Birding in Northants (1 Viewer)

[string boozel]

Yes they seem to be chipping away at the green spaces piece by piece and anyone that protests is either a NIMBY or a luddite. I'm not sure what the future generations will make of our short sightedness and mismanagement of our environment or the world's resources. The few conservation successes that we manage to achieve in no way offsets the constant losses. I'm off to sit in a darkened room and going to listen to some soothing music, maybe that will help!

James.

 

[string boozel]

It's not birds I know but this year seems to be a fine one for Bee Orchids as these pretty flowers have appeared in all manner of places. There are some on a grass verge in Willowbrook industrial estate at Curver Way where I would never expect to see them.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Another long walk today beginning at Upper Benefield and taking in Glapthorn Cow Pastures where I hoped to hear Nightingales, a bit late I know and it proved to be unsuccessful. What I did find was a bunch of twitchy types looking for Black Hairstreak butterflies and they duly obliged, even I managed a few views but these bug spotters while thoroughly decent are quite noisy ( I guess insects don't have such great hearing ) so I beat a retreat. A Large Skipper and a few Speckled Woods were seen and a Hornet buzzed by while Common Spotted Orchids truly lived up to their name here.

A Yellow Wagtail flew overhead next to the reserve and I a saw a group of three or four more nearer to Deenethorpe. The star bird was a Hobby which flashed past me close to where the Great Grey Shrike showed a couple of winters ago. Among the now usual crew of farmland birds were a few singing Reed Buntings and a Lesser Whitethroat.

At Deene Lake things were pretty much as they were with the Wigeon still present though the drake Pochard had acquired some female company. A huge flotilla of mainly Greylag geese included some young and there were the usual Shelducks present and the Black Swan remained.

Not many insects on the wing away from the Pasture with just a few Small Whites and several Speckled Woods seen. Another Bee Orchid was seen near Deenethorpe and two Brown Hares were noted.

James.

 

[string boozel]

The weather has been pretty dismal today so I had to pick my moment to pop out and it was midday before I left the house. I took the short walk over to the patch in case I had to get home quick if there was a downpour. The vegetation is as thick and verdant as it ever gets and with so many young birds hiding away it's a case of bird listening rather than bird watching. Song is dropping off as the season forges on but Willow Warblers and Chiffies are still in fine voice and a Song Thrush was putting on a good show. A Marsh Tit and a Heron were the most interesting birds while insects were keeping a low profile in the soggy conditions.

One exception to this was the bumblebees which were as busy as ever. Whole squadrons were buzzing around the Comfrey and the thistles and most of them were midgets of an inch or less. I try to I.D them when I can but it's pretty difficult. I did see Tree Bumbles and some carder bees, probably Common though many other white and red-tailed ones remain a mystery.

A Buzzard probably regretted making a low pass over the village as the reception it got from the local crows was far from welcoming while the swifts were keeping low too in the yucky conditions.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Forget the Brexit, this morning I arranged a Strexit from work and chose to go to the patch for some early(ish) nature spotting. Best birds were a pair of Kestrels though good to see the male Reed Bunting carrying food too. A Black-headed Gull was a hint of things to come, there have been several about in the last couple of weeks and I always regard them as a first sign of Autumn.

My wildflower book goes by colour and I mainly need the yellow and white pages at the moment with bramble and trefoil in particular seemingly everywhere. A notable exception was another Pyramidal Orchid and lots of deep purple Self Heal. The first Ringlets of the year joined Meadow Browns, Common Blues, a Large Skipper, a Holly Blue and a Small White on the list while a Banded Demoiselle was the only damsel. I photographed some bumblebees in the hope of being able to ID them later...we'll see how that works out.

Now if you're on the verge of nodding off I will finish by mentioning a HONEY BUZZARD that I got a rubbish photo of as it passed over my garden. Ha, who needs anywhere else when your garden is a rarity magnet? I may have to check that our water supply is not contaminated with hallucinogenic drugs. The HB was seen at 11:21 and was heading in a westerly direction.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Now one man's raptor monitoring scheme is also more than likely to be one woman's idea of a dosser waiting to be assigned some chores so I left Corby's answer to the Bosporus behind and abandoned any ideas I had of sitting in a deck chair in my garden.

My destination was Laundimer Wood where I hoped some promised sunny weather might lead to some butterfly activity. On the way I passed Southwood where both Skylark and Meadow Pipit were singing. A little further on growing on a patch of grass where the A43 meets Kettering Road I found Pyramidal and Bee Orchids as well as Devil's Bit Scabious. From Bears Lane I saw my birds of the day, two Yellow Wagtails but in truth there were not many birds of note today just a selection of the regular species.

As the sun became warmer the butterflies did respond with Speckled Wood being particularly common. Both Meadow Brown and Ringlet were showing well too and I also saw Large Skippers, Small Tortoiseshells, a Small White and a Painted Lady. Another migrant was a Silver Y Moth and an Azure Damselfly was also seen. A third and final orchid of the day was Common Spotted, two or three were seen in the wood. The only mammal of note was a Brown Hare.

On returning to the village I saw both Sparrowhawk and Red Kites.

James.

 

[string boozel]

I took a stroll down to Weldon this morning and began at the A43 pond where I was glad to see the swans still have seven cygnets. They appear to be growing quite fast being bigger than Coots now. A surprise here was an unseasonal Teal, a female feeding quietly on the edges being only the second June Corby one I can recall. Other ducks included Mallards, two Gadwall and seven male Tufties, I'm hoping that at least one female may be sitting on a nest. There were a few Coots about too tending to their young.

At the other pond a Reed Warbler was singing almost constantly, it's either a very late arrival or a bird that has failed elsewhere. A pair of Coots with a well grown chick were the only other birds of note. Not much else about aside from three or four Blue-tailed Damselflies, I was a little surprised that there were no butterflies around.

James.

 

[markspirito]

Well done on the Honey Buzzard James...again I had a similar experience some years ago at Cottesbrooke when least expecting it, I also had a stroll over Borough Hill on Sunday, highlights were 12 fly over Crossbills, Singing Meadow Pipits and Skylark...butterflies included Painted lady and what I eventually identified as 2 Small Heaths, also today at Daventry Country Park a single Marbled White, never had them here before.

Mark

 

[string boozel]

Thanks Mark, I didn't even realise it was an HB until I looked at the photo, I thought it was a Buzzard when looking with the naked eye! Good to hear that Crossbills are on the move, I'll have to keep an eye out.

James.

 

[string boozel]

A long old day today starting before eight and finishing at about six and involving a 27.5 km walk, quite a lot of non birdy stuff too so if you don't like that kind of thing give this post a miss. Walking through Willowbrook Industrial I was very happy to see half a dozen Marbled White which were my first Corby ones, other more learned local lepers have had them but not me.

I continued on to Brookfield Plantation noting quite a few Meadow Browns and Ringlets on the way. In the wood I found a fair selection of the commoner species and also Nuthatch, it's nice to know that they're still around. At this time of year I love it when I encounter a mixed flock, the wave of sound as they pass through all contact and alarm calls is always invigorating and it's a challenge as you try to pick out individual birds. The Long-tailed Tits seem to have had a good year but Coal Tit and Goldcrests seem down on last year. There were several hawker dragonflies here which I thought were Migrants but perhaps it's too early.

Moving on past Gretton I tried to take some public footpaths though the signage around here is pretty terrible and my walk to Kirby was anything but straight forward. This is one of these areas where there always seem to be bulls in the fields and while a load of curious bullocks almost led to a brown trousers moment at one point I didn't have to share a field with an actual bull. There was a large one in a field next to the path, it's low, almost menacing bellows were to normal cow moos what Barry White would be to a gang of Joe Pasquales but luckily I didn't have a close encounter. Pick of the wildlife was a flock of twenty five or so Lapwings while closer to Kirby I found a Yellow Wagtail.

Once I finally managed to get back on to some form of recognised path I walked out towards Harringworth stopping at the Lodge lake en route. A female Mandarin was the highlight though it was good to see that the pair of Great Crested Grebes had two stripey young. Other wildlife here included Dabchick, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Coots while several Reed Warblers were singing. Dragonflies included Black-tailed Skimmers and Common Blue and Red-eyed Damsels.

There were some really good fallow fields between here and the Spanhoe to Harringworth road with singing Meadow Pipits and lots of brown butterflies including Small Heath. Along the road itself there were many Elm suckers and one impressive more mature tree, I had a possible White -lettered Hairstreak but couldn't confirm it. The pub in the village was sadly closed ( they didn't respond to battering on the door or shouting through the letterbox anyway) so I carried on towards Gretton.

The river Welland below Gretton had a singing Sedge Warbler and good numbers of both Beautiful Demoiselle and White-legged Damselfly. Another Sedge Warbler was singing near Rockingham where a Hobby put the fear of God into the local Swallows,

Interesting species seen throughout the day but not mentioned already included Azure Damsel, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Small White and several Fallow Deer.

James.

 

[string boozel]

After yesterday's marathon I kept things local with a stroll over to the patch. I was a little concerned to see a van belonging to a utility and land surveyors parked next to the access gate and there was lots of little coloured flags and spray painted numbers about the place. As I can't recall any planning applications for the site I'm hoping it's not the prelude to something drastic.

On the bird front things were definitely on the routine side with a few patch scarce visitors in the form of Rook, Coal Tit and Treecreeper being the best of a mundane bunch. Many butterflies were active in the sunshine with Meadow Browns and Ringlets being particularly common. Quite a few new brood Small Tortoiseshells too and one each of Small and Essex Skipper were also seen as well as a white of some sort. Two insect mimics made an impression, one was a Beemimic Hoverfly and the other a wasp impersonating moth called a Six-belted Clearwing. Both Azure and Common Blue Damsel were also seen.

I was busy in the garden this afternoon so couldn't spend too much time gawping up at the sky but some House Martins alerted me to the presence of a Sparrowhawk and a male Kestrel noisily called up its mate to receive a small rodent. There has been a pair in the general area but I wasn't aware that they were breeding so close. A nice bird to add to the garden year list was a Bullfinch, I'm not entirely sure but it may well have been last millennium since their last visit.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Once again Highland Gathering time had eased its way around to the village and so I left the bagpipes and the cabers behind and went a wandering elsewhere. My first stop was at the A43 pond at Weldon where an eclipse drake Mandarin was the highlight, this one still retained some of the male feathering so I'm sure I've got it right this year. Another star was a female Tufted Duck with seven very young ducklings while the swans still have six cygnets. There were still three males and another female Tufty as well as Mallards, a Gadwall, Coots and a Moorhen and while I could hear Dabchicks I never saw any. A very freshly emerged Common Darter was my first of the year.

At the other pond the pair of Coots have an almost adult sized chick and a Heron gave very good views. While it was rather grey and cloudy at this stage both Meadow Browns and Ringlets were active, they're always more tolerant of cruddy conditions than other butterflies. Walking on through the woodland park I heard Meadow Pipit song flighting, its been a good Summer locally for this species.

Despite the unpromising conditions I had the intention of walking to Fermyn Woods, it's Purple Emperor time and I had a hankering for an Imperial audience. As a teenager I was often accused of being a shower dodger and for the first part of the day my skills appeared to be intact but on arriving at Fermyn the heavens opened and the prospects did not look great, There were however twenty one cars parked outside the gate so I hoped the bug twitchers knew more than I did and that things would be OK. Once the rain gave way to some sunshine I had excellent views of a Silver-washed Fritillary along with some commoner species, I can remember when this species was nothing more than a rumour here but they seem to be doing OK now. Walking along the track I had enough time to string a White Admiral, it was actually an Emperor though I only realised when I checked the photos but soon after I had great views of two male Purples.

On leaving the wood I had good views of a Marbled White near to the Welland Valley Gliding Club and also Common Blue while a little further on I saw Tree Sparrow near Blackthorn Lodge. While walking towards home I had a text notifying me about a Scarce Chaser draqonfly at Harry's park Wood and I was able to stop by and get very good views of this presumably increasing species. I had further good views of Silver-washed here and a glimpse of a genuine White Admiral too. Other top quality observers had seen Emperors here but I did not devote too much time looking for them.

On a good day for general wildlife watching I saw thirteen species of butterfly. Southern Hawkers at two sites, the Scarce Chaser and several Common Darters, Azure Damsel, Brown Hare and several froglets.

James.

 

[string boozel]

I was pleased to see the patch still intact on my visit this morning though there were two bods in high-viz vests hanging about so I can't relax yet. Conditions this morning were dull, grey, windy (coincidently this is how my wife describes me) and sometimes wet (no comment) so no butterflies other than the common browns were active. Not much bird wise either until an adult Kingfisher followed by a begging juvenile appeared, while the adult sped past the young bird landed for a couple of minutes giving me some decent views. With no other birds around and the only mammal noted a domestic moggy this was probably the least interesting visit of the year so far.

James.

 

[string boozel]

My dragonfly spotting friend has checked his photographs and decided that the Harry's Park Scarce Chaser has become a victim of that scourge of modern society obesity and is in fact a Broad-bodied Chaser. I maybe should have checked the I.D myself but as you've probably concluded already my skills in that area are somewhat lacking.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Yesterday I sneaked out of the county for my annual Nightjar pilgrimage to Norfolk. I mention it here because anyone of a certain age may recall the YOC/NYB forays to Souther Wood in search of this species in the seventies and early eighties. I seem to recall wandering for miles through the wood and seeing Woodcocks and Grasshopper Warblers but seldom any Nightjars aside form on one solitary occasion. I wonder if the late Mr F.D. Payne has any permanent memorial in recognition of his contribution to wildlife study in our county? Quite how he managed to put up with so many inquisitive and annoying ( I'm referring to myself here) snotty nosed brats is beyond me.

Today I began at Blatherwyke Lake where three Common Terns were the highlight. Not many wildfowl species about and it's yucky ducky time with everything in eclipse so I hate looking at them but a Great Crested Grebe appeared to be incubating a clutch. An albino Peacock in the village added to the sense of unreality that I seem to get around here nowadays and I took a picture of a wallaby with a joey peeking out of its mother's pouch. The unlovely screeching of Peacocks has soundtracked my Summer so far this year but today was worse than usual as I heard them at four distinct locations.

At Deene Lake a Little Egret was my first for a few months and there were also three Cormorants. A pair of Great Crested Grebes had two young while two other birds were on nests and there were lots of young geese around. On the spot nearest to the weir a group of Pied Wags with a few newly fledged Greys were attempting to catch damsel and dragonflies with varying degrees of success.

My final port of call was the A43 pond at Weldon where there are now two broods of Tufted Ducks as well as seven unattached adults. There are now two Mandarins, a female having joined the drake and the female Teal had reappeared. The swans still have six cygnets and there were many Mallards, some Coots, a few Moorhens and several Dabchicks.

Other wildlife included an escaped Red-eared Terrapin at Weldon and in the sunshine I saw a few dragonflies. The ones whose ID I'm confident of were Emperor and Southern Hawker as well as Banded Demoiselle. Rather a lot of butterflies showing, the highlight for me was my first Red Admiral of the year and though it was a very faded and tattered individual it was still appreciated. The new brood Commas and Small Tortoiseshells on the other hand are looking very dapper and well worth looking for.

James.

 

[string boozel]

Lazy day in the garden today so not much to report apart from kites and a Buzzard. Numbers of Black-headed Gulls increasing rapidly and one group were feeding on flying ants. Redpolls are fairly regular at this time of year so one flying over was not a surprise. Five species of butterflies also seen with the three species of whites being the commonest.

James.

 

[string boozel]

After a week in the garden (a Yellow-legged Gull the highlight) I thought it might be a good idea to go a bit further afield. As seven quid can get you a return ticket to Oundle I took Stagecoach up on their offer and set off there this morning. I began by walking down past Barnwell CP and taking the Nene Way along as far as Ashton before keeping next to the river as far as Cotterstock.

Birding was a little quiet, I checked all the stock fields in case a Cattle Egret may be about but no joy. An eclipse drake Mandarin was on the river near to Oundle Marina, a couple of Common Terns were seen near Ashton, a Hobby was seen near Oundle while both Sedge and Reed Warbler were both heard.

Insects were very active in the warm conditions with many dragonflies and butterflies observed. Of the former several Scarce Chasers were seen along with Brown and Migrant Hawkers, Emperors in very good numbers and also Banded Demoiselles, Red-eyed Damsels and both Common and Azure Damsels. Amongst the butterflies a good number of Red Admirals were noted, many pristine specimens in stark contrast to last week's travel worn individual and there seems to have been a hatch of Peacocks too. Another highlight was a Holly Blue next to the Nene at Oundle and many Gatekeepers.

I did manage a county tick today but it was very much a mixed blessing given that the animal in question was a Mink, they didn't ask to be here but they're still an unwelcome addition to the local fauna. For the first time I'm going to attempt to post a picture so fingers crossed...

James.

 

[string boozel]

I'm going to have a crack at another couple of pictures and hopefully if all goes well they will show a Banded Denoiselle, a Red Admiral, a cluster of Green-veined Whites taking minerals (I think) and a Scarce Chaser (I think!).

James.

 

[string boozel]

I had planned to visit the patch this morning but the footpath into the area was closed so I headed off to Weldon instead. At the A43 pond the pair of Dabchicks were feeding a very small chick and there also appeared to be a bird from last year too. Yet another family of Tufted Duck ducklings were seen which brings the total up to eighteen split across three broods. While all the unattached adult Tufties had gone there were still the pair of Mandarins, the swan family and lots of Mallards as well as two Gadwalls. The Coots have built a huge nest and are looking to start another batch of youngsters, two well grown ones are almost independent now.

On the other pond the other Coot family appear to be doing well and the were was also a single unattended Moorhen chick. Not many other birds of note though many insects were active. Dragons and damsels seen were Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Banded Demoiselle, Red-eyed, Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damsels. Browns continue to be the commonest butterflies with Gatekeepers becoming increasingly so while whites too remain common. Also had some very nice views of Small Torty, Red Admiral and Peacock.

I'll include a picture of the new Tufted family, the first brood and also a Peacock just to add a dash of colour.

James.

 

[markspirito]

Nice to see a few Photos James.. wader numbers are slowly increasing at Daventry Country Park along with the mud...Green Sandpipers and Common Sand, also a highlight for me was a Marbled white Butterfly that flew through my garden briefly during the recent hot spell

Mark