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 |
