25th Jan 2026

There had not been much seen through the week but this morning there was a couple of new birds for the year, with 2 drake Pochard on the reservoir (amongst 17 Tufted Ducks and a Gadwall) and a Mistle Thrush at the back of the wood. There was also a Bullfinch near the entrance (quite a hard bird to get on patch now) and at least 5 Lapwings flew over. 

18th Jan 2026: Great White Egret

This week Clive added Great White Egret to the year list, with one flying over on Wednesday. There was also 2 Lapwing on the same day. 

Friday afternoon there were 22 Teal in the flooded fields up the valley and a single bird flew around the reservoir this morning. A few more common species were added to the year list but nothing else in particular.

11th Jan 2026: White-fronted Geese and Marsh Harrier!

It has been a great start to the year with some cracking species and really interesting counts recorded. 

On the 3rd JFT added White-fronted Goose to the yearlist, with 2 initially on the reservoir that flew off early and then another 4 (adults) that came in from high to the north-east and landed in the cattle field (later seen on the reservoir). Unfortunately, just one day birds. On the same day we also had a Great Black-backed Gull over and a flock of c.150 Lapwing over. The latter being part of a general movement over a few days, with several smaller flocks and a flock of c.40 Golden Plovers also seen.

This week there was some huge counts of Tufted Ducks, with 117 on the 8th and 143 (113 drakes) on 9th! I'm fairly certain these are record counts for the site. Oddly there was no other diving ducks with them and even more oddly, there was none yesterday morning.

Yesterday morning JFT had a group of 6 Crossbills go over north and this morning Clive had a cream crown Marsh Harrier come in from the west and fly off north (after getting mobbed by a Raven). 

Some other good birds already seen include Gadwall, Raven, Stonechat (2 pairs), Snipe, Jack Snipe, Peregrine and Yellowhammer.

I think the year list is already on 64, but I'll have a proper look towards the end of the month and make sure it's in line with the new Avilist taxonomic order and amended BOU list etc.  

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

Courtesy and copyright of JFT (part of the 150 flock)

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

31st Dec 2025

It's the end of the year and, unfortunately, there was no late treats for us. On the 24th there was a nice selection of ducks with 8 Wigeon and 2 Gadwall present amongst the usuals, an adult Yellow-lgged Gull and the pair of Stonechats still. On the 28th a Chiffchaff was near the entrance and on the 29th there was 2 female Shovelers. 

The year list limped up to 113 which is a really poor total, the lowest for quite some time and the first time since 2017 we haven't got 120+. One really notable species we missed was Wheatear, but hopefully this is just an oddity with this year as it was a poor year generally it seemed. We seemed to have very few waders this year and didn't manage to connect with a few scarce birds like Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Kittiwake and Common Scoter, which are certainly not garanteed but not terribly rare.

Despite that there were some really good records, with JFT adding Pink-footed Goose to the site list, a Marsh Harrier, a couple of Little Gulls, a Cuckoo, multiple Rock Pipits, more Great White Egrets this year than ever recorded before and a few records of Crossbills.

Hopefully next year is a bit better. Happy New Year and good birding!

21st Dec 2025

Generally quiet still over the last couple of weeks. There was a pair of Peregrines over on the 14th, a Blackcap on the 19th (JFT) and a Great White Egret over this morning (CP and JFT).

Hopefully there's a few more good birds before the end of the year. Happy Christmas!

7th Dec 2025

Highlights this week were a flyover Great White Egret, heading south-west on Friday morning, and this morning Clive had 2 Egyptian Geese. He also had a distant goose in flight that could have been the Pink-footed Goose, but unfortunately not able to confirm.

30th Nov 2025: Pink-footed Goose!!

Yesterday morning JFT found a PINK-FOOTED GOOSE in the cattle field! This is almost certainly the same one he saw a bit further south down the Cherwell valley last weekend. This incredible record is the first for the patch and a very good bird for the county. There was also a female Goldeneye on the reservoir and the pair of Stonechats.

Unfortunately, the Pink-footed Goose was not seen today around the reservoir or just north into the Cherwell valley. There was actually very few geese around at all and I expect they've moved to flooded areas down the valley. The Goldeneye was still on the reservoir and there was at least 3 Chiffchaffs on patch. I also noted at least four other Chiffchaffs near home and along the river up to the reservoir as well, so there's still a good number around passing through.

There was also a very intriguing record today from someone else looking for the goose, of 3 yellow-billed swans flying south towards Banbury. Unfortunately not seen well enough to identify but a good chance they flew over the patch.

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

23rd Nov 2025

Back to being fairly quiet again this week, with Shoveler, Yellow-legged Gull, Marsh Tit and the pair of Stonechats the highlights. 

16th Nov 2025: Little Gulls

It had been a fairly quiet couple of weeks, with an irregular pair of Wigeon and the Marsh Tit the only interest. Then today after a strong north-easterly there was suddenly a increase of activity and some good birds in the mix. 

As I was walking up and paying attention to a passerine flock along the river, I wasn't paying attention to the large number of gulls flying over... when JFT had a Little Gull go high east and a flock of 1 Gadwall and 3 Wigeon fly around. We met up at the top end and we had a Snipe and a group of 13 Lapwing over. As JFT was walking back to the car park I could see him waving his arms about and there was another Little Gull! This one dropped in for a very brief moment and also headed off east. I heard Golden Plover calling somewhere above but we couldn't pick it out. A Mediteranean Gull went through south with another load of gulls and 2 Wigeon got harrassed by a/the pair of Peregrines as they came through.

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

2nd Nov 2025

The highlight of the week was a Great White Egret that JFT saw drop in on Tuesday morning. It showed very nicely for him but unfortunately it didn't stay very long. 

The Cormorant numbers continued to rise through the week to an impressive 83 yesterday morning. 

Other bits seen this week were the Marsh Tit (singing), Blackcap and Chiffchaff, a Yellow-legged Gull, a few Redpolls, and the pair of Stonechats.

Egret pics courtesy and copyright of JFT

26th Oct 2025

Our first Great Crested Grebe of the winter arrived this week and the number of Cormorants continued to build.

This morning we had 3 Crossbills again, which left the wood and flew south. We were able to see one was a red male and I assume this is the same three birds that have been seen intermitiently over the last few weeks. Also this morning, 3+ Redpolls over and a few Siskins amongst a noticible movement of Chaffinches. There were 3+ Chiffchaffs around and the pair of Stonechat.

19th Oct 2025: Rock Pipits, Goldeneye and Pintail

We had a nice week with a few good birds recorded. The highlight being multiple Rock Pipits during an influx of passage birds into the country. We also had two new birds for the year with Goldeneye and Pintail.

On Tuesday, following a report of 15 (!) Rock Pipits at Farmoor, JFT checked Grimsbury and found 2 present but they were seen flying off north. On Wednesday morning Ade and Fances Buckel found the Goldeneye and another Rock Pipit. I visited early afternoon to see the Goldeneye and found the Pintail and there were 2 Rock Pipits, later Clive had 3 Rock Pipits and by late afternoon Jon Bowley had 5 Rock Pipits. On Thursday morning Ian had 4 Rock Pipits but there were no more for the rest of the week. For us to get multiple Rock Pipits in any year or in one day is very notable, but to get 5 in one day and a minimum of 7 over two days is exceptional.

Other interest through the week was up to 7 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler, 2 Yellow-leeged Gulls, a high count of 58 Cormorants, as well as a Mistle Thrush, the Marsh Tit, 3 Stonechat and a couple of Redpolls. 

This morning JFT had another 3 Crossbills fly out of the wood and 90 Fieldfare and 14 Redwing over.

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

12th Oct 2025

It was generally quiet this week, but a few bits and bobs kept us ticking over.

On Tuesday there was a steady flow of a small number of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks with a few Siskins too. The Marsh Tit was still in the wood and a Lapwing flew over the Borrow Pit pool. At the reservoir a ringed Black-headed Gull turned out to be a returning bird we've seen a over the last few years - EMK1, ringed as juvenile in the Netherlands in 2022.

On the Wednesday morning a Mistle thrush was at the reservoir and in the rough field up the valley, just north of the M40, there was a pair of Stonechats, a Redpoll and a Whitethroat.

This morning Clive saw 9 Wigeon, 10 Siskin, 2 Redwing and a Little Egret at the reservoir.

5th Oct 2025

A single Dunlin was still present on Monday morning and there was also a female Goosander that flew in and around but didn't land, seen by Ian.

Yesterday evening JFT saw 3 Shoveler and this morning he saw 2 Wigeon.

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

29th Sep 2025: Dunlin and Crossbills

Generally there was very little of note all week but the Marsh Tit was seen again on Friday. 

Today, things really changed with a few good patch birds making it a really nice morning in what has been a generally really poor autumn so far. Clive and John B found 2 Dunlin and a Snipe along the western shore, all of which flushed but the Dunlin reappeared and despite further flushes apparently stayed all day. The Dunlin were the first of the year and Snipe are very rarely seen on the deck here.

As we were stood chatting at the northern end 3 Common Crossbills flew in calling and appeared to land in the wood. Shortly after a single bird flew west. I searched the wood for them but there was no sign of them. These were the first crossbills recorded here since 2020.

On my way out I stopped to get a better look at the Dunlin and a Rock Pipit flew along the west shore and landed south of me. It was flighty and flushed every time people/dogs walked by, even going into the cattle field briefly, and the last I saw of it it flew to the eastern bank.