On Saturday (07/02), a truly grim, cloudy day I first popped into Hardingstone GP on the edge of Northampton to look for a drake Red Crested Pochard, always a nice bird to see. Took me no time to find him feeding away with several Gadwall and Tufties and relatively close quarters.
The Gadwall too were at times showing pretty close too, though bloody shame about the grotty light!
After a brief, unsuccessful look at a nearby Little Owl site, I next headed a short way along the road to Barnes Meadow nature reserve, a small flooded, reedy meadow adjacent to both the River Nene & the A45. Here I found at least 5 Jack Snipe and several Snipe, as well as a brief Water Rail too. Nice little haul!
I then went along the A45 to Summer Leys. Here there was a nice pair of Pintail from the Pioneer hide, as well as a single Shelduck.
I then spent a bit of time at the feeding station enjoying point blank views of several Bullfinch, a Marsh Tit and good numbers of Reed Bunting amongst other things.
Best of all though for me though was a Water Rail strutting around nervously feeding no more than 15 feet away. Magic!
The next day (Sunday 08/02) I went for a walk early doors with my mum looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in Northampton. Sadly no sign, however it was a stunning, cold and sunny morning and did see a good selection of woodland birds. Here, I also heard my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year...spring is on it's way!
Afterwards, we went to Summer Leys again for a bit, hoping to see the Water Rail in the much improved light. Sadly, there were just too many people about, making just too much noise and frustratingly it only showed occasionally and briefly before scuttling back into the rushes.
In the meantime, there were plenty of birds coming down to the feeding station in great light, making it a great opportunity to get some good close-ups. We also saw one of the local Great White Egrets loafing around distantly on the main lake, as well as a single Little Egret.
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