September Highlights

Red-necked Grebe Farmoor reservoir courtesy of Mark Chivers

Headline Birds

So we're well into Autumn now though with the sunny and calm days of the last week or so you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's still summer. In general such good weather doesn't bode well for birding but there have been a few goodies to make the headlines this month.

Top of the bill goes to a juvenile Red-backed Shrike that spent two days at Otmoor RSPB on the 6th and 7th in July's Meadow next to the new wetland hide. Like buses, this is the third Red-backed Shrike within the last year, marking a remarkable spate of records for what is normally a real county Mega.

Red-backed Shrike Otmoor by Badger

Talking of buses, it's been a remarkable autumn for Wrynecks in the county. Not content with a couple of records last month there were two more this month though sadly neither of them was twitchable. One of these cryptic woodpeckers was seen in Burgess Field next to Port Meadow on the afternoon of the 4th and another was spotted briefly at a bird table in a Carterton garden on the 23rd.

Wryneck Carterton courtesy of M.Willis

Apart from that there was a Pied Flycatcher seen along the River Thame near the town on the 12th. On the rare grebe front there were a couple of sightings with a one day Black-necked Grebe at Farmoor on the 28th and a last-gasp Red-necked Grebe that snuck into the review on the 30th, this may well be the now regular returning wintering bird.

Black-necked Grebe Farmoor courtesy of Dai John

Raptors

An Osprey was a fantastic sighting along the Thames at Abingdon weir on the 13th before moving off towards the town itself. A Peregrine was seen hunting pigeons over the BMW Mini plant near Cowley on the morning of 2nd - you have to wonder how many of these urban hunting birds might be whizzing above our towns and cities unnoticed. A female Merlin was back at the Devil's Punch Bowl on the 12th with a single seen within the Blenheim Park estate on the 15th and on the RSPB reserve on the 18th, a male was also seen near Adderbury on the 30th.The two Marsh Harriers remained on Otmoor throughout with a single at Dix Pit on the 19th. A possible Honey Buzzard was seen over Oxford on the 17th.

Osprey at Abingdon courtesy of Martin Green

Short-eared Owls arrived back in the county early this autumn with an individual at White Horse Hill near Uffington on the 17th, this or a second bird was seen south of Uffington Castle on the 26th and a single Shortie was on Otmoor on the 25th and 27th.

Short-eared Owl White Horse Hill courtesy of Barry Hudson

Gulls & Terns
An immature Caspian Gull was seen briefly at Pit 60 on the 12th with perhaps the same bird being found amongst the Farmoor roost on the 13th. Five Little Terns flew through Farmoor on the 12th but didn't stop. Four Black Terns were at Farmoor on the 1st with six present at the reservoir on the 12th; a juvenile was also present at Grimsbury reservoir in Banbury on the 12th. The gradual rise in Yellow-legged Gulls over the summer reached an impressive sixty plus birds within the roost at Farmoor on the 1st.

Caspian Gull juvenile Farmoor roost courtesy of Nic Hallam

Waterfowl
A Bittern was reported on Otmoor on the 18th. Wigeon started to return this month to winter in the county with three birds on Otmoor from around the 18th with at least sixty at Dix Pit on the 19th. The Red-crested Pochard flock at Dix Pit numbered over thirty birds also on the 19th.


Waders
Two Little Stints proved elusive at Farmoor reservoir on the 1st unlike the nine Dunlin which also arrived on the same day. 

Little Stint, Dunlin & Ringed Plover Farmoor courtesy of Mark Merritt

Black-tailed Godwits were seen at Grimsbury reservoir on the 1st and 15th with five at Farmoor in the evening and single birds at Pit 60 on the 8th. Two Whimbrel flew over Farmoor on the 1st. A pair of Ruff came to Farmoor on the 2nd with a third bird arriving on the 3rd. There was a single bird at Pit 60 on the 5th with a pair at the later site on the 12th.

Ruff Farmoor courtesy of John Reynolds

Greenshank numbers seemed down on recent years with singles at Pit 60 on the 3rd and a pair on the dried pit near Sutton Courtenay on the 15th. The first of the winter Golden Plovers started to arrive on the Downs with twelve seen at Lark Hill on the 5th. A Spotted Redshank was a great find at Farmoor on the 13th though unfortunately, like the Little Terns it didn't stop.

Ringed Plover Farmoor courtesy of the Gun-slinger

Little-ringed Plover juvenile courtesy of Richard Tyler

Passerines
The Ring-necked Parakeet was again in Banbury at Grimsbury Res on the 24th. A Tree Pipit was heard over Crowmarsh Gifford on the 3rd with an elusive bird found near to the Rutherford Laboratory at Harwell from the 7th-9th. Two Rock Pipits showed up along the causeway at Farmoor on the 27th.

Rock Pipit Farmoor courtesy of the Gun-slinger

Whinchats were to be found in abundance throughout September with three birds in the Upper Cherwell site near to Grimsbury reservoir on the 1st and on Otmoor over the much of the month with numbers peaking at thirteen on the 18th. Two birds were a superb find near Cuddesdon on the 6th, two birds were present at the Devil's Punch Bowl on the 12th and single birds were at Grove airfield over much of the month

Whinchat Otmoor courtesy of Jim Hutchins

Stonechats started to arrive back in the county this month with two at the Devil's Punch Bowl on the 12th, singles at Grove airfield on the 12th and on Otmoor on the 18th with this number rising to three on the reserve by the 25th. Three birds were seen at Churn on the 19th with a single at Lark Hill on the same date; another individual was at White Horse Hill on the 20th and Blewbury on the 27th.

Stonechat Otmoor courtesy of Jim Hutchins

Wheatears were also well represented this month with twelve birds at Churn on the 6th being a notable record.

Redstarts were at Lark Hill near Wantage on the 1st, 5th and the 19th with two birds on the 17th. Single birds were at Lollingdon Hill on the 3rd, Otmoor on the 5th, Letcombe Bassett on the 22nd with a single at Grimsbury res on the 15th (the latter becoming two on the 17th). A female was at Churn also on the 5th, two birds were also seen near Charlton-on-Otmoor on the 6th, a male was also seen along Shifford Lane near Pit 60 on the 12th and three Redstarts were at Grove airfield on the 13th.

Twenty three Yellow Wagtails on the 4th remains one of the highest counts at Farmoor this year with 85 roosting amongst the reed beds on Otmoor on the 6th. A Blue-headed Wagtail (flava) was unfortunately only present at Farmoor on the evening of the 12th

Large numbers of Siskin were on the move from the start of the month over the UK which included Oxfordshire skies and may well bode well for a good Siskin winter.

Yellow-browed Warblers on the move

Yellow-browed Warbler at Port Meadow in 2013
Picture courtesy of the Gun-slinger.

With several hundred of these fantastic little sprites arriving all along the east coast of the U.K from
the Shetland Isles through to Kent, it's worth keeping an eye (and ear) out for these Siberian warblers.
During the last big influx in 2013 at least two Yellow-broweds were found in Oxon with probably many others moving through the county unseen.

Probably the easiest way to locate one of these superb  phylloscopus warblers is to recognise their distinctive call (below).



STOP PRESS: Yellow-browed Warbler found well inland at Corby in Northamptonshire yesterday 30th September with another bird seen in London today 1st October...

Red-billed Tropicbird in Cornwall
by Geoff Wyatt

A forecast of moderate, south westerly winds had governed that I try my luck for an annual August trip, seawatching in Cornwall, hoping for the big one. And so to Gwennap Head, Porthgwarra, from Tuesday 25th, putting in a daily shift from 6.30am to 8.00pm. Cory Shearwaters had been numerous each day, good numbers of Great Shears, Balearics, Stormies and a few Skuas had been entertaining the assembled birders.  Late Tuesday evening, a very credible candidate for Yelkouan Shearwater rewarded we five hardy remaining stalwarts, but as in The Tales from the Riverbank..."that's another story."

Things quietened down during the afternoon of Thursday 27th, a Minke Whale being the very welcome highlight. For me, a sleep-in was over due and thus I arrived  at PG "late" at 7.30am on Friday 28th. 11 visiting birders had already gathered, scattered among the rocks at Gwennap Head. I was surprised they had already tallied 50 Cory's dawdling slowly West. At around 8.05am, Martin Birch urgently exclaimed "Get on this bird... Look at this" or something of that ilk.  He efficiently directed us on to a lone bird that was already West of the Runnel Stone buoy. As myself, Jeff Burgham, James Garside and others got on to it, the bird was flying directly away from us and it appeared to show the tri-coloured wing pattern of an adult Sabines Gull. Several of us, confidently said Sabines but Martin was not happy with that saying it had a long tail, a feature we couldn't see at this angle, he mentioned Tropicbird as a possibility, with that, the bird banked right, clearly revealing itself as a Tropicbird. A thump of adrenaline surged through me like a lightening bolt, Martin and I shouted Red-billed Tropicbird. Incredibly, the bird circled back towards the coast and returned towards us, within about half distance from shore to the Runnel Stone buoy, although, off to the West of our viewpoint.  It was flying about 10-15 metres above the sea and investigated several Gannets, flying directly to them, and following them for short periods. It had a steady, constant flapping action. As the bird first banked right, and subsequently as it circled, we could see a pale orange bill, black mask through the eye, a substantial black wedge formed by the outer primaries, white triangular trailing edge to the wing from the inner primaries and secondaries and pale grey coverts,  the white tail had protruding central tail feathers that extended beyond the rest of the tail by about an additional half to three quarters of the tail length, it circled for approximately 7 minutes gradually heading West, at one point it had travelled out if view behind the rocks to our right but came back in to view, flying out to sea again. Amid all the high excitement, swearing, and repeated directions, all 12, physically shaking birders got on to the bird.

A cliff-top telephone conversation I had with Ian Lewington, describing the birds features and plumage, would strongly suggest it was a 2nd calender year Red-billed Tropicbird, differing from adult due to bill colour - pale orange as opposed to red, its tail length- not having full length tail streamers, and from a juv by lack of any dark scalloping in mantle/coverts, and again bill colour- pale orange whereas yellow in juv.

Great credit must go to Martin Birch for the initial call and sticking to his first thoughts/impressions on the bird. Manic phone calls and text messaging followed the sighting,  trying to get the news out in case the bird followed the the Land's End coastline.This was followed by, hurried, joyous, congratulatory conversations as the dozen visiting individuals were united in a moment of exhilarating triumph.

I'm writing this account sat in the Logan Rock, Treen, benefiting from WiFi and a pint of Tribute. I'll be in West Penwith for the coming days, sat on a cliff top...watching...waiting...smiling. August in Cornwall...I'll be back next year.

Calling all 'Birdsworths'

Have you a birding tale to tell? 
A story of birding daring do, 
an EPIC twitch or simply a story 
of an encounter with one of our feathered friends. 
If so we would love to hear from you...