I set off first thing in the dark, driving straight to Blatherwyke, NE of Corby. I had a good look around the old church here with a couple of Hawfinch recently reported here. Sadly no sign with just good numbers of Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Fieldfare, Redwing, 1-2 Mistle Thrush and as per usual, plenty of Red Kite.
A short distance away at Blatherwyke Lake, Mandarin numbers had swelled somewhat since I was last there in late December. There was a lot of displaying gone on, bringing them all out from the trees and bank. I counted 46, but I'm certain there were more than that still hidden amongst the trees and their large roots reaching out into the water.
There were a fair few geese scattered around, but soon many more headed in from the nearby fields, predominantly Greylags. Amongst them was a nice group of 4 Pink Footed Geese keeping tightly together at all times, all with big lumps of mud on their bills from feeding in the nearby fields (Very poor photo below).
Next I visited Wakerley Wood and went for a for a bit of a walk round looking for Crossbill. The place was so quiet, apart from the hoards of mountain bikers! In a good half hour walk, all I saw was just the odd Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Marsh Tit. Bit of a let down, but nevermind, can be a bit hit & miss there! I then headed back along the A43 to Deene Lake, which is always worth a look. Not too much on offer there, although a count of 18 Shelduck was pretty impressive!
A relatively short drive away, just the other side of the A43 and the village of Deenethorpe, a Great Grey Shrike had been present for a few weeks now, ranging widely around field hedges and bridleways. On arrival I got a bit jammy with several other birders on it some 100m further down the road. He was just sat up in the sun in a nearby hedge. The shrike showed fairly well, zipping down to the ground to feed occasionally, before gradually moving further and further away from the road, along the hedgerow. When I left it was a very distant little silhouette perching on the top of another distant hedge, flying around briefly after being mobbed by a local Kestrel! All things considered I reckon I did pretty well getting the views that I did having heard how mobile it has been.
I decided to then finish the day over at Ravensthorpe and Hollowell Reservoirs, NW of Northampton. I headed to the causeway at Ravensthorpe and in fact ended up staying there for quite a long while! Here, two pairs of Smew had been showing very well recently on the small side and for me, they didn't disappoint! Those stonking 'white nuns' were really feisty at times having a right tilt at each other, fantastic to watch! Occasionally they came fairly close to the causeway to feed, however for much of the time, were a little too far away to get really decent photos. I found them a really tricky bird to photograph and get the exposure right. I did in the end however, get a handful of ok shots.
On the other side of the causeway, after a little scanning, I eventually found the 1st-winter drake Scaup that had also been present for some while now. It was relatively distant and asleep but still a great bird to see. I don't know why but I always get a great buzz out of seeing a Scaup! To my surprise, looking at my 2014 year-list, I didn't actually see one at all last year which rather surprised me!!
After having another fix of the Smew, looking back the Scaup was now a hell of a lot closer and over the next 20 minutes or so, gave great views feeding away along side several Tufted Duck and good numbers of Wigeon. Certainly my best views yet of Scaup...brilliant!
The golden late afternoon light was great for photos and it was cool getting some images that really show the green colouration of the Scaup's head. The Wigeon too looked mint!
A quick walk up the point at nearby Hollowell Reservoir revealed the water levels to be exceptionally low. I saw very little, although a distant adult Yellow-Legged Gull was good, getting a nice comparison next to an adult Lesser Black Back. By then the sun was going down, so it was time to get back to Brackers!
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