December review

Highlights

                              

Count Year List Totals

Firstly, Merry Christmas everyone I hope you all had a great festive break and that you maybe even caught up with a rarity or two. I think everyone can agree that this year has proven to be a good year rarity wise, albeit with a pattern of quality over quantity. December only added a single species to the year tally taking the Oxon Year List to a respectable 211 for 2023, just above the average of 210 since the turn of the century. The trend, however, continues to be one of less species recorded each year albeit with peaks and troughs (see below). 

 

Species	Location	Date	Status
American Wigeon	Port Meadow (relocated to Otmoor)	12th January – 29th March	First record since 2018 with the last twitchable bird in 2011
Lesser Scaup	Farmoor (with a brief excursion to Dix Pit)	2nd March – 23rd April	First record since 2008 with several hybrids since then.
Purple Heron	Pit 60	25th April	Recorded in 2021, 2016 and 2007
Black-crowned Night Heron	Otmoor & Sutton Courtenay	30th April & 9th - 27th July	First record since 1976 (bird seen in 2000 likely escape)
Black-winged Stilt	Otmoor	6th May	3rd record since 2000, all in the last decade.
Montagu’s Harrier	Otmoor	23rd May	Extinct breeding species in Oxon with no pairs breeding in the UK for the last two years.
Pallid Harrier	Otmoor	9th September	2nd county record.

For those that are interested in this sort of thing, and I count myself in that category, alongside the standard county list, Oxon has also recorded an additional 14 non-BOU species or subspecies in 2023. These range from Siberian Chiffchaff, which with the way things go may end up promoted to species status one of these days, to reintroduced individuals from not yet sustainable populations such as the IoW White-tailed Eagle project and all the way to the dodgier end of the scale with such beauties as Red-breasted Goose.

With all the Waxwing action up and down the country and even across the border in Northants and Bucks I had hoped in this section to be writing about fantastic flocks of this intrepid and enigmatic bird enjoyed by the masses of the county birding scene. Unfortunately for everyone, especially so for those that have yet to see one in Oxon, sightings proved fleeting and even though several were reported through the month none were seen by anyone other than the observers. Instead the standout rarity of the month came once again from Cote. Given the amount of interest in the site since the previous month and the determination of one local birder to stage a near constant vigil of the flooded fields, it seemed likely that the site had the capacity produce something further. A Dotterel, however, may not have been on the list of likely candidates. A very out of season bird mingling amongst the hordes of Golden Plover was expertly picked out on the 7^th, only to disappear after being flushed. It proved very hard then to pin down thereafter with the birds seemingly feeding or roosting elsewhere for large periods of time, it reappeared briefly again on the 8^th only to bunk by the afternoon allowing only a select few to connect before being lost for good. It is a remarkable coincidence that the last Oxon Dotterel was found almost to the day two years ago on Port Meadow (8^th Dec 2021) before relocating to Otmoor on New Year's Eve. There is some speculation that they could even be the same bird given the timings and circumstances, although how likely this is I will leave to better minds than my own. In any case, a cracking bird to see out the year. 

Spot the Dotterel, courtesy of Mick Cunningham

Waders

Aside from the aforementioned Dotterel the main wader interest again came from Cote through the month of December. The two Grey Plover from November remained on site throughout the month, whilst a possible flock of birds flew through in the early part of the month added weight to the suspicion that there was more than two birds present throughout December. A lone Ruff also continued to be present on the floods sporadically with sightings on the 8^th, 9^th and 15^th and often in the presence of two Redshank which were present from the 3^rd until the 16^th. Redshank were also present on Farmoor through the middle of the month with two birds on the causeway between the 12^th and 17^th.

Farmoor Redshank courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

 

The mega Dunlin flock continued to feed on the floodwaters at Cote along with the hordes of Golden Plover, although numbers wholly depended on the fall and rise of water levels on site with birds presumably feeding in the abundance of habitat present in the wider landscape. The peak count reached 280 on the 8^th falling to a meagre 12 on the 14^th before rising again to 256 the following day. A flock of 14 was also present on Port Meadow on the 3^rd increasing to 16 on the 9^th before reducing to single digits on the 13^th. A lone Black-tailed Godwit was also present on Port Meadow on the 3^rd but was not seen again through the rest of the month.

Jack Snipe were a little more forthcoming this month with four records. The first of which came from a surprising source in the form of a trail camera in urban Didcot on the 1^st of the month, with some fantastic footage of this typically very shy species. A couple of birds were present on the flood meadows near to Days Lock on the 2^nd affording excellent views whilst Bicester Wetlands produced a single bird observed on the 12^th and then two birds on the 29^th. Warneford Meadow in Oxford also got in on the action with only its 2^nd record when a bird was flushed a couple of times on the 27^th, a possibly more classic observation than the previous records. Only one record of Woodcock came this month but it was of a whopping count of 11 birds from Boarstall Decoy presumably all flushed during a systematic walk of the woods here. 

Jack Snipe Didcot courtesy of Keith McDonald.

Jack Snipe courtesy of Nick Truby

Both Common and Green Sandpiper records only came from one location this month Farmoor and Bicester Wetlands respectively. A lone Common Sandpiper frequented Farmoor for much of the December period having taken up winter residence here for another winter, whilst a Green Sandpiper was left on Bicester Wetlands on the 7^th with a 2^nd bird observed the following day. 

Wildfowl etc

The return of the pair of Bewick’s Swan from the previous month was a somewhat unexpected but nice surprise for the local Otmoor birders this month. On at least three occasions (3^rd, 15^th & 17^th) the pair returned to the first screen to bathe and wash up before departing, presumably the join the Mute Swan herds in the surrounding landscape. Given the infrequency of the sightings it is more than possible the birds are still out there within the larger Swan herds having taken up their winter residency. 

Otmoor Bewick's Swans, courtesy of Malcolm Bowey

With such a brief sighting in November it was with much relief when another Great Northern Diver turned up on Farmoor on the 11^th. Thankfully this bird had the good grace to hang around long enough to be enjoyed by others and as of writing was still present on F2 at the end of the month, and hopefully will stick around for the winter now it seems to have settled in on the big concrete bowl. Also at Farmoor the long-staying female Scaup remained in place seemingly very happy in amongst the flocks of Tufted Duck, where I suspect it will remain for the rest of the winter as in previous years. 

Farmoor Great Northern Diver, courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

Aside from the above it has been a very quiet and uneventful period for our scarcer wildfowl. Shelduck were present at two locations with 2-3 at Cote between the 2^nd and 9^th whilst Port Meadow hosted 1-3 birds between the 13^th and 20^th of the month. Goosander were a bit more widespread with eight locations hosting birds this month. The highest count by some margin came from Standlake where up to 8 were seen on the 23^rd. Singles and pairs were mostly observed from the remaining seven sites. At the dodgier end of the scale a single Ross’s Goose was present briefly on Grimsbury Reservoir on the 2^nd, its company of Canada Geese only adding more weight to its credentials. Blenheim continued to also host up to 20 Mandarin Duck with none reported anywhere else in the county. 

The Farmoor Scaup, courtesy of John Workman

 

Herons, egrets etc

Interestingly the Cattle Egret post breeding flock has decided not to depart the county over the winter and has remained in good numbers visiting several sites through the course of December. Otmoor hosted up to 11 birds on the 8^th with 20+ birds then favouring pasture fields between Farmoor village and Wytham Wood, a site that has frequently been used by feeding flocks over the last couple of years.

More about our wintering Cattle Egrets on Black Audi Birding

Some of the Cattle Egret flock courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

Single birds were present on Days Lock (20^th), Bicester Wetlands (21^st – 27^th) and then Sutton Courtenay on the 28^th. Three birds were also noted in the horse paddock adjacent to Peep-o-Day Lane Abingdon om the 30th. 

Cattle Egret, courtesy of Steve Curnock

Great White Egret were typically widespread this month with at least 10 sites hosting at least one bird. Blenheim hosted the most individuals with 4 birds here on the 18^th with 3 remaining until the 26^th. Both Radley GP’s and Standlake hosted two birds on the 25^th and 2^nd respectively. The remaining sites hosted single birds with most being single day observations. Our resident Crane also decided to stick it out in the county over the winter period with the enigmatic trumpeting call heard in the fog on the 6^th. A pair where then observed in flight over Port Meadow on the 26^th presumably heading to or from Otmoor for feeding opportunities elsewhere. 

Great White Egret, courtesy of Steve Curnock

In what is slowly becoming a regular occurrence a Great Bustard from the reintroduction project down on Salisbury Plain was found wintering on the Oxon Downs just outside of Wantage on the 18^th. Weirdly the bird was seen to be keeping company with a herd of Roe Deer, presumably due to a lack of anything of similar size present within a several mile radius. Given the frequency of the occurrence of this species within our border, could we one day be adding this our list of county breeders?

Gulls and Terns

Very little action was recorded this month with the only notable species reported being Caspian Gull. Port Meadow had the most action with up to two birds seen in the evening roost between the 3^rd and the 20^th. Only Farmoor recorded another individual with one seen here on the 8^th. 

Adult Caspian Gull on Port Meadow, courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

Passerines

As I said previously, I had hoped to raving about all the Waxwing action the county had seen this month. Unfortunately that turned out to be a rather poor prediction of what was to come. Headington had the first bird reported with a likely bird in flight on the 10^th. Cholsey had a much more solid sighting with two birds present in a private garden on the 14^th, unfortunately this sighting was rather brief. Another Oxford City sighting came in the form of a feeding bird along St Giles on the 17^th but despite much searching the bird had seemingly disappeared. A couple of sightings of a single bird followed over the next week along Woodstock Road, but again proving impossible to pin down. Another sighting came from Iffley on the 22^nd with a small party of 3-4 flying over the Rusty Bicycle pub. On the 30th some hope was given that some birds may actually be pinned down when a flock of 12 birds were seen in East Challow. Unfortunately, an hour spent searching the area proved fruitless. Resembling a county wide game of whack-a-mole the birds seemingly reappeared in Oxford the following day. Again as all other sightings this would turn out to be another fruitless afternoon for the assembled birders, with the flock having bunked to elsewhere. Finally, a late report of 5 birds on the Wilts/Oxon border filtered through at the last minute on the 31st with the birds just 500m into the county border, again this sighting was brief single observation.  Given so many sightings continue to come through from counties bordering Oxon and yet more birds to filter inland and to the south, we can only hope that a flock is pinned down at some point. 

Waxwing East Challow courtesy of Mark Merritt

The previously ringed Siberian Chiffchaff was seen again at Burgess Field on Port Meadow on the 14^th and again on the 19^th, whilst a 2^nd bird heard calling was observed on the 16^th. A pair of Black Redstart were present at Chinnor Cement Works on the 12^th, a site that has hosted a pair in previous years with birds frequenting the housing estate that borders the site. 

One of two Black Redstarts Chinnor courtesy of David Stracey

A single Firecrest was recorded at Abingdon STW on the 4^th whilst a peak count of 15 Brambling were recorded again from Blenheim on the 6^th. A county record count of Ring-necked Parakeet was recorded from Oxford on the 12^th with a whopping 56 seen coming to roost there after detective work to locate this winter’s roost. More on the Cowley Parakeets on Out of the Blue Sky

A beautiful group of Parakeets courtesy of Tom Bedford

Blenheim Brambling courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

 

Raptors

Two Hen Harrier records were reported this month coming from opposite ends of the county. A ringtail was seen frequently at dusk on Otmoor through the month, presumably making the most of the Otmoor starling roost. A 2^nd bird, again a female/ringtail type bird was seen hunting over Churn on the 17^th of the month. Merlin were reported thinly on the ground this month with only three reports filtering through. Singles came from Churn on the 3^rd, Otmoor the 17^th and Bablockhythe on the 18^th.

 

Patchwork challenge & Green Birding

I think its safe to say that this years Patchwork Challenge has been a great success story not only across the country but also for the county of Oxon. There have been some cracking efforts made by local birders finding some amazing birds not only for their own local patches but for the county itself. Although I am not certain of the collective total of the patches, I am pretty sure between us we have had a large share of the total county year list for 2023. Highlights from PWC 2023 include Lesser Scaup, Black-crowned Night Heron, Water Pipit, several Kittiwake and possibly the rarest of them all in the form of the first Oxford City Corn Bunting in 43 years amongst many other delights and Patch Gold.

I and some others have already discussed taking part in PWC 2024 and I hope those that did this year may continue into the next year and maybe even some more folk too? Given the state of Twitter/X these days I have largely come off the site for the most part which makes it difficult with much of the PWC community local or otherwise connecting on there. It was suggested that maybe a PWC Oxon WhatsApp group maybe handy for sharing sightings/highlights/points totals etc. In any case, please get in touch either via my number on the Oxon WhatsApp group or my email address conormackenzie91@gmail.com if you want to be included in the PWC Oxon Mini League for 2024.

Its also worth mentioning another massive local effort that has taken place this year – a by bike Oxon Big Year by Ben Sheldon. Having already taken part in a Big Day by bike, with Thomas Miller, and recorded the joint highest 2^nd total for any big day completed in the county motorised or otherwise, he has also managed to record 177 species non-motorised for the year. A total, I suspect, that will take some beating in the future!

Patch	Birder	Points	Species	Highlight	Target	Percentage of target
Aston eyot	Ben Sheldon	58	56		90	64.44
Blenheim	Gareth Casburn	135	118		100	135.00
Dix pit	Simon Bradfield	114	91		75	152.00
Grimsbury reservoir	Gareth Blockley	132	117		130	101.54
Lye valley	Tom Bedford	100	88		80	125
River Thames	Geoff Wyatt	163	138		122	133.61
Sutton courtenay	Conor MacKenzie	160	132		140	111.43
East challow	Mark Merritt	84	80		83	101.20
Freeland	Glen Pascoe	90	80		80	112.50