November Highlights & News

Grey Phalarope Farmoor Reservoir courtesy of Mark Chivers

Headline Birds

After what has hitherto been a frankly somewhat disappointing Autumn, November has actually turned out to be a reasonable month with quite a few headline birds to discuss. The bird or birds of the month have to be the lovely Grey Phalaropes: the first one turned up at Farmoor on the 22nd and initially it spent a frustrating amount of time out in the middle of the reservoir before moving to the shoreline where it gave super views that are more typical of this species. Unsurprisingly a good number of out-of-county visitors came to pay it homage. Amazingly on the 30th it was joined by a second pelagic wanderer. 

Video of the two Phals courtesy of Badger please view at 1080p HD

An unprecedented two Grey Phalaropes together at Farmoor reservoir courtesy of The Gun-slinger

Farmoor was easily the top performing county site this month and this is born out by the next headline bird, a cracking adult Sabine's Gull that was seen briefly on the 15th by just one observer. The great and the good of the county all turned out to try and see it and had it lingered at all there's no doubt that it would have been the bird of the month but unfortunately it was one that got away.

Continuing the theme of birds that got away, there was an intriguing report of a probable Yellow-browed Warbler at Witney near Station Lane on the 23rd though, as is so sadly typical of reports of this species within Oxon, it was never more than a single observer sighting and was never firmed up.

Fortunately county Great Grey Shrike sightings are generally more definite and this proved to be the case when the over-wintering Berkshire bird nipped over the county line at Grims Ditch on the 23rd. There was also a brief sighting of this species at Grove airfield on the 16th though sadly it wasn't seen again.

Great-grey Shrike Ridgeway Courtesy of The Gun-slinger

Moving on from "good national birds" to "good county birds" and returning to the the Farmoor theme, our now regular over-wintering Red-necked Grebe remained loyal to the reservoir throughout the month and was joined by a pair of Black-necked Grebes from the 24th to the 26th. To round things off at the reservoir, the extra coverage from visiting birders meant that a Water Pipit was reported there on the 26th though sadly wasn't seen again. Talking of Black-necked Grebes the two Baulking birds stayed at the pit there until the 7th of the month.

Black-necked Grebes Farmoor Reservoir courtesy of Jim Hutchins

A Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff was discovered at the Abingdon Sewage Works on the 24th where it remained until the end of the month. Finally a Red-breasted Merganser (presumably the returning regular over-wintering bird) was seen at Henley Road Gravel Pits on the 26th.

Siberian Chiffchaff Abingdon Sewage Works courtesy of Lew

Raptors

The resident pair of Marsh Harriers on Otmoor were joined by a third, wing-tagged bird on the 6th-8th (see later for more details on this bird). Short-eared Owls were seen at Swinford on the 4th and near Cholsey at the Leys on the 20th. A pair of Shorties continued to be seen on Otmoor albeit sporadically, throughout November, as was a Barn Owl there. Barn Owls were also seen at the Pinkhill Reserve adjacent to Farmoor Reservoir throughout the month and also at Cholsey with this bird unfortunately later being found dead on the 23rd. Merlin were to be seen on Otmoor on the 1st, 4th, 9th and the 23rd.

Barn Owl Cholsey courtesy of The Gun-slinger

Wildfowl

Once again we have the full set of British Sawbills with a red-head Smew completing the county trio at the Henley Road gravel pits on the 26th. A male Goosander was at the same site on the 26th, two more Goosander flew over Farmoor Res on the 22nd with two red-head Goosander at Grimsbury Res on the 25th - this number rose to an impressive six birds on the 26th. Pintail started to return by the second week of November with a female on Otmoor from the 8th, a pair at Blenheim on the 23rd and a drake at Port Meadow on the 24th. A male Mandarin was again at the Ewelme cress beds on the 22nd with another male at Stanton Harcourt on the 29th. Nine Whooper Swans settled briefly amongst the Cassington Gravel Pits at the latter end of the month with at least 5 birds seen flying along the Thames near Cholsey on the 26th. Two Shelduck found the lake at Blenheim to their liking on the 23rd. Nine Egyptian Geese arrived at Port Meadow to roost on the 11th which is a good count away from their stronghold in the south west of the county. A Bittern was seen occasionally on the RSPB reserve over the month - it's hard to ascertain whether this is a resident bird or several birds moving through the county to wintering sites. A Bittern was also seen to the south of the county at Sonning Eye gravel pits on the 26th.

Gulls

An adult and a first winter Caspian Gull were amongst the regular larids at Didcot landfill on the 14th

with a second winter birds present at the same site on the 15th with a different bird on the 28th. Eighteen Yellow-legged Gulls were also at the same site on the 14th and there were four of this species at Port Meadow on the 14th. Mediterranean Gull numbers have so far seemed somewhat down on previous winters with only one bird seen at Grimsbury reservoir in Banbury on the 7th.

2nd winter Caspian Gull Didcot Landfill courtesy of Lew

Waders

Green Sandpipers were at Pit 60 and at Rushey Common over most of the month with the regular bird at Ewelme Cress Beds on the 22nd. Three Redshank were at Farmoor reservoir from the 22nd with four birds present on the 23rd and a pair were at Port Meadow on the 27th. A lone Dunlin spent a few days at Farmoor from the 22nd. A Woodcock was seen on Otmoor at dusk on the 4th with a second seen on the reserve on the 18th. Further Woodcock were seen at Middleton Cheney on the 18th and at South Leigh on the 20th.

Green Sandpiper Ewelme Cress Beds courtesy of Tom Stevenson

Passerines

Following hot on the heels of last month's Grimsbury Reservoir bird, three more Black Redstarts arrived in Oxfordshire this month. One individual was seen in Shivenham on the 5th, with a second of these charismatic dusky little chats found in Wallingfords town centre in amongst the headstones at St Mary-le-More between the 24th and the 26th. A third Black Redstart was reported near Cholsey on the 22nd. A late group of Six Swallows flew over the Otmoor RSPB reserve on the 4th heading for warmer climes. A Rock Pipit was along the causeway at Farmoor at the start of the month.

Black Redstart Wallingford courtesy of Ewan Urquhart 

Always able to brighten the most gloomy of winter days, three Brambling were seen within Tubney Woods on the 13th, with two birds in Radley Woods on the 13th. A single bird was seen at Chimney Meadows on the 20th with a pair within the Chaffinch flock at Shifford on the 28th. Up to three of these beautiful finches were to be seen regularly, feeding on the seed provided outside of the Wetlands Watch hide on Otmoor from the 23rd until month's end. The only Crossbill report came from Cothill Fen on the 1st.

Male Brambling Otmoor courtesy of John Reynolds

Looking Ahead

We nearly didn't bother with this section this month as we figured that December historically wasn't going to be that great. How wrong we were! Looking back, there were some top drawer rarities for December. Here's the list: White-headed Duck, Ring-billed Gull, Baikal Teal, Baltimore Oriole, Thayer's Gull, Cattle Egret, Leach's Petrel, Hoopoe, Falcated Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Rose-coloured Starling, Great Grey Shrike and Common Crane. Also of note were loads of Caspian, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls as well as some Waxwings (though so far this year nationally it seems very poor for this species). So, everything to play for this coming month!

Green wing tagged Marsh Harrier Otmoor RSPB

Young Marsh Harrier displaying the P4 green wing tag.

Stayed at the RSPB reserve between the 6th and 8th.

Initially the local pair were hostile to the new young Harrier.

All pictures courtesy of Tezzer

Upon contacting the Hawk & Owl Trust we received a response from Phil Littler who is coordinating the tagged Marsh Harrier project, who kindly gave us a little more information on P4.

One of the reasons in doing this project is to try and ascertain how long these birds live for; when we started back in 2011 the record was just over 3 years for a UK ringed bird, which is ridiculous. This has now been overtaken, albeit by a Dutch interloping bird, and stands at about 6 years. The European record stands at 20yrs 1mth, and that is a German bird found dead, so this project could yield information for years!

Anyway, your bird is quite interesting. P4 was ringed and tagged near Haddiscoe (on the marshes close to Gt Yarmouth) on 07.06.2015 and was one of three. She was sexed as a female, with her two siblings being males (neither of which have been seen since ringing). She then appeared on the NNR at Kenfig on 23.08.2015. Now down to Otmoor.

The distribution of the young away from their natal area seems to be completely random. Only time will tell.

Thanks again


Phil

More information on the project Here

Oxon Birders: An urgent request for Help

Many of you have visited Bicester Wetland Reserve (BWR) which is operated by the BOS under Licence to Thames Water. In fact I met many of you when we opened up the reserve to let visitors view the Red-necked Phalarope in May of this year.

 The reserve is situated just outside Bicester, one of the fastest growing towns in Europe. All around the reserve area building is taking place, thousands of new houses, expansion of Bicester Village, the huge designer retail park, new offices and car parks.

BWR which was created in 1999 and is an increasing important area for wildlife and a veritable oasis within this mass of building and development.

We have just been informed of a new scheme to build a South East Perimeter Road around Bicester, there are 2 main Options, 1A and 1B are very similar and involve BUILDING A ROAD ACROSS THE RESERVE !!! This would cut the reserve in two, the resulting raised road would be a significant obstacle to species moving from the main part of the reserve to the pool by the cattle bridge.
 

Option 2 proposes that the new road is nearer the village of Wendlebury but does not touch it and would be constructed across open country and misses the Reserve by some distance.
 

There is a feedback form which gives members of the public the opportunity to state their preferences and is available on line. PLEASE log onto www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/PerimeterRoadBicester, this site gives you the outline to the scheme, explains the Options and provides a link to the Feedback Form.
 

Responses need to be in by December 18. Please support this important BOS reserve and vote for OPTION 2. The number of responses matter and this will be our chance to help protect this very important site.
 

Some information on BWR
 

Major wintering site for Teal regular counts of 250-350, also numbers of Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon Up to 130 Common Snipe winter also regular numbers of Jack Snipe. Breeding water birds include Little Grebe. Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen and Kingfisher. Water Rail are regular throughout the winter and possibly breed. The reserve is a regular site for Green Sandpipers with a maximum day count of 23, 18 species of wader have occurred on the reserve.
 

Nine species of warbler have been recorded on the reserve, 8 of which have bred
 

In total 126 bird species have been recorded, 17 species of mammal (including Otter) 23 species of Butterfly, 14 species of Dragonfly, 3 Amphibians including Great Crested Newt and regular Grass Snakes.
 

We have even had a few local rarities, Glossy Ibis, Red-necked Phalarope, Bearded Tit, Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Common Crane and Bittern.
 

PLEASE HELP BY FILLING IN A FEEDBACK FORM VOTE FOR OPTION 2
 

Alan Peters Volunteer Warden

And Finally 

Cheers to Dave Lowe for emailing this to us...