Latest Northants sightings

I've been out & about in the county over the last few days. On Sunday I had an early morning look around Stanwick GPs. Very little about despite it looking very good. The recent clear and mild weather has clearly stifled the number of goodies dropping in. The best I could muster were a immature Peregrine swooping over the layby pit, 1 or 2 Redwing through, (my first of the autumn), a couple of Swallows through, a squealing Water Rail & lots of flyover Meadow Pipits & Skylarks.

Mid-morning I headed on to Ditchford GPs & the area west of Ditchford Lane in the hope of finding some unusual Gulls. Here I found good numbers of gulls however nothing unusual. An adult female Peregrine perched up on one of the pylons and a lone Egyptian Goose was present on Viaduct Pit. The mild sunny day also brought out good numbers of butterflies with the highlight being a fresh looking male Clouded Yellow . Also about were several Small White, Large White, Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Commas, a Brimstone & a tatty Speckled Wood.

On Monday (07/10) I visited Summer Leys in the late afternoon. Here highlights were mainly duck related with 3 Garganey present (1 close to Brayshaw's bund & 2 on scrape), 4-5 Pintail around the reserve and 1 female Goldeneye on Mary's.

On Tuesday (08/10) I went to Pitsford Reservoir on what was a very mild and bright day again. Scanning the Scaldwell Bay I was surprised to find 2 Great White Egret along with at least 5 Little Egret, a very nice self find! Good job they were there as there was very little else about with the best being a Common Sandpiper close to the feeding station, a Ruddy Duck, several Pintail, 3 flyover Snipe & 5 Siskin over.