April Review

Highlights

Spring has well and truly sprung! April added an additional 24 species to the county year list, which now stands at 183. Hot on the heels of our early returning migrants the trickle turned into a flood with the much anticipated and welcome return of many warbler species as well overland migration of waders, gulls and terns. Almost every spring a single pioneering bird will rock up early and buck the trend for typical arrival, whilst every now and again an outlier spring will throw up a few early migrant of differing species. This spring however has felt like quite a few species were bucking the arrival trend, especially after Oxon logged the first Arctic Tern in the UK. This got me wondering on what the typical median arrival date for most of our common migrant species were and thus a flick through 20 odd years of migrant arrival data was needed (see below).

Migrant arrival dates for Oxfordshire

Species	Median (since 2000)	Earliest (since 2000)	2023 first record
Garganey	21-Mar	26-Jan	19-Jan
Black-tailed Godwit	15-Mar	01-Jan	20-Jan
Oystercatcher	17-Feb	12-Jan	03-Feb
Sand Martin	14-Mar	02-Mar	09-Mar
Little-ringed Plover	14-Mar	02-Mar	10-Mar
Wheatear	17-Mar	19-Feb	14-Mar
White Wagtail	24-Mar	04-Mar	16-Mar
Sandwich Tern	10-Apr	28-Mar	18-Mar
Willow Warbler	25-Mar	07-Mar	19-Mar
Osprey	01-Apr	18-Mar	20-Mar
Swallow	23-Mar	17-Feb	22-Mar
Sedge Warbler	04-Apr	23-Feb	27-Mar
Yellow Wagtail	01-Apr	05-Mar	28-Mar
Common Tern	04-Apr	04-Feb	29-Mar
Greenshank	01-Apr	28-Jan	29-Mar
House Martin	29-Mar	08-Mar	30-Mar
Arctic Tern	16-Apr	07-Apr	31-Mar
Whitethroat	10-Apr	21-Jan	03-Apr
Redstart	09-Apr	19-Mar	04-Apr
Reed Warbler	13-Apr	31-Mar	07-Apr
Grey Plover	31-Mar	10-Jan	08-Apr
Cuckoo	10-Apr	30-Mar	08-Apr
Grasshopper Warbler	11-Apr	04-Apr	08-Apr
Garden Warbler	15-Apr	24-Mar	08-Apr
Lesser Whitethroat	15-Apr	05-Apr	09-Apr
Whimbrel	17-Apr	29-Mar	10-Apr
Hobby	15-Apr	05-Apr	10-Apr
Whinchat	17-Apr	02-Jan	14-Apr
Ring Ouzel	30-Mar	15-Mar	14-Apr
Bar-tailed Godwit	23-Apr	01-Jan	18-Apr
Little Gull	16-Mar	01-Jan	19-Apr
Swift	15-Apr	30-Mar	20-Apr
Pied Flycatcher	21-Apr	11-Apr	23-Apr
Wood Warbler	24-Apr	11-Apr	24-Apr
Turtle Dove	25-Apr	15-Mar	27-Apr
Wood Sandpiper	30-Apr	14-Apr	28-Apr

 

Many species had pretty typical arrival dates plus or minus a few days from their median arrival dates. That being said up to ten species were recorded much earlier than typical with some being logged up to two weeks earlier than the median arrival, with Arctic Tern and Sandwich Tern clocking their earliest arrival dates since the turn of the century. Is this a trend likely to continue into the future? It would seem so.

Black-crowned Night Heron

It’s just gone 10pm on the evening of the 30^th and I have finally completed the monthly review. After adding in several county rarities already at the last minute I am happy there is no chance I will have to add in anything else to an already large review period. How wrong I was! At 23:11 a report came in with an attached photo of a Black-crowned Night Heron in flight over Otmoor’s first screen, a species which although was probably anticipated given the recent influx is by all measures a major county rarity. It transpires that a mystery bird calling in the darkness was heard by folk who had gathered the evening before for the Spotted Crake, which after a quick listen sounded spot on for Night Heron. This gives some hope that the bird is either roosting on the site or somewhere nearby and is returning to Otmoor for nocturnal foraging. Given the rarity value of this species in the county I would expect a major gathering this evening between the 1^st and 2^nd screens at Otmoor in the hope of a return fly past of this fantastic bird. Even if it doesn't get relocated it will certainly be a contender for rarity of the year and is an absolute fantastic find by Jeremy in what has turned out to be a cracking April for Oxon rarities. 

Records of Black-crowned Night Heron for Oxon

Nature of record	Site	Year
A single bird - shot	Burford	May 1891
Single bird	Deddington	September 1934
Single bird	Benson Weir	22nd May 1972
Single bird	Cassington GPs	6th – 29th July 1976
Single bird – flushed from Shifford Lock	Shifford Lock	16th April 2000
Adult – Present on Otmoor but observed to have colour ring and damaged beak. Assumed to be an escapee	Otmoor	19th – 27th May 2002

Black-crowned Night Heron courtesy of Jeremy Dexter.

Purple Heron

That will teach me for getting ahead of myself. After being organised for a change and getting the highlights written ahead of time, writing some guff about overland migration after not too many other rare birds to choose from.  A Purple Heron then goes and pops up at Pit 60 on the 25^th. The 2^nd record in as many years with the last coming in the autumn of 2021 at Blenheim this bird, like the last, quickly disappeared and remained elusive for much of the day. Only occasionally showing and even then, no more than its head and at some distance. It seemed destined to be one of those birds that would remain elusive and just like that it disappeared later that afternoon and was not to be seen again for a few days. It reappeared on the 29^th although was typically elusive and only occasionally showing or briefly viewed in flight, one can only hope it pitches up somewhere with better views and access. Although the last record came only in 2021 the next record goes all the way back to 2016, although the Otmoor bird did the right thing and stuck long enough for plenty of folk to see it, albeit not always an easy bird. This latest record may just be the first (?) spring record for the species in the county with all records since 2007 coming in the autumn.

Purple Heron courtesy of Steve Burch

Spotted Crake

And not even before I had finished writing up the Purple Heron addition to the highlights a Spotted Crake was found singing at Otmoor on the evening of the 25^th. The finder was apparently at Otmoor to record the dusk/evening soundscape to use for his early morning alarm and quite unbelievably managed to find this secretive little beauty singing away. The next evening a few of us gathered in the hope it was still present. Thankfully on a still spring night the ‘drip drip’ song of a Spotted Crake joined the night time soundscape of booming Bittern, drumming Snipe and reeling Grasshopper Warbler. The bird was still present until at least the evening of the 29^th The last record, unsurprisingly, came from Otmoor during the covid restrictions of 2020 along with a county mega of Savi’s Warbler. The last gettable record came Kennington in 2014 with a bird singing for a few nights on a small marsh along the River Thames.  

Spotted Crake Singing, courtesy of Tom Bedford

Waders

The annual Bar-tailed Godwit movement started with a pair of birds on Balscote Quarry on the 18^th with one remaining there until at least the 20^th. Pit 60 also hosted a bird on the 18^th with another 2 birds on the 19^th increasing to 5 later that afternoon. A mega flock of over 40 birds went over Peep-o-day Lane also on the 19^th with the either the same flock or another flock over Port Meadow in the evening. A single bird then popped up at Bicester Wetlands on the 21^st with another single bird at Otmoor on the 22^nd. A very decent flock of Black-tailed Godwit came at the beginning of the month with 38 on Port Meadow on the 1^st with between 1 and 6 remaining on the floods until the 21^st although presumably relating to different birds between the 13^th and 21^st to those present at the beginning of the month. A single record came from Otmoor on the 19^th.

Bar-tailed Godwit Bicester Wetlands Reserve courtesy of Mike Pollard.

The first Wood Sandpiper arrived around 2 days earlier than the median arrival time with the first at Otmoor on the 28^th. A 2^nd bird was located on the Port Meadow later that day but unfortunately bunked before more folk could catch up with it. The first Whimbrel of the spring came in early and was picked up at Banbury on the 10^th followed by a bird at Farmoor on the 11^th. Farmoor recorded an additional three birds on the 21^st, 26^thand again on 28^th. Otmoor also got in on the action had the highest count of 5 on the 22^nd with two bird remaining until at least the 24^th, whilst a single bird was recorded on the 16^th. Day’s Lock, a usually pretty reliable area for spring passage of the species, also recorded multiple birds with 3 arriving on the 17^th and a single bird remaining until the 20^th. Pit 60 recorded a single a bird on the 28^th where it, as reported, spent most of its time sleeping. The most unusual location came from Lark Hill when a lone bird was seen feeding in the fields up on the downs.

Farmoor Whimbrel courtesy of Steve Liptrot

The 1^st of the month saw the arrival of another Avocet after the very early record from the county back in February. A lone bird was on the new Thames scrape at Day’s Lock, in what is proving to be a cracking bit of habitat for migrating waders. Presumably the same bird was then seen distantly at Otmoor later that day. A single Grey Plover was record came this month with a lone bird on Port Meadow on the 8^th. Greenshank were also recorded from Port Meadow but from later in the month with single bird present on 21^st, 22^nd and again on the 27^th. A single bird was also present on Otmoor on the 20^th, whilst Grimsbury and Appleford GP’s both hosted single birds briefly on the 29^th. Ringed Plover were logged at four sites with the first of these coming from a slightly random site in Yelford on the 5^th. More typically 2 were on Port Meadow on the 23^rd whilst a high count of 7 came from Otmoor on the 28^th. A lone bird associating with a trio of Dunlin was on the Farmoor causeway on the 29^th.

Avocet on the Allen Pit courtesy of Geoff Wyatt

Dunlin were recorded from 3 sites with the majority of these coming from the typical site of the concrete bowl of Farmoor. Two birds were recorded on the 2^nd through to the 9^th whilst another pair were there on the 21^st. A trio of birds were along the causeway on the 29^th. Other records came from Appleford GPs with a single bird flying around the pits on the 4^th. Port Meadow also hosted birds with 7 on the 23^rd and 2 were here on the 28^th. After their first arrivals back in March, Little Ringed Plover continued to be widely reported from the county. At least 7 sites spread right across the county reported at least 1 bird. The highest count came from a site in Witney where at least 7 were present on the 3^rd with 6 remaining until the 8^th of the month. Away from Otmoor records of Redshank came from Port Meadow, Venn Mull, Pit 60 and Sutton Courtenay. The largest count came from Port Meadow when a large count of 16 birds were present on the 15^th.

Little-ringed Plover Grimsbury Reservoir courtesy of Edwin Barson.

 Wintering Green Sandpiper continued at a few sites in the early part of the month whilst birds seemingly starting to move through the county from the 13^th onwards. Records came from at least 9 sites spread across the county. The highest count of 5 came from Bicester Wetlands on the 4^th and related to lingering and wintering birds. The first spring Common Sandpiper was present at Sutton Courtenay on the 10^th. Thereafter a further 10 sites recorded at least one bird with the largest count came from Otmoor where a flock of 10 birds were present on the 27^th with all the other sites recorded between 1 and 4 birds.

Dunlin Farmoor courtesy of Ben Sheldon.

Out of bound records of Curlew i.e away from Otmoor came from Sutton Courtenay on the 15^th and Day’s Lock on the 20^th, whilst a late record of Golden Plover came from Port Meadow on the 23^rd

Wildfowl

The obvious highlight for the period was the continuing Lesser Scaup but this time turning up at Dix Pit from the 2^nd until the 9^th, seemingly dragged over to the deep pit by its interest in a female Tufted Duck. Could we see some future head scratching hybrids in the future? Either way a fantastic find by one of our Patchwork challenge participants. The drake then returned to Farmoor on the 13^th where it remained until the 23^rd before going AWOL and not been seen again during April.

Shelduck Peep-o-Day Lane courtesy of Conor Mackenzie.

An unseasonal Pink-footed Goose was present on Otmoor from the 16^th until at least the 27^th. A possibly sick bird that couldn’t quite manage the return leg of its long journey north or something slightly more dubious, I guess no one will ever know. A lone White-fronted Goose was also reported from Oddington with the assumption that this came from Otmoor on the 26^th, seemingly adds to the credibility of the Pink-footed Goose record in the same area.

The Otmoor Pink-foot courtesy of John Edwards

Continuing its run of form Dix Pit also produced a summer plumaged Black-necked Grebe on the 12^th. In what looked like it maybe only a one day bird the same individual was then picked up at Pit 60 the following day, disappearing for nearly 3 days before returning on the 16^th. 

Black-necked Grebe at Dix Pit courtesy of Simon Bradfield

Common Scoter began undertaking their overland migration in the early part of the month. The first to arrive within the counties borders was a drake present on Grimsbury Reservoir on the 10^th. Three birds including a lone drake were present on Farmoor on the 17^th whilst, continuing its purple patch this period, Dix Pit scored a drake on the 18^th. A lone Scaup record came, surprisingly, from Radley Lakes on the 19^th when a female was present along with a group of Tufted Duck.
 

Common Scoter above & below courtesy of Kyle Smith.

 

In what has been a cracking month for Garganey records with the county recording up to 9 birds in a single day, the true number moving through the county has been difficult to keep a track of with so many records at different The first spring record came on the 4^th when three birds turned up on the flood at Peep-o-day Lane. Birds were recorded at a further 6 locations throughout the month with Otmoor, Port Meadow, Pit 60, Grimsbury, Day’s Lock and Chimney Meadows all logging birds. The highest count came from Peep-o-day Lane with 5 birds there on the 10^th until the 11^th. Port Meadow regularly recorded a trio of birds as did Pit 60. Whilst pairs or singles were recorded sporadically at the other locations. Ring-necked Duck continued at their typical locations with the usual pair at Pit 60 from the 1^st until the 17^th albeit sporadically, whilst the almost resident female bird was present at Appleford GP’s throughout the month.

 

Garganey courtesy of Bryan Manston

Shelduck were present at 6 sites with majority of records coming from Port Meadow. The highest count also came from this site with 8 here on two occasions (14^th and 17^th) Between 4 and 7 birds were present for the rest of the month, seemingly managing to avoid the huge disturbances of this well used site. Other sites that hosted birds include Witney, Farmoor, Otmoor, Day’s Lock and Sutton Courtenay. Goosander bred for a 3^rd consecutive year at a private site near Waterstock with a pair producing a brood of 5 young, captured beautifully on a well placed trail cam. Other records come from two additional sites with birds present at Port Meadow early in the month and another bird at Pit 60 on the 15^th.

Escaped North American Wood Duck courtesy of Jeff Bishop.

On the plastic front, Mandarin were at several sites this month. Aside from the usual birds at Blenheim (up to 3 present throughout the month), singles and pair were reported from an additional 5 sites. A lone female Wood Duck was somewhat or a surprise on Farmoor of all places on the 17^th. Whilst two Black Swan were present on Port Meadow on the 15^th and 16^th. 

Goosander successfully breed in Oxfordshire for the 3rd year running video courtesy of Nick Marriner.

Herons, Egrets etc

After our first Cattle Egret towards the end of March, records from the county began to increase slowly throughout the month. Aside from Blenheim where a peak of 7 were logged on the 26^th, 5 additional locations logged birds. Most came from expected areas in the west of the county with Enslow, Brighthampton and Pit 60 all hosting birds from the 9^th until the 22^nd with a high count of 3 at Enslow on the 22^nd. Otmoor also saw a single bird there on the 19^th whilst Port Meadow had a brief arrival of a lone bird on the 14^th. Day’s Lock got only its 2^nd record for the patch, the first been the very first Oxon bird back in 2008! Great White Egret continued in the usual areas with up to 3 different birds present at Pit 60 through the month including a bird in non-breeding plumage. A high count of 3 birds together came from Blenheim on the 3^rd with a single bird present up until at least the 25^th. Port Meadow also scored an individual on two separate occasions, both being flyover records on the 23^rd and 27^th. Freeland also had a single bird flyover on the 19^th presumably commuting between Blenheim and Pit 60.

Crane at Radley courtesy of Nicky Jones

April saw mixed fortunes for Crane records. After the presence of up to 5 birds on Otmoor towards the back end of March, records this month came from a good spread of sites across the county. A single bird circling over Appleford GP’s on the 1^st of the month (a particular sore point for myself as I missed it!) was then tracked over several sites presumably on route to Otmoor with several reports over Oxford later that day. Three birds were clocked several times over Pit 60, Wytham and Farmoor from the 15^th onward, all three un-ringed and presumably in search of suitable habitat in the west of the county. Somerton in the north of the county hosted two birds briefly on the floods to the east of the village on the 13^th, whilst Radley Lakes also had a brief record on the 19^th. Bicester Wetlands also hosted a bird on the 30^th. The sad news, however,  came from Otmoor on the 13^th when Maple Glory, a female from the original crane reintroduction project was found dead near to a nest containing two eggs, presumably having been the victim of predation. Maple Glory was 11 years old and had been visiting Otmoor since 2015, this pioneering female will have a place in Otmoor’s and Oxfordshire’s history books as one half of the first pair of successfully breeding Crane’s in Oxfordshire for over 500 years. A single chick managed to freely fly off in 2022 after several years of near misses, so at the very least the UK population has one more Crane thanks to Maple Glory.

Pit 60 Cranes courtesy of Steve Burch

 

More sad news came from the Oxon Downs when a Great Bustard from the Salisbury Plain reintroduction project was found dead close to the Ridgeway. The female, ringed Green 12, was hatched from a rescued egg (assumed to be from Salisbury Plain) and released in 2021. It appears she met her unfortunate end by colliding with powerlines, a real issue for birds of such a large size.

Gulls

The passage of Little Gull is often an eagerly anticipated event in the county and this year the first arrival of birds came on the 19^th with 3 at West Oxon Sailing Club. Dix Pit also hosted 3 on the same day, possibly the same birds whilst Farmoor had a flock of 8 as well on the 19^th. The 20^th saw the largest movement of birds when a flock of 13 settled on Port Meadow with an additional 3 flying straight through. Dix Pit also topped up to 4 birds on the 20^th with at least one bird lingering on until the evening of the 23^rd. Sonning Eye GP’s hosted 4 birds on the 21^st whilst Farmoor had 2 birds remaining also on the 21^st with a single there until the 23^rd.

Port Meadow Little Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

After the very early record of Sandwich Tern on the 18^th March from Port Meadow, the Oxford site scored another two birds on the 28^th seemingly flying straight through and not in sticking around. Kittiwake had a good run through the county in April and in a change of pace from 2022 where it seemed several dropped dead out of sky, most of the birds recorded seemed in good health! Grimsbury saw the first arrive on the 1^st of the month, with this bird remaining for much of the day. Port Meadow hosted 2 adults on the 2^nd whilst Grimsbury hosted a different adult bird from the previous day. Farmoor also hosted an adult on the 14^th which remained until the 15^th which may of being the clue as to what was to come when unfortunately the bird perished. Grimsbury continued its fine form for the species when it hosted its 4^th and 5^th bird on 6^th and 24^th respectively, an amazing run for such a relatively small body of water and much credit must go to the small group of dedicated stalwarts of the site.

 

Farmoor Kittiwake courtesy of Dave Murphy

After the first record of Arctic Tern on the 31^st (the first in the UK too), the next record came from Grimsbury on the 2^nd. Pit 60 scored 2 birds on the 10^th and a single on 17^th , whilst Allen Pit also had lone bird on the 10^th a nice patch tick for the local birder there. Port Meadow saw birds arrive on the 18^th with a small flock of 5 and another group of 6 pass through the site on the 28^th. Farmoor, the traditional site for Arctic Tern passage in the county, had modest numbers between the 4^th and 21^st with a maximum of 10 present on the 17^th. Things got a bit crazy when a huge flock of 170+ (!) was then present on the 23^rd and apparently for most of the afternoon into the early evening. Unfortunately, this was one of those records that didn’t filter out the rest of the county for all to enjoy such a spectacle.

Allen Pit Arctic Tern courtesy of Geoff Wyatt

Common Tern continued to increase in the county with a big arrival of birds from the 10^th onwards, after initial birds reported at Grimsbury Reservoir on the 1^st and 2^nd. Thereafter, at least 10 sites recorded birds throughout the period with most records relating to multiple birds. The largest count came from Farmoor with 20+ birds on the 29^th. Mediterranean Gull were only reported from one site – Port Meadow. Presumably the same bird was recorded here on the 1^st and 2^nd with a different 1^st summer bird there on the 25^th. A pretty late record of Caspian Gull was found on Peep-o-day Lane was possibly the surprise record of the month given it was nearly May when it was found on the 29^th. A very nice 1^st summer bird and a surprise addition to Thomas and Ben’s Oxon Big Day by bike (more on that later). 

Passerines etc

Port Meadow turn up a stunning Wood Warbler on the 24^th when a singing male was located at Burgess Field, a cracking semi-urban find for the city and a contender for one of the highlights of the period. Its arrival date was bang on the median arrival date for the species in the county and it remained until the 25^th. A 2^nd bird was then located at Wytham Woods on the 28^th and present in much more suitable habitat than the first record, especially since historically the species has bred in the wood albeit not since the 1980’s. Present again on the 29^th and 30^th and showing remarkably well at times, it was somewhat surprising that a 2^nd individual was located back in Oxford City later in the day on the 29^th. This time singing along the Oxford Canal, in a even more urban area and was presumably the Port Meadow bird relocating. A near unprecedented 3^rd bird was then found singing near Wittenham Wood also on the 29^th.
 

Wytham Wood Warbler courtesy of Conor Mackenzie

 

Wood Warbler singing courtesy of Simon Bradfield.

Two records of Pied Flycatcher came on the 23^rd, both males, with one at Grimsbury Reservoir and Ducklington Lake with the former staying only briefly and the latter remaining for much of the day allowing several birders to connect. A stunning near summer plumage Water Pipit came from Allen Pit on the 2^nd of the month but unfortunately almost immediately flying off over the Thames in what is a real tricky bird to connect with in the county. Rock Pipit passage was typically slower in the spring than in the autumn with only two birds recorded this month from Farmoor also on the 2^nd.

 

Water Pipit at the Allen Pit courtesy of Geoff Wyatt

 

There was 4 records of Ring Ouzel this month with the first bird (a female) arriving on the 14^th at Aston Upthorpe on the Oxon Downs. Grimsbury also recorded a female bird on the 23^rd, a nice consolation for the disappearing Pied Flycatcher earlier in the day. Chinnor hosted a single bird later in the month on the 28^th whilst Aston Upthorpe hosted more birds on the 29^th with a male and two females. 

Pied Flycatcher courtesy of Ben Sheldon

The first Whinchat arrived along with the first Ring Ouzel and in the same location with two birds at Aston Upthorpe on the 14^th. A further 9 sites recording birds throughout April with a high count coming from Otmoor on the 24^th with a whopping 7 birds here. Typically Redstart arrived a tad earlier with the first arrival on the 4^th but also coming from Aston Upthorpe with a single bird present. 15+ sites went on to record this classy spring migrant through April with most records relating to single birds, although Grimsbury repeatedly reported a pair of birds in the latter part of the month.

Whinchat courtesy of Alan Dawson

Yellow Wagtail continued to pile into the county after the initial record in the latter part of March. Over 17 sites recorded bird throughout the period with many locations recorded multiple birds, the highest count of which came from Port Meadow on the 25^th when a massive count of 26 birds were present with Letcome Regis coming a close 2^nd on the 16^th with at least 22 birds were recorded here. White Wagtail was slightly less spread through the county with only four sites recording birds this month, 2 recorded on Grimsbury and Farmoor on the 2^nd and 13^th respectively were the only counts of multiple birds.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy of Alan Dawson

 

The first Cuckoo was basically bang on time with a signing male at Balscote Quarry on the 8^th. It took another week before the next bird was recorded with one at Otmoor on the 15^th. A further 6 sites went on to record birds in April with 3 at Otmoor the highest count. With 20 sites recording individuals Wheatear was the most widespread of the commoner spring migrants in April. Counts of multiple birds weren’t uncommon with the largest count of 15 birds coming from Otmoor on the 24^th but with several sites recording 5+ birds frequently, mostly from the Oxon Downs.  

Cuckoo Otmoor rspb courtesy of Dave South.

The first Whitethroat arrived in the county on the 3^rd with a single singing bird at Pit 60. This was swiftly followed by a Lesser Whitethroat on the 9^th at West Hendred, almost a week earlier than typical median arrival date. Garden Warbler arrived nearly a week later with a bird at Otmoor on the 15^th. Reed Warbler made their first incursion into the county from the 7^th on Otmoor followed quickly by the first Grasshopper Warbler also on Otmoor on the 8^th. The first Swift came from Farmoor, Didcot and Blenheim with all recording birds on the 20^th. A high count of 20+ birds came from Farmoor on the 21^st of the month.

Otmoor Gropper courtesy of Bryan Manston

Wintering birds lingering included Brambling present at 5 locations from the 2^nd until the 22^nd, with possibly the most unlikely record coming from Lye Valley on the 17^th. The Port Meadow Siberian Chiffchaff continued at the site until the 6^th at least, whilst Fieldfare continued to be reported sporadically with up to 30 at Thame on the 25^th of the month. The near miss of the month came from the Ridgeway when a Hoopoe was reported from between Sparsholt Firs and Uffington. Despite a thorough search of the area it could not be relocated and will have to be left as one that got away.

Raptors

Osprey were present at four sites this month with at least 3 birds seen moving through the county. Bicester Wetlands recorded one on the 4^th , a cracking record for this relatively new and small site, whilst a seemingly different birds was at Chinnor on the same day seen to be perched on pylons there. Pit 60 briefly hosted a bird on the 6^th whilst Port Meadow was also had a brief bird on the 21^st when one flew straight through the site. The first Hobby arrived in the county on the 10^th with a lone bird at Blenheim. Pixey Mead hosted a single bird the following day with Otmoor recorded a single bird almost a week later. Here a high count of 4 birds was present by 28^th of the month, with a further 3 sites recording single birds until the latter part of the month. 

Hobby courtesy of Jessica Crumpton

 

Short-eared Owl were reported from four sites this month with new birds and lingering birds present during the month. Oxfordshire Golf Course hosted a single bird quartering the rough ground there on the 2^nd. Devils Punchbowl continued to host at least one bird until the 8^th whilst possibly the same bird was a bit further east at Aston Upthorpe on the 14^th. Port Meadow saw a surprise record of a bird flushed from Burgess field on the 22^nd. Otmoor hosted the most regularly occurring bird with one present sporadically from the 4^th until at least the 29^th. Merlin also continued this month with 1 Fyfield Wick on the 1^st, another bird at Lark Hill on the 4^th and Aston Upthorpe hosting a bird on the 14^th.

Patchwork challenge

With the arrival of spring proper the patchwork challenge patches have been ticking away nicely. Across the network of Oxon patches there have been some great local finds, some near misses and even a county mega making an appearance on one lucky patch. All patches appear well on their way to their target points for the year, with a few even already above their initial target it goes to show the effort folk are putting into their local areas.

The best find of the month has to be the Lesser Scaup over at Dix Pit on a brief jaunt from Farmoor and seemingly pulled there by its interest in a female Tufted Duck. Worth a whopping 12 points as it acquired a bonus 8 points for being a self-found bird, its definitely a contender for find of the year for the Oxon mini-league. That being said plenty of good birds were found across the network of patches. Blenheim saw Osprey and Cattle Egret this month whilst Grimsbury recorded its 5^th (!) Kittiwake of the year along with a flurry of very decent migrants including Common Scoter, Pied Flycatcher and a Ring Ouzel! The most productive patch seems to be a neck and neck race between Dix Pit and the River Thames patches with both producing some stunning local finds, including the aforementioned Lesser Scaup but also Water Pipit and Wood Warbler. The point remains that local birding can prove to be an amazingly rewarding experience as long as you are willing to put the hour in. Will May prove to be as productive? One can only hope!

Patch	Birder	Points	Species	Target points	Percentage of target	Highlights
Aston eyot	Ben Sheldon	58	56	90	64.44	Firecrest
Blenheim	Gareth Casburn	113	100	100	113	Osprey, Cattle Egret
Dix pit	Simon Bradfield	105	84	75	140	Med Gull; Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup (SF), Black-necked Grebe, Common Scoter, Little Gull
Grimsbury reservoir	Gareth Blockley	99	92	130	76.15	Apr - another 2 Kittiwake (patch has had 3 in Apr and 4 this year), Common Scoter, Redstarts!
Lye valley	Tom Bedford	74	70	80	92.50	Firecrest
River Thames	Geoff Wyatt	132	116	122	108.20	Artic Tern - Patch tick. Cattle Egret 2nd on the patch, the 1st record in 2008 was a 1st for Oxon. Wood Warbler
Sutton Courtenay	Conor MacKenzie	129	115	140	92.14	c.40 Bar-tailed Godwit patch and county tick.  Garganey. 1st summer Caspian Gull.
East challow	Mark Merritt	61	58	83	73.49	Firecrest

 

Oxfordshire Low Carbon Big Day: 29 April 2023

In 2022, I (BCS) enjoyed the challenge of a "Big Year" list, restricted to within the ring road of Oxford, and using only walking or cycling to get around. I was intrigued when Thomas Miller (TEM) - a keen cyclist as well as ace Oxford birder - suggested the challenge of an all county "Big Day" based on the same principles. With a few other keen cycling birders unavailable on the key weekend at the end of April it was left to Thomas and I to form a team of two, and plan the day. We were a little unsure what the optimum strategy was: with a bike we were constrained to start and finish in Oxford (which is of course surrounded by excellent birding sites), but what would a good total be, and how best to get it?  A little bit of research, and reading accounts of previous Big Days, suggested that the best way to see a high number species was to maximise the chance of seeing the 'wild-card' migrant species of waders, gulls & terns that mostly occur at water bodies, so we designed a route of around 100 miles taking in many of these. At least it would mostly be flat! What would a good total be? The bare minimum had to be the round 100 that Isaac West and Pete Alfrey had set for a day on foot around Otmoor (on a good wader passage day) in April 2021, or the 101 that Tom Wickens had seen in a remarkable 47 miles on foot a few years back. We knew the county all-time record of 115 was surely out of reach, but a total of somewhere around 105 felt like a pretty good target to aim at.

We met at The Plain at 0440 and cycled to the Noke end of Otmoor for dawn - perhaps a wasted visit as mist thickened quickly into fog - and while we enjoyed the dawn sounds of Otmoor with Crane, Cuckoo, Bittern, Water Rail, Grasshopper Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat among many others, we recorded nothing very unusual and indeed no species here which we did not see elsewhere, or in the evening when we returned to Otmoor. Fog was too thick to enable scanning Big Otmoor where we'd hoped to pick up a migrant wader or two. We left at 0640 with 65 species, and cycled to Blenheim via Islip picking up various species along the way, including the day's only Jay and the day's only Yellow Wagtail flying over the road just before Woodstock. Heading into Blenheim produced the hoped-for Cattle Egrets on the colony, a singing Mistle Thrush and two pairs of Shelduck. Then on to Port Meadow by 0810 in increasingly warm and sunny weather, where we quickly saw the day's only Swifts, House Martins and Common Gull, the lingering female Wigeon and the first Garden Warbler. With 3 Dunlin the only migrant waders here, we left the site on 81 species for the day - about where we'd hoped to be by that stage. A stop at Bean Wood on the way to Farmoor was initially rather quiet, but eventually turned up Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Marsh Tit, a pleasing set of woodland species, though Bullfinch was a miss here. Farmoor was flat calm and sunny - almost pleasant! - but had very few birds. A lap around F1 produced only Buzzard and Common Sandpiper new for the day (both of which we would see in other places later on), and in retrospect we spent a bit too long here, leaving at 1125 on 87 species. A planned incursion to Wytham to see the singing Wood Warbler was then aborted due to a huge herd of cows (plus bull!) completely blocking the gate at Swinford. Spirits were not very high at this point, as we cycled on to Dix Pit: we’d done just about OK in terms of species, but there hadn’t been any of those highlights that help make a day. A quick stop at Dix yielded the hoped-for Red-crested Pochard (a pair - #88), and then on to Pit 60 at Standlake, picking up Long-tailed Tit (#89) calling from a hedgerow along the way.

Various species were possible at Pit 60, most notably Purple Heron which had been reported earlier in the day. Unfortunately neither of us had brought a key to the hides, but luckily we met a birder, walking back from the hides who had one. After a discussion, we agreed that we would borrow his key, cycle to unlock the hide, and then BCS would return it to the waiting recipient. A pretty hairy cycle to the hide on a muddy track with ill-equipped road bikes ensued, with BCS leaving TEM at the hide, racing back along the track, and then returning 10 minutes later to hear that the Purple Heron (#90) had just flown between two reed patches, a sighting made all the more galling by the fact it would have been a county tick for him, and the hide had been unlocked anyway! We waited 45 minutes or so here, seeing 2 Great White Egrets and the first Hobby (#91) and Kingfisher (#92) of the day. The latter is a notoriously hard species to see on these days so felt like a good omen, despite the stinging feeling of the missed heron that BCS couldn’t shake. Of course on a 'Big Day' all species are equivalent, but it was a little hard to tear ourselves away.

Peep-o-Day Lane Garganey courtesy of Conor Mackenzie.

From Pit 60 we headed to Abingdon, a longish stretch of 17km of fast cycling, averaging over 30 km/h with TEM doing a great job of pushing the pace, as BCS was wilting a bit. After a refuelling stop in Abingdon, we headed down Peep-o-Day lane. The hoped for Little Ringed Plover (#93) was supplemented by the first certain Sand Martins (#94) of the day and a splendid bonus, classic TEM find, of a first-summer Caspian Gull (#95) loafing on one of the pits. Some very useful local gen from Conor Mackenzie led to a quick look at flooded fields west of the end of Peep-o-Day Lane, where BCS found the two drake Garganey (#96) hiding in emergent vegetation and tentatively called Green Sandpiper on a partial call, confirmed a moment later when it called again several times (#97). Spirits much restored, we headed quickly on to Appleford, where TEM found a Grey Wagtail (#98) a species we had started to worry about, and then BCS located the long-staying female Ring-necked Duck (#99), both on the Riverside Pit. An "on second thoughts" look at the other pits here was rewarded with the 100th species for the day at 1535 when TEM found a first-summer Yellow-legged Gull (#100), which BCS could not see at all, but then redeemed himself by finding a spanking adult flying around in the gull flock. A further bonus was a distant but clear Greenshank which called several times while remaining out of sight at the back of the pits (#101).

With a series of 'extra' species, and the century achieved, we left Appleford in good spirits, further improved by a food stop at Didcot Tesco (cycling makes you hungry!), and headed to the South Oxfordshire downs in beautiful weather. A Kestrel (#102) was picked up by BCS, but had gone by the time TEM had stopped and turned round. The steep climb up to the downs was accompanied by the first of many Corn Buntings (#103), and having left our bikes at around 1650, we quickly saw Red-legged Partridge (#104) and heard, then saw, Stone-curlew (#105) up on the large extent of downs in this area. Walking further on, in what was by now a beautiful warm early evening, we were delighted to come across a pair of Meadow Pipits (#106) quickly followed by Stonechat (#107) and then on the return a Wheatear (#108) bounding through the juniper bushes. This was all going better than we'd hoped: the only species we'd thought we might possibly see up here but hadn't were Grey Partridge and Ring Ouzel, so we set off back to Oxford at 1815 in positively buoyant moods.

The longest stretch of the day (once again TEM doing epic work on the front) then followed, with 26km back through Appleford and Abingdon till a drink stop in Kennington. Then on through Oxford with a very quick stop at 1930 to pick up Ring-necked Parakeet (#109) at Marston Meadows - one distinctive harsh squawk enough to confirm this species. The last ride over to Otmoor, arriving at 2000, combined the steep hill at Elsfield - a struggle with more than 80 miles and 15 hours' birding in the legs already - followed by disaster for BCS as he punctured both front and back wheels just before the entrance to the RSPB car park. There was only a little light left, and no time to waste fixing punctures, so the bike was left behind as we headed onto the main bridleway at Otmoor on a lovely calm spring evening. Here, several drumming Snipe became species #110, reaching a threshold that we'd decided would mark a really successful day. TEM clawed back Kestrel soon afterwards, though we were gripped to learn from assembled birders that we'd missed Short-eared Owl by a matter of minutes. Onwards with light failing, we managed to find a single Barnacle Goose (#111) hiding behind its Canada Goose partner out on Big Otmoor, and were then delighted to hear a single trill from a Little Grebe (#112) at the first screen. From there it was a long, but fairly leisurely walk back to the main Bridleway where at about 2055 the lingering Spotted Crake (#113) began singing as the light really went - a really fitting species to end the team's day, and an Oxon tick for TEM to boot. Hopes of Tawny Owl on the way back to the carpark came to nothing, and with no light and a lot of accumulated weariness, BCS could not face wrestling with fixing flat tyres and accepted a lift home. TEM cycled home and picked up Tawny Owl in Elsfield - a remarkable 114th species for him personally on the day.

At the end, in the dark at Otmoor, listening to the Spotted Crake

Reflecting on the day, we were blessed with perfect cycling weather: warm, sunny, and almost no wind, apart from a light tailwind back from the downs in the evening. Of course, such days don't make the most promising conditions for dropping migrant birds on Oxfordshire, and we really recorded very few non-breeding migrants: perhaps just Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Dunlin and Wheatear. As ever, there were 'easy' species that we missed: Bullfinch, Raven and Sparrowhawk stand out, but perhaps most surprisingly not a single owl species as a team. On the other hand we saw a good range of 'tricky' resident species, and several bonus species at Sutton Courtenay and Appleford. Our route also arguably wasted some time in the first half of the day. All of this suggests that, if the conditions were perfect, and with a bit more preparation, a total of 120 species might be possible using only human-powered transport. It's also interesting to speculate which mode - by car or by bike - could yield the highest total. Cycling constrains the range - it's hard to justify a detour of 20km to see a single species - but it also affords the opportunity to pick up species by call while travelling. Our only Jay and Yellow Wagtail were picked up this way, for example. Of course, in the end the numbers don't really matter, and it should also be fun, and this really was. We had great support and enthusiasm from other local birders, worked well as a team, and ended the day on a real high point with a 'whipping' Spotted Crake as the cherry on a very satisfying cake.

Events in May.