Henley 31st December

2 Ring-necked Parakeet

(per The Wickster)

This seems to be one of the most reliable sites
for these birds in the county.
Park at Henley Rugby club,walk away from Henley
along the Marlow road for approx 50yrds then
cross over the road and take the footpath towards
the river about here

3 seen at 10am New Year's Day on the gable on the last river-fronted building down from Hobbs boatyard, right next to Mill Meadows playground.
(anon from comments)

Buckland Warren 31st December

23 Crossbill Buckland Warren here

(per J.Dexter)

Wytham 31st December

White-fronted Goose near Wytham village.
About here
Canada Geese 375
Greylag Geese 102
Bar-headed Geese 2

Farmoor (Dec 31st) 8-10:45

Great Northern Diver - 1 juv appeared in good health and no sign of red twine.
Water Rail - 1
Goldeneye - 12
Wigeon - pair
Aythya Hybrid - male on F1 still.
Bullfinch

Aythya Hybrid (c) The Paranoid Birder

Otmoor 30th December

White-fronted Goose not seen amongst the Greylags.

Grey Heron flying across the channel by the hide

Fox running on Ashgrave

Buzzard from the hide

Kestrel in a tree by the path to the 1st screen

Photos (c) Nigel Forrow

Farmoor Reservoir 30th December

Farmoor II

Great Northern Diver Juv. troubled by what looks like red fishing line on feet.

David White

+Jack Snipe (per Dai oos)

Crawley New Mill 30th December

Dipper Crawley New Mill c09:00

(per The Wickster)

Port Meadow: 29th December

Port Meadow
700 Golden Plover
4 Redshank
2 Dunlin

Mary Gregory

Otmoor 29th December

White-fronted Goose still on Greenaways with one of the Greylag flocks though mobile.
Cetti's Warbler (heard halfway along the bridleway)
Green Sandpiper (2nd Screen)

All things Moorish Otmoor Birding

            

Kingham 29 December 2011

Otmoor 27th December

3+ SEO giving close spectacular views all afternoon in broad daylight.

The WF Goose with the greylags on Greenaways.

Also present peregrine, sparrowhawk, buzzard, kingfisher, cettis warbler heard near the vols hut, raven.


more at Otmoor Birding

Short-eared Owl (c) The Paranoid Birder

Farmoor (Dec 27th) 10:30 - 12:45

Great Northern Diver - 1 juv showing well from the sailing club
Goosander - 1f
Siskin - 5
Kingfisher - 1
Greenfinch - 35
Lapwing - c40 (s)
Bullfinch - 3

(c) The Paranoid Birder

Standlake, 26th December

Caspian Gull 1, 3rd/w
WF Goose 1ad
Goosander 4
Golden Plover 3
Redpoll 1
Wigeon 356
Teal 291
Pintail 1m

Otmoor.A.M.25th December.

2 Raven
1 Sparrowhawk (F)
C. 1000 Golden Plover
C. 500 Lapwing
1 White Fronted Goose (still with Greylags)

Weston-on-the-Green: Stonehouse Farm: 22nd December

Weston-on-the-Green: Stonehouse Farm
10 Common Crossbill

Elizabeth Hodgson

Otmoor: 24th December

White-fronted Goose with feral flock at E end of Greenaways.

Peter Law

Appleford Spit Pit (Dec 24th) 3-4pm

Common Sandpiper - 1
GBBGull - 10
Hardly any gulls on the pool or surrounding fields.

Farmoor (Dec 24th) 12:30 - 2:30

Great Northern Diver - 1 Juv still showing well on F2
Redshank - 2
Pochard - 22
Great Crested Grebe - 72

Ewelme: Cress beds: 24th December

Ewelme: Cress beds
Green Sandpiper
Water Rail

Thomas Stevenson

Farmoor 23rd Dec

Great Northern Diver still at Farmoor
(per MJY OOS)

Port Meadow: 22nd December

Port Meadow
2 Dunlin
7 Pintail: 5m 2f.

Adam Hartley

Churn: 22nd December

Churn
5 Corn Bunting

Mark Merritt

Cholsey: Cholsey Marsh Nature Reserve: 22nd December

Cholsey: Cholsey Marsh Nature Reserve
100 Corn Bunting: 100+ at roost site.
2 Water rail

Cholsey: Lollingdon Hill
3 Corn Bunting

Paul Chandler

more on the Cholsey Wildlife blog

Dorchester complex 20th December

Dorchester complex
2 Egyptian Goose
Golden Plover 15

Thomas Stevenson

Benson & Ewelme Wildlife

Farmoor Reservoir: 20th December

Farmoor Reservoir
Great Northern Diver: juvenile?.

Robert Taylor

Otmoor 20th Dec

Peregrine (Greenaways)
Merlin (Ashgrave)
Short-eared Owl 2 (Closes)

(per Terry Tossel & Paul Greenaway)

Otmoor Birding

Farmoor 18th December

Great Northern Diver

(c) Nigel Forrow

Farmoor Res 18th December

Great Northern Diver 1

Common Sandpiper 1

Common Redshank 3

Aythya hybrid 1 (Common Pochard x Tufted Duck)

Otmoor 18th December

White-fronted Goose still on Ashgrave
Hen Harrier (ringtail)
Short-eared Owl 3+

more at  Otmoor Birding

Chimney Meadows

Short-eared Owl (per Antony Edwards)

Standlake Pit 60 18th December

433 Teal: SP388018.
4 Goosander: m.

Antony Collieu

Grimsbury Reservoir: 18th December

Grimsbury Reservoir
Willow Tit

Gareth Blockley

Port Meadow: 18th December

Port Meadow
Dunlin

Adam Hartley

20 Red-crested Pochard Stanton Harcourt 18th Dec

Rushy Common: 17th December

Rushy Common
11 Red-crested Pochard: 7m4f.

Antony Collieu

Badbury Hill, 17th December

Crossbill 4
Brambling 1
Lesser Redpoll 5
Raven 2
Marsh Tit 3+
Goosander 3, Buscot
Siskin 1

Farmoor 17th December

Great Northern Diver still on F2 this p.m

(c) The Paranoid Birder

Otmoor 17th December

White-fronted Goose on Ashgrave with the goose flock.
Goosander over

(per Pete Barker)

more at Otmoor Birding

Farmoor afternoon

c300 Fieldfare and c50 Redwing, 1 Buzard, Treecreeper, Bullfinch through Buckthorn Meadow to Pinkhill (including the berry burdened cotonesters by the F1 fishermans car park). c300 Wood Pigeon at Pinkhill lock area, possibly flushed by one of the 4 sightings of female and male sparrowhawks through same area to Wytham Wood, where 3 Buzzard hovering and 1 Kite soaring in the winds. 21 Pochard(14m 7f)and 1 Redshank on F1. 14 Goldeneye (2m displaying with sounds effects to 12f) on F2 where the resident Great Northern Diver has been joined by 3 Pintail (2m 1f) still present late PM after first seen early AM by Dai. A couple of displaying GC Grebes seemed to ignore the near zero temps but the Pied Wagtails have adapted and crashed to just 3 birds seen. Gull roost was dominated by B H Gull (1000's), followed by Lesser B-backs (100's)and perhaps 20 Common Gulls. Yellow-legged seemed to outnumber Herring when the rain hit. A poor gull showing, compensated by one Common Sandpiper at south of F2 and c1000 Jackdaws swirling in an immitation of pre-roost Starling flock.

University Parks: 16th December

University Parks
2 Raven: Sat in pine tree, vocalizing, before flying off to the south.

Sydney Penner

Cholsey 15th December

Lollingdon Hill

Hen Harrier (ring tail)
2 Corn Bunting
250 Lapwing: 250+.

Paul Chandler

more on the Cholsey wildlife blog

: 15th December

Cottesmore Lane
24 Grey Partridge: covey of 14 and another of 10. SU638925.

Thomas Stevenson

more on the Benson & Ewelme Wildlife blog

Farmoor 15th December

 Great Northern Diver still present on F2.

Sonning Eye

13th December

The 1st winter Glaucous Gull was in the Sonning Eye roost this evening arriving at approx. 3.50pm. The bird has been around the Woodley area since at least the 10th but is elusive.
The roost is to the West of the sailing club and there is no vehicle access onto the site.

Hugh

Sonning Eye Glaucous Gull 13th December

RBA are reporting a glaucous gull in the roost at Sonning Eye at 4pm today
The juv bird seen around Reading over the last few days was relocated this evening
by Hugh Netley.

Photo taken in Berks of the Glauc here and here

Otmoor: 12th December

Few birds around today, but some highlights nonetheless:

Hen Harrier viewable intermittently around the reed-bed area;

Short-eared Owl viewed from The Pill around 2.45pm

Port Meadow: 12th December

Port Meadow
2 Yellow-legged Gull: ad.

Adam Hartley

Otmoor Owls

Some great photos of the Otmoor short-eared owls taken by George Reszeter on 6th December

Rushy Common, Sun 11th Dec

1 Water Rail
1 Green Sandpiper
150 Golden Plover
6 RC Pochard

Port Meadow: 11th December

Port Meadow

Iceland gull, 2nd winter
750 Golden Plover

Adam Hartley

More at Port Meadow Birding

Farmoor Reservoir 11th December

Great Northern Diver (F2)
Kittiwake (F2)
Goosander (F1)

Colin Oram

Sutton Courtenay GP's 11th December

Iceland Gull (2ndw) 12:45
Red-crested Pochard 2 (m/f)

Stonesfield: Stonesfield Common: 10th December

Stonesfield: Stonesfield Common
Raven

Paul Wren

Farmoor 10th December

Great Northern Diver on F2 this afternoon. (per Matt Prior ) 

Ewelme: Cress beds: 10th December

Ewelme: Cress beds
2 Green Sandpiper

Thomas Stevenson

Red crested Pochard   Merton Borrow  pit at 14:45 (per Bill Foley)

Farmoor 9th December

Great Northern Diver  seen flying South West over F2 at 09-00hrs.
4 Redshank
22+  Goldeneye
Short-eared Owl late afternoon.

Appleford 8th December

Iceland Gull (2ndw) still at Appleford today.
(per RBA)

Port Meadow: 7th December

Port Meadow
Ruff: m.
Yellow-legged Gull: ad.

Adam Hartley

Otmoor Hen Harrier Yesterday

Some more photos of the hen harrier at Otmoor yesterday, taken by (c) Paul Higgins

Iceland Gull 7th December

Iceland Gull (2ndw) On the Spit Pit 12:15 to 12:45.
(Simon Bradfield)

And again 14:00-15:45p.m (Badger)
+ Yellow-legged Gull (ad)
8 Common Gull

Radley
Iceland Gull (2ndw) 16:05 amongst the Thrupp Lake roost.

Otmoor 6th December

Hen Harrier (ringtail) Quartering the Closes between carpark and the hide.
3 Short-eared Owl  Probably 4 or 5 present over Greenaways, Closes and back of reedbeds.
Raven: 1 or 2 present.

Terry Tossell




photos (c) Mike Flemming

Mike Flemming's Natural History Photos

Farmoor 6th December

Great Northern Diver still present on F2.
21 Goldeneye
3 Pochard
3 Redshank
1 Common Sandpiper

Port Meadow 6th December

1 ruff
1 drake pintail

Port Meadow: 6th December

Port Meadow
Ruff
Pintail: m.

Adam Hartley

Henley Road GPs: 6th December

Henley Road GPs
Goosander: rh.
5 Goldeneye: 2m+2f.
3 Egyptian Goose

Sonning Eye GPs
2 Goldeneye: 1m+1f.

Marek Walford

Farmoor 5th December

Snow Geese part of a feral flock of 34 at Farmoor this morning.

No sign of the Great northern Diver.

photo (c) Terry Sherlock

Fieldfare part of a flock of up to three hundred birds near the
Evenlode on the Cornbury Estate.

photo (c) Paul Gill

Otmoor Raptor Display

2.30 Left car park to immediate views of ring-tailed Hen Harrier playing like a cat with a vole(?) for at least 5 minutes in The Closes; giving very close views for those in the hide. BBWOT bird race team arrived and left with two new species under belt; followed by arival of some 50-60 birdwatchers looking to repeat U-Tube views of Starling Roost, from southern screen overlooking the reedbeds at west of Greenaways. Green Sand at northern screen seen by Peter Law was just 1 bird and the starlings appeared to be on a numerical par, when seen from afar. The Short-eared Owls were far better. First appearance at 3.30pm next to junction in SE of Greenaways, seen most of the time till 4.15, occasionally hopping over to quarter Moorleys, and once both ascended for a fascinating slow wing beat hover. At similar time 2 birds were observed by others mobbing the buzzard by the hide and another bird was seen just east of NE of Greenaways, where a bird had been seen immediately before the stunningly close views at 3.30 mentioned before. So at least 5 birds....
Snipe flushed by the SE's and 2 Red-legged Partridge in SE Greenaways plus flocks of Fieldfare all over reserve.
First birding visit here and two raptor county ticks in the bag. With yesterday, 170 on the list please Jason !

More here Otmoor Birding

Otmoor 04 Dec

Fieldfare

Short-eared Owl (shot into the sun)

Both images were taken on the South Pill Ground in late afternoon sun.

Photos (c) Nigel Forrow

Otmoor: Central: 4th December

Otmoor: Central
2 Short-eared Owl: Seen hunting the going high to see off Buzzard.

John Barnes

Grimsbury Reservoir: 4th December

Grimsbury Reservoir
Coot: Uncommon here - new for the year. Only the second one I have ever recorded here, I've seen more Med gulls!.
Willow Tit: In the woodland, near to the canal.

Gareth Blockley

4th December

Farmoor
GN Diver 1 - E side FII at 10.10

Standlake
Green Sand 1
White-fronted Goose 1ad - Thames fields
Little Egret 1
Wigeon 300+
Teal 250
Pintail 1m

Bagley Wood: 4th December

Bagley Wood
8 Common Crossbill

Peter Law

Hinksey Park (10am)

Blackcap - 3 (1 female)

Stonesfield Common

Golden Plover 300+ over common and adjacent fields before heading off towards Fawler

Farmoor at Dusk

Light no good for gull roost but a Great Northern Diver was perfectly silloueted at the edge of the thousands of Larids. At least 2300 Jackdaws coming mainly from Wytham direction to roost in the woodland south of the Res. One buzzard flying NE into wind, over the cold waters of F1 towards Wytham and later 2 Buzzard circling together surprisingly late in the fast advancing gloom, overhead of the departing Jackdaw flocks.

Great views around Appleford Pit gulls

402 Canada Geese with 2 Greylags arriving together certainly made the gulls shift to the goose free side, but this chap and his large dog circling the lake in full view had not the slightest effect on anything ! So great views of Iceland flying around at will, Caspian (sedentary), 2 adult Yellow-legged and Badgers 1st W bird, set aganst a background of argentatus Herring Gulls and intermedius L B-backs, G b-backs, Black-headed and 1 adult Common Gull and the sun perfectly behind the car between 1pm and 2pm made for a very worth while visit.

Thrupp Lake, Radley

Earth Trust Birdwatching walk around Thrupp Lake, Radley yielded 31 species in 2 hours. Green Sandpiper, small flocks of Redwing and Lapwing, displaying G.C. Grebes in winter plumage, singing Song Thrush, 3min Kingfisher and perhaps 6 Grey Heron and a personal County tick - Redpoll, probably being the main interest. No Goosander now, but wildfowl included: Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted, and Pochard. All birds getting increasingly tolerant of people including the gulls, Cormorants and waterfowl.
Collective observations by attending group with Ben Carpenter leading.

Appleford 3rd December

Iceland gull 2w on the Spit Pit at 11:23
Caspian Gull late afternoon
Yellow-legged Gull (ad 1stw)
(per Badger)

Iceland Gull (2ndw) & Probable Caspian Gull

Farmoor Res 3rd December

Great Northern Diver at 07:43 but No further sign after 8a.m (per The Wickster)

Back on F2 at 11:20 (per The Wickster)



photo (c) T.Sherlock

Port Meadow: 3rd December

Port Meadow
Yellow-legged Gull: ad.
3 Pintail: 2m 1f.

Adam Hartley

Leucistic Starling Abingdon (c) M.Flemming

Mike Flemming's website and gallery

Ashbury: 2nd December

Ashbury
6 Corn Bunting: SU278821.

Mark Merritt

Appleford 2nd December

Iceland Gull (2ndw)
Caspian Gull (prob) see Ian's post from 30th Gulls at Appleford
Both on the Spit pit mid afternoon.
View only from Car.

photo (c) Lew

Otmoor RSPB reserve 2nd December

Hen Harrier (f)
Green Sandpiper

Paul Greenaway

Otmoor Birding

Farmoor 2nd December.

Great Northern Diver  F2 ( Late afternoon )
2 Tawny Owl
2 Redshank
1 Common Sandpiper

Port Meadow: 1st December

Port Meadow
Pintail: male.

Adam Hartley

Coleshill: 1st December

5 Common Cranes seen in Coleshill (National Trust Estate), both in am and pm today. Also one dead one in a nearby field.
The dead one did not have any rings. At 4.05pm they flew, north, towards Buscot.

Helen Newton

Otmoor: RSPB reserve: 1st December

Otmoor: RSPB reserve
Merlin: f.

Paul Greenaway

Gulls at Appleford 30/11/11

This is the Iceland Gull found by Tom Wickens this morning. These poor video grabs were obtained mid afternoon. The general blotchy look to the scapulars, the sharply defined dark on the bill with a fine pale tip (inset middle pic), the pale iris and the finely marbled tertials indicate a 2nd winter, a rare age class in Oxon.

The bird above is not the regular, classic looking Caspian Gull that has been visiting Appleford over the last few weeks. It is a very odd gull, obviously with cachinnans tendencies but very heavily marked scapulars. The most strange thing was its state of moult. It had second generation tertials, all inner greater coverts and many other wing coverts. It even had a third generation tertial on the left side and one or two third generation greater coverts on both wings. Intriguingly it was carrying a yellow ring on its right leg. It would be good to get the number so the parentage can be confirmed. Gulls have been given yellow rings over the last three years from colonies in Lithuania and Poland; they included Yellow-legged, Caspian and Herring Gulls and their hybrids.

Port Meadow: 30th November

Port Meadow
3 Goosander: 1m 2 r/h.

Adam Hartley

Appleford: Appleford GP: 30th November

Appleford: Appleford GP
Iceland Gull: 1w. Birds from this morning still present. SU522927.
Caspian Gull: 1w. SU522927.

Phil Chapman

Otmoor Tree Sparrows 30th November

Paul Greenaway has just phoned to say that there are two Tree Sparrows on the temporary feeders near the new hide.

Appleford Spit Pit 30th November

Tom Wickens has just called to say that not only is the 1st winter Caspian gull on the Appleford Spit Pit this morning but also there's a 1st winter Iceland gull there.

Farmoor 28th November

Short -eared Owl :  Buckthorn  Meadow

Wolvercote: 28th November

Wolvercote
Raven: Heading SW across to Port Meadow.

J Dexter

Otmoor Great Grey Shrike

RBA are reporting a great grey shrike yesterday at Otmoor at the Firing Range at 2 p.m.

Otmoor 27th November

Female Hen Harrier on Otmoor today (c) Jonathan Mercer

also 5 Short-eared Owls on the reserve

Full weekend round up at  Otmoor Birding

Pit 60

Belated report of a Bittern at Pit 60 last Friday 25th Nov.

Radley 27th November

2 of 4 Crossbills (3m1f) today at Radley at the east end of Bullfield Lake.

(per Mike Flemming)










photo (c) M.Flemming

Beckley: 27th November

Probable Hen Harrier male. Seen, by my non birding wife, flying across B4027.

Nick Suckling

Henley Road GPs: 27th November

Henley Road GPs
Yellow-legged Gull: ad.

Marek Walford

Rushy Common: 27th November

Rushy Common
Peregrine
6 Red-crested Pochard

Simon Bradfield

Appleford 26th November

1st winter Caspian Gull still at Appleford this morning on the Spit Pit.

more photo's here

View only from car.

HD at 720p

More video of this stunner (sorry)

                                

Aston: 23rd November

Aston
4 Grey Partridge: 2 pairs.

J Dexter

Biffaward grant to Otmoor R.S.P.B

Biffaward is a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform
lives through awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK.

Biffaward looks to support site-based projects that protect and enhance biodiversity
across the UK, particularly those concentrating on species and habitats that have been
identified as a priority in Biodiversity Action Plans.

more at Otmoor Birding

Otmoor.A.M. 23rd November.

3 Redpoll
1 Mistle Thrush
2 Snipe
1 Greensand
1 Water Rail

Spam E-mails

Hi all, my Gmail account was hacked last night so some of you may have got a spam mail from me with a dodgy link in it. If so then please just ignore it & delete the message.

I'm sure most of you will already know this but just in case for those who don't, this is rather common for Gmail and Hotmail accounts. If you have one of these accounts and suddenly start getting lots of mail delivery failure messages for spam links then you've been hacked and need to change your password. I don't know about Hotmail but Gmail also has a link at the bottom showing who else is logged on to your account - you can kick them off first and then change the password so they can't get back in. The messages should then stop.

If you ever get an unexpected e-mail from someone with just a dodgy looking link and no message, don't click on it. At the very least e-mail them back to check whether it was genuine.

My apologies for those who already know all this. That is the end of this public information broadcast!

Farmoor 22nd November

2 Redshank
1 Knot (still present 2p.m per The Wickster)
18 Goldeneye
1 Aythya hybrid

  

(c) Pete Styles Photography