A venture north

I was on my tod for much of the weekend, so I decided to venture to north Northants to try out a few areas I rarely get a chance to bird.

So having set off early, Saturday (18/02) morning, I began birding areas E of Oundle. A quick look at a small bit of flood by the River Nene, near Polebrook produced a small flock of Wigeon & Teal.

Polebrook Aifield is to my mind, pretty underwatched and always worth a look. A few recent reports of a ringtail Hen Harrier here, were enough to entice me there for a look. As it turned out, the place was pretty quiet, however I did come across a pair of Stonechat and the relatively mild weather got the local Skylarks and a couple of male Reed Buntings into song.

Next I headed over towards the Fotheringhay area, north of Oundle, to see if I could find any floods. I soon though became distracted by a large bunting flock just off the A605, west of Warmington. It was an impressive flock of c200 birds comprising roughly two thirds Yellowhammer & one third Reed Bunting. Despite my best efforts, I failed to muster that dream Little or Pine Bunting, however I did manage to locate a bit of a county mega in the form of a Corn Bunting that sat in a roadside tree for a few minutes and a little later, appeared in the adjacent hedge too. Full marks to the farmer for leaving such a bird-friendly strip!

I carried onto Fotheringhay and a quick stop by the river there produced a brief of fly-by Mandarin. With nothing else to try in the area, I decided to drive back past Oundle, to Titchmarsh / Thrapston GPs for a good walk around the reserve. It's a pretty great site, with a nice mix of habitat and several hides. It was a long while since I last visited and it is a shame I live so far away as I'd certainly visit more often if I could.

A full circuit of the reserve didn't produce anything too spectacular, however I did see a single Great White Egret, a pair of Red Crested Pochard, several Goosander, a pair of Oystercatcher, tonnes of wildfowl in general, particularly Wigeon, several Little Egret, a couple of Cetti's Warbler and a few Siskin.

That took me through to mid afternoon and being quite a long way from home, I began to wend my way back south, popping into Wootton, just off the A45 at Northampton, for a quick look at the Waxwings that had been around for a few days. I soon caught sight of around 20 of the flock sat in a roadside tree, however there wasn't really anywhere to stop and the road was pretty busy, so I settled for a slow drive-by view, before carrying on.

With the light on my side, I decided to take a rather large diversion back home via the Boddington Res gull roost. By Boddington standards, it wasn't a particularly big roost and the number of big gulls was significantly reduced from my last visit. Nonetheless, I managed to pick out a 1w Med Gull, my first of the year, so a pretty worthwhile visit in the end. An adult Yellow-Legged Gull also appeared, 7 Goosander came into roost and it was cool to see a hunting Barn Owl in the near darkness close to the car park.

The next day, Sunday 19/02, I didn't do too much birding really, however I did pop out for a little to check on a handful of local sites. A couple of Grey Partridge was a nice surprise near to Croughton Quarry, along with 7 Snipe and there were also a further 7 Snipe in a boggy area just SW of Radstone. I lastly had a look at the gulls over near Chacombe. Further good numbers were on show, however I didn't manage to find much more than a 3cy YLG and a couple of 1w GBBGs.