. Moving on to Willowbrook Industrial Estate brought the hoped for Stonechat, a nice male near to the old Rockingham Speedway. Other species in the area included Meadow Pipits and Skylarks while small numbers of both Redwing and Fieldfare were seen.

Sparrowhawk and Goldfinch.

Nearby on the fringes of Priors Hall a male Sparrowhawk posed nicely though his presence was clearly upsetting the local Jays. A Raven was heard pruk prukking as it flew towards Brookfield while both kites and buzzards showed well. Priors Hall was not exactly jumping with birdlife with just a few small flocks of Siskins being seen around the ponds. At the quarry lake half a dozen Pochards were the highlights, there was little else to report.

Obliging Red Kite.

Pleasant sunshine once the obligatory Sunday rain shower had passed on encouraged me to have a look for any lingering Common Darters but I drew a blank, not too surprising given the recent frosts. Of the other wildlife noted several Fallow Deer and a Brown Hare were the pick.

Otter Dodging

Back to my usual routine on a Monday and that meant Barnwell once again, sadly the weather had an all too familiar ring to it as well with grey skies predominant. Unfortunately for me the fish munching super weasels did not show despite my spending a few bum numbing hours in the hide. Given that the river is looking a little clearer at the moment it could be that they've moved on for a bit. That other star of previous shows, Kingfisher, showed but only distantly and for a short space of time. I'm beginning to suspect that they think Kingfisher Hide is an instruction rather than a viewing spot!

Distant Kingfisher and closer Nuthatch.

Without any other distractions I had plenty of time to enjoy the usual selection of birds as they came down to feed on seedy handouts. Marsh Tits were probably the most interesting species seen though I always like to get good views of Nuthatch. Away from the hides there seemed to be a lot of winter thrushes on the move while several small groups of Siskins were seen in the park.

Tits.

With time moving on I had to make my excuses and leave, if I'd known that my bus would be forty five minutes late I might perhaps have stayed a bit longer. Wish Oundle was within reasonable walking distance.

Dunnock, obligatory Barnwell Robin and Grey Squirrel.

Not So Sunny Sunday

Happy to wake free of any ill effects from a gig that I went to last night (ringing ears and slightly tender head being the norm) I began today's nature spotting at Upper Benefield. From here I took the minor road along towards Deenethorpe and onwards to Deene and Weldon.

One of the sun's brief appearances.

With a Great Grey Shrike currently causing a few local birders to drift towards DIRFT in the south of the county it was hard not to think of the similar bird that wintered in this area a few years ago. I looked but couldn't find anything to match that quality today. Tree Sparrows did appear about half way along the lane and they joined other farmland species such as Skylark and Yellowhammer on the list. Both buzzards and kites appeared to be keeping low and it could be that the grey conditions may have been to blame. Good numbers of Lapwing were noted with their usual close escorts of gulls while many Pheasants were also seen.

Hedgerow Robin and roadside Kestrel.

Deene Lake inflow held plenty of Teal and a Green Sandpiper as well as a Kingfisher. The main lake still holds fairly low numbers of birds though there were five Shelduck and a vocal Black Swan. Nothing much to add from the farm ponds and little to report either from Kirby Lane. By the time I reached Priors Hall it looked as if the sun might make an appearance though sadly it turned out to be no more than a brief interlude before the grey conditions took hold once again.

Swan duo at Deene.

A Woodcock that took off from practically under my feet almost caused a brown trouser incident, happily a second caused slightly less alarm. Priors Hall is often a good place for wintering Woodcocks, hopefully the continuing development will leave some habitat for them. Three Snipe flushed from the wet margins of the largest pond took my wader tally for the day to four, there were well over a hundred Lapwing in the quarry too. Also to be seen on the quarry lake were my only Wigeon of the day and a drake Pochard. Good numbers of Siskin were present on site and at least one Redpoll was with them. Not a great deal of other wildlife was noted today though there was a group of about fifteen Fallow Deer at Priors.

Fallow Deer.

Arriving at Weldon some time before my bus gave my just enough time to pop into the George for a pint which was arguably my highlight of the day.

Ear We Go.

Monday is normally Barnwell day but not this time around. Alan Shorrock and I decided to cast the net a little wider and so we headed popped along to Deeping Lakes in Lincolnshire. My break from routine turned out to be a very good idea as we enjoyed not only some good wildlife also but some beautiful sunshine too.

Deeping Lakes and late Common Darter.

Deeping Lakes is one of the few publicised sites for Long-eared Owl and that I suspect is because the owls roost on an island on one of the lakes and are well away from encroaching birders or photographers. We managed to see one bird and several duff record shots were taken. Of the other birds on site a female Goosander was perhaps the best though there was a reasonable quantity of Goldeneye too. With the sun being warm in those spots sheltered from the wind I checked any likely spots for late Common Darters and I was delighted to find a male. I always underestimate the toughness of these little dragons, I don't expect an advent darter this year but who knows?

Awesome Owl, dreadful pictures.

Our next stop was at March Farmers in the Nene Washes where a reasonable number of Whooper Swans were seen. The floods held plenty of Wigeon and also a decent number of Pintails. Alan picked out a distant Marsh Harrier but in truth the area seemed rather quiet so we moved on to nearby Eldernell.

Nene Washes views.

One of the targets here were Short-eared Owls and we were lucky enough to encounter three roosting in a hedge. While none showed that clearly I attempted more dodgy owl record shots. The shorties were not the only owly action either as a Barn Owl showed on at least two occasions. Some distinctive calls lead Alan to pick out a small group of about eight Cranes, a little later we were able to raise this total to over thirty. Vying with the cranes for our attention was a ringtail Hen Harrier which was hunting the margins of the floods, several marsh Harriers were also active. A Stonechat and a few more Whooper Swans rounded off the day with the gathering dusk bringing proceedings to an end.

Short-eared Owls.