The Highlights
Welcome back to the monthly Oxon
birding review. The summer months usually consist of dedicated county birders
flitting between different taxa, be that Odonata or Lepidoptera
and sometimes even orchids. The supposed doldrums of inland county birding, June
and July are often a “safe” time to be out of county - rarely does much
happen in these months. So much so that this blog even takes a break from its
typical monthly schedule. 2026 though has completely rewritten the
script, a year that will be defined, for some, just as much by how many
rarities one missed as by those that were seen. July alone has seen two
county firsts and along with three big county birds and another decent scarcity
in June, summer has continued the smashing year of rarities the county
is experiencing.
It’s difficult to overstate the rarity of the obvious standout for July. In fact, not only will it clearly the be the bird of 2026 but for some it may be the bird of their lives for the county. News of a Long-tailed Shrike over the border in Gloucestershire would usually mean a shovel load of jealousy and cursing the birding gods for not smiling upon our own county. This record was made all the more tantalising however by its proximity to the county border, some 100-200m away by initial estimates. But alas, the bird had seemingly been and gone - present from the 8th – 16th and not found despite an extensive search on the 17th. Some dedicated birders had other ideas on the 18th though and unbelievably it was still present, not only that but it was within a few metres of the Oxon border. It soon transpired that this was a different individual to the recent Fife bird, a spectacular occurrence given the rarity of the species across Europe. So here we had a 3rd UK record and a 1st English record, all we needed the bird to do was nip the 50 or so meters into Oxon. With an assembled wall of birders, you can only imagine the jubilation once the bird did just that and gave the county one of its all-time great birding moments - actually seeing this level of rarity cross into the county as opposed to finding it there already. The following hours and days saw 100s of people descend on the narrow Cotswold lanes, a chaotic and often confusing situation for locals. Thankfully though a very generous farmer opened one of their fields to travelling twitchers! For some big twitchers this was their 2nd Long-tailed Shrike in as many weeks, and we even had some Western Palearctic birders from the continent traveling to enjoy this spectacular rarity. Given the bird is in moult, its stay looks to be an extended one and was still present at the time of writing. It spent much of its time catching crickets and sunning itself or flitting between the two counties borders. One fascinating observation though was that on at least one occasions it caught and ate a Hazel Dormouse, whilst Common Lizard was also apparently a favourite. What a way for the Dormice to be woken up from their slumber!
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| The Long-tailed Shrike, above courtesy of Ewan Urquhart, below Moth Clark |
For many this turns the page on 26 years of grip, with the 1st record only seen by c.130 people on the remote South Uist. A bird that will live long in the memory of Oxon birding folklore and one which will take a hell of a lot to beat. What on earth happened 5000km east of here that saw two Long-tailed Shrike make landfall in the UK? Climatic? I guess we are unlikely to ever know, and it of course raises some questions around provenance. But the alternative to this is probably even more unlikely and vagrants from Central Asia, in this case likely Kazakhstan, have a strong history of mid-summer arrival in Europe. I’m sure the BBRC will be watching with interest for any other European records, surely there is some to be found given our two in short order?
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| Courtesy of Peter Law |
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| A birding expedition to Gloustershire. Courtesy of Tom Bedford |
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| Courtesy of Steve Liptrot |
The above bird was clearly the
absolute best of what has already been a spectacular year, but the summer was
already delivering some special surprises before the big one. For myself
though, the next rarity is one full of pain, as opposed to the joy the previous
one had given. To set the scene, from my own point of view, I often visit Farmoor
with my two youngest. It offers a good place for the kids to run around, a cafe
and the off chance of finding something of interest. This day, the 8th,
I had two of my nephews with me also, and with so many kids I deviated from my
usual schedule of heading straight to the causeway and headed to the cafe
first. Scanning from the cafe I noticed a couple birders on the causeway; they
were clearly watching something and were taking photos. Scanning madly looking
for something of interest in flight I couldn’t quite make it out, although I’m
sure it was a gull or a tern, but a combination of haze, stress and demanding
kids meant I couldn’t make it out. The instinct turned out to be on the money
when a message came through saying “Caspian Tern straight
through” - utter devastation! A well overdue species for the county given the
now annual summer jaunts of several returning individuals from Northern Europe.
Although a hoped for return never materialised, with an added helping of salt
to wound that the same bird likely ended up at another regularly haunt of mine
back home - Nosterfield Quarry on the 16th. Walking
the causeway not long after, I swiftly declined Roger Wyatt’s
offer to see photos, knowing full well I could be gripped by them later in the
safety of my own home. An excellent find by Roger at the height of the
summer lull and one, for all the wrong reasons, I’ll not be able to forget
anytime soon.
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| The Caspian Tern, above and below courtesy of Roger Wyatt |
Any birding summary of Oxon that contains the word “Shrike” is very much a standout. This has been particularly apparent since the sharp decline in Great Grey Shrike winter records across the UK since the mid-2000s. So much so that any other Shrike species is now as likely if not more likely than the this once expected winter visitor. So, to have two Shrike species in the space of a few weeks is nothing short of outstanding. A report of a Red-backed Shrike on 100 Acre Field at Otmoor on the evening of 13th June brought a sudden jolt to the collective slumber into which the Oxon birding scene had typically drifted into. Those able to react quickly were treated to some pretty excellent views, as Lanius often offers, with added oddity of the bagpipes playing somewhere across the moor so loudly it drowned out the local Cuckoo’s! The first record in the county since 2015, this was a much welcome grip back for those new to the county since then. Of course it’s unbelievable now to imagine, at least for those of us born post 1990, that as recently as the 1970s this species were breeding. There’s some really interesting historical records of breeding birds from an old egg collector on eBird from the 1950s in Oxon, including one from Cowley! eBird account here - https://ebird.org/profile/ODU5NjQ5NQ. Unfortunately, by the following day the bird had departed, or at the very least faded into the expanse of unbirdable habitat across the Otmoor basin.
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| The Red-backed Shrike courtesy of Matthew Lloyd |
Montagu’s Harrier is bird with a special place in Oxon Birding folklore, after the discovery of tiny fragment breeding population in the early 2010s. Since then, like much of the UK, breeding has ceased and since 2020 hardly any birds have bred at all across the UK never mind Oxon. Occasionally birds have ventured into the county since their near demise, either wandering adults who have sadly failed to find a mate or young birds from lands unknown. In fact, despite their near expatriation as a breeding species in the UK, the county has recorded birds in 3 of the last 6 years, including a German ringed female that spent an extended time on the downs in 2024. A second calendar-year male provided another welcome addition to the ever-expanding 2026 highlights reel, spending some time in a relatively low-risk area of the Downs. In fact, the concrete path along from Churn Farm below the Ridgeway proved the perfect vantage point for viewing this stunning bird from the 22nd. Although it transpired it had probably been present since at least the 5th. In any case it offered close views for extended periods as it quartered over the recently cut arable farmland, with the backdrop of singing Quail and flocks of freshly fledged Corn Bunting!
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| 1s Montagu's Harrier courtesy of Roger Wyatt |
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| Courtesy of Thomas Miller |
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| Red-necked Phalarope courtesy of Gareth Cashburn |
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| Courtesy of Justin Taylor |
I think it’s safe to say 2026 has outperformed expectations. 2025 had an excellent run of birds, with several megas falling seemingly every other week. 2026 though appears to have taken this to another level, with the autumn yet to come. I’m not sure there has been two consecutive years that has provided this many rarities? It certainly makes up for the lack of migrants at either end of the year! The year list now stands at 198 and if any year in recent memory was someone going to get the mythical 200 birds in a single calendar year, it would be this one.
Waders
In any normal month, Temminck’s Stint, would easily make the highlights section. With only six records in the last 16 years, this a properly scarce bird for Oxon, although you’d be forgiven in forgetting that with three records four years. Unfortunately, the last two months has provided a plethora of highlights, and this enigmatic little wader gets relegated to a mere footnote. What does mark this individual out, however, is the timing of the record. Almost all records, at least those in the last two decades have come late in May, a classic time for the species. This bird though dropped into Farmoor on the evening of the 25th June, a classy find by Andy Last just in time before sunset. This allowed several birders to connect and get some fairly close views albeit of a flighty individual. Just like the Phalarope, this was a signal of what was to come, with the bird departing not much more than an hour after being found. It seems most likely that this was a very early returning failed breeder rather than a very late northern bound migrant, but that will remain a mystery.
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| Temminck's Stint courtesy of Andy Last |
Return migration got into full effect, with some classic species noted in the latter half of July along with some early birds not so expected. The best of these came in the form of a Little Stint, with a cracking adult on the causeway of Farmoor on the 29th. One of those birds that could have so easily been missed if not for a social media post, it thankfully remained in place for much of the day. A quite early returner, with most birds noted in the latter half of August, along with the above individual might point to all things not been so rosy in the far north! Turnstone were also on the move in the latter half of the period, with a single here on the 24th and a report of a further two on the 30th. Sanderling were no sooner passing through the county on their way to the high Arctic between 5th – 8th June, before the first returning bird was noted on the 24th July.
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| Little Stint courtesy of Steve Liptrot |
Black-tailed Godwit began their southward bound migration from the end of June, with a single bird on Pit 60 on the 30th June, followed by seven birds on the 5th July. Farmoor also had a very confiding individual on the 1stJuly, followed by a small flock of birds at Otmoor on the 6th, possibly the same birds at Pit 60 the previous day. Some of this flock lingered, with two still here on the 13th, with only a single individual here from 14th – 26th. A surprisingly early Greenshank was recorded at Otmoor on the 11th, whilst Dunlin trickled through the county from the 5th. Farmoor had a single on the 5th growing to 11 by the 27th. Otmoor had two on the 18th, whilst the most interesting record saw a noc-migged individual over Oxford on the 23rd, providing a wonderful image of this tiny bird buzzing over the Oxford City lights in pure darkness heading for who knows where. Added to this wonderful image is the idea of a Ringed Plover also doing the same journey over the city on the 17th July.
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| Black-tailed Godwit courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
Green Sandpiper are the true early heralds of the impending march of Autumn. With some birds still yet to make it out of the county borders, the first Green Sandpiper of the ‘Autumn’ was back on Bicester Wetlands Reserve on the 9th June! The site continued to act as a staging ground for southern bound birds throughout the period, peaking at 13 by the 24th. Given the sites importance to Green Sandpiper in the county, it would be fascinating to tag some of these birds to see where ‘our’ birds originate and where they end up. Cornwell Marsh saw it’s first bird on the 26th and also saw its numbers build, albeit to a more modest number of four by the 30th. Otmoor had a single bird on the 16th. Common Sandpiper has almost become a resident bird in the county in recent years, albeit not always the same individual, but almost always the same location. Farmoor had its first returning bird on the 21st June, which was joined by at least 11 on the 29th. A single remained throughout July. Grimsbury Reservoir had one on the 27th June, with birds at Chinnor on the 30th followed by Pit 60 on the 5th July. Otmoor had single on the 16th – 23rd July, whilst Bicester Wetlands hosted single in amongst the gathering of Green Sandpiper already present. Another record came in the form of noc-migged bird over Oxford on the 17th July.
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| Green Sandpiper courtesy of Allen Peters |
Local birds of interest were few and far between, with six sites recording Little Ringed Plover with no clear observations of local breeding, although probably a given some did. Ardley ERF saw the most with eight on the 13th, whilst a juvenile was present on Otmoor on the 16th – 26th. An interesting Oystercatcher was noted at the Days Lock on the 9th, a colour-ringed individual that spends most of its winters on the Exe Estuary (since 2021). The bird was also noted just up the road at Wilstone Reservoir, Herts in March of this year. A roding Woodcock was a pleasant surprise for one birder in the south of the county, with one seen on several occasions between the 14th June – 2nd July, providing a clear message that there are birds to be found in the deepest darkest parts of the county.
Wildfowl, game etc
It’s a Quail year don’t you
know?! Is there any birder in the country, never mind county, that has failed
to hear a Quail in 2026? Looking at Birdguides map of reported birds, you’d
be hard placed to not have heard one this summer. Seemingly driven by the relentless
European heatwave, with birds been pushed further north from the
continent. Oxfordshire always sees a fairly decent return, with its abundance
of arable fields stretching across the Downs, but the summer period has
seen a definite increase and spread in records. Otmoor had a minimum of
three birds from the 13th June, with three still going in by
the 4th July, with a single still going by the 23rd.
A further seven sites saw singing birds, with the most coming from the Downs,
with three birds singing around Churn and further birds on the Aston
Upthorpe Downs, Ashbury and around the Uffington White Horse. Ipsden also
had up to two birds on the 24th, whilst Bloxham and Yelford
saw singles singing on the 25th June and 23rd July.
By far the most notable record came from Farmoor with a bird singing
on the 14th July, a gripping bird for anyone who patches this
site. With so much suitable habitat unbirded around the county its certain
there are many birds unrecorded during this unprecedented influx.
Other than that, this grouping has
experienced its typical summer lull. A surprising record came in the form of a noc-migged
Common Scoter over Oxford on the 23rd, an unusual record
for the county at this time of year. That being said, there was clearly some
movement of Common Scoter occurring around this time, particularly in
the Northwest of the UK. The odd Shelduck was recorded
this month, with birds reported in the spring either moved on or staying well hidden
in breeding habitat. A single at Farmoor on the 26th was a
little surprise, but the presence of a family group of seven (five juvs) at Ardley
ERF on the 13th July maybe less, given all the spring
pairs. Another nice addition to the Oxon breeding bird assemblage, with
at least one or two pairs breeding annually now.
Herons, egrets etc
The trio of Glossy Ibis at Otmoor were reduced to one by the early summer, although any hopes of a breeding pair remain to be evidenced. The single bird was present for the majority of the summer period, with sporadic records through until the 16th July.
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| Glossy Ibis courtesy of Paul Wilkinson |
Another exotic species, of a slightly different kind, a White Stork was recorded around the Farmoor area through the latter part of July. It turns out this is the same bird which was recorded at Buscot Wick back in April. Quite where it has been in the interim is anyone’s guess, although it was presumably part of the same flurry of records also reported in May. This birds origins are from a ‘re-wilding’ project in Devon which also includes semi-tame ‘Wild Boar’ so it’s chances of establishing itself within the breeding assemblage of the UK seems fairly unlikely! Outside of Knepp which still supplementally feeds some of their birds, I am not sure I have heard of any successful breeding within the UK, but if anyone knows any different, please shout! How record committees treat these individuals over the next few years will be fascinating to see, although I think most can agree this bird is probably squarely in the untickable camp.
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| White Stork courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
Some exciting news did come from Otmoor this month though, with the pair of Crane successfully fledging two chicks! An amazing story after the county lost its long-resident female, Maple Glory, who had been visiting Otmoor since 2015, producing one chick and dying on the nest in 2023. Another pair were present at Chimney Meadows in the spring but did not nest.
The two Otmoor Crane chicks June 2026.
Courtesy of The RSPB.
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| Adult with the two young courtesy of Jamie Mayall |
The Cattle Egret colony at Blenheim was in full swing by mid-June with at least 10 birds here and several active nests, a second nesting site was confirmed in West Oxon with at least three juveniles fledging, good news for these charismatic little herons.
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| Inquisitive young Cattle Egret meets friendly fisherman. |
Some further potential new breeding sites emerged, with nesting behaviour observed across various pits in the Standlake area as well as Pit 60. Chimney Meadows remains a mystery, with birds here throughout the year, although given the proximity to Standlake this may be the source of these individuals. At least 12 were at the site on the 28th July. Pit 60 also hosted the highest count of the period, with a minimum of 37 on the 18th July. Otmoor continued to play host to several birds with a maximum count of nine on the 23rd July, whilst Port Meadow had a single bird on the 16th. Great White Egret were much reduced this month with assumed non-breeders present on at least five sites. The majority of records came from Otmoor, and all records related to single individuals throughout the period.
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| Cattle Egret courtesy of Nick Truby |
Gulls and Terns
With August on the horizon, the summer lull was fully apparent for this group during the last two months, with nothing much of note occurring in June. A cracking Sandwich Tern dropping in at Farmoor on the 11th July was a bit of a surprise but provided a much-needed break in the lull, although not quite an adequate replacement for a twitchable Caspian Tern! Interestingly this bird was ringed, albeit only a single metal ring meaning details weren’t readily identifiable.
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| Sandwich Tern courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
A juvenile Caspian Gull at the same location the 22nd was the earliest record of the species in the county, a continuation of the remarkable change in status of this species at a county level. A different juvenile was also present on Appleford GPs on the 28th, although much of this site is now unbirdable due to the new bridge installation, a crying shame from the heyday of this site which has provided so many good birds in the past.
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| Juvenile Caspian Gull courtesy of Ian Lewington |
Mediterranean Gull were present only on Pit 60 during this period, with a single here on the 12th, whilst an interesting record of a noc-migged bird on the 17th over Oxford was a bit of surprise and added to the expanding list of birds one might hear whilst listening from their garden in central Oxford! Yellow-legged Gull returned to the county from the end of June, with numbers slowly building at Farmoor over the course of July. Sonning Eye GPs saw a single adult on the 16th which remained here until the end of the period.
Passerines
The end of June saw the arrival of the first juvenile and adult passerines on their southward bound migration. Two Redstart were present on the Rollright Estate on the 29th, followed by a single at Dunsden Green on the 30th. Otmoor had its first birds on the 4th July followed by a minimum of eight the following day, an incredible number but still someway short of the 15 counted a few years ago. A further seven sites saw birds up and down the county, showing the level of birds moving through the landscape. It’s hard to quantify how many individuals are involved but with a mix of ages and with some sites across many days, its likely quite the movement was observed. Whinchat were not too far behind, with at least two present at Eastleach Downs, now forever known as the ‘Long-tailed Shrike Stakeout’, on the 19th. August will see even more of these little gems pass through the county, with patch birders getting their best chance to see one on their little patch of Oxon.
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| Redstart courtesy of Gareth Cashburn |
Warburg is not a site many birders get to over the course of a year, particularly as it’s about as far away from anywhere as possible. In recent years this part of Oxon has provided some incredible birds, most famously the Booted Eagle but also Honey Buzzard and White-tailed Eagle. It has also been the site of Oxon’s first breeding record of Hawfinch in the 2025. Although, presumably, the same pair returned in 2026, there was no indication of breeding through June, with both birds seen at the now famous hide. Thankfully though, in July at least two juveniles were observed in attendance with the adults delighting both locals and the Wildlife Trust. As expected, the hide became popular pilgrimage for county birders and photographers alike throughout the latter half of the period, with some excellent viewing opportunities for those that could squeeze in! Siskin also bred this year, with a family party also photographed at the hide and does make you wonder what else could be out there in the vast woodlands of southern Oxfordshire.
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| Hawfinch courtesy of Nick Truby |
Raptors
Some more excellent news came out of
the blue with the discovery that an elusive former breeding species had enjoyed
a successful season. Two pairs of Long-eared Owl successfully fledged
three and four young respectively, with one pair in the south of the county and
the other in the west. A simply perfect way to round off what had already been
a truly mind-blowing summer, with autumn just about to kick into full gear.
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| Long-eared Owl |
Patchwork
challenge
|
Patch |
Birder |
Points |
Species |
Highlight |
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Grimsbury reservoir |
Gareth
Blockley |
105 |
101 |
|
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Lye valley |
Tom Bedford |
84 |
80 |
|
|
River Thames |
Geoff Wyatt |
145 |
124 |
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|
Blewbury Chalkpit |
Conor
MacKenzie |
105 |
92 |
Montagu’s Harrier!! Spotted
Flycatcher |
|
Radley GP’s |
Ian Elkins |
104 |
97 |
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Port Meadow |
Thomas Miller |
137 |
116 |
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