Birding in Northants (1 Viewer)

string boozel · Jan 4, 2015

Hello, just thought that I'd dust away the cobwebs on this neglected little part of the forum and include a few notes about my bird spotting jaunts around Northants.

My brother and I kicked things off by attempting to see the Great Grey Shrike near Deenethorpe though thick fog made the prospect seem a tad unlikely. Arriving early we were treated to an atmospheric sunrise and a few of the commoner farmland species before the shrike was found. I was pretty pleased as this was my first in the county since 1982! ( If you don't include the Long Buckby Steppe Grey )

Buoyed by our good fortune we headed off to Billing where a Ring-necked Duck had been reported. The fog here was atrocious, I may have seen the lake but of the duck there was no sign, the full English breakfast in the café was appreciated though.

Suitably fortified we then risked a trip to Clifford Hill where the fog parted long enough to reveal 6 drake and 1 duck Goosander and a Great White Egret. Lots of the commoner waterfowl and both winter thrushes helped bulk out the list.

Thickening fog scuppered our plans to visit Pitsford so we waved the white flag and headed home to the hallowed ground of Corby, the Pearl of Northamptonshire.

James.

Cobbler87 · Jan 5, 2015

Enjoyed reading this post.
You should try sixfields lake area.. There is always something good around

string boozel · Jan 5, 2015

Hi Cobbler, I don't often do the southern bits of the county but if I'm in the area I'll give it a bash.

After yesterday's fog blighted escapade I took advantage of a sunny spell and went for a stroll on the patch, an area of scrubby land near the sewage works in Corby ( sounds lovely doesn't it? ). The glorious sun made even the common stuff look great and that was just as well because that is all I saw! 2 Grey Wags, Kite, Green Wood and some cracking Bullfinches were the pick of the bunch but it was one of those days when just getting out was enough. I'll take watching common birds over the dubious delights of daytime telly anytime thank you very much.

James.

markspirito · Jan 6, 2015

Possible Rough - Legged Buzzard near Eydon, south Northants today ??

Mark.S

string boozel · Jan 6, 2015

Now that would be a good bird to see in the county.

James.

string boozel · Jan 11, 2015

With ears still ringing and a sore head, the after effects of watching a band the night before, my brother and I headed off to East Carlton Park. Our target was Brambling but unfortunately there don't appear to be any here this winter unless we were just unlucky.

There was a reasonable selection of woodland birds on view including both of the commoner woodpeckers and Nuthatch. One thing that was remarkable was the sheer numbers of Great Tits feeding on beechmast. There must have been 40+ feeding in an area smaller than an average garden.

It was an excellent morning for Red Kites with good numbers enjoying the windy though sunny conditions. After leaving the park we headed off to Rutland Water but that is a tale for different thread.

James.

string boozel · Jan 17, 2015

I couldn't get out today due to work but my brother phoned to tell me he'd found a Willow Tit in Kingswood, Corby. Although criminally under watched nowadays this site was always a reliable one for this species and it's good know that there still holding on there.

James.

string boozel · Jan 18, 2015

Another day out in the county began at Billing where the female Ring-necked Duck obliged us with nice views. We watched the bird from the roadside opposite the pub as unfortunately the car sales place is now out of bounds due to an unfortunate accident involving a tripod.

It was on to Barnes Meadows after that, no luck with Jack Snipe but we did flush a single Common Snipe. Managed to get good views of an adult Peregrine, probably a female perched on a pylon on the opposite side of the river.

Our next stop was Stortons, our first visit to what looks like a good site. Redhead Smew and drake Goosander took the honours here but there was a nice selection of commoner stuff here too.

No sign of the Slavonian Grebe at Pitsford but a croaking Raven provided some compensation for our dip.

Last through of the dice was Harrington Airfield where ca15 Golden Plover were seen just before dusk, no owls though unfortunately.

James.

string boozel · Jan 19, 2015

A wander around the patch on a dull chilly morning was brightened up by a Chiffchaff which was only the second wintering one I've seen in Corby. Not much else about though the Bullfinches were showing well.

James.

string boozel · Feb 1, 2015

No birding last week as I was away in Norfolk for the weekend. Yesterday I took advantage of a half day off work to check out the patch and to test a new pair of travel bins, some Barr and Stroud Sierra 8x32.

The bins turned out to pretty good whereas the patch looked like it was going to be a let down. Many of the usual passerines appeared to have abandoned ship with just Grey Wagtail and Bullfinches showing. Things were saved by a Woodcock, I flushed one form the disused railway line. I normally see a couple every winter, usually in cold weather so it wasn't a surprise but it was appreciated. The Kites were active today, at least two were hunting over the area and I had some excellent views.

James.

string boozel · Feb 2, 2015

Gave the patch the old heave-ho this morning and tried Southwood for a change. The lovely, sunny conditions brought out the raptors and I saw 4 species - Kite, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel. Quite a lot of passerines around too, a large tit flock contained several Marsh. Siskins have been rather scarce locally this winter so I was glad to find a mixed flock including Goldfinch and Lesser Redpolls feeding in alders, The two commoner woodpeckers were active and vocal, I had excellent views of both.

James.

markspirito · Feb 2, 2015

Strange about the lack of siskins and Redpolls this year, we had plenty last year around the Daventry area, but struggling to find any this year, Plenty of Goldfinches however.

Mark.

string boozel · Feb 3, 2015

I think that the numbers of siskins and redpolls may be linked to the availability of food and I'm guessing that it wasn't a good year locally for the crop of alder seeds. I did see a very large flock of siskins in the Brecks on Jan 1st so it's not all bad.

James.

string boozel · Feb 8, 2015

Another day off work as I was going down to London for a gig and as a result had a bit of free time. Took the opportunity to visit Brookfield Plantation on the northern edge of Corby. Although this is a largely private wood there is a public footpath that cuts through the site and I spent a pleasant couple of hours strolling about.

As you may have come to expect there was nothing too exciting to report, a good selection of common woodland birds included my first Nuthatch for the site, two birds were having a bit of a barney and may have been territorial males. A pair of Ravens passed low over the wood, this is one of my most reliable areas for them. Raptors were represented by Red Kite and Buzzard.

Having moaned about the lack of Siskins in a previous post I was pleased to see several small flocks of this species, the largest group containing 20+ birds.

On a non birdy note I had good views of Fallow Deer.

James.

redeyedvideo · Feb 8, 2015

It's good to have an active thread for birding in Northants, keep it up! I went to CHGP yesterday which was very quiet. A Little Egret was in the stream on the other side of the Bedford Road and a fox was wandering around the large roundabout in full view of the motorists.

Yellowhammers are regular garden visitors along with 2 Nuthatches and Jays but no Siskins to report.

string boozel · Feb 8, 2015

Hi Dave hopefully other folks can add their own sightings and thoughts to this thread.

As it was such a cracking day today I went over to the patch armed with my swanky new Nikon with a vague notion that I might be able to photograph some kites. The kites obliged with stunning views and I repaid them with a series of blurry images which may have been kites or may equally have been cack on the lens!

The sunny conditions induced some of the birds into song, Greenfinches and Chaffies were in good voice while many of the Great Tits were teacher-teachering. Not too much to report, 3 Teal were new for the patch year list while Kestrel and Buzzard completed the day's raptor haul.

A faint whisper of the Spring to come (hopefully) came in the shape of a Peacock butterfly, after some foul mouthed fumbling I managed a photograph but there's no way I'm attempting to post it on here!

James.

string boozel · Feb 9, 2015

A third and final gripping tale from Corby as it's back to work tomorrow.

Took a walk down to Weldon this morning for a change of scenery. My first stop was at a balancing lake near the A43 roundabout. This is my premier site for waterbirds in the area and although it was half frozen over I managed to add Tufted Duck 8, Gadwall 15, a similar number of Mallards and a Dabchick to the day list. Not too much passerine activity though two robins did the local chavs proud. They were so intent on their fight that both fell, still fighting into a bramble bush whereupon the two spent a minute, chests out and posturing before the vanquished bird beat a retreat.

Next stop was another balancing lake near to the Woodland Park but this was completely frozen and so bird free. A pair of Buzzards were briefly joined by another and another bout of argy bargy ensued, I never realised that Weldon was so violent!

More birds were singing today, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Skylark and Song Thrush were all adding their voices to the building chorus.

A third stop to a third pond revealed no pond at all, just a patch of frozen mud. With only Blue Tits calling I gave it up as a bad job and headed home.

James.

markspirito · Feb 10, 2015

With an hour or so before work , a quick look at Daventry Country Park, was fairly unproductive due to the lingering fog, I could just make out the usual waterfowl and gulls on the reservoir, highlight for me was as I went off the beaten track on the way home and flushed a Woodcock, nice bird for the year list !

string boozel · Feb 15, 2015

I'm afraid I was something of a county traitor today as I joined my brother on a trip into neighbouring parts to see Long-eared Owl and Rough-legged Buzzard.

Did pop into Blatherwyke Lake in an attempt to find Mandarin Ducks which turned out to be successful as we saw 8 drakes. Not much else about apart from Mistle Thrush and lots of Kites, we didn't see any Pink-footed Geese but that may be because we couldn't be bothered looking through the masses of Grey Lags.

On the way home we popped over to Deenethorpe where the Great Grey Shrike repaid us for our treachery by not showing. A flock of about 50 Fieldfares was one of the bigger ones I've seen locally this winter.

On the birdsong front Reed Bunting and Blackbird have begun to sing this week.

One final thing, has anyone else noted a drop in rabbit numbers in the county? On a recent nocturnal drive from the M1 to Corby I saw one roadside rabbit when normally I'd see loads.

James.

string boozel · Feb 16, 2015

A brief stroll around the patch today, grey skies and intermittent rain putting something of a dampener on the proceedings,

Not many birds about, a Grey Heron and Green Sandpiper were both new for the year but passerine numbers were down. It was nice to get good views of Goldcrest without having to strain my neck, several were feeding low down in bramble bushes.

The conditions seemed to have subdued the singing today, only Song Thrush, Blackbird and Goldfinch joined the Robins today.

James.

Birding in Northants (1 Viewer)

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

It's like water off a duck's back!

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread