January Review

Waxwings by Jane Tomlinson..

Highlights

January was a month of deluges, first in the typical sense with huge amounts of rain leading to widespread flooding throughout the county and causing localised chaos. The second deluge was a much more welcome one when the dam finally burst on the Waxwing invasion, with Oxon seeing dozens of birds up and down the county. We were made to wait a little while though, with the game of whack-a-mole continuing on from December and the first records of 2024 popping up in several places only to disappear again into the gardens, industrial estates and supermarkets of Oxfordshire. The first record was belated news of two birds in the grounds of a School in Chilton on the 2^nd, Ardington then had a bird at dusk on the 5^th whilst the following day a flock of 11 were in Kennington and a single at Thame. None of these birds were seen following their initial sightings despite some thorough searching, particularly at Kennington. The first semi-twitchable birds finally broke cover on the 7^th with three birds in Bodicote in the far north of the county, allowing only a few folk to arrive on the scene in time. Thame also hosted birds on the 7^th with 5 reported on the birding services. Again, following the now well-established pattern neither of these birds were present the following day.

The Wantage/Grove Waxwing courtesy of Stephen Burch

 

One of the Plater Drive Waxwings courtesy of Ben Sheldon

The mini onslaught of records kept coming with a single bird on the A420 slip road by Cumnor on the 8^th with possibly more than one present in a brief observation. Things really kicked up a gear though on the 9^th when news broke of a huge flock of up to 70 birds present in Didcot ranging widely between the Ladygrove Estate and the Tesco on the outskirts of town. With the birds seemingly present for several days, the counties bad luck continued with not a single bird still present on the 10^th. That being said, a flock of 13 did pop up again on the 13^th.  A pair of birds in the dying light in Oxford on the 9^th looked set to follow all overs and disappear. Finally, though, some proper luck was in the offing and this pair were still present the following day. Although they then bunked for a week this pair grew to seven on the 17^th with at least one bird hanging around until the 21^st, allowing plenty of folk to catch up with them and some stunning photos to appear. The residents of Plater Drive have to take a huge amount of credit for being so accommodating to the photographers and birders that temporarily took residence on the cul-de-sac. Some very thoughtful people even created a small coffee and tea stand for the guys who had spent the day camped out on street! 

The Plater Drive Waxwings, courtesy of Gnome

 

 

Tea & Coffee kindly provided by the residents
Photo courtesy of Andy Last.

Happy Birders in Jericho courtesy of Jane Tomlinson.

The 10^th saw another report of a mega flock when 50 were reportedly at Thame, presumably part of the same flock that had been in Didcot the previous day. Reports then followed same pattern of birds reported or seen only very briefly. Grove and Kidlington saw single birds on the 13^th and 17^th respectively, whilst the 20^th saw many more records across a wider range. Cholsey and Standlake both had flocks of five in birders gardens on the 20^th, surely the dream! Freeland also had a flock of 16 reported on the 20^th but all these records were brief as we had become accustomed to. Abingdon also got in on the action with one briefly in another birders garden on the 21^st and present again the following day, whilst a pair was then present on the 24^th again only briefly. 

Watching the 'wings in Long Hanborough
courtesy of Moth.

The next twitchable birds fell on the 25^th when a fantastic flock of 21 was located in Long Hanborough. This allowed almost everyone else to connect with this enigmatic and characterful species in the county with a mini-twitch ensuing. The most unusual Waxwing report came from RAF Brize Norton, where a single bird was apparently perched on the wing of an A400 on the 19^th, in what would have made for a fantastic photo! A flock of 18 were then also apparently present here on the 25^th.

All in all it really has been a fantastic January, with Oxon finally getting its fair share of the largest Waxwing irruption in many years. With the last major irruption reaching Oxfordshire more than a decade ago in 2013, long before some of us even arrived in the county, let’s hope the action continues for the next couple of months as it did back then.

Waders

The surprise record of the month came in the form of a pair of Knot on the Farmoor causeway. A very early record for this species with median arrival date being the 27^th March and certainly is a fantastic winter record for this not always annual species. The pair present on the 8^th was not quite the earliest record since the turn of the century though, with a record beating it by a single day coming on the 7^th January in 2006. The pair were present until the 16^th when only a single bird remained from the 17^th until at least the 24^th. Even more surprising was the possibility of a 2^nd pair on a flood near Thame in Cuttlebrook on the 14^th. Frustratingly the pair remained distance hidden in amongst the large Lapwing flock. 

One of the two Farmoor Knot, courtesy of Steve Liptrot

 

Grey Plover continued their winter residence in the county although records probably only related to a single individual ranging across two sites. A lone bird was finally pinned down on Port Meadow on the 14^th after a few near misses earlier in the month and was again present on the 20^th. Presumably the same bird was then picked up at Otmoor during the WEBS count here on the 29^th amongst the thousands of Golden Plover, Lapwing and various wildfowl wintering on the site. Ruff were at two sites also this month with a single bird at Chimney Meadows on the 21^st and then five on Otmoor during the WEBS count on the 29^th. Dunlin, however, were very numerous and widespread this month a possible consequence of the mega flocks dispersing from the end of 2023 into more parts of Oxon as the water levels rose. Port Meadow had by the far the largest number of records and individuals this month with a high count of 50 on the 14^th, although 30+ was reached on several occasions whilst birds were semi-resident on site throughout the month. Otmoor also saw several double digit counts with the highest count of 22 on the 15^th, whilst Farmoor had 25 fly through the site on the 17^th. Somerton, Pit 60 and Chimney Meadows all hosted birds in January with double digit counts reached on the latter two sites, with a high of 29 on Chimney Meadows on the 21^st. 

Farmoor Dunlin, courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

 

Water Rail on a frozen Otmoor courtesy of Sue Carruthers.

The first big sign of spring on its way, aside from the lighter mornings and evenings, came in the form of an early Oystercatcher on the 27^th at Rushy Common followed by birds on the 30^th at Pit 60 and Blenheim on the 31^st. Although not quite the earliest record of the last near quarter of a century, that particular accolade goes to a bird arriving on the 12^th January in 2021, it still a fortnight earlier than the median arrival date since the turn of the century. That being said, birds have been arriving earlier and earlier in recent years with a particular change of arrivals noted in 2017 and it’s a pattern I suspect will continue with milder winters the new ‘normal’. Redshank were only noted at one site this month – Port Meadow. A single was near resident on the common for most of the month and joined by a 2^nd bird briefly on the 9^th.

Green Sandpiper seemed to have wintered at few sites in the early part of the winter period, but several sites hosted birds in the New Year.  Four sites hosted birds in January with a high count of three at Bicester Wetland’s on the 2^nd. Additional sites were Ardley (1^st), Grove Airfield (13^th) and Peep-o-Day Lane (26^th). Common Sandpiper was present at one site this month, with Farmoor hosting the same wintering bird that was present the previous month and was again present for the whole of January. I am aware of Green Sandpiper showing incredible site fidelity for wintering sites but not certain of Common Sandpiper but given one has wintered at Farmoor for the last couple of years you have to wonder if it’s the same bird.

Farmoor Common Sandpiper courtesy of John Workman

Two Jack Snipe records came this month with the most interesting one from Port Meadow on the 12^th. This bird was caught as part of a ringing effort on the site and was facilitated by the recent rising waters and a thermal imager, resulting in the cracking photo below. A 2^nd bird was seen in flight at Otmoor on the 31^st when flushed by quartering Marsh Harrier.

A ringed Jack Snipe, courtesy of Gnome

Woodcock came from three sites and all were typically located through flushing or seen in flight. Boarstall Decoy provided the bulk of the sightings though and even topped the previous months high count with a massive count of 21 in total, although I am not certain of the record count for this species in the county this must be up there as one of the highest for a single site. Warburg and Garford were the other two sites to record birds, albeit a much more typical single bird in flight. 

Although often overlooked in the monthly reviews, Golden Plover and Lapwing were present in huge numbers on Otmoor over the winter period. The high counts this month of 4000 and 5000 respectively make for an amazing spectacle, especially when you add in the thousands of Wildfowl, hunting raptors of several species and 50+ thousand Starling – we are indeed very lucky to have such a reserve within our counties borders. Waterstock though also hosted a huge number of Lapwing this month with approximately 4000 here also, a great count for a lesser known site and that is clearly also doing something right for our wintering birds.

Wildfowl etc

A mixture of long staying birds and the odd new one was the story of wintering wildfowl this month. The Great Northern Diver continued its winter holiday at Farmoor and was present all the way until the end of January. Having been present now since the 11^th December it still has some way to go to beat the record staying bird of 2021/22 which stayed for a whopping 155 days between the 12^th December and 16^th May. 

The Farmoor Great Northern Diver courtesy of Nick Truby

The wintering female Scaup also continued on site for much of January although it seems it had decided to bunk on the 26^th of the month and was possibly the same bird briefly on Rushy Common of all places on the 27^th. A male Scaup was a nice addition then, also in the less than typical spot of Blenheim on the 22^nd and a nice bonus patch tick for one local birder. Unfortunately the bird had gone the following day and along with the female was not seen again in the latter part of January. 

 

The Farmoor female Greater Scaup courtesy of Nick Truby...

...and the male at Blenheim courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

 

A lone female Common Scoter was the standout rarity of the month, although unfortunately after spending much of the day loafing with the Tufted Duck flock on the 6^th it had departed the site by the next day. Another highlight of the month was the arrival of four White-fronted Geese on Otmoor on the 26^th of the month. The three juveniles and single adult were still present towards the end of the month or at least until the 29^th, a nice addition to the month with this near annual species and not always an easy bird to catch up with in the county.

White-fronted Geese Otmoor rspb courtesy of Paul Wyeth.

Six sites hosted Shelduck this month with a maximum count of eight coming from two sites – Chimney Meadows and Port Meadow on the 16^th and the 22^nd respectively. Cote, Peep-o-Day Lane and North Moreton all hosted multiple birds throughout the month whilst Farmoor had a pair of birds fly through on the 27^th. Goosander were also widespread with nine sites recording birds. The high count came from Port Meadow where up to nine birds were present on the 7^th, although Radley Lakes came close with eight birds on the 14^th. Other sites recording birds were Peep-o-Day Lane, Blenheim, Pit 27 & Pit 60, Farmoor, Kennington and Henley Road GP’s. Goldeneye continues to dwindle in number within the county with only five sites recording birds with only one double digit count anywhere in Oxon. Dix Pit, the most reliable site now, hosted 12 birds on the 13^th. Other sites that recorded birds were all close in the vicinity of Dix Pit with Pit 27 & Pit 60, Farmoor and Rushy Common all had at least one bird present in January.

An extraordinary count of Pintail came from Pit 60 this month when 912 were counted on the 20^th. This count smashes the previous county record coming from the same location with 600 here in 2014. The BTO estimates 20,000 individuals winter in the UK (2012-2017) and this count equates to approximately 4.5% of the wintering population, a crazy record for single site in Oxfordshire and a nationally important number of birds. 

Mixed wildfowl courtesy of Pete Alfrey

 

 

Herons, egrets etc

Cattle Egret pretty much continued where they left off from the previous month. Peep-o-Day Lane continued to host a trio of birds, which increased to 6 on the 12^th and was back down to a pair by the end of the month. Farmoor Village had the highest count again with a whopping 31 feeding in the livestock pasture on New Years Day, the flock continued to ebb and flow in number through the month with 20 just down the road at Swinford on the 6^th. Blenheim hosted a single bird on the 10^th, whilst Otmoor and Days Lock hosted several birds sporadically in January.

Great White Egret were very widespread in the county this month with 16 sites hosting at least one bird with multiple sites hosting several birds. The high count came from Blenheim as with previous months where four birds were seen on the 16^th, although four were also seen at Tadpole Bridge on the 12^th. The Salisbury Plain Great Bustard continued to strangely follow the Roe Deer herd around Childrey Field on the Oxon Downs and was reported sporadically in the month. An unconfirmed report of two White Stork over the A40 at Forest Hill came on the 12^th with no further reports anywhere else the county this month.

Gulls and Terns

A long staying Little Gull over the border in Gloucestershire was seemingly crossing the tri-county border of Glos/Wilts/Oxon fairly frequently as it ranged with the Black-headed Gull flock in the early part of the month and was a nice early addition to the county list for this species. A lone Mediterranean Gull record came from Farmoor on the 29^th during a count of the gull roost joining the rest of nearly 12500 gulls roosting there that were counted on the 19^th as part of the BTO Gull count.

Caspian Gull were recorded from four sites this month, with the site having the most action being Appleford Village. At least 10 individuals have been seen here over the course of the month including two ringed birds – one from the Netherlands and the other from Lithuania. Port Meadow regularly had a 1^st winter bird roosting during the month whilst a 3^rd winter joined the roost on the 9^th. Blenheim had an adult bird present on the 11^th and the 26^th and appeared to be a regularly returning bird that has been here for the last few years. Rushy Common was the other site and hosted a single 1^st winter on the 27^th. 

The semi-resident first winter Caspian Gull at Port Meadow courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

Passerines

The wintering ringed Siberian Chiffchaff continued at Port Meadow and was regularly reported from Burgess Gate whilst occasionally a 2^nd bird was also reported in January, reports of another bird came from Shifford on the 28^th. A single record of Firecrest came from Peep-o-Day Lane on New Years Day, whilst Crossbill were reported from two sites – Buckland Warren and Bagley Wood on the 6^th and 9^th respectively.

Siberian Chiffchaff Burgess Field courtesy of Thomas Miller.

Brambling were recorded from at least eight sites this month. By far the highest count came from Blenheim where 35+ birds were counted feeding in the sunflower fields on the site. Most of the other records related to single and pairs with no other double digit counts from any other site. Ring-necked Parakeet continued to gather in a large roost in Cowley, Oxford with 30 on the 22^nd and then a huge 42 on the 29^th.

Rob Cadd took a great bit of video of the dancing Starlings at Otmoor last month.

Raptors

The two wintering ringtail Hen Harrier continued on the Oxon Downs and Otmoor this month with both seen sporadically, although the Otmoor bird was much more reliable owing to the Starling Roost and presumably much increased coverage. The site also hosted a Merlin on the 13^th and 27^th and was one of only two record this month with the other coming from Fyfield Wick on the 18^th.

Ringtail Hen Harrier Otmoor rspb courtesy of Andy Coates.

In what has been a fantastic year for Short-eared Owl across the country, Oxon was not omitted from the action. At least eight sites hosted birds and ranged from all parts of the county. Some sites hosted up to seven birds with multiple birds recorded across at least two locations. It just makes you wonder how many birds are actually wintering in the county in this irruption year for the species.

                         Short-eared Owl and Long-eared Owl ringed recently in the county (courtesy of WORG)

Patchwork challenge

Patch	Birder	Points	Species	Highlight
Aston eyot	Ben Sheldon	51	51
Ardley ERF	Gareth Casburn	59	57
Dix pit	Simon Bradfield	43	40
Grimsbury reservoir	Gareth Blockley	70	73
Lye valley	Tom Bedford	51	50
River Thames	Geoff Wyatt	104	91
Sutton courtenay	Conor MacKenzie	85	80	Firecrest & Cattle Egret
Port Meadow	Thomas Miller
Radley GP’s	Ian Elkins	75	72	Great White Egret & Goosander
Freeland	Glen Pascoe	34	32
South Hinksey	Alex Figueiredo	42	41
Cholsey	Alan Dawson	81	78

Short-eared Owl courtesy of John Reynolds.

Where do the birds go?

Piece together a map of bird migration.

Artist Jane Tomlinson is currently taking pre-orders for jigsaw puzzles of her hand-painted 

map of bird migration. Her painting was featured on BBC's Autumnwatch in 2021. 

Jane's painting depicts 42 of the many species that migrate to & from the British Isles 

- and obviously includes this month's star bird - the waxwing. 

The jigsaw is exceptionally high quality, 1000 pieces, made in the UK, and comes with no 

plastic packaging. If you'd like one, pre-order before 5 February, and it will come to you in 

early March. 

Fancy one? Go here: https://janetomlinson.com/products/bird-migration-jigsaw-puzzle