150 House Martin
30 Swift
20 Swallow
3 Reed Warbler
A Peters
Key Holder Reserve
For questions you can contact Adam at: adamchartley "at" gmail "dot" com or Jason at: jasoncppk "at" yahoo "dot" co "dot" uk
150 House Martin
30 Swift
20 Swallow
3 Reed Warbler
A Peters
Key Holder Reserve
Red-crested pochard - 1 drake on the lagoon found by JFT this morning.
Dunlin - 1
Little ringed plover - 1
Sanderling still present on the causeway, plus Yellow Wagtail and Little Egret over and 2 Cuckoos calling. eBird list is here.
1 Oystercatcher
1 Cuckoo
Lots of common warblers
1 Grass Snake
A Peters
Key Holder Reserve
Common tern - 2
Willow warbler - 1
North Woodstock
Willow warbler - 2 singing in Glyme Valley area
Juv Little Egrets, Blenheim |
Quail 2 m singing in wheat field off Charlbury Road about 1km SE of Chipping Norton (about here)
per Ben Fisher
Courtesy of Wayne Paes. |
Port Meadow
5 Ringed Plover
4 Shelduck
20 Barnacle Goose
20 Snow Goose
No sign of the Garganey this evening
Adam Hartley, Steve Sansom
08:30-11:00
Cuckoo 2
Grasshopper Warbler (heard only)
Garden Warbler 2
In the area north of Old Woodstock:
Lesser whitethroat - 2 or 3 singing
Willow warbler - 3 singing
Sedge warbler - 2 singing
Port Meadow
2 Cattle Egret
6 Shelduck
2 Common Tern
2 Lapwing
Garganey
3f Blue-headed Wagtail
Cuckoo
No sign of the 1st sum/f Grey-headed Wagtail by 11:30.
Black-tailed Godwit
32+ Snow Geese
Barnacle Geese
7 Shelduck
2 Wigeon,
several Gadwall
Male cuckoo on Burgess Field earlier
Nick Boyd et al
A female/1st summer Grey-headed (thunbergi) Wagtail on Port Meadow yesterday evening (found by Thomas Miller).
It is being looked for this morning but no sign so far (07:30 a.m.)
Very difficult to see on the far bank and hidden in amongst the vegetation.
Courtesy of Steve Sansom |
Black Redstart - a male briefly at the south end of Chapel Street in the centre of Bicester (per Max Bennett).
Highlights
Despite the weathers best efforts
the onward march of our spring migrants continued unabated, with nearly all of
our regularly occurring migrants having either passed through the county or
arrived back on summer territories. The early theme continued across April with
several species arriving quite a bit earlier than their median arrival date and
potentially regretting that choice with the cold and wet spring we are
currently experiencing. Typically April is expected to throw up the odd rarity
with many species on the move, Wood Warbler, Glossy Ibis and Spotted
Crake have all been recorded in recent years whilst even the odd mega can and
does rock up – see the adult Bonaparte’s Gull on Blenheim in
2019. That being said, every now and then we get thrown the odd curve ball and
something totally under the radar turns up to kick everyone into action.
Otmoor Cranes courtesy of Malcolm Bowey |
That was the case on the 10th when reports of a Hooded Crow at Blenheim came through.You’d be forgiven for wondering whether this might turn out to be at best an aberrant Carrion Crow or possibly a Hybrid of some sort. Several minutes later though, photo confirmation nailed the identity and we had our first county mega of the year! Quite unbelievably the bird was found by not only an out of county birder but the previous chair of BOURC. This was the first solid record in close to half a century with the last bird coming in 1982 at West Hendred, nearly a decade before some of us were born never mind birding so this was proper mega territory. Hooded Crow tend to stick around for a little while so there was hope this would be an easy bird to connect with, but this was not to be the case. Even those who were able to react immediately to the news were left disappointed when the bird could not be found despite extensive searching over the next couple of days. Surprisingly there was a spate of records between 1965 and 1982 with 10 records in this 17 year period, with even a pair of birds recorded at Farmoor in 1975. We can only hope that the next record doesn’t take another four decades to turn up in the county or that it will be at the very least more confiding than this latest one.
The Hooded Crow at Blenheim courtesy of Andrew Harrop |
Migrant
arrival dates
Species |
Median
(since 2000) |
Earliest |
2024 |
Sandwich Tern |
10-Apr |
18-Mar |
06-Apr |
Yellow
Wagtail |
01-Apr |
05-Mar |
03-Apr |
Common Tern |
04-Apr |
04-Feb |
02-Apr |
Arctic Tern |
16-Apr |
30-Mar |
09-Apr |
Whitethroat |
10-Apr |
29-Jan |
07-Apr |
Reed Warbler |
13-Apr |
31-Mar |
02-Apr |
Cuckoo |
10-Apr |
30-Mar |
08-Apr |
Grasshopper
Warbler |
11-Apr |
04-Apr |
06-Apr |
Garden
Warbler |
15-Apr |
24-Mar |
14-Apr |
Lesser
Whitethroat |
15-Apr |
05-Apr |
09-Apr |
Whimbrel |
17-Apr |
29-Mar |
06-Apr |
Hobby |
15-Apr |
05-Apr |
14-Apr |
Sanderling |
20-Apr |
25-Jan |
19-Apr |
Greenshank |
06-Apr |
28-Jan |
14-Apr |
Turnstone |
30-Apr |
29-Jan |
02-Apr |
Swift |
15-Apr |
30-Mar |
10-Apr |
Tree Pipit |
20-Apr |
30-Mar |
18-Apr |
Whinchat |
19-Apr |
02-Jan |
13-Apr |
Spotted
Flycatcher |
02-May |
05-Apr |
23-Apr |
Waders
The pair of Avocet continued at Otmoor in the early part of April after arriving in the latter part of March. They both stuck around until the 2nd with at least one bird still present on the 5th. The first Sanderling of the spring turned up right cue with a pair of birds at Farmoor on the 19th, whilst not quite in full summer finery they are always stunning little birds whilst in moult.
Farmoor Sanderling courtesy of Steve Liptrot |
A single Turnstone here on the 2nd was a little earlier than is typical for the species although another bird here on 22nd was more classic in terms of timing whilst another was present on the 29th.
Farmoor Turnstone courtesy of Kyle Smith |
Wood Sandpiper, not always an annual spring migrant, made it into the review
period at the last minute with a single bird in the Upper Cherwell in
the north of the county on the 29th.
Wood Sandpiper courtesy of John Friendship-Taylor |
Pit 60 Whimbrel courtesy of Mick Cunningham |
Balscote Quarry Greenshank courtesy of Edwin Barson |
Ringed Plover were spread fairly thinly on the ground at four sites, with three of those been regular stop off points for this species. Otmoor had a single bird on the 1st and 5th, whist Farmoor had a bird on the 10th and 27th. Port Meadow hosted the most birds with two here on the 14th with a single there the previous day. Peep-o-Day Lane also hosted a lone bird on the 27th. Dunlin had obviously reached their peak passage the previous month, with the wintering flock finally dispersed and presumably on breeding grounds somewhere much further north. Port Meadow hosted the most birds with up to four recorded between the 14th and 26th. Pairs were also seen at Otmoor on the 1st and at Farmoor between the 15th and 27th.
Farmoor Dunlin courtesy of Nick Truby |
Grimsbury Reservoir Little Ringed Plover courtesy of Edwin Barson |
Wildfowl etc
A typically quiet period for this group, the main highlights bookended the month with the group of four White-fronted Geese still present between the 2nd and 4th. Garganey have been a bit thin on the ground this spring, with very few records compared to 2023 where several sites had pairs and one site even had up to six birds for much of the spring. A lone female was on Pit 60 on the 16th which was then seemingly joined by a male on the 25th just down the road in Widford. The pair remined here until at least the 30th. A single drake was also present on Otmoor on the 23rd, which raised hopes of a successful breeding year here again with a female potentially tucked away elsewhere on site.
Widford Garganey courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
Herons, egrets etc
In what is now becoming an annual occurrence since the reintroduction project down at Knepp Estate in Sussex, a White Stork was picked up over Oxon airspace on the 21st with one circling Iffley in Oxford. A few days later it was seen over Otmoor on the 24th and initially appeared un-ringed only for the requisite bling observed the following day when the bird was seen on the deck. Whatever your thoughts on the reintroduction project the species looks set to be a permanent fixture of the countries avifauna and a regular occurrence in the county.
Otmoor White Stork courtesy of Peter Milligan |
Great White Egret Blenheim, courtesy of Michael Enticott |
Gulls and Terns
One of the most anticipated parts of the spring season, the overland migration of the countries seabirds, got under way on the 6th with the first Sandwich Tern at Farmoor. A 2nd bird followed at Grimsbury Reservoir on the 15th, although both records were typically brief appearances. Kittiwake soon followed when two birds were present at Grimsbury Reservoir on the 9th, both adults. Farmoor followed quickly after with a single bird on the 10th, also an adult. On the last day of the month a single Little Tern, another not always annual species within the county’s border, was picked up at Otmoor on the 30th not the typical location for this diminutive seabird.
Courtesy of Connor Pimm |
Farmoor Little Gull courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
Farmoor Arctic Tern courtesy of Trudi Rowland |
Grimsbury Reservoir Arctic Tern courtesy of Kyle Smith |
Passerines
Waxwing continued to hang on in the county well into the month of April, somewhat unsurprisingly given the weather. You can’t really blame them for not thinking spring had quite started and I can well imagine conditions in the north of Scandinavia weren’t exactly beckoning. A single bird was reported at Wantage on the 5th in the Waitrose carpark. But the main tranche of records came from Blenheim where between 18-21 birds were present between the 18th and 26th. What is more surprising, given the date, was these weren’t the latest record for the county.
Bladon Waxwing courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
Late Waxwing records
Date |
Year |
Location |
5th May |
1966 |
Hinksey Hill Farm |
26th April |
2024 |
Blenheim |
18th April |
2005 |
Milton |
5th April |
2011 |
Wolvercote |
4th April |
2013 |
Oxford |
Ring Ouzel had a very good spring in the county. Most of the records typically came from the Oxon Downs with four sites across the Ridgeway hosting multiple birds. A pair continued from Aston Upthorpe through most of the early part of the month whilst Gramps Hill and Devils Punchbowl had up to five birds by the 11th. Ardley ERF managed to get in on the action, a nice bonus of the local birder putting in the effort there, on the 7th. Offering those in the north of the county an easier connection compared to those birds much further south along the downs. The last bird hung on at Scary Hill until at least the 13th.
Ardley Ring Ouzel courtesy of Nick Truby |
The one and only Rock Pipit of
the spring came on the 22nd with the classic location of Farmoor playing
host to this brief flyover record. A cracking male Black Redstart was in
another private garden in Great Haseley this month and remained
for the single day on the 7th.
Black Redstart courtesy of John Hewes |
Whinchat and Wheater at Otmoor, courtesy of Cath Rose |
Almost all our breeding migrant species have now returned to their summer breeding grounds in the county, with the continued theme of early returnees apparent across several of those species. The first Swift was reported on the 10th at Grimsbury Reservoir, nearly a week earlier than usual with the next birds not been reported until nearly two weeks later on the 22nd at the same site. The year’s first Cuckoo were bang on time with time with a bird at Wytham on the 8th, whilst the first Whitethroat came on the 7th at Farmoor also pretty much bang on time for the species typical arrival date.
Otmoor Cuckoo courtesy of Malcolm Bowey |
Farmoor Grasshopper Warbler, courtesy of Paul Tomlinson |
Farmoor White Wagtail courtesy of Ewan Urquhart |
Raptors
Spring passage of Osprey was fairly decent in April with eight records across six sites. The first of the month came from Otmoor on the 5th, followed by another bird over Port Meadow on the 6th which also hosted another flyover bird on the 13th. The most confiding record came from Farmoor on the 12th with a bird seen perched on one of the bollards along the reservoirs rim, making for a quite surreal picture. One was here again on the 16th and the 27th which was seen later that day over Freeland. Days Lock also had a fly over bird in the 15th, although this bird was at least seen to catch a fish before disappearing over Little Wittenham Woods. Grimsbury also hosted a brief flyover record on the 16th presumably the same bird seen earlier that day over Farmoor.
Farmoor Osprey courtesy of Steve Sansom |
Short-eared Owl continued to linger on at Otmoor this month, although only been recorded in the latter part of the month it may relate to a new bird moving through the county. The single bird was recorded sporadically from the 21st until the end of the month.
Otmoor Short-eared Owl courtesy of Richard Stevens |
A single Merlin also was a surprise this month where a
female or immature bird was present on the Oxon Downs on the 13th.
The first returning Hobby of the spring came from Otmoor on the
16th with two birds here and were also bang on time. Birds continued
here until a peak of 12 birds were seen on the 27th. Pit 60 and
Spring Hill Farm were the only other sites that recorded a bird with a
single here on the 20th and 29th respectively.
Hobby Otmoor courtesy of Daren Curtis |
Patchwork
challenge
Patch |
Birder |
Points
|
Species |
Highlights |
Aston eyot |
Ben Sheldon |
67 |
66 |
Common Sandpiper (100th species for patch) |
Ardley ERF |
Gareth Casburn |
75 |
71 |
|
Dix pit |
Simon Bradfield |
76 |
70 |
|
Grimsbury reservoir |
Gareth Blockley |
107 |
100 |
|
Lye valley |
Tom Bedford |
67 |
64 |
|
River Thames |
Geoff Wyatt |
150 |
127 |
|
Sutton Courtenay |
Conor MacKenzie |
113 |
103 |
Wheatear |
Radley GP’s |
Ian Elkins |
109 | 99 |
Cattle Egret, Marsh Harrier
and Black-necked Grebe |
Freeland |
Glen Pascoe |
64 |
63 |
|
South Hinksey |
Alex Figueiredo |
57 |
55 |
|
Cholsey |
Alan Dawson |
104 |
98 |
Greenshank |
Hobby courtesy of Bryan Manston |
West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project is looking for ornithologists, ecologists, conservationists and anyone keen on nature!
The West Oxfordshire Farmland Bird Project (WOFBP) was set up in 2016 with the aim of monitoring farmland birds and using this data to help engage with and guide farmer lead conservation. The monitoring involves bird ringing, nest monitoring, and observational counts that all feed into the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) national dataset as well as local and regional databases, such as the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre. Both our team and these organisations use this data to better understand the populations of farmland birds and to feed into scientific research and practical conservation projects. The information is also fed back to the landowners, farmers, and land managers to advise how they can create habitat for birds and other wildlife alongside sustainable food production.
At the core of the farmland bird monitoring are the surveys we conduct of our four target species: Skylarks, Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers, and Corn Buntings. While we also survey other species such as Grey Partridges, Tree Sparrows, Linnets, and other farmland specialists, these core species act as farmland indicator species. We use these species to assess the quality of the farmed environment and target conservation efforts. In the case of Corn Buntings, we have begun expanding our surveys across southwest Oxfordshire with the hope of understanding their abundance, distribution, and population dynamics.
For the Corn Bunting research we run an extensive colour ringing project with observational counts to map their distribution across a wide area of farmland. As part of this project, we colour mark roughly 150 birds per year across the Thames Valley and Lambourn Downs and attempt to resight these birds throughout subsequent years. The resulting dataset is helping to better understand their population behaviour, such as post-juvenile dispersal, adult site fidelity, adult survival, breeding productivity and breeding ecology. This data is helping to inform us about the habitats that farmers can created to conserve the species and where these should be targeted in the landscape. In conjunction with these surveys, we undertake observational counts of Corn Buntings across the project area to map the summer and winter populations and where there are declines or increases.
A Corn Bunting in the hand |
The Corn Bunting surveys and conservation work is divided into three core aspects of work: supplementary feeding, observational counts, and bird ringing. It is these three roles that we are currently looking for keen volunteers to join our team.
Our supplementary feeding programme during winter stretches across 14 farms in southwest Oxfordshire with most of these now hosting Corn Buntings. Throughout the winter we visit these supplementary feeding stations at least once a month between November and April to undertake observational counts as well as conducting three bird ringing surveys. We also undertake standardised counts during June and July, mapping the locations of singing males across our study farms.
Due to the expansion for these surveys, we are keen to attract new volunteers looking to actively contribute to the conservation of a species that has declined by over 90% since the 1960s. The data collected will play a direct role in conserving this species in Oxfordshire by guiding practical, on the ground conservation efforts lead by farmers. Volunteers will also get training that will widen their knowledge of farmland birds and conservation of the species as well as gaining controlled access to private farmland sites hosting bird populations comparable to those found on many nature reserves.
The roles we are hoping to recruit volunteers to assist with are listed below:
- Weekly supplementary feeding between December-April (can be single or multiple sites)
- Observational counts (summer and/or winter)
- Bird ringing surveys (becoming a licensed bird ringer requires more time and regular training which can be discussed further with our team)
Depending on the activities undertaken by the volunteer they would ideally be able to reach sites by car (public transport is possible for only a few sites). Volunteers undertaking observational counts will require a pair of binoculars and/or telescope and have basic to advanced identification skills of farmland birds by sight and song (training can be provided). Volunteers do not need to commit to any number of surveys but can cover as many sites and visits as they wish.
Anyone interested in contributing to the conservation of Corn Buntings, farmland birds and the wider farmland environment please do get in touch with us via email at westoxfarmlandbirds@gmail.com. Please do not hesitate to get in contact with any questions regarding our work and how you can get involved.
New record set for Oxfordshire big day.
Congratulations to Tom Bedford, Ben Sheldon and Thomas Miller who smashed the record for the amount of species seen within Oxfordshire in a single day. What's even more impressive, is that they achieved it all by bike and on foot!
Despite punctures, the cold and at times wet weather, by the end of Saturday the 27th the team had amassed an incredible 118 species, well done chaps.
Full write up and species list on Out of the Blue Sky
The big day team with support from Tom Wickens. Courtesy of Ben Sheldon |