January Highlights

Golden Plover Otmoor courtesy of Richard Ebbs

Headline Birds

So that's January come and gone already. Traditionally it's not a great month for good birds but we managed a couple of good sightings in the month here in God's Own County so we can't really complain. 

The first one was a Great Grey Shrike, probably the odds-on favourite if you had to pick the species of Scarce+ bird that was most likely to turn up in January (though I haven't actually done the stats to confirm that). It was found on the 18th near Entsone along a country road where it remained until at least the 24th though it became increasingly elusive and mobile during its stay. Fortunately some of the county's photographers managed to capture some good shots of it.

Great grey Shrike Enstone courtesy of John Reynolds

Courtesy of Paul Wren please view at 720p 

The second species was much less predictable, namely a dark morph Arctic Skua which appeared all too briefly at Farmoor Reservoir on the 11th. This is a good bird for the county: in the last 15 years there have only been five previous records with all but one of them occurring in the autumn. So all in all this was a most unusual record. It's a shame that it didn't stick around.

Raptors

It was a good month for raptors with quite a bit to report. A Marsh Harrier frequented the Otmoor RSPB reserve towards the end of the month - a great winter record. A ringtail Hen Harrier was seen at Pit 15 near Standlake on the 18th with another ringtail near Lollingdon Hill Cholsey on the 29th. A further ringtail and a male remained at the Oxon/Glos border near Great Barrington (Glos) throughout the month. 

Marsh Harrier Otmoor courtesy of the Gun-slinger

There were plenty of Peregrine sightings throughout the month with records at Balscote Quarry on the 4th, Banbury on the 13th, Chimney Meadows on the 18th, Witney Lake on the same date, Kingston Bagpuize on the 23rd and 30th, Chipping Norton on the 19th and Bicester on the 27th. In addition the Otmoor pair continuing their residence throughout the month and one or two birds were seen periodically at Port Meadow as well.

Merlin were seen near Great Haseley on the 7th with sporadic sightings on Otmoor throughout. A Short-eared Owl made a brief visit to Farmoor's Shrike Meadow on the 6th with birds also noted at several sites along the Oxfordshire Downs.

Wildfowl

As you'd expect at this time of year there were plenty of wildfowl sightings to report. The highlight of the month on this front is probably the 58 Barnacle Geese which arrived on Port Meadow on the afternoon of the 16th with number rising to 70 on the 18th. I think its fair to say that these birds have probably never been further north than the Watford Gap and belong to the feral Home Counties flock though as official Category C birds they are nevertheless bona fide tickables. At least forty five of them then decamped to Farmoor on the morning of the 20th when the Meadow floods froze over.

Barnacle Geese Port Meadow courtesy of Alec Nightingale

Talking of geese, the three White-fronted Geese on Otmoor kept company with the Greylags all month as did the feral Ross's Goose. On the swan front the two adult Whooper Swans remained at Lower Radley throughout January.

White-fronted Geese at Otmoor courtesy of the Gun-slinger

The female Long-tailed Duck continued its residency amongst the Dorchester gravel pits complex until at least the 20th before moving on to Pit 60 on the 31st. Shelduck were seen regularly throughout the month on Port Meadow with numbers peaking at eight on the 12th. In addition there were two birds at Blenheim on the 2nd and three dropping in to Grimsbury Res on the 22nd. 

Long staying Long-tailed Duck at Dorchester G.P.'s courtesy of the Gun-slinger 

On the saw-bill front four Smew including two "nuns" remained among the Henley Road and Sonning Eye gravel pits in January as did the female Red-breasted Merganser. Up to eleven Goosander were to to found at Port Meadow and the adjacent Thames throughout the month with two birds within the Oxford University Parks at Mesopotamia. In addition a drake at Grimsbury Res was joined by a second bird on the 13th. 

Drake Smew Henley Road G.P.'s courtesy of Marek Walford

Female Red-breasted Merganser Henley Road G.P.'s courtesy of Ben Carpenter

Goosander University Parks courtesy of Lia Verhoeff

Six Mandarin Duck were still present at their regular haunt near to the Coombe gate entrance within Blenheim park. The Bittern was again being seen sporadically on Otmoor with another individual being seen in the south of the county at the Henley Road gravel pits on the 24th.

Gulls

It's been rather a quiet month on the gull front. There have been no white-winger sightings yet so it's been mainly Caspian Gull records that have been noteworthy. Four of these beauties have been frequenting the Didcot landfill and Sutton Courtenay pits over January with an adult seen at Dix Pit on the 24th. In addition Port Meadow was graced with a couple of first winter birds with one seen on the 20th and one on the 28th.

1st winter Caspian Gull Port Meadow courtesy of Adam Hartley

Apart from that there have been regular sightings of Yellow-legged Gulls at Port Meadow and two Kittiwakes were reported at Farmoor on the 12th

Waders

There's been precious little to report on the wader front this month. Up to five Redshank have been seen on Port Meadow and there was a single Black-tailed Godwit towards the end of the month at the same site. A single returning Redshank arrived back at Otmoor by month's end. Jack Snipe were seen at Cholsey Marsh on the 2nd with two individuals seen at the traditional county site at Iffley Meadows. In addition seven birds were recorded at the B.O.S Biscester Wetlands Reserve on the 22nd.

Passerines

At least three Bearded Tits continued to tough it out at RSPB Otmoor often favouring the burgeoning reedbeds at the western end of the reserve. The Willow Tit was still being reported at Grimsbury Reservoir throughout the month although at times it proved rather elusive.

Marsh Tit above showing a pale mark on the upper mandible which
although not a completely diagnostic feature is a good identification marker.
The Willow Tit pictured below is often described as more bull necked than

 Marsh Tit with a duller black crown than the glossy crown of a Marsh.

These features can be fairly subjective in the field so hearing the call still
remains the easiest way to distinguish these species

Both pictures courtesy of  R.W

 

The two Siberian Chiffchaffs remained at Abingdon sewage works over January as did the Grimsbury Reservoir bird.

Siberian Chiffchaff Grimsbury Reservoir courtesy of Gareth Blockley

Stonechats were seen at Radley at the start of the month with up to seven on the Otmoor reserve and two at Hanwell Fields. A Firecrest was a found amongst the lake-side vegetation at Dix Pit at Stanton Harcourt on the 3rd. Brambling were noted at Cowleaze Wood and Stonesfield on the 17th. Eighty Corn Buntings at Upper Lambourn on the 20th was a good count for this declining farmland species as was a second flock of eighty at Nutwood Down on the 31st.

Looking Ahead

Looking back at past February Scarce+ records on RBA as you'd expect there's not a great deal to sort through. By far the vast majority of records consist of white-winged gulls and Caspians so we can certainly hope for some of those. However, there have been a few good things over the last 15 years with Leach's Petrel, Ring-necked Duck, American Wigeon, two Lesser Scaup, two Great Grey Shrike, Great White Egret and Rough-legged Buzzard all noteworthy. Just to remind us however that anything can turn up at any time the highlight of this retrospective was of course the Rufous Turtle Dove - something of this calibre would certainly make it a February to remember. Fingers crossed!

Back in Time – May - June 2004. 

by Paul Chandler

Just over ten years ago, five of us (namely Brian, Roger and Geoff Wyatt, Martin Hallam and myself) undertook a two-week birding trip to Spain. We flew out to Bilbao, hired a car and set off for a great two week adventure travelling Spain and seeing some great birds (but that is a story for another time). There is a story within a story here though: we had managed to identify a guaranteed site for Wallcreeper and confirmed another for DuPont’s Lark so when we phoned home a few days later a certain Mr Ian Lewington and a Mr Nic Hallam twitched the Wallcreeper and Lark from the UK. They flew out to Bilbao, hired a car, saw the birds, and flew back to the UK the following day - that is a twitch for you! 

Anyway, we arrived back in the UK on Saturday 31st May, very happy, sun-tanned and knackered and looking forward to a day to recover before getting back to work. However, the pager ensured that did not happen as on the Sunday up popped a “mega” Black Lark, South Stack, Anglesey! No contest you just have to do it! We actually departed that Sunday night and drove the 250 or so miles up to Anglesey. The weather had been abysmal on Anglesey the day the Lark was found and the conversation on the journey was about IF the bird would still be present. 

We arrived at dawn on Monday 2nd June and joined the assembled throng of between 600 -700 birders. The burnt area where the lark had been seen the day before had been roped off and the Lark's presence was established relatively quickly in the same area. The bird was easy to pick out even with the naked eye as it stood out well against a background of grasses and small plants and was seen and appreciated by everyone present with the bird ranging down to around 70 metres. 

Monday 2nd June was a dull and murky day, with a cool westerly wind. However we were still in “Spain mode”, wearing shorts etc. having forgotten how cold it can be in north Wales even in early June. After about an hour, I started to shiver so I had to start moving around. I am not sure about the rest of the crew but I am sure we all felt the cold! The trip was well worth it though, a fantastic bird to see in the UK and well out of range from central Russia. Not a lot else was noted that day apart from the inevitable Red-billed Choughs and several seabird species. Anglesey has always been a great spot for rarities and on other twitches; and over the years, we have twitched Forster’s, Sooty and Bridled Tern, Killdeer Plover and White-billed Diver.