Stonesfield: Stonesfield Common: 30th November

Stonesfield: Stonesfield Common
4 Blackcap: 3 fem & 1 male.

Paul Wren

Banbury 30th November

Waxwing east of  B4100 on Firtree Close  at 11a.m cSP.436.422 (per RBA)

Bicester 30th November

Bicester Waxwings (c) Derek Woodard with thanks to Alan Peters.

12 Waxwing Perched in silver birch trees along Bure Park nature walk
by Purslane Drive at 14:00 (Nick Truby)

22 Waxwing Rowan Road Bicester tho mobile.

Blenheim grounds 30th November

Hawfinch in the ornamental garden viewed from close to the
model railway engine shed c10:00

(per The Wickster)

Note: this puts The Wickster on a stonking 192 for his county year list - way to go!  (Gnome)

Otmoor 30th November

Ringtail (c) Peter Coombes

Hen Harrier Over reed bed.
60 Golden Plover 25 birds on far side of Greenaways.
A further flock of 35 plus landing on flood field behind Greenaways.
Peregrine: Big otmoor.
Kingfisher: 2nd screen.
46 Snipe

(Peter Coombes) The Otmoor Blogger

Oxford 30th November

Waxwings 22+ in St Giles churchyard at 12:23 this afternoon (per Jon Prowse)
Waxwings 15 still in St Giles churchyard this morning (per RBA)

Bicester Waxwings 29th November

Waxwings 22 'in Bicester' (per Alan Peters) Banbury Birds

Radley UV therapy with added Bittern

Pit H/I flooded enough to displace any small mammals. Walking the higher perimeter bund / fenceline, as more water poured into surrounding ground / orchard Lake from Thames. 14:03 - Bittern (click for map) disturbed from fenceline, facing Orchard lake (to west). It flew off East to land in central south of Pit. Seen well flying directly away, with strong sunlight behind me. Interestingly?... No dark crown noticed, (moustachial details hidden anyway); VERY noticeable two tone upperwing; with dark flight feathers and paler secondary coverts. Redpolls, Goldfinches, Reedbuntings, Green peckers. Red kites, singing Wrens and single Snipe, plus 15 Pochard on Orchard Lake and noisy swimming Water Rail here, being the best of a poor avian showing.

Drayton St. Leonard: 29th November

Drayton St. Leonard
Raven: on farmland to S of village.
5 Buzzard: all sitting in same field amongst Lapwings and Black-headed Gulls.

Peter Law

Waxwing St Giles oxford 29th November

 

10+ Still present 13:15

 

 

More 'Wings' at Wayne Bull's Wildlife Blog

Oxford Waxwings 29th November

16 Waxwings still present at St Giles Church until 11:00 at least. More pictures here.
 

Otmoor 29th November

7 Golden Plover: over.
Bittern Flying in front of 1st screen (per Jack).
Hen Harrier: Big Otmoor.
2 Lesser Redpoll
Siskin: Flying Greenaways.
Peregrine

Peter Coombes The Otmoor Blogger

Oxford 29th November

St Giles Churchyard

6 Waxwing In a plane tree on the west side of the road opposite the memorial. SP51163.

Alex Martin

Cholsey: 28th November

Cholsey
Woodcock: flushed from a ditch in Lollingdon.

Paul Chandler

Oxford Waxwings, 28th November

 

St Giles Church, Oxford: 16 Waxwings still present at 15:20

 

The Slade, Headington, Oxford: 20 Waxwings flew along The Slade at 15:45


Best I could do in the gloomy conditions (c) Gnome


Garsington: 28th November

28th November

Garsington
Tawny Owl: calling near King's Copse Park.
Raven: in Combewell off Oxford Road.
3 Buzzard: sitting in usual field along Wheatley Road.

Peter Law

Farmoor Reservoir 27th November

Grey Plover very briefly on causeway and then flew west (per Barry Batchelor)
Slavonian Grebe 2 showing well on F1 near the new hide 08:30 (per Dai)

The Insomniac Birder

Oxford 27th November: Waxwings

15 Waxwings in St Giles churchyard (and two goldcrests) which arrived at
about 1:30 pm today (per Alex Martin)

1 Waxwing seen flying over calling, from sainsbury's heyford hill then flew towards
Nowell road,Rose hill at 2.40 pm. (per W.P.Bull) Wayne Bull's Wildlife Blog

Oxford 26th November Waxwings

4 Waxwings in central Oxford in St. Giles by the church this afternoon until 3:30 pm at least.

(per RBA)

Farmoor 26th November

2 Slavonian  F1
3 Scaup  F1
15 Redpoll



 Slavonian Grebe (c)  The Insomniac Birder

 

 

Otmoor 26th November

No sign of any Whooper Swans on Otmoor today (per The Wickster & Terry Sherlock)
Though Otter showing well this morning on the island in front of the 1st screen.
Currently no access on to the reserve from Noke or Oddington due to flooding.

Otmoor Birding

: 26th November

Oxford: Cavell Road
Brambling: male. Present in area around Donnington Playing Field before flying off in the direction of Oxford City Centre. SP529043.

Steve Roby

Port Meadow: Burgess Field Nature Park: 26th November

Port Meadow: Burgess Field Nature Park
Jack Snipe

Port Meadow
3 Pintail: 2m 1f.
2 Redshank

Adam Hartley

Farmoor 26th November

2 Slavonian Grebes: 1 by the hide on F1 & 1 by the tower in the middle of F2

per Dai

Oxford 25th November

1 Waxwing S of Aristotle Lane allotments nr Port Meadow  (per Tom Evans)
3 Waxwing heard and seen high in trees on St Giles in Oxford City Centre
(per Jarrod Hadfield)


Mapping Waxwings

The last time we had a waxwing winter I was keen to understand more about the patterns of their arrival in Oxfordshire and their and movements once they were here. It looks like we are set for another Waxwing winter and I was wondering if birders with smartphones would like to try out a crowd survey and mapping app called EpiCollect http://www.epicollect.net/

EpiCollect is a web-application that allows anyone to build survey forms that can be downloaded onto a smartphone. I have created a survey form and web site titled ‘WaxwingsOx’ http://epicollectserver.appspot.com/project.html?name=WaxwingsOx

Marston Waxwing (c) The Paranoid Birder

 



To take part simply download the Epicollect app from either the Apple App store or Android Market (There are links from EpiCollect web-page if these don’t appear from a search). On opening the App, go to settings and type ‘WaxwingsOx’ into the box labeled ‘Project’. In settings enter your email and also set ‘Update forms’ to ‘ON’ (as some of you may have suggestions on improvements to the form). The form will download to your smartphone. When you see Waxwings click on ‘New Entry’. The date, time and location are entered automatically. This is great but it also means that you can’t enter sightings after the event. You can also add photo if you wish (e.g. of feeding bushes). From the app menu “Display Map” will plot everyone’s or your own sightings on a googlemap interface. All the data can be downloaded and passed onto the county recorders.

I should confess that I am new to EpiCollect so this will be an experiment for all! However, EpiCollect is increasingly being used for all sorts on wildlife surveys and if we liked it we could use it for other species that interest us and for which we’d enjoy a constantly up-dated map of their occurrence.

Paul Jepson

Otmoor 25th November

 

 

4 Whooper Swans flew in and over the reed beds at c11:15 (per Bark)

and could be seen distantly on the flooded field west of the 2nd screen.

They then moved to Ashgrave where they spent the rest of the afternoon
 and could be seen from the hide.



Still present on Ashgrave c15:45 (per Andy Last)





Viewable at 720p HD

Otmoor Birding

Port Meadow: 25th November

Port Meadow
4 Goosander: 1m, 3 r/h.

Adam Hartley

Battle Farm, Preston Crowmarsh: 25th November

Battle Farm, Preston Crowmarsh
9 Grey Partridge

Thomas Stevenson

Otmoor Peregrine (c) Peter Law

One of two birds present this morning. 



Farmoor (nov 25th) 8-10am

Slavonian grebe -1 showing well from causeway on F1.
Scaup -3
Common gull - single first winter
GBBGull - 2
Teal -2
Goldeneye - 6

Dave and Dai

Radley 25th November

Bittern in flooded field behind Orchard Lake 07:45 (per Mark Chivers)

Marston 25th November

No sign of any Waxwings on Marsh Lane Marston this morning.

(per Oz)

Birders Curry night Yeti Restaurant Oxford 23rd November 2012
A superb evening amongst fantastic company
Right to Left
Gareth Blockley,Peter Law,Terry Sherlock,Andy Last,Jon Uren (Oz),Keith Clack (Clackers)
Colin Oram,Ewan Urquhart (Two Eyes) Peter Barker (Bark) Adrian Jaques,Dave Lowe,
Mark Merritt,Jon Prowse,Barry Hudson (Camboy) Andy Horscroft,Andy Shirley,Brian,
Adam Hartley (Gnome) Jason Coppock (Badger) Ian Smith



Balscote Quarry 24 November 2012

Tree Sparrow 20
Common Snipe 30+
Green Woodpecker 1
Fieldfare 150+
Redwing 15+
Yellowhammer 3

Stock Dove 6

Black Audi Birding

Jack Snipe & up to 5 Brambling recently

Boarstall Decoy: 24th November

Boarstall Decoy
2 Woodcock

Colin Oram

Farmoor (Nov 24th 11-1pm)

Slavonian Grebe - 1 still present 12:20 at least on F1,

Common Sand - 1

Siskin -4

Scaup - 3

Tufted - 93

Sonning Eye GPs: 24th November

Sonning Eye GPs
2 Egyptian Goose

Marek Walford

24th November, Marsh Lane, Marston

Waxwing .... 1/28

28 Waxwings in the Ox Rad car park, off Marsh Lane in Marston. Found this morning by Jon Uren they were still around shortly after midday, feeding on hawthorns in the hedge.

More Waxwing photos Here

About here Ox Rad Car park off Marsh Lane


 

(c) Terry Sherlock

 

Farmoor 24th November

Slavonian Grebe in N/W corner of F1 10:10 Scaup 3 still on F1 (per The Wickster) Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Sutton Courtenay 24th November

Yellow-legged Gull 4
Red-crested Pochard 1 (m)

Otmoor 23rd November

Common Buzzard

Goldcrest

Hen Harrier juv

Stonechat

Otmoor: 23rd November

Otmoor
3 Chiffchaff: 3Chiffchaffs along bridleway to right of cattle pens.
9 Golden Plover: Flying over Big Otmoor.
Lesser Redpoll
Peregrine
2 Stonechat
Pintail

Peter Coombes

Farmoor 22nd November

Scaup 3 still on F1 13:20 (per RBA)

Shilton, Burford 22nd November

Paul Sims writes: "Flock of Fieldfares 1000 + seen near Shilton, Burford.   In hedgerows/trees near flooded fields.  No binoculars available with me so may have been a mixed flock with Redwings etc.  Also a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker seen with them outside the flock, very windy weather, difficult to be certain."

Otmoor.A.M. 22nd November.

1 Merlin (M)
1 Sparrowhawk (F).

Port Meadow: 21st November

Port Meadow
2 Redshank
6 Dunlin
Pintail: m.

Adam Hartley

Port Meadow: 20th November

Port Meadow
Caspian Gull: near ad.
2 Yellow-legged Gull: ad.

Adam Hartley

More at Port Meadow Birding

Ringing recovery (Farmoor)

A juvenile Lesser Black Backed Gull that was seen on the causeway at Farmoor on September 8th this year had been ringed at Sprogo in Denmark as a pullus on July 3rd 2012 (yellow ring V5UU).

for those interested Sprogo is here about 555 miles to the NE of Farmoor.

all the best
Dave

Farmoor 20th November

(c) Terry Sherlock

Black-necked Grebe on F1 in the south east corner at 09:05 (per Dai)
Scaup 3 still on F1

The Insomniac Birder

Wolvercote: 19th November

Wolvercote
Brambling: male. One individual, feeding on ground with Chaffinch flock. SP489100.

Steve Goddard

Black headed Gull (c) Julian Mole



South Moreton 19th November

Ruff 1
Dunlin 1
Golden Plover c200
Lapwing c300
Snipe c50

(per Brian Wyatt)

Radley Pochard November

 

This female Pochard wearing a pale blue nasal saddle was amongst

a small group of Pochard at Radley GP's on the 13th November.

It was last recorded at Hambers in north west France on 30th June 2011.

 

RSPB Otmoor. November WeBS

The WeBS count for November was carried out this morning. Results, including total numbers and numbers per field were...

Little grebe 1 (Reedbed)
Little egret 2 (Ashgrave)
Grey heron 4 (1 Flood, 2 Greenaways, 1 Big Otmoor)
Mute swan 18 (7 Greenaways, 3 Ashgrave, 2 Ashgrave, 6 Reedbed)
Greylag goose 170 (123 Closes, 44 Greenaways, 3 Ashgrave)
Canada goose 451 (2 Closes, 449 Ashgrave)
Lapwing 159 (26 Flood, 1 Closes, 130 Ashgrave, 1 Big Otmoor, 1 Reedbed)
Snipe 4 (1 Closes, 2 Greenaways, 1 Reedbed)
Wigeon 838 (170 Flood, 55 Closes, 23 Greenaways, 30 Ashgrave, 550 Ashgrave, 4 Big Otmoor, 6 Reedbed)
Gadwall 9 (1 Flood, 8 Reedbed)
Teal 314 (95 Flood, 76 Closes, 21 Ashgrave, 50 Ashgrave, 72 Reedbed)
Mallard 132 (55 Flood, 4 Malt Pit, 15 Closes, 3 Greenaways, 47 Ashgrave, 8 Reedbed)
Pintail 2 (Ashgrave)
Shoveler 149 (5 Flood, 143 Ashgrave, 1 Reedbed)
Tufted duck 7 (Reedbed)
Moorhen 1 (Closes)
Coot 3 (Reedbed)
Black-headed gull 29 (Ashgrave)

Other birds picked up during the survey included; hen harrier, stonechat, peregrine and two ravens. Large flocks of fieldfare and redwing are roaming the moor and mixed groups of finches and tits are every where.

The starling roost is still numbering about 60000 birds and is regularly being harrassed by raptors including sparrowhawk, peregrine and hen harrier so it's an impressive sight. If people are coming to see the roost however, we are asking them to if possible come during the week. The car park on the reserve is only small and just can't cope with the numbers of starling watchers that are turning up at the weekend. Also if people can avoid parking in front of the main reserve that would be much appreciated. Thank you :)

 



Otmoor Fieldfares (c) Tony Biskup

Grimsbury Reservoir: 18th November

Grimsbury Reservoir
Brambling: In scrub by the river (heard only).
Lesser Redpoll
Kingfisher: Possibly 2.

Gareth Blockley

North Oxford 18th November

Bainton Road, N Oxford (nr Trap Grounds)

4 Waxwing Briefly in a non-fruiting tree, calling. Restless. Moved off west. SP503083.

Tom Evans

Stonesfield Common

Little Owl
7 Lesser Redpolls

Cuddesdon 18th Nov Peregrine juv (c) Tom Bedford

also 20+ Lesser Redpoll

 

The Birdless Cuddesdon Blog

 

 

Sandford St. Martin: 18th November

Sandford St. Martin
6 Common Crossbill: 3m, 3f. SU417274.

David Watkinson

Otmoor 18th November

Waxwing briefly near feeders this morning. Hen Harrier (ringtail) Peregrine 2 Golden Plover c300 Snipe 50+ Kingfisher Stonechat (2nd screen) Chiffchaff Blackcap (f) Redpoll

 



Good numbers of Fieldfare & Redwing
Otmoor Birding
 

Port Meadow: 18th November

Port Meadow
7 Dunlin
Redshank
10 Ruff


Sydney Penner

Devil's Punchbowl 18th November




Kestrel (c) Peter Law

3 Short-eared Owls
2 Harris Hawk
500+ Fieldfare

(per Peter Law)

Devil's Punchbowl

Farmoor 18th November

Scaup 3 still on F1 (per The Paranoid 1)

Farmoor Blog

Port Meadow 17th November

Caspian Gull again in the roost this evening
Yellow-legged Gull 3
Golden Plover c1000
Dunlin 6
Redshank

(Dave Lowe Gnome & Badger)

Port Meadow Birding

Ridgeway above Letcombe Bassett: 17th November

Hen Harrier: (ringtail).
Brambling: with small Chaffinch flock.

Paul Chandler Cholsey Wildlife

Bearded Tit Bicester Wetland Reserve

(c) Derek Woodard

Sparsholt: Sparsholt Firs/Tower: 17th November

17th November

Sparsholt: Sparsholt Firs/Tower
Brambling
2 Raven: Cronking away.

Devil's Punchbowl
5 Grey Partridge: At least. Red-legs by the score.

Mark Merritt

Farmoor 17th November

Scaup 3
Raven
Brambling (Cumnor)

(per The Wickster)

More from the Res at
The Insomniac Birder

Port Meadow: 16th November

Caspian Gull: ad.
3 Yellow-legged Gull: ad.
2 Redshank

Adam Hartley

More on Port Meadow Birding

Otmoor 16th November

Cetti's Warbler seen and heard from the 2nd screen
Hen Harrier (ringtail)
Raven

(per Paul Greenaway Peter Coombes & Lyn Ebbs)

Ringtail (c) P.Coombes

Wantage 16th November

Seven Brambling this morning, feeding in trees along the old canal cutting just south of Mably Grove.

: 11th November

Ramsden
Raven: SP3515.

Richard Catling

Farmoor 15th November

Scaup 3 still on F1.
Goldfinch 80+
Redpoll 8

Scaup (c) The Insomniac Birder

Port Meadow: 14th November

Port Meadow
2 Redshank
5 Dunlin

Adam Hartley

Cholsey 14th November

Cholsey
2 Stonechat
Merlin

Paul Chandler Cholsey Wildlife




Fieldfare (c) Derek Woodard

Bicester Wetlands Reserve 14th November

Bearded Tit (m) still this morning from main hide.

Access to this fantastic little reserve is via a key and membership
to the Banbury Ornithological Society

Otmoor 14th November>

C. 1000 Lapwing
8 Little Egret
1 Raven
23 Golden Plover.

Paul Greenaway



3 Bearded Tit 2nd screen.
3 Chiffchaff 2 in car park field. Another near RSPb hut.
2 Peregrine One on ground (Big Otmoor) 2nd bird flying between the screens.

Peter Coombes The Otmoor Blogger

Both photos (c) Peter Coombes

Farmoor 14th November

Scaup 3 still on F1 this morning (per Dai)

The Insomniac Birder

Frilford: 13th November

Frilford
Woodcock: Low over the road just south of junction.

Leo Bateman

Port Meadow: 13th November

Port Meadow
2 Black-tailed Godwit
7 Dunlin: per Jarrod Hadfield.
2 Redshank: per Jarrod Hadfield.

Adam Hartley

Otmoor 13th November

Large Starling murmuration this evening with estimates of up to 60,000 birds

in the roost.

Hen Harrier (ringtail)
Sprawk

(per Terry Tossel)

Farmoor 13th November

Scaup 3 (2 imm 1 f) 09:45

(per Dai) The Insomniac Birder

Wolvercote: 12th November

Wolvercote
3 Brambling: 2 male. 1 fem. Feeding with Chaffinch flock in back garden (and one briefly on niger feeder!). Easily the earliest winter sighting I've had in the garden (and for what it's worth, a record flock!). SP491100.

Steve Goddard

Port Meadow 11th November

Caspian Gull (ad) again in the roost at 15:50 (per Ewan) Yellow-legged Gull 4 Dunlin 5 Redshank 2 Golden Plover c250 Pintail 1 m Photo (c) Gnome. More at Port Meadow Birding Larid lovers (c) Julian Mole

Kings Lock: 11th November

Kings Lock
3 Goosander: 2m, 1f on Thames.

Peter Law

Farmoor 11th November

Scaup 4 this afternoon 16:30 (per RBA)

More from the Res at The Insomniac Birder

Otmoor 11th November

View from the 1st screen on Otmoor (c) Alan Petherbridge Bearded Tit 5 Hen Harrier 1 Peregrine 1 Stonechat 2 (per Wayne Bull) (per Oz) Otmoor Birding