31st May - cloudy, mod NE, 14C, another cool day

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

Two Ringed Plovers, Oystercatcher pair with a larger youngster - occasionally still begging for food. Three Shoveler (pair and single drake), 11 Gadwall, four Little Egrets.  

c10 Swallows and c15 House Martins.

Stanford reservoir,; evening.

A Sanderling on the dam, spotted by Chris (Chris also had a different ne this morning).

c100 Swifts, c 50 House Martins

30th May - cloudy, light/mod NE, 15C

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

Eight Ringed Plovers, a Greenshank, a Little Grebe, eight Little Egrets and a Grey Heron.

c15 Swifts, c12 Swallows and 2+ House Martins feeding over the wet meadow.

DITFT/A5 Pools;

Very quite, single drake Shoveler and Gadwall.  Three Little Ringed Plovers.

The Lapwing chicks have grown well and soon will be proper juveniles.

29th May - cloudy and chilly morning, slowly brightening and warming, light/mod NE, 17C

 Lilbourne Meadows; morning

I wasn't expecting too much today, but as soon as I arrived the wet meadows surprised me with a Grey Plover and three Curlew Sandpipers.  Along with a Greenshank, two Oystercatchers, lapwing and Little Ringed Plover.

[since 2019 I've had 93 species at this site, including 18 species of wader.

Digiscoping conditions weren't good, but here's some record photos.

Stanford Reservoir; afternoon.

A passage of Blck terns was noted today through the Midlands and a single bird turned-up here.

Several Hobbies were hawking overhead too, Chris Hubbard had five.

28th May - Sunny, light NE, 20C

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

Two Greenshanks, a Grey Heron, two Little Egrets. Shoveler pair, one Little Grebe, three Lapwings.

Mere Lane Lake, afternoon.

Two, possible three pairs Little Grebe, Mute Swan incubating,  two broods of Mallards, 6+ Reed Warblers singing.  Two pairs of Coot, one with 5 chicks.

27th May - Sunny, light ENE, 21C

Lilbourne Meadows;

Four Greenshanks, two Little Egrets this morning.

Northants Wood; pm

Visited a wood in Northants to listen for Nightingales, two males were singing well.

26th May - SUnny, light ENE, 20C

Titchmarsh LNR; late morning

All the usual birds you would expect around this lake and reed bed area.  I heard a Water Rail close by in one area - that was good.  Black-head Gulls nesting, an Oystercatcher was present too.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

A Greenshank and Wood Sandpiper were present along with the other regular birds seen recently.

Photos were challenging looking into bright sunlight!  But you get the idea!

25th May - Sunny periods, light ENE, 18C

 

Shawell Sandpit/Landfill; afternoon.

14 Red Kites, two Lapwings, a grey Wagtail and several Pied Wagtails collecting food.

Six Little Grebes, one pair with four chicks still.  Three drake Gadwall.  Seven Shelducks, five asleepo on the bank and a pair on the water.

Great Spotted Woodpecker in the spinney.  Two Swallows and House Martins, only one Sand Martin.

24th May - Sunny, light WNW, 21C

Lilbourne Meadows; evening.

All the usual birds and a Fox this evening.

A group of (adult) Magpies I thought unusual for May.

DIRFT/A5 Pools

A Ringed Plover and a 'new in' Dunlin.  

The three Lapwing young are still present and growing well.

23rd May - mostly high cloud, sunny spells pm, 19C, light NW

Shawell sandpit/Landfill; afternoon.

The Mute Swan has hatched - 5 cygnets.

A Little Grebe pair has 4 chicks, another pair is still incubating and another pair nest building.

Singles of Oystercatcher, Shelduck and Great Crested Grebe (may have mates on nersts)

Egyptian Geese, adult with 4 large Goslings now.

Several Broods of Coots, with more to come.

Six Red Kites, very many Corvids, 40+ Ravens

DIRFT/A5 Pools; evening.

Two Ringed Plovers, single Gadwall, 3  Lapwing chicks still present and growing well

Lilbourne Meadows; evening.

Two Lapwings, Pied Wagtail family - juvs being fed. A Little Grebe, 

Mallard three broods currently.

22nd May - becoming sunny and very warm, 21C, light NE

Husbands Bosworth Quarry; 

Great Crested Grebe pair with one incubating.  Coot pair with 4 chicks.

Three adult lapwings, 8 Tufted Ducks

Stanford reservoir; evening.

Four Common Sandpipers on dam.  A Pied and Grey Wagtail.  Six Swifts over, several Swallows and eight House Martins building on the house.

A pair of Gadwall and two drakes.   Nine Common Terns - very crowded on the nesting raft!

Cuckoo calling, a Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and reed Bunting singing.  A single Grey heron present

21st May -Mostly sunny, light NE, 20C

A5 Pools/DIRFT; morning

Not too much different around today.  Four Ringed Plovers and unusually two Meadow Pipits.

Lilbourne Meadows;

A couple of little Egrets, a drake Shoveler (where's the female?),  24 Gadwall and an Oystercatcher (is there a mate?).

Twycross area; afternoon.  Searching for species around here - nothing special though was found.

Soar Brook Lake; late afternoon

Several Greylag Geese families, totaling 31 goslings.  Tufted Duck pairs present - will they have young soon?, two Little Grebes, an Oystercatcher.  Two broods of Coot, two and four chicks respectively.

20th May - Sunny, 19C, light wing NNE/NE

Shawell sandpit/landfill; morning'

Little Grebe sitting on nest, but water level very close to flooding it - hope it is floatinmg, its mate nearby and a third present too.  Great Cfrested Grebe pair present still - no signs of nesting seen yet.

Single drake Gadwall present, Mallard with fiver ducklings.  Four Shelduck, these flew off later.  15 Tufted Ducks.  

Six Swifts 'screaming' over.  Six Red Kites, c50 Ravens, one Buzzard.

Calcutt; afternoon.  

A historic Turtle Dove site, but none found.

Brimstone, Peacock, Orange-tip and a butterfly to be identified.

Banded Demoiselle.

                                            Butterfly To be named

19th May - mostly sunny, 17C, light NE/E

New Arley; 

Popped to see the Hoopoe, good views of it feeding on the ground and flying.

18th May - Sunny am, high cloud pm, 19C, very light WSW

Lilbourne Meadows; evening.

A Lapwing is still present and in territory, a single Little Ringed Plover present too.  A Shoveler pair and still c15 Gadwall.  

A5 Pools/DIRFT; evening

A single Ringed plover found, then I spotted another smaller wader, which I identified as a Temminck's Stint.  I managed a few images dispite the poor light, distance and its size.

Hope all agree.

17th May - Sunny spells, 17C

Willey;

A Fox cub ran over the track near the BH wood, early afternoon.

16th May - Sunny spells, 16C

 Lilbourne Meadows;

Nothing new, but an Oystercatcher was feeding on the field.

15th May - sunny periods, 15C, light/mod NNW

Willey;

A Holly Blue showed well this morning.

14th May - mostly sunny, 16C, light NW

Lilbourne Meadows; 

No Wood Sandpipers this morning.

A late afternoon look produced a Redshank and a Oystercatcher.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

Three Hobbies hawking over the inlet area and fields.

Six Garden Warblers and two Whitethroats singing along Northants side to the orchard area.

13th May - cloudy, cool 8C first thing, slowly warming and sunny spells by late afternoon, 14C, light NNE

Shawell sandpit/landfill; morning.

Two great Crested Grebes seen again.  A Pied Wagtail collecting food for youngsters.

DIRFT/A5 pools; afternoon.

A Common Sandpiper, a Dunlin, four Little Ringed Plovers, a lapwing with two chicks (ca week old).

Five Shelducks.

A Coot with two chicks.

Lilbourne 'wet' Meadows; afternoon.

Highlight was five Wood Sandpipers flew in and started to feed.

Challenging to get images though due to conditions.

Husbands Bosworth Sandpit; afternoon.

A great Crested Grebe pair with nest.  Four Little Grebes, Two pairs of Tufted Ducks, a Mallard pair.

A Little Egret flew over.

Four Coots, one on nest and one with two chicks.

12th May - cloudy, 14C, breeze NW, freshening N, feeling cool.

Willey;

Moorhen with chicks on Hurls Furlong pond.

Lilbourne Meadow, evening.

Four Ringed Plovers, a Lapwing, c10 Gadwall, five Shelducks, a Tufted Duck pair, c12 Swallows, c20 House Martins.

11th May - some light sahowers am, mostly sunny pm, 17C, light WNW-NNW

Willey; 1600h

A Red Kite moved low, slow northward.  A grey Heron flew on to the pond behind the old railway track.

Church lane - two Holly Blues,  a Peacock, a Comma, several Orange-tips.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

Two Hobbies hawking, Swifts, House Martins and a Swallow.  

Grey Wagtail pair, a Pied Wagtail.  

Red kite, two Buzzards, a Raven.

A Yellow Wagtail on the dam.

Coombe Abbey Park; evening.

I thought I'd check the Sheep field where a couple of Cattle Egrets have been reported, not found.

A Ring-necked Parakeet was heard, five Egyptian Geese on the field with Canada and Greylags.  Two Green Woodpeckers heard.

Over 100 Rabbits were counted in the fields!

10th May - sunny spells, then showers and light rain, 15C, light WSW

Lilbourne meadows - evening

A drake Shoveler, several Gadwall, Canada Goose pair with 4 goslings still,

Five Little Ringed Plovers and a single Ringed Plover.  Seven Mute Swans.

12 Swifts, five Swallows.

Shawell sandpit/Landfill - evening

The single Egyptian Goose adult and four goslings were on the water - carefully watching a Fox walking nearby.

A Canada Goose pair with four goslings and a Mallard with six ducklings.

18 Tufted Duck and two drake gadwalls, plus a Teal pair..

Trilling Little Grebe.

Yellow Wagtail pair.

Several Swifts, Swallows and House Martins over the area.

9th May - sunny spells am, thundery showers, and rain pm, some heavy, 13C

Lilbourne meadows; late afternoon. - raining

Eight Shelduck- a good max count for here, several flew off to the other lakes and over to DIRFT A5 pools.

A Little grebe - not seen one for a while, can be secretive.

Two Swifts over, Goldfinch pair.

8th May - light rain/drizzle till mod day, then cloudy, light SSW/S, 15C. Light rain later afternoon in to evening.

Lilbourne Meadows, morning.

A drake Garganey was present.

Brandon Marsh; afternoon.  Highlights included-

A Little Ring Plover and Common Sandpiper, a single Oystercatcher (no Redshank seen) on east marsh, also a drake Garganey(was first seen this morniong.

A good number of Common Terns and lapwings holding territories.

A Kingfisher flew passed.

Blackcap and three garden Warblers singing. .No Whitethroat rr Lesser Whitethroat seen/heard/  A Cuckoo calling.  Good number of Swifts, House Martins and Sand Martins feeding around the area.