Stortons Nature Reserve provides ideal habitat for many of our summer migrants to breed. Over the years Northants Ringing Group has been fortunate to catch a wide variety of these migrants, and we have also been very lucky to recieve notification from BTO that some of the birds, originally ringed at Stortons, have been recovered outside of the UK on their migration.
Sometime in the eighties, Chris Payne took a picture of a redundant gravel pit from the top of the old Express lift tower. Decades later a second picture was taken from the exact same spot and from these two pictures this video was produced. The video is meant to be an animated illustration of how you can start with an ugly duckling of a gravel pit and create a beautiful swan of a nature reserve. The project began in the late nineties and was modified with the construction of the Southern Development Link Road and the associated flood relief scheme.
The task of nurturing and managing the site was given to Northants Wildlife Trust now known as, The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire. Wildlife BCN has done a sterling job, together with their band of enthusiastic volunteers. The trust has created an impressive diverse habitat, which is a haven for a wide range of wildlife. After decades of development Storton’s Pits is now an urban reserve surrounded by, roads, sports stadia, housing and industrial/retail outlets.
The eastern end of the reserve had a large open area which was planted with phragmitis to create a reed bed. This is now considered to be Northamptonshire’s largest reed bed and is host to a significant proportion of nesting summer migrants. Storton’s is also the focus of the Northants Ringing Group activities and is an important site within the group. The eastern end dissected by the reed bed, is split into two sides. The north side is reed, scrub and some wood habitat, which is used throughout the winter with some ringing in summer. The south side is primarily a summer ringing site and has a large meadow area with reed, scrub and wood.
All ringing data is submitted to the British Trust for Ornithology, to produce impartial science, communicated clearly for the benefit of birds and people.
Last week members of Northants Ringing Group conducted some ringing at Stortons Nature Reserve, Sixfields, Northampton.
Arriving before sunrise we were treated to the spectacle of thousands of Starlings leaving their nightime roost in the reedbeds.
As we were leaving for the day the sight of a murmuration was a fabulous end, as agin thousands of Starlings returned to their roost. This time they drew the attention of a Sparrowhawk, hoping to take advantage of this mobile diner, but without any visible success.
Last week, accompanied by Chris Payne and John Boland we checked seven Barn Owl boxes on Olney Park Farm, just over the Northamptonshire border in North Buckinghamshire.
Two of the boxes contained Barn Owls. The first had three owlets, which were duly ringed, and the second had a stunning female along with two owlets. The female was ringed although the owlets were too small at present and will require a further visit. All ringing is undertaken under strict Schedule 1 permit restrictions.
.jpg "Barn Owl young at Olney Park Farm")
.jpg "Adult Barn Owl at Olney Park Farm")
I checked fourteen of the boxes at Chase Park Farm this morning and two have lined nests with eggs, three have fully lined nests but no eggs, three have full moss bases, four have bits of moss and grass and two are empty so far.
Whilst walking the farm a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was drumming in Yardley Chase, which is adjacent to the farm and a Common Redstart was singing along the main farm track.
A trail camera is positioned in front of the bug hotel and caught this nice image of a Red-legged Partridge.
