Birding in Northants (1 Viewer)

[string boozel]

Hi Andrew, I think Lings might be one of the more reliable sites for this species in the county now, I've seen them on just about every visit. It actually seems to be a pretty good wood for birds, the dawn chorus being quite impressive. I'm guessing there were not too many parakeets around when you were pounding the paths though!

James.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Hi Andrew, I think Lings might be one of the more reliable sites for this species in the county now, I've seen them on just about every visit. It actually seems to be a pretty good wood for birds, the dawn chorus being quite impressive. I'm guessing there were not too many parakeets around when you were pounding the paths though!

James.

Was quite impressed to hear of the parakeets. The only one I've ever seen in Northants was in Abington Park. If I'm in the area again I'll have to have a look.

Lesser-spots seemed to disappear from the wood for a while, but I guess have come back over recent years. It can sometimes be quite a good place for common woodland birds. It used to get Wood Warblers regularly in spring and they actually bred one year (I think around 1990).

 

[string boozel]

Neither Wood Warblers or 'peckers on the menu today, instead I chose to pop down to Weldon for the first time in a bit. At the A43 pond a pair of Canadas of which one was on a nest and a pair of Greylags were being terrorised by the cob Mute Swan. His mate too was sitting on her massive nest, I hope that they have more success this year. Fourteen Tufted Ducks and three drake Gadwalls were also there along with Dabchick, Moorhen and Coots. A singing Garden Warbler in nearby vegetation was my first of the Spring.

The other pond had some nesting Coots but not a great deal else, I'll be checking it again in a few weeks to see if any Sedge Warblers have moved in. There's a chance I won't be updating for a week or so as I'll be away in Norfolk next weekend.

James.

 

[string boozel]

I had planned to be out and about in the county yesterday but the lure of Dotterels in Norfolk was enough to drag me away. No such concerns this morning however when I took a relaxed stroll around the patch in rather lovely Spring conditions. Highlights among the birds were a Kingfisher and a singing Grey Wagtail while the regular pair of Swallows had returned.

For the first time this year there was a good showing of butterflies with half a dozen Dingy Skippers being joined by a single Grizzled. A couple of Green Hairstreaks were in a combative mood, both were twisting and corkscrewing around each other for several minutes until one gave up and disappeared. Many Orange-tips including several in my garden, a Brimstone and a Small White were the others seen today. Another first was a Large Red Damselfly while the number of flowers in bloom are increasing giving the place a very pleasing aspect.

James.

 

[markspirito]

Welcome back James, ...I dont think you have missed too much in Northants, although there seems to be a nice trickle of Black Tern passing through Daventry Country Park lately and as you said Orange tip butterflies seem to be having a good spring, I was hoping the white winged Black Tern from Draycote might call in to Daventry but no such luck.....yet !

Mark

 

[string boozel]

Cheers Mark, I've managed to catch up with Black Terns but they were in one of our neighbouring counties. If you or anyone else does find a White-winged at Daventry I may well be making a first visit, it's been ages since I saw one in the county.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Had a rather late Wheatear while I was on the way to work this morning, it was on the fence circling the building site at Cockerell Road.

James/

 

[string boozel]

Left the house before six AM this morning for a bit of a marathon trek around the surrounding area with the intention of seeing if any of the scarcer farmland species were around. In this I failed with neither Corn Bunting, Turtle Dove or Quail being found (I have an optimistic streak) although I did see a variety of good birds and the weather was kind.

My first stop was at the A43 pond at Weldon where it seems the cob swan has evicted the geese though he and his mate seemed to be doing fine. There was also Dabchick, Mallard , a pair of Gadwall, six drake Tufties bothering a rather flustered looking duck, Moorhen and Coot. The other pond had another pair of Tufted Ducks, a few Mallards and a pair of Greylags with four goslings, perhaps displaced from the other pond.

I then headed on taking a brief look at Laundimer Wood, two further broods of Greylag and a pair of Canadas were present on a farm pond. The wood itself was alive with activity though the star was a Cuckoo whose loud calls provoked a response from a more distant bird. Raven was also heard, this is becoming a regular site for this recovering species.

The farmland bird community seemed to be in reasonable health with good numbers of Linnet, Yellowhammer and Whitethroats in particular and I heard at least five Lesser Whitethroats too. The villages of Lower and Upper Benefield had good numbers of Swallows though Swifts seemed to be in very short supply, I only saw them in Corby. A nice surprise was a small group of Tree Sparrows seen between the latter and Deenethorpe, I have not seen any local ones for quite some time.

I had to stop at Deene Lake as I was passing (it would have been rude not to) and the site still seems to have some appeal for Shelducks with six being present. The same selection of common wildfowl as on the Weldon ponds were joined by an Eygptian Goose, a Black Swan, and Great Crested Grebes. The Grebes were occupying two nests so hopefully I'll get to look at some stripey little uns soon.

From Deene I headed home passing the building site that used to be Priors Hall. It always depresses me when I think how good this site used to be, I spent many a happy hour birding here but I suppose you can't fight progress. A Kestrel near Kirby Lodge was my only one of the day.

It was good to see Brown Hares at several different sites and also some deer while Orange-tips continue to fly in good numbers.

James.

 

[string boozel]

An early morning stroll around Southwood did not supply anything earth shattering though there was a good selection of the commoner birds which included a singing Reed Bunting. Another star was a singing Garden Warbler whose excellent mimicry of a Song Thrush had me slightly confused until I worked it out. The large clearing now looks to have two pairs of Lapwing though sadly there appear to be no Grasshopper Warblers this year.

A large herd of 35+ Fallow Deer are now present in the clearing, they seem to have attracted a bit of a corvid fan club as both Jackdaws and Magpies were in close attendance. Other wildlife included tadpoles in good numbers and Common Blue and Large Red Damselflies, I think that I was a little too early for butterflies.

James.

 

[string boozel]

I managed to blag an extra day off work so spent part of the morning wandering around the patch. Nothing much to report from a birdy point of view though the Kingfishers were very active and a female Reed Bunting was a rare visitor.

It's at this time of the year when I could change my username to stringlet boozel as I spend rather a lot of time looking at butterflies and today was fairly interesting. In addition to the two Spring Skippers I saw my first Common and Holly Blues and a pristine Brown Argus. Throw in nice views of Orange-tips and Small and Large White and it was worth the visit.

Back at the village I finally caught up with the local pair of Swifts, I was beginning to think they weren't going to make it. On a different note I should comment on the excellent display of Hawthorn blossom this year, it should lead to a good feast for thrushes later in the year.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Another day off and I headed back over to Southwood where there were few birds to report. The large herd of Fallow Deer appeared to have dispersed and only a small group were left. I did see what was perhaps the stupidest animal of the year in the form of a Munjac. It approached to within a few yards of me before it finally realised that I was there and when it did panic ensued. It's plan to head for the nearest trees was defeated by the six foot high deer fence separating it from leafy sanctuary and the hapless animal only discovered its error when it bounced off. This was a process which was repeated about every ten yards until a somewhat dazed creature gave up and took of bounding away to another altogether less fency patch of wood.

On the insect front I have to expose myself ( verbally only I'm glad to say ) for the hapless stringer that I am. The Common Blue Damsel that I reported in an earlier post was in fact an Azure -sorry. I saw several more today and Large Red too. The only species of butterfly was rather ironically Common Blue ( honest ) but there were rather a lot of them. I also saw a Beemimic Hoverfly for the first time, it really does do a convincing impression.

James.

 

[string boozel]

I took another longish walk today beginning in the Welland Valley below Cottingham and heading on in the direction of Rushton. While for most of the time there was nothing too exciting to report it was still a good walk with many Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Whitethroats seen. The road between East Carlton and Pipewell had some nice Elm hedges which may hold White-lettered Hairstreak later in the season. There were also many patches of mature though private woodlands from which several Nuthatches could be heard calling.

Things definitely took a turn for the more interesting between Pipewell and Rushton where the first highlight were some Tree Sparrows near a farm called Towns Close Lodge. A few yards further on a couple of Yellow Wagtails were a very welcome surprise, I don't see many of these around nowadays. The best birds of the day for me though were two Grey Partridges feeding on a farm track, I really can't remember the last county ones that I saw. After this little purple patch things calmed down a bit and I stopped for a late lunch in a village pub.

I didn't see any interesting insects as the promised sun did not break through during the time that I was out but I did see four Brown Hares while on my travels.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Was out at the patch this morning where the weather was doing a good impression of March. With grey skies, a cool wind and drizzle it was easy to believe that the blizzards of falling Hawthorn blossom was snow. It's a funny old business this birding game, yesterday I saw shed loads of Red-legged Partridges and didn't give them a second thought but today I see two here and have to stop myself from calling RBA! A double figure count of Swifts was good for the site and a Marsh Tit is always nice at this time of the year. The highlight for me was a large flock of Long-tailed Tits, it's always nice to see the Dick Turpin masked juveniles though I can do without the constant sibilant calls. The constant comings and goings of the Kingfishers suggests that there is a nest full of demanding Prince and Princessfishers somewhere along the stream.

James.

 

[string boozel]

WARNING This post may contain some genuinely interesting stuff, people of a nervous disposition should probably continue with caution.

I was out at Shuttleworth yesterday enjoying some flying feats of a different nature but had returned to the business of birding this morning with a walk down to Weldon. On the A43 pond the swans have seven cygnets, I hope more make it through to adulthood this year. There were seventeen Tufted Duck of which two were female and I'm hoping that they may breed again. Coot, Moorhen, Dabchick and some Mallards showing the first hints of eclipse completed the water bird roster. The colony of Bee Orchids in the grassland nearby are now flowering and looking lovely.

On the other pond the family of Greylags have disappeared and given how many pooches were taking a swim in even the brief time I was there I'm not surprised. Despite the doggy dippers a pair of Coot had one chick and there was a nervous looking pair of Mallard.

I didn't see any butterflies despite the marvellous weather but did see Banded Demoiselle, Large Red and Blue-tailed damsels.

Having paid my dues to the birding gods and done just enough chores to keep the guvnor happy I decided to have a lazy sit in the garden and enjoy some of the local raptors coming and going. The plan was showing promise with a quick appearance by a Red Kite, it can take a long while to see anything. Five minutes later at 12:40 another bird drifted in from the west at some height. I raised my bins expecting a Buzzard or something similar but found to my great surprise a White Stork. Yes you did read that correctly, a bleeping great bleepity bleep WHITE STORK! I watched the bird for a total of about two minutes as it circled several times before heading off in a northwest direction. Needless to say, once I had established that I wasn't going to have a heart attack, I phoned several locals to inform them of the sighting. It's absolutely typical of birding in that I've walked miles and miles this year with only modest results while when I sit on my lazy butt the mega comes to me. Needless to say this knocks Waxwing off its star bird on the garden list perch and is my rarest self found Northants bird.

Having calmed down a tad I continued my vigil with a couple of cold beers and was rewarded with sightings of Red Kite, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel, not bad for an hour or two of spotting!

James.

 

[markspirito]

Nice one James.. I had a similar experience some years ago while laying on the beach with the family at Wells - next - the sea in Norfolk, not really birding but staring up at the clouds , I also had a White Stork drift over at great height...There is a lot to be said for this kind of birding !

Mark

 

[string boozel]

I have to say Mark this form of birding does appeal to me being a lot less punishing on the feet. Incidentally I hope that if you were with your family none of the words that I used sneaked out!

James.

 

[string boozel]

Back to reality and back to relative mediocrity today with a wander around the patch. Nothing too out of the ordinary though the two patch rarities, Red-legged Partridge and Reed Bunting were still present. The agitated behaviour of the male bunting suggests a pair may be breeding in the area.

Good numbers of Common Blue butterflies and my first Speckled Woods of the year and there were plenty of Burnet Companion moths around doing a reasonable impression of skippers. A small flock (I don't know the collective name) of tiny moths with extremely long antennae may well have been Yellow-banded Longhorns but my book only covers the macro moths.

Most of the Hawthorn blossom has fallen but both elder and bramble are starting to flower and the first small wild strawberry fruits are ripening and pretty tasty they were too. The most interesting flower was a site first Pyramidal Orchid next to the railway track, the Common Spotteds should be flowering soon.

James.

 

[string boozel]

A longer walk today taking in the three lakes that I've covered in the past beginning near Kingscliffe and ending up at Gretton. At Blatherwyke numbers and species of wildfowl greatly reduced though a good total of 35 Mute Swans and five or six Shelduck were seen. A Mistle Thrush put on a virtuoso performance from the very top of a tree and the numbers of Sand Martins suggests a colony nearby while both Reed and Sedge Warbler were heard singing. On previous visits I've noticed three Llamas in a field next to the village which I've always thought to be a quite strange sight for Northants but that was nothing compared to what I saw through a gap in the hedge on the opposite side of the road. The first surprise was three Rheas, initially I took them for female Ostriches and then I noticed a gang of wallabies which I think may have been Red-necked. The sight of these animals bounding around a Northamptonshire lawn really was quite bizarre especially the albino ones and should one of these or a Rhea get out I'm sure it would create a bit of a stir.

Several Bee Orchids were seen on the verge where the old Bulwick road meets the A43 and there were several pairs of Reed Buntings near Deene Lake. On the lake itself a drake Wigeon was an unseasonal surprise and there was also a drake Pochard. There appeared to be a number of young Gadwall which suggests some local breeding success, I would judge a couple of broods and the numbers of Tufted Duck suggests that there could be some news to come in that direction too. Six Shelducks came as no surprise at what must be one of the most reliable local sites for this species. During a shower I had a peek into Deene church which is maintained by the Historic Church Trust and I can recommend it if you are in the area as it's really quite interesting.

By the time that I got to Harringworth Lodge lake it was raining fairly heavily so I stood under a tree for a bit and waited for the birds to come to me. On the lake itself it was mainly the Coot show, four pairs had young, a couple of Tufties and a Great Crested Grebe. A brief visit from my first local Common Tern of the year was overshadowed by an Osprey which probably wandered in from neighbouring Rutland. The final highlight was a Cuckoo calling from some nearby trees, I heard presumably the same individual near Gretton.

Other wildlife noted today included a Brown Hare, some Common Blue Damselflies (toffee apples instead of tuning forks), Orange-tip, half a dozen Small Heath and a Common Spotted Orchid. All in all a very interesting day though the sight of those wallabies and rheas may well stay in my mind almost as long as the stork.

James.

 

[string boozel]

I was out fairly early this morning in a successful attempt to beat the rain and headed off to Southwood. Not much to report really, a few Lapwings in the clearing and young Green Woodpeckers still trying to perfect their calls. A lot of Common Spotted Orchids and a few Bee Orchids made a nice sight while an early Meadow Brown and an Azure Damselfly represented the insects. Two Muntjac were also seen and at least they were not trying to stun themselves by bouncing off fences.

Sadly it seems as if the borrowed time that the large clearing has been living on has now run out. Several large earth moving machines are going about their destructive business. It was sad to see the Lapwing parents rising up to harass and harry marauding crows completely oblivious to the encroaching danger to their long term survival getting closer with each shovelful of earth. This site has been lying unmolested for a few years now, I wonder if the environmental impact survey was ever updated? Oh well that's one small piece of England that's less green and less pleasant but someone will no doubt be making some money out of it. I was looking through some notes covering Southwood and Stanion Lane from May 1995 and on one outing saw Reed, Grasshopper and Sedge Warbler, Nightingale, Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Willow Tit and Turtle Dove, what I wouldn't give to get that haul nowadays! Developers and their politician buddies say that this kind of thing is essential for our financial well being and so it will no doubt continue, I wish they would do it a little closer to their homes.

James.

 

[markspirito]

Sadly it seems as if the borrowed time that the large clearing has been living on has now run out. Several large earth moving machines are going about their destructive business. It was sad to see the Lapwing parents rising up to harass and harry marauding crows completely oblivious to the encroaching danger to their long term survival getting closer with each shovelful of earth. This site has been lying unmolested for a few years now, I wonder if the environmental impact survey was ever updated? Oh well that's one small piece of England that's less green and less pleasant but someone will no doubt be making some money out of it. I was looking through some notes covering Southwood and Stanion Lane from May 1995 and on one outing saw Reed, Grasshopper and Sedge Warbler, Nightingale, Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Willow Tit and Turtle Dove, what I wouldn't give to get that haul nowadays! Developers and their politician buddies say that this kind of thing is essential for our financial well being and so it will no doubt continue, I wish they would do it a little closer to their homes.

James.


This winds me up no end ......!, In the words of that famous Joni Mitchell song ...They Paved Paradise and put up a parking lot, and I cannot see any end to it until it affects us Humans directly, which I think it eventually will :C

Mark