February review 2023

 Highlights

Lighter mornings and later evenings signal the unstoppable march towards spring. Thoughts now turn to the welcome return of our summer migrant species, as well as some of the more scarcer birds that may pass through the county that can make local birding so rewarding. Swallow, sand and house martin have already been logged at a few locations in the country this last week and it shouldn’t be too long until the first ones break into Oxon airspace. Typically the first pioneering sand martin is picked up sometime after the 10^th before the main seal of migration is broken, although one did turn up on the 3^rd as recently as 2021. February though, is still all about wildfowl and the winter bird assemblage.

The county year list now stands at 137 species with an additional two sub-species or non BOU species also observed in 2023, with only 8 species added throughout February. The highlight this month is quite easy given its rarity and is the same species that was featured in the last review period – a refound and returning (more on that later) American wigeon that thankfully hung around long enough for more than one observer to see it. 

Video grab courtesy of Badger

American wigeon

With the last twitchable bird coming well over a decade ago it was rather cruel that the next accessible bird was observed by a single birder one evening in January at Port Meadow. Having not been relocated the following day, despite many boots on the ground, it felt like another long wait may be in order for the next widely available bird to turn up. Luckily after over a month since the last sighting the American wigeon was expertly picked out of the approx. 5k wigeon on Otmoor during their WEBS count on the 20^th. Although the bird was distant and remained so, it thankfully remained for the duration of the day, allowing many of the counties birders to catch up with this Nearctic cousin of our own wigeon. As of writing the bird continues to remain distant but faithful to a particular corner of Otmoor well used by wildfowl from the bridleway running from Oddington.

After some speculation and a quick search of birdguides, it seems likely that this is the same long staying individual that has spent much of the winter on the Somerset Levels at Shapwick heath NNR. Having not been reported the day of the Port Meadow record, it was seemingly back down in Somerset two days later where it remained for a month before returning to the county just up the road at Otmoor from its original site in Oxford. It seems quite remarkable that this same individual decided to return to the county after initially bunking off back down to Somerset and goes some way to showing how much birds can move about during the winter period.  Given the length of its stay over on the levels one can only hope that it remains within the county for a similar length of time and possibly comes a little closer for observation. 

American Wigeon courtesy of Badger

Waders

A classic sign of winter on its way out and the onset of spring is the return of our breeding waders, that always seem to come somewhat as a surprise after finding one on an otherwise typical patch visit. Oystercatcher returned to their territories across the county with the first record coming from Sutton Courtenay on the 3^rd with birds then recorded from at least 5 locations over the next few days. Mates seemingly caught up several days later with pairs recorded at most of the same locations, having presumably spent the winter on separate stretches of coast somewhere in the UK. Curlew were also noted later in the month across several sites within the county with Port Meadow and Otmoor producing multiple records through the latter part of the month.

A lone avocet on Otmoor on the 13^th was a notable early record for the county with probably the same bird then observed on Port Meadow later that day roosting with surprisingly inconspicuously with the gull flock present there. Port Meadow produced much of the wader interest this month with a pair of Black-tailed godwit here on the 9^th of the month. Dunlin was recorded here several times between the 19^th – 24^th with two birds here on the 21^st, whilst Otmoor also had a single bird on the 20^th. Returning or passage redshank were also present on the meadow throughout the month with up to two birds between the 4^th and 24^th.

Port Meadow Avocet courtesy of Matthew Lloyd

 

Jack snipe only came from one site this month with a count of three, presumably flushed during a WEBS count at Waterstock on the 13^th. Green sandpiper records came from 5 sites this month with a high count of 4 coming from Bicester wetlands on the 2^nd and 25^th. Single birds came from Sutton Courtenay, Ardley ERF, Balscote Quarry and North Cross Valley. Woodcock were recorded from less sites this month than in the previous review period with a high count of 4 at Piddington on the 8^th. Single birds came another 3 sites all either flushed or seen moving around at dusk. 

Wildfowl

Wildfowl made up the majority of interesting records this month, including obviously our highlight of the review period. Aside from the American wigeon,  36 pink-footed goose over Wooton on the 8^th is a fantastic record for the county. Unfortunately these birds were just flyovers with none, possibly justifiably, deciding to stop over in the county. Long staying birds remained throughout February including all three ring-necked duck remaining in-situ at their favoured locations – Appleford and the Standlake area, whilst the female scaup continued at Farmoor. The slightly newer drake scaup continued to be present at Henley road GP’s between the 1^st – 19^th of the month and two birds were present here on the 28^th. 

Farmoor Scaup courtesy of Bryan Manston

 

A white-fronted goose was present at Pit 60 between the 23^rd and 26^th of the month, although presumably the credentials of the individual are possibly somewhat dubious given the feral birds that also frequent the county, although 2 birds where here on the 28^th also. Shelduck were recorded from two sites – Grimsbury reservoir and Port Meadow. Between 6 and 12 birds frequented Port Meadow during February whilst the only other record at Grimsbury was a single bird on the 2^nd.

Goosander came from 6 sites with almost all records relating to multiple birds. The highest count came from Pit 60 when a whopping 29 were observed on the 11^th. Pit 60 also recorded this month’s highest count of goldeneye with 11 here on the 4^th with a further 2 sites hosting single digit counts. A pair of mandarin came from Sonning Eye GP’s on the 24^th whilst a nice count of 200 pintail was a notable observation from Otmoor. 

Herons, egrets etc

Great white egret continued to be the main species of interest this month with birds recorded at all the typical locations with a maximum count of 3 birds at any one time. With at least 6 locations recording at least one bird, the spread across the county seems to be lower than in previous months even if maximum counts remain similar. Both Blenheim and Pit 60 recorded 3 birds at one time within February, whilst other locations only recorded single birds for brief periods.

Crane made their welcome return to the county when two were clocked over Cutteslowe Park on the 3^rd before dropping into their summer home at Otmoor. The pair plus an added 2^nd year bird were then logged on the 6^th, a welcome return of the Oxfordshire’s first fully fledged crane chick for some 500 years having spent hopefully the first of many winters on the levels. A 2^nd pair turned up on the 9^th with 5 birds ranging over the reserve until at least the 20^th. The pair and the 2^nd year bird were later recorded at Chimney Meadows on the 24^th.

Courtesy of Caroline Rhymes Walker

Bittern typically only get a mention when they are logged outside of the home reserve of Otmoor. Two records made the cut this month with a bird recorded at the flying over Tar Lakes at dusk on the 4^th and another bird recorded in the south of the county at Sonning Eye GP’s.

Gulls

Caspian gull records picked up slightly this month with most of the interest coming from Port Meadow. At least 5 individuals were recorded over the course of the month encompassing almost the full range of ages – at least two 1^st winters, one 2^nd winter, one 3^rd winter and an adult. Appleford also recorded two birds with an adult on the 3^rd and 3^rd winter on the 7^th. Days Lock also got in on the action with bird present on the 8^th.

Above and below, 1w Caspian Gulls on Port Meadow courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

The only other gull interest came in the form of Mediterranean gull records. Blenheim continued to record two individuals on several occasions – 2^nd, 8^th and 13^th. Thrupp lake hosted an adult on the 17^th whilst Port Meadow also hosted a bird the following day on the 18^th. 

 

Blenheim Mediterranean Gull courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

Passerines

Siberian chiffchaff were noted from two locations this month. The long wintering individual was still present at Abingdon STW on and off between 11^th and the 26^th, calling occasionally but otherwise a silent bird. Port Meadow also hosted a bird on the 4^th, seemingly showing a whole lot better than the Abingdon bird with some stunning photos taken. As such, this proved to be a popular bird and because of the additional attention a 2^nd bird was unearthed on the 12^th with both present until at least the 19^th. The original bird was then noted again on the 26^th.

Abingdon Siberian Chiffy courtesy of Andy Last

 

.. and one of the Port Meadow birds, courtesy of Ben Sheldon

Possibly the most popular birds of the month went to the hawfinch over at Great Tew, which experienced a mini local invasion over the course of February. Initially four birds were found on the 4^th in St Michaels Church, this number continued to increase over the course of the next few days until a max count of 23 birds was reached on the 28^th. Flighty and not always easy to keep track of the numbers of birds fluctuated throughout the month with anywhere between 1 and 23 birds seen on any given day and continued until the end of the month.

Tew Hawfinches above and below, courtesy of Luke Marriner...

 

...and Nick truby

And possibly the most surprising bird of the month goes to the record of a willow tit within Oxford. Given the status of this species in the county, with the last straggling breeders at Grimsbury now gone since 2018 it seems likely this could end up being one of the last records of this species within the county.

Raptors

Two records of hen harrier were recorded this month with at least one ringtail up on the downs and another ringtail also coming from Otmoor. Crowhole bottom hosted its bird on and off from the 1^st until at least the 13^th, whilst the Otmoor bird was reported on two occasions on the 12^th and 16^th of the month. Short-eared owl also came from the downs with 2 birds at Devils Punchbowl on the 10^th and again until the 13^th.

Merlin came from four locations with birds at Devils Punchbowl (13/02), Otmoor (13/02), Woodstock (22/02) and Days Lock (24/02).

Patchwork challenge

It’s safe to say that most of us PWC23 birders have exhausted much of the seasonal potential of our patches over the course of the last two months, with every bird new for the year it can be quite addictive getting out on the patch day after day picking up new species. With February only adding 8 species to the whole county year list, it has been much slower going this month than the initial excitement of January. That being said there is still movement occurring and some individual patch gold to be found.

The first returning oystercatcher brightened up my patch at Sutton Courtenay early in the month, especially so as this bird was individually recognisable to me with its unique curlew esque bill and having bred in the area for several years. Several patches managed to pick up some of the more scarcer wintering species this month including Caspian gull and merlin with the River Thames patch hosting both! Although most of the patches if not all incorporate some sort of waterbody, an essential prerequisite to any quality inland birding, we actually have a good spread of habitats and locations across the county.

Most patches are well over the halfway mark for their target points with some even pretty close to achieving their initial target points already at this early stage. With spring fully on route thoughts will now turn to the return of the common summer migrants with the possibility of the odd rarity in the mix too. Although none of these patches have much recognition or clout outside of the county borders, some of them have produced some quality Oxon and even national rarities over the years. Who can forget the Bonaparte’s gull at Blenheim back in 2019? The county first Pallas’s warbler last year was within my own patch and historically has produced, quite unbelievably, marsh sandpiper way back in 2007! Whilst more recently the Day’s Lock area hosted the popular ferruginous duck last year as did Grimsbury Reservoir, which also seems to be the go to spot for a county wood warbler with several birds there in recent years. Either way with spring on the horizon the motivation to get out and found some local gold is well and truly back!

Patch	Birder	Points	Species	Target points	Percentage of target	Highlights
Aston eyot	Ben Sheldon	58	56	90	64.44	Firecrest/Tufted duck
Blenheim	Gareth Casburn	98	87	100	98
Dix pit	Simon Bradfield	72	66	75	96
Grimsbury reservoir	Gareth Blockley	78	72	130	60	Kittiwake
Lye valley	Tom Bedford	59	56	80	73.75	Firecrest/Goosander
River Thames	Geoff Wyatt	95	86	122	77.87
Sutton Courtenay	Conor MacKenzie	104	92	140	74.29	Siberian chiffchaff/Ring necked duck/Pintail
East challow	Mark Merritt	57	55	83	68.67

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