Short trip out

Went out with Jon & Kirsty Philpott for a few hours last Saturday (18/01). We didn't see anything terribly outrageous but was just good to be out and about. We started at Ditchford GP, west of Ditchford Lane. Lots of birds about, particularly large gulls. We failed to track down the drake Scaup however we did see 2 pretty active Great White Egrets, a couple of Egyptian Geese, a couple of Little Egrets and a very vocal Green Sandpiper around the waterski pit.

After quickly checking the floods by the Finedon Road Industrial Estate, Wellingborough for rare gulls (without any success), we finished up at Pitsford Res causeway.
Again nothing really of note, however Jon kindly let me rattle away with his camera which was great fun. I managed to get the following shots:

Winter Northants birding at its best

On Sunday, (12/01) Dave James and I decided to do a tour of various sites around the county, with a few targets thrown in for good measure. The weather was stunning, with bright sunshine, though it was bitterly cold.

We started first thing along the southern edge of the reedbed at Stortons GPs to have a go for both Bittern & Bearded Tit. After around 20 minutes we heard the familiar pinging of Bearded Tits as two flew over the tops of the reeds in front of us before dropping down again. We heard them a couple more times after that but never saw them. Also here were several more year-ticks, including Cetti's Warbler, calling Water Rail & a Great Spotted Woodpecker, however no Bittern. We then moved off to Pitsford Reservoir.

We started at the dam, again in bright sunshine. Soon I had further year-ticks in the shape of great numbers of Little Grebe, a Green Sandpiper on a small flooded area behind the dam and a Redshank flying past the dam calling loudly. We had also hoped to pick up the long-staying juv. Great Northern Diver from here but couldn't locate it so we decided to walk along to find it.

After having a Redpoll sp. over calling and enjoying the amusing sight of a chubby cyclist going flying on the ice, we arrived at the back of Moulton Grange Bay. The pool behind the bay held 3-4 Little Egret and at least 4 Goosander too. We headed on past the pines, and we were soon greeted by very good views of the juvenile Great Northern Diver pretty close to shore. It was diving frequently making i-phone scoping a little tricky but pretty happy with the results:  

   

On the way back we checked the pool behind Moulton Grange Bay again and managed to pick out a fishing Great White Egret, largely obscured by vegetation, another decent year tick. We then drove round to have a quick scan from the causeway. Me managed to find very little, however I did pick out a distant female Smew south of the causeway.

We were hearing news of both Iceland & Glaucous Gulls on show in flooded fields on the edge of Wellingborough, by the Finedon Road Industrial Estate. So around midday we shot over to take a look. We weren't the only ones there will several familiar faces present. By this time it had clouded over and it was fookin cold but the draw of feasting our eyes on some 'white wingers' spurred us on.

It wasn't too long before we had an adult Yellow Legged Gull in the nearest field. Most of the gulls though were further away and were largely obscured by a hedge. Despite this we soon were onto a very smart 1st-winter Iceland Gull. This showed on & off for a while before we got the other main target with a 1st winter Glaucous Gull on show too. Brilliant! The gulls were constantly being flushed by several Red Kites swooping around and a big old bruiser of a Fox ambled past causing a bit of caos.

Eventually a large number of the gulls moved over to the field right in front of us. Here we were able to enjoy great views of both the Iceland & Glaucous Gulls. In addition were two Caspian Gulls; a very dapper looking 2nd-winter and a ringed 4th-winter, a 2nd-winter Yellow Legged Gull and a 2nd-winter Herring X Glaucous Gull (the latter three picked out by Martin Elliott a real gull expert and a very interesting guy to listen to. All these were in a seriously small area and made for quite a haul!

By this point we were painfully frozen so off back to the pub for a well earned pint to conclude a great days birding.

January bits & Pieces

So the 2014 yearlist has begun! It isn't something I'm going to be putting as much effort into as last year. I think I'm going to struggle to beat 246! I am though determined more than ever to find my own birds, especially locally.

So with that thought in mind, I began the year trying out several sites around south Northants on Thursday 02/01. Disn't see anything particularly spectacular with highlights being a huge female Peregrine hunting over farmland between Edgcote & Culworth, Kingfishers at both Boddington Res & the small lakes just north of Syresham & a flock of around 300 Linnet in the same area as the Peregrine.

On Saturday 04/01, on route to friends in Little Irchester, I popped into Summer Leys seeing 2 of the 3 Long Tailed Ducks and at least 200 Golden Plover.
The next day, Sunday 05/01, I started at Ditchford GPs, west of Ditchford Lane. Both entrances into the pits were though completely flooded out, boat required. I did manage to get some sort of view of Viaduct Pit and managed to find a distant adult Caspian Gull and 2 Egyptian Geese in the field just north of the pit.

I followed this with a quick look from the feeding station and causeway at Pitsford Res, however in difficult, cold and wet conditions, all I could find were 5 Red Crested Pochard (3 drakes) and a drake Goosander in the Scaldwell Bay.

I paid another visit to a heavily flooded Summer Leys late in the afternoon on Tuesday (07/01). The 3 Long Tailed Ducks all showed very well right in front of the gate by Mary's Lake. A male Peregrine flew along the valley and a Little Egret was on the pit between Mary's and the river, however the site was largely quiet.

On Friday 10/01 I had an interview in Milton Keynes and so on my way back I made the small diversion to Steeple Claydon near Buckingham. Here I soon found the long-staying Cattle Egret amongst cattle in front of Briarhill Farm. Initially he showed well, however he soon became very illusive, playing hide and seek behind the cattle! Ropey over exposed photo below!

Completing the round up, on Saturday 11/01 in perfect still, sunny weather, Em and I went over to Bucknell wood for a walk. I managed to see a handful of woodland year-ticks, with the highlight being 2 Woodcock, my first here, in one of the clearings at SP649451.