Tuesday (17/04) I spent a while at Summer Leys in the hope something might be lurking around. As I got out of the car, my first Sedge Warbler of the year was singing loudly in the hedgerow nearby and a Common Tern went over. The reserve held several more Common Terns, a smart looking summer plumaged Golden Plover and 2 Ruff on the spit opposite the feeding station. Other than that though there was very little about.
The next day (18/04) was a wet one. Looking at what was about around the Midlands, there appeared to be Arctic Terns nearly everywhere. So after work I thought I would initially go to Summer Leys. I was in luck! It wasn't long before I had at least 5 Arctic Terns flying around the main lake from the main hide. Nice when a plan comes together! Also present were 3 Yellow Wagtails on the far side on grass in front of the old railway line, my first ones of the year. The 2 Ruff were again present on the nearby bund. Round the other side from the Feeding Station, it was apparent there were quite a few more Arctic Terns than just 5. It looked like something around 20 was more likely. They spent their time either sitting as a group on the Gull Island spit or flying around the main lake. There were at least 5 Common Terns also around.
Thursday (19/04) evening I had things to do and there was no chance I'd get a chance to go and see anything. It was my luck then that a Pied Flycatcher was found at Daventry Resevoir with a Black Redstart also at nearby Borough Hill! Typical!
These two surely wouldn't still be around by Friday. However around lunchtime on Friday (20/04) the Pied Fly was again reported and there was only one place I was heading too after work! Having been let off slightly early from work I managed to get to Daventry Resevoir around 17:15. I had no change for the car park but I thought f**k it, I'll take the risk. I didn't really know where to look other than the hedgerow by the visitor centre and an oak tree with a nestbox. There were another couple of birders looking for it. There was no initial sign, however a little way along the dam and about 100m from the visitor centre I found the tree with the nestbox. I lingered round there for a couple of minutes. Then out of nowhere the Pied Flycatcher flew out of the hedge, looped round and back into the hedge in classic Flycatcher behaviour. It was still there, Brilliant!! After a couple of minutes it showed again and this time was visible. For around 20 minutes it showed amazingly well, always perching right out in the open. Was a cracking little chap! Further to the right, a female Redstart briefly showed too, making it a dam successful trip.
After this I went on to Borough Hill for a short while to see if the Black Redstart was still around too. Despite a mild, bright evening it failed to show around the compound area, however there were 3 male Wheatears present on the east side of the summit. These consisted of 2 big orangey Greenland birds and 1 Northern.
Today, Saturday (21/04), my cricket match got postponed due to the rather moist weather, however it did give me a chance to catch up with anything about. First stop was Summer Leys, however it was was distinctly lacking anything out of the ordinary with nothing more than the 2 Ruff, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and greater numbers of Common Terns.
A group of 3 Whimbrel had been seen up until at least 1 o'clock at Pitsford Resevoir and I ummed and ahhed on whether to see if they were still there. In the end I decided to give it a try. Around half 3 I arrived on the causeway. An initial scan of the shoreline by the feeding station with my bins appeared positive with 3 brown waders there. So I popped the wellies on and headed down the path to the feeding station. I got the scope on the spit and sure enough the 3 Whimbrel were rather suprisingly still there!
Whimbrels in Northants are usually a very fleeting experience with them either flying through or stopping for a matter of minutes, so these 3 were a right bonus. A male Yellow Wagtail showed briefly on the same shoreline, however was flushed by a passing Sparrowhawk. A Oystercatcher was present in the same area and a Ringed Plover flew through, heading in the Scaldwell Bay direction.
A walk down to the Scaldwell Bay revealed several Shelduck, at least 5 as well as at least 5 White Wagtails with several Pied. There were quite a few very vocal Common Terns about and several times they came to rest on the old road spit by the feeding station - I counted at least 11 there at one point. By the time I left at around 18:00pm, the Whimbrels were still present. It was then time to get home for my gammon and eggs!
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