October Highlights & News

Merlin Otmoor courtesy of Derek Lane

Headline Birds

So that's October been and gone now. Statistically the best month of the birding calendar year though with an inland county of course it can be very hit and miss. As I look down at the list of headline birds it doesn't look too bad though to be honest it has felt very quiet for much of the month with just a late flurry of sightings to retrieve what would otherwise have been a frankly disappointing month.

The star bird of the month has to be a splendid Great Grey Shrike that was found in July's Meadow at Otmoor on the afternoon of the 26th and which stayed for just one more day. As this location also recently hosted a Red-backed Shrike it has been suggested that it should be renamed "Shrike Meadow" though it was pointed out that the Farmoor site of the same name has never seen a Shrike since it got named and it's probably best not to jinx it. Anyway, it was a gorgeous bird that showed reasonable well on the 27th to the county birders who came to pay homage. There's been a big influx of this species this autumn in the country and unlike many autumn vagrants, Shrikes are prepared to go and share the love inland as well. Whilst it's probably one of the commonest of the Scarce+ Oxon birds, it was still very nice to have it grace our county.

Great-grey Shrike Otmoor courtesy of John Reynolds

Next on the headline list are a pair of Yellow-browed Warbler sightings. It's been a record-breaking autumn for these gorgeous Siberian sprites and I'm sure that I've not been the only county birder to hope that some would trickle down through our county.Whereas in 2014 we managed a couple of twitchable birds, sadly this year the records were the all too familiar post facto single-observer ones: one at Donnington Bridge on the 15th and one at Great Coxwell on the 28th.

A possible Black Kite at Otmoor on the 3rd would have made it to star bird status had the record been firmed up but sadly it was never seen well enough. Also in the list of brief and untwitchable birds was a Crane that was seen in flight between Eynsham and Stanton Harcourt on the 6th

Getting down to the "good county birds" section of the headliners we next have a pair of Black-necked Grebes at Baulking on the Fullers Earth pit from the 21st to the end of the month and at least one may have been present from as early as the 15th. The pair were seen displaying to each other and many county birders paid them a visit during their stay.

Black-necked Grebe Baulking courtesy of Jim Hutchins

Talking of Grebes, our now-annual Red-necked Grebe came back again and stayed at Farmoor all month. It's great that this rare Grebe finds the reservoir to its liking - it's now the third year of it visiting.

Red-necked Grebe Farmoor courtesy of Steve Burch

Finally, a Black Redstart was seen in Juniper Valley on the 10th to the 11th and another of these dusky chats was found at Grimsbury Reservoir on the last day of the month.

Black Redstart Grimsbury Reservoir by Badger

Raptors

The first of two male Hen Harriers were seen at Kingston Bagpuize on the 13th with the second bird

on Otmoor late afternoon on the 26th. A ringtail was seen to the north of the county near Burford on the 17th with a further unconfirmed sighting this month near Watlington on the 11th. At least two Marsh Harriers stayed faithful to Otmoor RSPB throughout and could now be regarded as a resident species on the reserve.

The wintering pair of Peregrines started to be seen more regularly on Otmoor over the course of the month and a pair were also noted at The Lees near Cholsey on the 13th. To the north of the county a Peregrine was at Grimsbury reservoir on the 13th with a magnificent female at Chipping Norton on

the 17th and 28th.

Merlins were recorded at Cholsey on the 2nd, Islip on the 22nd, at Churn on the 4th, a male at West Ginge on the 15th and a female near Burford on the 17th. Single birds were seen on Otmoor over the month with two birds seen on the reserve on the 29th.

Short-eared Owl numbers started to increase in the county with singles seen along the border at Remenham on the 26th and at Begbroke on the 28th with numbers on Otmoor peaking at four individuals on the 11th.

Short-eared Owl Begbroke courtesy of Simon Dowell

Waders

A superb Spotted Redshank was discovered at Standlake's Pit 60 on the 4th and remained until at least the 11th, allowing many of the counties keenest birders to finally add this elegant passage wader to their county list. Also at Pit 60 was a showy (probably due to distance) Jack Snipe from the 2nd-25th with three birds also noted on Otmoor and a single at Farmoor on the 31st. Two Ruff were seen at Otmoor RSPB on the 3rd. A Grey Plover flew over Farmoor reservoir on the 4th with a second bird heard on the 20th.

Spotted Redshank Pit 60 courtesy of Jeremy Dexter

Gulls

At least four Caspian Gulls were at the Didcot landfill site this month with two adults on the 13th and two 1st winters and an adult on 20th. At least twelve Yellow-legged Gulls were also at the landfill on the 13th.

Adult Caspian Gull Didcot Landfill courtesy of Lew

Waterfowl

The first of two Brent Geese in Oxfordshire arrived at Farmoor reservoir on the 16th with the second at Port Meadow on 30th - unfortunately neither of these wary geese stayed for very long. 

Brent Goose Farmoor courtesy of Dai

Mandarin Ducks were on the move around the county with singles noted at Otmoor on the 6th, at Rushy Common on the 28th and at Ewelme on the 25th.

Mandarin Duck Ewelme Cress Beds courtesy of Thomas Stevenson

A Garganey was at Pit 60 on the 4th and the Bittern continued its residency on Otmoor all month

Passerines

A Lesser-spotted Woodpecker was seen briefly near Cumnor on the 30th. Two Ring Ouzels were a great discovery amongst the Cholsey Downs from the 12th-13th and mirrored a national movement of these charming thrushes. A late Redstart was within Juniper Valley on the 10th with another on Cholsey Downs on the 20th. A pair of Rock Pipits found Farmoor to their liking over much of the month with five present at the reservoir on the 9th. Five Crossbills were seen in flight over the Ridgeway on the 4th with singles over Headington Hill, Oxford on the 22nd and Otmoor RSPB on the 29th.

The now-regular but sporadic Ring-necked Parakeet was again at Grimsbury reservoir near Banbury on the 11th. Two Tree Sparrows were a welcome discovery at Lollingdon Hill on the 13th. A Hawfinch was seen at Blenheim on the 23rd.

Bramblings started appearing this month with a single bird on Otmoor on the 13th and several small flocks over Kingston Bagbuize. Birds were also noted on the Downs near Cholsey on the 20th.

Brambling Cholsey Downs courtesy of The Gun-slinger

News

A Rediscovered Birding Hotspot in Oxfordshire: 

Dix Pit at Stanton Harcourt.

Dix Pit used to be one of the most popular birding locations in Oxon and in the early/mid 90's was regularly in the top three of sites generating the most records entered into the county database. Over the years as other areas have become more birder friendly (Otmoor for one) Dix Pit now attains a rather lowly 12th/14th position. One of the main reasons for this has been the growth of vegetation around the pit shoreline (especially over the last decade) which has made viewing problematic to say the least. Many folk used to pull up at the weighbridge car park and have a fine view of the whole pit with no real need to walk the perimeter. The whole southern edge is now an impenetrable mass of trees and bushes where there was once an open shore - not good for birds or birders.

Now thanks to the contacts and negotiation skills of OOS president Sir Clive Elliott, permission has been granted to clear three small viewing areas between the pit and the now defunct landfill. Thanks also to a small intrepid party of hackers two of these sections have already been cleared. The first (see photo) is about 100 yds east of the weighbridge car park along the path to the 'Devil's Quoits' and the other is a further 200 yds along this track. Viewing from both gives a complete coverage of the pit. Unfortunately clearing the area  of the car park was not granted (and would have needed a bulldozer rather than saws, axes and loppers) but it is hoped the provision of these viewing gaps will encourage more birders to visit and in turn increase the number of records received from the site.

Ian Lewington Oxfordshire county recorder.

Farmoors new hide at Pinkhill

Thames Water have rebuilt the hide which overlooks the Pinkhill reserve adjacent to Farmoor reservoir and it is now open to the public. The new hide is part of a wider plan
which will see some active management of the Pinkhill and Shrike Meadow reserves.

The new hide is larger than the last one and allows much more light in due inpart to the two large viewing windows, the hide also boasts viewing slots at different heights and disabled access.

It's a great place to see Water Rails, Kingfishers, the resident Barn Owls and if you're lucky even the occasional Jack Snipe.

Both pictures courtesy of Dai John.

 


Continuing with the Farmoor theme,
Farmoor stalwart and all round top bloke Dai John has revamped, refreshed, and renamed his blog and will be launching ' Birding the Concrete Basins' this month so keep an eye on the blog thumbnails along the right hand side. We wish him every success and look forward to reading it.

RSPB team take the top spot.

Congratulations to the RSPB Otmoor team 'The Otmoor Arries' for winning the 2015 annual Bird race by finding an impressive 67 birds on the reserve last Saturday morning, well done chaps and chapesses.

Xmas Stocking Filler

Our own Mary Clifton has used her years of experience of county birding to put together a book which might tempt you this Christmas. It's the diary of a year in the life of a young and accident prone birder called Tim who travels around Oxfordshire and occasionally further afield birding, having mishaps, and wooing a young lady.

Called "The Diary of a Hapless Twitcher", it can can be purchased for £3.99 from Amazon in paperback or £2.99 in Kindle format - click here for details.

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...