In view of the petrol crisis I thought that this month we would repeat an outing the group last did in August 2008! We caught the X7 up to Great Oxendon and then walked back to Little Bowden via the Brampton Valley Way. Hoping to hear and even better see some of the early warblers … Read more

At last! After the last two months of grey, cold, overcast birding days we had a glorious Spring day of sunshine and warmth for our visit to Summer Leys Nature Reserve in the Nene valley. The birds were in fine voice as we made our around the reserve accompanied much of the way by very … Read more

Just like January, we had a grey, overcast, drizzly morning for our visit to East Carlton Country Park. As we made our way up the park a Song Thrush was happily singing away despite the weather! As we entered the top woods a Nuthatch was spotted flitting about high above us. Nothing of note for … Read more

Our first return visit for 13 years to Brock’s Hill in Oadby coincided with a very grey, miserable morning. A Song Thrush in full voice as we exited the cars gave room for optimism for the morning. Sadly, other than a male Bullfinch sighting, nothing else of note was encountered unless you count the profusion … Read more

Meeting at the Pitsford Grange Lane car park on a cold but sunny morning we set about birding around the dam end of Pitsford Water. A Kestrel hovered around us as we donned our clobber. When we got down to the water there were the usual rafts of Tufted Duck, Coot and by the dam … Read more

Wandering through the woods at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s Brandon Marsh reserve was pretty quiet, just Blue, Great, Long-tailed Tit and robin seen, Nuthatch heard but didn’t show! Moving around to the main East Marsh Pool there was plenty to see there but nothing of note – lots of Greylag and Canada Goose, Lapwing, a Grey … Read more

The low water level at Daventry Country Park revealed lots of lovely mud so perhaps no surprise that a few waders were seen! A couple of Green Sandpiper (pictured above) and three, maybe four, of the smaller Common Sandpiper (pictured below). The shores were buzzing with wildfowl; plenty of Canada Goose with a couple of … Read more

A fairly quiet morning at Sywell Country Park. Out on the water we watched Common Tern hovering, then diving into the water attempting to catch fish. Far more successful was a Cormorant which had caught a whopper and we watched fascinated as it struggled to get it down! Nearby we admired one of many Great … Read more

Drizzle, on and off, for our visit to Summer Leys meant we immediately dived into the two hides near the car park. From the Rotary hide we admired a Tufted Duck with its ten chicks following it in line and saw a Great Crested Grebe on its nest. Moving on to the Pioneer hide there … Read more

Maybe not the best day, with the temperature up to 30°, for our all day visit to Paxton Pits nature reserve near St. Neots. Unsurprisingly for this time of year birds were not exactly abundant! We did hear a Cuckoo, along with many Chiffchaff and Blackcap. A few were actually seen, mainly water birds like … Read more