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.
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| Egret pics courtesy and copyright of JFT |
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.
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.
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
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.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
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.
This week really felt like autumn and there was a little variation of birds recorded.
There has been a Common Sandpiper around on most days still and a couple of Ravens have been present on a few days. On Tuesday there was 1(+) Mistle Thrush I heard flying over the wood, Ian picked out a Garden Warbler in the scrub on the western side and JFT saw a Common Tern in the evening.
The Marsh Tit was still around, seen on Wednesday and today, and there have been a few more Siskins, with half a dozen in the wood today.
It's been another fairly quiet couple of weeks really. The 2 Spotted Flycatchers from Sunday 17th were still present on the Monday morning, but otherwise very little of note.
The gull numbers appear to be dropping again but there's still been 1-2 Yellow-legged Gulls on most visits. As well as the odd Common Sandpiper and Yellow Wagtail.
Generally this week has been the same with large numbers of gulls being the general interest, which has pulled in a few Common Gulls, and on Thursday evening there were 3 Common Sandpipers.
Today Clive and John Beak found 2 Spotted Flycatchers in the wood. Our first of the year.
It's generally been a quiet couple of weeks with little change and not much to report. With the large number of gulls around, particularly Lesser Black-backed Gulls, there's normally been a few Yellow-legged Gulls around too with up to six on some visits. There's also been the odd Little Ringed Plover and Yellow Wagtail of note, but very little else.
Today was a bit different though with JFT seeing a juvenile Mediterranean Gull and 2 Mandarin Ducks early on and then a second juvenile Med Gull stood on one of the nearby warehouses. As well as that, as he was leaving a Common Tern flew in for a couple of minutes.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
It has been a fairly quiet week. On Thursday JFT had a possible Caspian Gull, a Yellow-legged Gull and 2 Little Ringed Plovers.
This morning there was a Yellow-legged Gull and a Little Egret.
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
There's not been a lot to report this week, but there are signs of birds moving and autumn approaching.
The Little Ringed Plover was still present on Monday, a Common Sandpiper was seen today and Yellow-legged Gulls were seen on Monday (2cy) and Wednesday (3cy). Singles of Yellow Wagtail were seen flying over Monday and Wednesday, and today there was one by the reservoir. Siskin was seen flying over on Monday too.
A Kingfisher was along the river just north of the wood on Wednesday, as well as a family of Reed Warblers. Today the first Southern Hawker of the year was seen.
The lack of posts recently is an indication of how few times I've been able to make it to the patch but also there's been very few records from others.
There has been at least one Little Egret around seen by John Beak and others, mostly in the morning.
On the 2nd a Marsh Harrier was reported as seen by Tim Burchell. I think this is the third site record, so a very good one. The last I know of was in 2019.
Today Clive had a Little Ringed Plover at the reservoir.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of Gill Holliday |
Quiet again this week, as to be expected I suppose. Although it was nice to confirm Bullfinches have nested nearby at least, with a family group seen Friday afternoon. They've been really scarce on patch for a while now. Also on Friday a Peregrine could be seen perched up on JDE. Sunday morning there was 4 Reed Warblers singing in the UCV and there's been at least one more in another location, so it's a really good year for them.
Not ideal conditions but Painted Lady, Marbled White and Common Blue butterfly were all seen this morning.
I've been keeping an eye on some orchids I spotted the leaves of a few weeks ago, growing near the Borrow Pit pool. I thought we may have some Marsh Orchids (possibly Southern) but JFT suggested they could be hybrid MarshxCommon Spotted (first two photos below). Would there need to be Marsh Orchids on site or nearby for this to happen? If anyone has any pointers on ID or thoughts I'd be interested to know. Good numbers of Common Spotted this year but I've only seen the one Pyramidal so far. Unfortunately no sign of any Bee Orchids again this year, but I'm hoping they'll pop up again somewhere.
Late addendum - JFT had our first Reed Warbler of the year on the 4th, singing in scrub along the river.
This week the pair of Mandarin Ducks were seen Monday and Tuesday and just the drake seen on Saturday.
Our first Common Tern of the year was seen on Thursday by JFT. Another Reed Warbler in a regular spot, the reedy stretch of river just north of the M40. Otherwise it was pretty quiet.
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
The only new bird of the year this week was Swift, with 2 seen by John Beak yesterday. At least 4 Lesser Whitethroats were also recorded yesterday, but otherwise it was very much the same as the previous week in terms of species and numbers.
It's been another steady week with a few more new additions, either taking up territory for this season or passing through.
On Monday Ian had 3 Yellow Wagtails and there has been small numbers (up to three) seen most days. On Wednesday we had 2 Little Ringed Plovers and at least 3 Willow Warblers. A little later on the Wednesday Kev had a Peregrine through.
Our first 2 Sedge Warblers of the year were singing Thursday morning and Ian found our first Common Sandpiper on Friday afternoon.
Yesterday and this morning, at least two Sedge Warblers around the Borrow Pit pool in the U.C.V., with another and at least one Willow Warbler still along the river by the reservoir. This morning there was also our first Whitethroat of the year in the bramble scrub and a male Redstart along the ditch in the cattle field. The change in the weather also meant a notable increase in hirundine numbers feeding over the reservoir.
It's been a fairly good week with a few new species recorded.
On Wednesday morning I had 4 Great White Egrets fly over south, quite high and clearly moving rather than just flying from a roost to a feeding location. Later in the day Sandra also had 2 Little Ringed Plovers.
Thursday we had our first Great Crested Grebe of the year, which is oddly very late in the year, and JFT had 3 Little Ringed Plovers.
Ian found our first White Wagtail of the year on Friday morning and in the afternoon I had an Oystercatcher and a Little Ringed Plover fly over.
The same, or possibly another, White Wagtail was around Saturday morning and today Clive found our first Yellow Wagtail of the year.
This week was a continuation last week, with more early migrants arriving. On Monday Ian had a Little Ringed Plover again but it wasn't seen for the rest of the week. Hirundines continued to arrive, with numbers building up to double figures towards the end of the week.
There was a group of 28 Fieldfare that flew over on Friday, that I think are new for the year, and a few Redwings still hanging around.
Our first Willow Warbler was recorded on Saturday, with at least two today. Two Egyptian Geese dropped in on Saturday too, but were soon chased off by the swans. There was also a few more Blackcaps at the end of the week and numerous Chiffchaffs today.
Some good conditions this week brought us a flurry of early migrants and added several species to the year list.
Wednesday morning was great for raptor watching, which included two Peregrines over town. Today I found out that John Beak had seen our first Little Ringed Plover of the year earlier in the morning. In the afternoon Ian found a Rock Pipit too, but it didn't hang around long.
I had our first 2 Sand Martins and single House Martin of the year on Friday afternoon, lingering briefly before carrying on north.
Sunday morning we had a singing Blackcap (possibly 2), a flyover Curlew, and singles of both Sand and House Martin through. There was also the Cetti's Warbler and several Chiffchaffs. In the afternoon, JFT had our first 4 Swallows of the year and another Little Ringed Plover.
On Monday morning Sandra had an Oystercatcher flying around, possibly the same bird seen earlier at Blascote Quarry.
This morning JFT added Skylark to the year list and also had 2 Peregrine over, the Cetti's Warbler and 4 Chiffchaffs.
New in this week were the first Chiffchaffs of the year and a Cetti's Warbler singing along the river in the same territory as last year. I also saw my first Brimstone of the the year on Monday. Otherwise, a Lesser Redpoll again and a pair of Ravens were seen.
A very quiet week but Clive did add Jay to the year list today and there was also 2 Gadwall and a Siskin.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
