Also had the ever present LRP & Common Sand. as well as a single Willow Warbler, a handful of Sand Martins, approx 50 Swallows and the 3 Common Terns.
Friday 29 August 2014
Black Tern
A bloody great surprise in the shape of a smart Juv. Black Tern at Grimsbury Reservoir (Banbury) after work this evening in cloudy, migrant-friendly conditions. Spent most of the time feeding over the water, however eventually landed on the jetty showing great for a good 20 mins. Bang on, great start to my 2 weeks off work!
Also had the ever present LRP & Common Sand. as well as a single Willow Warbler, a handful of Sand Martins, approx 50 Swallows and the 3 Common Terns.
Also had the ever present LRP & Common Sand. as well as a single Willow Warbler, a handful of Sand Martins, approx 50 Swallows and the 3 Common Terns.
Grimsbury patching
Recently, I've been doing quite a bit of patching at Grimsbury Reservoir in the centre of Banbury, both during my lunchbreaks and after work. It seems to have a habit of drawing in passage migrants passing through the area, is a managable size and has a good mix of habitat. Bang on for a little local patch!
I've visited it relatively regularly since early spring picking up a few Wheatear, Common Sand, Peregrine, Yellow & White Wag and large numbers of hirundines.
Recent weeks has seen further decent fare. A juv LRP has been lurking around now for 2-3 weeks, being very approachable at times.
A Dunlin too put in an apprearance for a few days, again showing well alongside a more skitish Common Sand (no pics).
Mid to late August has seen huge numbers of hirundines and Swifts moving through, the hirundines often perching up in groups on the perimeter fence.
Common Terns too have become evident over the past few weeks too with a regular trio of 1 adult and 2 ringed juvs, presumably having bred close by. They were also joined by a further 4 birds earlier in the week.
I've visited it relatively regularly since early spring picking up a few Wheatear, Common Sand, Peregrine, Yellow & White Wag and large numbers of hirundines.
Recent weeks has seen further decent fare. A juv LRP has been lurking around now for 2-3 weeks, being very approachable at times.
A Dunlin too put in an apprearance for a few days, again showing well alongside a more skitish Common Sand (no pics).
Mid to late August has seen huge numbers of hirundines and Swifts moving through, the hirundines often perching up in groups on the perimeter fence.
Common Terns too have become evident over the past few weeks too with a regular trio of 1 adult and 2 ringed juvs, presumably having bred close by. They were also joined by a further 4 birds earlier in the week.
Marsh Harrier
Monday 25/08 was a bank holiday and I planned to do a bit of birding around Northampton. The weather though dictated big time, tipping it down with rain ALL day!
So I reluctantly headed to the only reserve with any decent shelter, Summer Leys near Wellingborough.
Despite a considerable amount of shoreline and mud, waders were incredibly thin on the ground with the slim pickings consisting of singles of both Ringed Plover & Common Sand.
It then briefly hotted up a bit, with all the Lapwings going up. Out of nowhere a cream crown Marsh Harrier cruised round the left hand edge of the scrape, right towards me!
I managed to get the camera out as quickly as I could and started snapping away however didn't quite get the killer shots of it as it hovered no more than 20 feet from the hide!! Within a minute it cruised off south into the gloom.
The end of the patch
The former Brackley Sawmills, a large patch of now wasteland on the northern edge of Brackley has produced a brilliant array of wildlife over the past few months or so with a nice range of butterflies, Orchids and more recently birds too.
Looming though was the fact that planning permission had been granted for a brand new estate to be build immanently. On Thursday 21/08 it was game over with metal fences erected and demolition beginning. Sad times knowing a 40 or so strong colony of Marbled White among other things have now been wiped just like that.
Anyways just before the end, back on the relatively sunny evening of Tuesday 19/08, I headed over after work, more with the plan of looking for Clouded Yellow butterflies than any birds, however this soon changed as I found a Wheatear flitting around some piles of concrete rubble almost straight away. In stark contrast to spring, autumn Wheatears are relatively hard to come by in Northants so this was a nice surprise.
The Wheatear flew to the nearby hedgerow bordering the site. In the same section of hedge my attention was drawn to another passerine. It took a while to get a decent view until eventually it gave itself away with that quivering tail, it was a juvenile Redstart. A mini fall in Brackley!
It was pretty elusive but I was still able to get a few half decent photos.
On the way back to the car I also enjoyed a very showy Lesser Whitethroat feeding on the other side of the same hedge.
The next day the Redstart again showed very briefly in cloudy conditions, however not enough for a decent photo. This sadly was my last ever visit to the site, so my search for a new local patch begins!
Looming though was the fact that planning permission had been granted for a brand new estate to be build immanently. On Thursday 21/08 it was game over with metal fences erected and demolition beginning. Sad times knowing a 40 or so strong colony of Marbled White among other things have now been wiped just like that.
Anyways just before the end, back on the relatively sunny evening of Tuesday 19/08, I headed over after work, more with the plan of looking for Clouded Yellow butterflies than any birds, however this soon changed as I found a Wheatear flitting around some piles of concrete rubble almost straight away. In stark contrast to spring, autumn Wheatears are relatively hard to come by in Northants so this was a nice surprise.
The Wheatear flew to the nearby hedgerow bordering the site. In the same section of hedge my attention was drawn to another passerine. It took a while to get a decent view until eventually it gave itself away with that quivering tail, it was a juvenile Redstart. A mini fall in Brackley!
It was pretty elusive but I was still able to get a few half decent photos.
On the way back to the car I also enjoyed a very showy Lesser Whitethroat feeding on the other side of the same hedge.
The next day the Redstart again showed very briefly in cloudy conditions, however not enough for a decent photo. This sadly was my last ever visit to the site, so my search for a new local patch begins!
Thursday 7 August 2014
July in Bucknell Wood
July is THE time to look for butterflies in the woodlands of South Northants and Bucknell Wood near Silverstone is one of my favourites locally. This particular July has been pretty dam fruitful. A handful of Purple Emperors have been evident though at times hard to find.
I also have managed to find my first Marbled White for the site in what has been a brilliant year for them locally. I also managed to find my first ever 'Valezina' Silver-Washed Fritillary. This year has also seen decent numbers of both Purple Hairstreak and White Admiral, however I wonder if both are in as good numbers as 2013.
It appears to have certainly been an excellent year for Silver-Washed Fritillaries in Bucknell with seemingly excellent numbers from late June onwards.
Essex Skippers are scarce in Bucknell. I managed to find one particular area last year that held a few and again this year there were several present.
Below are a selection of some of the more commoner species on the wing seen during July of this year in Bucknell:
Bird wise Bucknell has been full of young birds and plenty of warblers, however nothing particularly unusual. It was though good to see Spotted Flycatcher numbers appeared to be in good shape, echoed by a number of fledged youngsters too.
I also have managed to find my first Marbled White for the site in what has been a brilliant year for them locally. I also managed to find my first ever 'Valezina' Silver-Washed Fritillary. This year has also seen decent numbers of both Purple Hairstreak and White Admiral, however I wonder if both are in as good numbers as 2013.
It appears to have certainly been an excellent year for Silver-Washed Fritillaries in Bucknell with seemingly excellent numbers from late June onwards.
Essex Skippers are scarce in Bucknell. I managed to find one particular area last year that held a few and again this year there were several present.
Below are a selection of some of the more commoner species on the wing seen during July of this year in Bucknell:
Bird wise Bucknell has been full of young birds and plenty of warblers, however nothing particularly unusual. It was though good to see Spotted Flycatcher numbers appeared to be in good shape, echoed by a number of fledged youngsters too.
Monday 4 August 2014
Aston Rowant
On Sunday (20/07), I spent a rather humid & gloomy morning along the M40 at Aston Rowant NNR, in Oxfordshire, close to the Bucks border.
It is an incredibly good place to enjoy butterflies, despite it being so close to the M40! This year, I was keen to to get some pics of some fresh Chalkhill Blues as last year the majority I photographed were a little tatty!
After the short walk from the car park, I'd been on site no more than 2 minutes before I came across my first few Chalkhill Blues roosting on grass stems and drying out their wings.
There were good numbers of Chalkhills around including a pair in cop. The male was a really stonking, fresh looking one.
There were plenty of other things to see with 3 fresh Silver-Spotted Skippers, several mostly worn Marbled White & 3 very fresh male Brown Argus among the highlights.
It was then time to head home as I had plans, but a very successful little outing!
It is an incredibly good place to enjoy butterflies, despite it being so close to the M40! This year, I was keen to to get some pics of some fresh Chalkhill Blues as last year the majority I photographed were a little tatty!
After the short walk from the car park, I'd been on site no more than 2 minutes before I came across my first few Chalkhill Blues roosting on grass stems and drying out their wings.
There were good numbers of Chalkhills around including a pair in cop. The male was a really stonking, fresh looking one.
There were plenty of other things to see with 3 fresh Silver-Spotted Skippers, several mostly worn Marbled White & 3 very fresh male Brown Argus among the highlights.
It was then time to head home as I had plans, but a very successful little outing!
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