A tentative twitch

On Saturday 16/05, news broke of a 2cy male Red-Footed Falcon NE of Northampton at Kinewell Lake, Ringstead GPs. This would be a great county tick and a cracking looking bird too.

I was due to head over to see my parents (from a distance I may add) at their home near Northampton, so the timing couldn't have been better! I headed straight to Ringstead pretty quickly, slightly apprehensive as to the social distancing aspect of a twitch - though as it turned out, all was well.

Of course on arrival, the bird had disappeared. Always a crap moment as you're stood waiting, hoping for the bird to appear, while others nearby chat away happily, very content with their Redfoot experience, no less than 10 minutes previous!

The bird had been hawking low over the water after insects, together with the local Black-Headed Gulls. When I arrived the cloud had given way to some warm sun and so the insects had risen, along with the Red foot! As luck would have it, some more welcome cloud rolled in and soon after, I thankfully picked up the Redfoot cruising low over the water from the east. Get in!



Views were good but I decided to head around the other side of the lake, for some closer views. I managed to find a suitable fisherman's bay that looked out onto the bird's back and forth flight path. I then soaked up very enjoyable views of a fantastic bird - one of several to hit UK shores at this time.

A little more freedom

We all received the extremely welcome news, that from Wednesday 13/05, restrictions on our movement was to be eased slightly. We were now allowed to get out for an unlimited number of times and were also allowed to drive somewhere - as long as we maintained the 2 metre social distancing.

This was music to my ears and that very evening I hopped in my car to travel the short distance to my local Grizzled Skipper site near Croughton. It was sunny, but with a bitterly cold breeze. I knew there wouldn't be anything on the wing, but I was hoping I'd be able to find one/some roosting. It took a bit of effort, but just when I was about to give up...

Over the next few days, I popped back in warmer weather and was treated to up to 5 Grizzled (a bloody good count for here).

A single Dingy Skipper was a good find too, as they are very hard to find here. Numbers of Small Heaths were rapidly increasing and my first Brown Argus and Common Blues of 2020 appeared. I was really beginning to enjoy the fruits of this small amount of freedom! 

One of the other local sites I was keen to get to, was Bucknell Wood near Silverstone; somewhere that was just a bit too far away to access on foot or bike during lockdown.

I got up there on 17/05 and was able to enjoy my first Wood White fix of the year too - including a few very freshly emerged. Bootiful!

Cuckoo and several Spotted Flys were also in evidence, plus my first,  crazy-looking Lackey Moth caterpillar!

The Lockdown - Part 2

After 3 weeks of lockdown, we were told it was to be extended by a further 3 weeks, as the virus marched on towards it's peak - taking us towards the beginning of May.

I'd kind of got used to my new routine of working from home and getting out for my one walk each day. The fact that spring migration was happening helped a lot and keeping an eye out for migrants on my walks and from the garden was keeping me going nicely. That and the prolonged spell of warm and sunny weather.

I also had a week's holiday, which was originally planned for a break in northern France. No France of course, but a welcome break all the same!

I found Wheatears in various places on my walks out of town, including a showy group of 3 presumed Greenland race birds on 16/04.





Other highights included a brief flyover Tree Pipit, a couple of fly-by Curlews and several more Yellow Wagtails. There was a marked increase in Warblers, with the hedgerows groaning with singing Whitethroats in particular, plus smaller numbers of Lesser Whitethroats and the odd Garden Warbler too. The really good bit of reedy, marsh habitat, or 'the pocket park' adjacent to the park in Brackley, continued to hold Cetti's Warbler as well as a couple of migrant Sedge and a single Reed Warbler too. The latter was in fact ringed, but was particularly skulky!






I managed to add two garden ticks with a surprise Sand Martin over on the morning of 21/04 and a pair of Greylag Geese over on the evening of 24/04. Other flyovers included a couple of Hobby and interestingly, several Peregrine sightings too. Yellow Wags went over on a few occasions and the anticipated return of our local Swifts came on a very hot 25th April - quite an early date for here. 

I did unfortunately miss a brief White Stork over town, seen by a fellow Northants birder while he was visiting Brackley on work duties. A bit galling that one, particularly as it was seen a couple of streets away while I was in my conservatory working! If I'd just happened to look over my right shoulder at the right moment, I'd have probably seen it! Hopefully though it was plastic, from the Sussex re-introduction scheme and not purely wild!









I also began to venture out on Em's bike (mine is knackered!). This allowed me to get over to nearby Whistley Wood, to catch the last of the bluebells, as well as the first returning Spotted Flycatchers. I was chuffed to find a Cuckoo in there too - they are never guaranteed locally and like the Spot Flys, are generally only in the larger woods.







I gave the Emperor moths one last go in the garden on 22/04. I was again treated to a settled nice immaculate male. 



As the hard lockdown reached 6 weeks, there was hope that we may be granted just a little more freedom...

The Lockdown - Part 1

Well as the Coronavirus / Covid-19 gripped hold of the country, desperate times, called for desperate measures and on Tuesday 24/03 a country-wide lockdown was enforced by the government - eek!! This meant leaving the house only to buy food / medicine and for one bit of exercise a day.

Drastic, but necessary stuff. I was determined to make the best of it and I, like others began to compile a lockdown garden list, which became a good opportunity to boost the all-time garden list too!







Nothing crazy to begin with, however my first Blackcap of the year was singing on 31/03. Then garden gold with x3 new garden birds - a vocal Nuthatch appearing on 30/03, a singing Willow Warbler on the drizzly morning of 06/04 and a flyby adult Peregrine on 08/04.

More excitement on 03/04 - with everyone paying more attention to what was going on from our gardens, Noc-migers alerted us all to an impressive movement of Common Scoters across the country. After a bit of effort sitting out after dark, I was rewarded with the sound of a small group heading over on 03/04. Bonus calling Teal and Barn Owl were also heard - 3 garden ticks in one night. How good is that!?

My garden's other wildlife also delivered some enjoyment. It was a real bumper spring for Common Frogs, proving to be a constant and welcome distraction, with numbers peaking at an impressive 23!





I got round to acquiring some Emperor Moth pheromone lure. I was super excited to give it a go in the garden, hopefully resulting in me seeing my first one. It only bloody worked too and on the second attempt, one eventually landed for a short while. I marveled the beauty of it - those pinks and yellows and of course those eyes - brilliant!



In addition to all the time spent in the garden, I also got a regular 2-ish mile walk going, once a day to keep me active, in between my working from home. Down to St. James Park lake and out to the SW edge of Brackley and back was the route, which soon produced a handful of 'Brackley firsts' - a very unexpected Short-Eared Owl circling overhead on 09/04, a surprise singing Cetti's Warbler throughout, singing from the wetland pocket park and a singing Grasshopper Warbler in a scrubby patch in the park early on 12/04.



As well as the Gropper, other summer migrants began to appear, as winter migrants Fieldfares and Redwings clung on in small numbers. I just managed to sneak my first Swallow into March, on the 31st as it zipped north, Yellow Wags appeared pretty much daily from 10/04, Willow Warblers could be heard singing in small numbers dotted about, the first Whitethroat appeared on 13/04 and my first House Martin on 05/04. An extended weekend walk to Croughton Quarry across the fields at least gave me a chance to have a look at a decent sized bit of water - a Green Sand and a calling LRP were nice.







The lockdown has definitely encouraged me to get out on foot more often and appreciate what's around locally. It's certainly made me realise what a strong population of Skylarks and to a lesser extent Yellowhammers there are - my ears ringing with Skylark song wherever I seemed to go!