23rd Dec 2014

It was quite a busy day at Grimsbury for observers, with Mike Pollard, Steve Holliday, Alan Peters, John and I all trudging the paths in search of birds. Collectively there were quite a few birds seen but nothing to really get excited about. Being out in the sun is always a pleasure though.

At the reservoir the two redhead Goosanders were present, along with seven Great Crested Grebes, a Kingfisher and c.45 Black-headed Gulls. Two Bullfinches were around and three Treecreepers were seen together in the wood. Siskins were heard and seen in a few places but numbers seem to be fluctuating quite a lot at the moment. In the Upper Cherwell Valley Mike had five Herring Gulls and a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Mike also had c.20 Lapwings flying over and later John and I had another c.100 over. This is the most we have ever seen here and I wonder if these are 'local' birds we are seeing or birds that are still on migration. Raptors were well represented today with Kestrel, Buzzards, Sparrowhawk seen a few times and a Peregrine flyover.

Courtesy and copyright of John