May review

Highlights

Oh the joys of May. A month where it feels like anything can happen and the potential for a patch mega or even a county level rarity reaches its peak levels of anticipation. A reminder of what can occasionally happen came just across the border in Buckinghamshire when a scarcely believable record of an Alpine Accentor at Pitstone Quarry came on the 5^th May. Being a mere 13 miles away was sufficient to see plenty of Oxon birders make the short journey across to Bucks, a record that continues to prove the old adage that anything can turn up anywhere! Although not quite on the same level, the county did record its very own local mega when a Grey-headed Wagtail was picked up on Port Meadow on the 3^rd May. A female bird, a proper birders bird at that, came almost to the day of the last record back on the 1^st May 2019 on the same site, even more remarkable was that both these most recent records were found by the same birder. Being the fourth record for the county, the same birder is now responsible for 50% of the county's records for this species – some feat! Unfortunately, like the previous record, this bird was only present into the evening before departing that night. The county has been lucky enough to host four subspecies of Yellow Wagtail with two turning up on near regular basis, below is a summary of the records for Oxon. 

 

Some distant video footage of the Port Meadow bird this month courtesy of Steve Lavington

 

Channel Wagtail

The hybrid offspring of the nominate Flava and our very own native Flavissima - a result of an intergrade breeding zone in Northern France. It is the most common of the Yellow Wagtail forms to occur in the county, aside from Flavissima that is, and had been recorded on a near annual basis up until 2021, but it has now been several years since then with no records. The spring of 2021 appeared to be a particularly good year for records where four birds were recorded across four different sites.

Courtesy of Ewan Urquhart. 

Blue-headed Wagtail

The nominate subspecies Flava is also a semi-regular occurring subspecies within the county with records following a similar pattern that of the Channel Wagtail, occurring on an a near annual basis up until 2021. Although records are occasionally mixed up between the hybrid Channel’s and nominate Blue-headed both did occur in the county in 2021 in what was a good year for both forms. 2024 saw a single record of 3 females on Port Meadow at the back end of May, after an absence of three years. 

Above & below courtesy of Thomas Miller.

Courtesy of Thomas Miller.

Grey-headed Wagtail

The Scandinavian subspecies breeding from northern Scandinavia through to north-western Siberia occurs in the UK on annual basis in small numbers. Typically these records come much later in the year than those of Flava forms with the birds migrating much further north. The county has been lucky to play host to four birds, two of which have come in the last 5 years. The 1^st and 2^nd record were of a pair of birds on the Oxon Downs in 1992, but details are scant regarding length of stay and/or sex of the birds. However, nearly 30 years later, a stunning male graced Port Meadow on the evening of the 1^st May 2019. 

Unfortunately a one day wonder, although thankfully found early enough for others to connect – a very similar pattern followed by the next record in 2024. This bird’s identification proved a little trickier than the male of 2019, for obvious reasons. Although likely a female thunbergi, particularly based on timings and the UK wide influx of the subspecies – three males arrived on the east coast also on the 3^rd May, the influence of flava, iberiae or cinerocapilla cannot be ruled out in this bird. 

Above courtesy of Jason Coppock - 2019

Above courtesy of Thomas Miller (the finder) - 2019

Black-headed Wagtail

The rarest of the four subspecies or forms to have occurred in the county and the big prize for most birders when it comes to finding rarer Yellow Wagtails. The UK had only had fewer than 20 records of feldegg up until 2010 before a big uptick in records in the last decade and a half. One of those records pre-2010 was from our very own county where a stonking male was observed holding territory in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell in June 1988. Apparently very aggressive and instigating mid-flight duels with local flavissima, this bird was never observed to be properly paired up despite its best efforts. This record was made even more interesting when in the same exact field that year, a male flava paired with up with a female flavissima fledging three young!

 Ian Lewingtons fantastic feldegg sketch

Thomas Miller, the finder of both of the county’s latest Grey-headed Wagtail records, has helpfully provided some additional ID info on distinguishing female flava and thunbergi been somewhat of Yellow Wagtail subspecies enthusiast and all round ID expert.

Female flava

1. Blue-grey head contrasting with mantle.

2. Darker lores than flavissima.

3. White throat, supericilium and ear-covert spot - typically yellow in flavissima.

4. Buzzy call.

Female thunbergi

1. Very dark grey head and lores, some overlap with flava.

2. Reduced supercilium - thinner than flava, not flaring behind the eye.

3. Reduced ear covert spot.

4. Often has whitish throat/supercilium, but some individuals more yellow.

5. Often has dark marks/streaking in a "necklace" shape extending onto chest below throat - also present in male thunbergi.

6. Has buzzy call like flava - may be separable from flava using sonogram

As in previous years we will be taking a small break over the summer lull but will be back at the end of July to round up any notable sightings that may have happened over the summer. The county year list now has ticked up to 177, despite me saying it was 183 in the last review which included subspecies, ferals and probable records. With those included it now stands at 193 with a small flurry of cracking subspecies recorded this month and a couple unconfirmed probable’s.

Waders

An expectedly busy month for wader records, with plenty of interesting species moving through the county. The main highlight came in the early part of the month when a pair of Avocet turned up at Peep-o-Day Lane on the 6^th. Quite a late record with most birds already on nests around the country, there was some brief hope that these birds would set up shop in the county when the birds remained for a couple of days after. Unfortunately, the birds departed by the 10^th, despite behaving territorially in the time they were here. 

courtesy of Steve Sansom

 

Sanderling had a good showing this month, with records from the 4^th all they way through to the 26^th. A classic bird of late spring, with birds heading as far north as Greenland, the first bird arrived on the 4^th. This was followed by two on the 11^th which seemingly remained until the 17^th. A nice flock of five were present on the 22^nd in inclement weather, with between two and four still present until the 26^th. 

courtesy of Debbie Cummins

Turnstone were present on Farmoor in the latter part of the month, arriving initially inclement weather along with the Greenland bound Sanderling and arctica Dunlin. A pair of birds was present on the 22^nd until the 25^th. A probable 2^nd pair of birds was then present on Farmoor on the 30^th. Whimbrel records only came from the early part of the month with two sites recording birds on the 4^th of the month – three birds on the Farmoor and a single bird on Pit 60, whilst Greenshank were also present at two sites at Farmoor on the 4^th and Waterstock on the 11^th. Dunlin records calmed somewhat in May, although four sites still hosted birds. Farmoor, Port Meadow, Ardley and Venn Mill with only singles at the latter two. Farmoor saw the most birds where up to 13 were present on the 27^th, but most interestingly were two to three strong candidates for the arctica subspecies. With only a handful of good candidates in the last two decades - birds are typically paler, smaller and shorter billed birds classically arriving in late May and are potentially on route Greenland. A thorough blog post on arctica in North Spain can be found here - https://subalpinebirding.com/blog/greenland-dunlin-ssp-arctica-a-first-approach-to-its-identification

Above and below, the candidate arctica courtesy of Ian Lewington

 

...the top left bird

Courtesy of Ben Sheldon

A Grey Plover was reported but unconfirmed from Otmoor on the 12^th, whilst a beauty of a Wood Sandpiper came from Widford on the 19^th although unfortunately it didn’t linger long enough for others to connect beyond the single day.

 

courtesy of Mick Cunningham

 

 Black-tailed Godwit records were limited to the early part of the month and to only single birds at two sites – Port Meadow on the 4^th and Days Lock on the 8^th. Ringed Plover records also tailed off with only three sites seeing birds recorded, with all hosting multiple birds. Port Meadow recorded five on the 9^th with a single there on the 25^th. Balscote Quarry played host to three birds on the 14^th, whilst Farmoor had two on the 7^th. Common Sandpiper continued to move through the county in small numbers, presumably a mix of non-breeders and birds moving further north, with five sites recording birds. Henley Road, Grimsbury, Farmoor and Oxford all recorded birds in the early part of the month whilst Farmoor, Grimsbury and Port Meadow recorded multiple birds together in the latter stages of May. 

 

Wildfowl & Game etc

The year’s first Quail was right on que with the arrival of a duo of singing birds at Chipping Norton on the 12^th. This was swiftly followed by a single singing bird at Toot Baldon on the 16^th, which was still singing on 19^th. Presumably June will bring with it more singing birds along the various cereal fields of the Downs, certainly worth an early rise if you get a chance to.

Garganey were at five locations this month with some encouraging signs, due to lateness of the records and length of stay, that some local breeding may occur again. Records all came from the north and west of the county with all records been single drakes or pairs. A rather late record of White-fronted Goose came from Otmoor on the 15^th with two birds here, although these may relate to the feral birds that frequent the county all year round as opposed to the Russian birds that spent much of the winter on site.

The Port Meadow Garganey courtesy of Steve Sansom

Some great news of breeding Shelduck came from two sites this year. A rare breeding bird in the county, its fantastic that two pairs have bred at Days Lock and Venn Mill. At the former the pair were first observed on the March 16^th with the male behaving very territorially from the off before the female disappeared a month later. By May 20^th the pair had returned to the new scrape on the Earth Trust land with 10 fresh ducklings having seemingly swam down river from their nesting location.  A further three sites hosted birds this month, with Port Meadow recording 11 birds on the 28^th, with the prevalence of so many birds well into the breeding season it seems maybe more breeding records may be on the cards. 

Shelduck family courtesy of Geoff Wyatt.

 

Herons, egrets etc

In what might have been a contender for the highlght of the month, if not for a certain Grey-headed Wagtail at the same site earlier in the month, a juvenile Spoonbill was present on Port Meadow on the 22^nd. This record was made even more interesting by the fact that it was colour ringed from a ringing scheme in Denmark! Ringed as a chick in Hoje Sande, Ringkobing Fjord in June 2023 the bird spent the winter on the Hayle Estuary, Cornwall with a small jaunt to Yorkshire in between. A brilliant record and amazing to be able to trace this birds movements since leaving its native Denmark. The bird was gone by the following day and has hopefully made its way north back to its homeland. 

courtesy of Thomas Miller

Another decent bird to grace the county this month was a Glossy Ibis which turned up at Otmoor on the 4^th. The bird remained here until the 6^th before then also visiting Port Meadow on the same day, a site which has had a particularly good late Spring. The bird then went missing and was assumed to have departed the county. A 2nd bird was seen then on the 17^th again at Otmoor and was present on and off again between then and the 27^th, with a brief sighting at  Port Meadow  on the 24th and at Clifton Hampden on the 25^th.

Glossy Ibis Otmoor rspb courtesy of Kyle Smith.

The Port Meadow bird courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

More White Stork records were observed this month where a presumed Knepp Estate ringed bird was observed flying over several locations in the county on the 11^th. An apparently un-ringed bird was also then present at Waterstock the following day with several birds frequenting this area over the last couple of months.

 

 

Courtesy of Wayne Paes

Cattle Egret continued their typical pattern of this time of year with all records coming from northern and western parts of the county, anywhere within commuting distance of their breeding colony at Blenheim. The highest count, aside from there, came from Shipton-on-Cherwell where six birds were present on the 24^th, whilst a further seven sites recorded between one and two birds throughout the month. Great Egret records dissipated a bit more this month, although up to six birds seemed to be present in the county at any one time. A maximum of four were at Pit 60 on the 4^th whilst a pair were frequented Otmoor through the month. At least two birds were seen in summer plumage, could this be the year?

Otmoor Cattle Egret courtesy of Steve Cumnock

 

Gulls and Terns

May was all about quality over quantity for Gull and Tern records. Otmoor got its, and the county’s, 2^nd Little Tern of the year only two weeks after the first one at the end of last month. Both these records come after an absence the previous year, but unfortunately both were brief records unlike the 2022 bird which stuck around for several day across Port Meadow and Farmoor. The county also saw its first Black Tern of the year with a small flock of eight birds on Farmoor on the 11^th, it’s always a wonderful spectacle to see this species darting and bouncing around the reservoir whilst on active migration! 

courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

The early part of the month also saw more records Sandwich and Arctic Tern. Rushy Fen had a single Sandwich Tern on the 1^st of the month, followed up by a cracking record of multiple birds on the 7^th where four graced the same site. The 3^rd saw yet more Arctic Tern moving through the county across multiple sites. Grimsbury Reservoir saw 2+ birds come and go fairly quickly, as records tend to at this site, whilst Dorchester Sailing Club had at least three birds pass through. Farmoor initially hosted a few birds on the morning of the 3^rd which slowly increased to 20+ as the day went on in what appeared to be one last big movement of birds across the country. No birds remained at any sites the following day.

Lingering winter gulls remained in the county all the way through to the end of the month, in what has become a later and later pattern in recent years. A 1^st summer Caspian Gull was initially at Shepherds Pit north of Oxford on the 14^th, which then appeared at Port Meadow on the 25^th. Whilst an adult Yellow-legged Gull was at Sonning Eye GPs on the 7^th. 

 

Passerines

A quiet month for rarer and migrant passerines with the big push of birds occurring in the previous month. The main highlight for the month was a stonking male Black Redstart on residential street in Bicester on the 2^nd. Unfortunately like the previous records this year it was untwitchable and not located the despite searching. A lone Whinchat record came from Otmoor on the 9^th whilst several Wheatear likely bound for Greenland were at Farmoor on the 7th and Yarnton on the 14^th , with the Farmoor bird been a particularly good candidate.

In rarer Motacilla news Farmoor hosted a single White Wagtail record on the 3^rd, whilst three female Blue-headed Wagtail were present on Port Meadow on the 3^rd following off the back of the subtle female thunbergi type Yellow Wagtail also present here on the 3^rd.

Cuckoo Otmoor rspb courtesy of Kyle Smith.

Raptors

A wholly unconfirmed report of a Black Kite over Otmoor came on the 15^th of the month, unfortunately the reporter was not pinned down for any additional details so this one will remain a mystery. The same applies for an unconfirmed report of a Honey Buzzard over Weston-on-the-Green on the 23^rd. Short-eared Owl, however, continue to linger in the county at several sites with a strong hope that some birds may eventually breed in the county. 

Peregrine St Marys Witney Courtesy of Andrew Hall

Hobby were present in good numbers at Otmoor through the month with a brilliant high count 17 here on the 4^th. Marsh Harrier were noted at a few locations from the usual site of Otmoor with five sites recording birds. Appleford GPs and Bicester Wetlands were particularly unusual given the time of year with a pair seen in the west of the county over Witney, Ducklington and Rushy Common were perhaps more usual locations given the proximity to Pit 60 and Chimney Meadows. 

 

Patchwork challenge

Patch	Birder	Points	Species	Highlight
Aston eyot	Ben Sheldon	71	70	Reed Warbler – patch tick
Ardley ERF	Gareth Casburn	84	79	Dunlin and Red-crested Pochard
Dix pit	Simon Bradfield	77	71
Grimsbury reservoir	Gareth Blockley	70	73
Lye valley	Tom Bedford	58	57
River Thames	Geoff Wyatt	155	130
Sutton Courtenay	Conor MacKenzie	123	111	Avocet and Marsh Harrier only the 2nd of either species I’ve had on the patch
Radley GP’s	Ian Elkins	112	101
Freeland	Glen Pascoe	76	65
South Hinksey	Alex Figueiredo	61	59	Cuckoo
Cholsey	Alan Dawson	106	100	Firecrest

Hobby hunting on Otmoor composite
Courtesy of Joe Downing.

Treecreepers.

Terry Godfrey filmed a pair of nesting Treecreepers (from a safe distance) in his Cassington garden.
Below is a beautiful compilation of their progress.