Indoor Meeting 4th April

Hello

Our next indoor Meeting is on Wednesday 4th April and our guest speaker will be Chris Ward. Chris is a regular speaker at the club and on this occasion he will be presenting the second part of his adventures in Australia, photographing the birds and other wildlife that came close enough to his lenses 'down under'!

Many members have managed to travel to Australia over the years and these images no doubt will bring back many fond memories. For those of us yet to travel there the presentation will provide a further insight as to what we are missing!

The meeting will commence at 7.30pm at the Fishing Lodge, Pitsford Reservoir and hot drinks and biscuits will be available during the evening.

Everyone is welcome!

Regards

Neil M

Black Swans.

NBC Car Trip

Otmoor, was the venue for this months trip. I can hardly believe it's been a year since club member's last visited. Alas time flies.
This lovely valley is always worth visiting, although the skies were grey the day as always is made up of good company and the expectancy of something unusual.
Leaving the car park we missed a Barn Owl showing 10 minutes after we passed the fields. Reaching the ridge the evocative calls of Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatcher could be heard. A Cetti's Warbler sang with near deafening volume, so we ignored it.
Today (Sunday) was the day volunteers were counting Hares so inevitably we didn't see many as they had all run off. Normally this is a great place for Hares and I was hoping to see a bit of boxing.




Reaching the hide, a flock of Reed Buntings, Linnets, Goldfinch and Yellow Hammers etc, were coming to seed on the ground, but the local Sparrow Hawk terrorised the small passerines although after several sorties we didn't see any success by this aerial commander.







Wendy called a Grey Heron catching a frog on the other side of the hide, I Just cannot imagine what it must be like going down that long throat alive !



The local Corvids were also hanging around with menace and intent, their huge bills can be formidable.



After a short time, a Little Egret flew in commencing to fish in the near water,








I suspect he could have done with some chips with that. Moving on Bob needed a pee and went off piste, typically seeing a Kingfisher for his troubles, it didn't stop tho' as I think the perch was too short.

Grass Snakes had been seen but we didn't manage it, again this is a good place to find them, I have seen them entwined half way up the fencing sunning themselves




Around here we met Steve Bennison and Martin Swannell, both NBC member's. They regaled to us about a pair of Peregrines they had observed earlier.



We were without our chief spotter Mark today but Wendy soon stepped into his shoes, finding a very distant Bittern camouflaged on the edge of the reed bed



We headed onward to the screen hides both Marsh Harrier and Red Kites quartered the reeds.





Water Rail squealed and a wonderful pale Buzzard caused a bit of conjecture.



We retraced our steps heading back to the car park.










Back at the feeders a Great Spot raided the peanut feeder.



Reaching the car park for a welcome cup of coffee as we chatted to Martin and Steve who had a similarly wonderful day.

Getting home to watch the race, Bugger, Vettel stole the win from Lewis.

Proposed fencing at Earls Barton GP

A message from Alan Smith at the Wildlife Trust...

Mary’s Lake and Moon Lake form part of the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits, a series of pits that are of international importance for overwintering waterbirds, and which has been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA). Mary’s Lake and Moon Lake, along with Summer Leys Nature Reserve, sit within one of the most publicly-accessed units of the SPA, with a good network of Rights of Way, permitted paths and informal access.

The lakes are regularly visited by good numbers of overwintering birds such as Gadwall, Wigeon, Pochard and Tufted Duck. Public disturbance and lack of management have been identified as the main threats to the wildlife of the sites. Moon Lake is the least-visited of the lakes in this area, as there are no Rights of Way around the lake and access is not possible all the way around. There is a large area of grassland around the lake which has been covered in scrub in recent years, meaning it is less-suitable as grazing habitat for the waterbirds using the lake.

The Wildlife Trust is working with Natural England, Wellingborough Council and the landowner to address the disturbance and management issues on the site. The aim is to allow management, through scrub clearance and grazing, and provide an undisturbed area of open water at Moon Lake.

It is therefore proposed to construct a fence line, as shown below, to create a grazing unit around Moon Lake and create an undisturbed area for birds. The fence line will not impact on any of the current Rights of Way and access will be possible along the western edge as shown.

Should you wish to comment on this proposal please contact the Wildlife Trust on 01604 405285 or email Northamptonshire@wildlifebcn.org

We will also be on-site to explain the project and answer any questions on Thursday 22/03/18, between 9-30am and 12-30pm, and again on Monday 09/04/18, between 1 and 4pm, at the Moon Lake Fisherman’s car park ( see above for location ).

We are also aware that the Angling Club is considering putting an otter fence around Mary’s Lake itself. Whilst this is their own project we will be liaising with them to ensure that no Rights of Way are affected and that signage and footpath surfaces are improved around that lake.

Alan Smith 
Planning and Biodiversity Officer 

Direct line: 01604 774046
Office: 01604 405285

Tweet: @wildlifebcn
Like: /wildlifebcn
Visit: www.wildlifebcn.org 

The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire
Lings House, off Lings Way 
Billing Lings 
Northampton 
NN3 8BE 

Petition to ban driven grouse shooting

A message from Dr Mark Avery...

This is a note to many of the groups to which I have spoken in the last few years about the problems associated with driven grouse shooting - environmental damage and wildlife crime.

To cut to the chase - there is another e-petition putting pressure on this government to act on this matter, and I am trying to give that e-petition some help in reaching a good target.  It's already at over 36,000 signatures, and although 100,000 looks impossible, a good showing somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 is possible.  It closes on 2 April.

This is the link to the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/201443

Thank you.

Dr Mark Avery

Red Grouse
courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Merlin
courtesy of John Gamble.

Club AGM and Indoor Meeting

Hello

This coming Wednesday evening (7th March) is the club Annual General Meeting, followed by a presentation by Gary Prescott 'the Biking Birder'!

The AGM is traditionally a very short meeting as presided over by our Chairman Bob Gill. Club accounts will be available for perusal and it is a time to elect or re-elect members for the committee and to perhaps reflect on the past year as well as the future.

Gary is a very keen birdwatcher who has successfully utilised pedal power to see birds all over the UK and beyond. He has raised huge amounts of money through sponsorship for conservation and next month embarks on his next big challenge - Peru!

The meeting starts promptly at 7.30pm as usual at The Fishing Lodge at Pitsford Reservoir and hot drinks and biscuits will be available during the evening. We look forward to seeing you there!

Neil M

Fieldfare.
Courtesy of Dave Jackson.

Goldcrest.
Courtesy of Robin Gossage.

Frampton and the Beast. NBC Car Trip.

View over the marsh.

To be fair it wasn't much of a beast, the sun broke thro' early and remained all day although it was bloody cold.
It's amazing what you find when having a waz, in this instant Bob saw the only Merlin of the day but paid the price of ripping his winter trousers on a barbed wire fence.

So us  retirees and Mark began our meandering's around the reserve, thats the only way when you've retired.

Wigeon

Greenfinch

Starling

The reception centre is always good for a few Goldfinch, Greenfinch, and Sparrow shots, as they have some feeders just outside. Lots of waterfowl were on the move, flying Wigeon, Cormorants and flocks of Brents.

Brents

Head on Mute.

Sitting in the hides Dunlin, Redshank and Curlew all seen, but typically in a lull  looking at my images I missed a Spotted Redshank, must be a lesson there.

Shelduck.

Dunlin

Blackwits

Ambling back to the car park for a bit of snap we then headed back out  toward the Saltmarsh hoping for a Hen or Marsh Harrier or even another Merlin . Distant views were had of Marsh Harrier and Grin'.

Photogenic Canada

Brent

Walking along overlooking the Salt marsh to our right by channel, a Water Rail searched the edge of the reeds, then swam across and searched the other side.

'Green' Plover.

As we approached a reedbed on our way back the calls of Bearded Tits could be heard, stopping to try and photograph them soon attracted several other photographers.

The wind blew the reeds constantly, the birds moved constantly, keeping to the back of the reed bed,
but still we tried, the sound of some guys shutter going hundreds to the dozen spurred us on although we couldn't see what he was firing at.
Still we carried on,  I had to wonder what we were doing with the odds stacked against us, but hey who worries about shutter counts .

Gotchya

Frampton is fast becoming the new Titchwell if only for us old buggars I mean retired folk, a lot of effort and strategies have been implemented to make it a wonderful place for birds. Long may it be.

My gratitude goes to Bob Gill for supplying all the accompanying images on this blog, thanks mate.