Yesterday there was a Stonechat and a fairly late Swallow at the reservoir. Also several Siskins and Skylarks over, as well as Meadow Pipits with some grounded too. A couple of Chiffchaffs were vocal on the western side. A Greylag Goose and at least one hybrid has been in amongst the Canada Goose flock.
Jonathan Bowley was out on Tuesday, at the reservoir and into the valley, and had 3 Little Grebe, 5 Cormorant, 2 Heron, 37 Mallard, 16 Tufted Ducks, 4 Coot, 1 Snipe over, 3 Common Sandpipers, 3 House Martins, 4 Grey Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 9 chiffchaff, 3 Siskin and 1 Reed Bunting.
Today John had 2 Gadwall, 3 Common Sandpipers and 6 Siskin. Adrian T counted 280 Canada Geese.
A bit quieter this week, but the Canada Goose flock is rapidly increasing. Steve H counted 264 on Monday and there was also a Common Sandpiper.
On Tuesday John saw Little Grebe, 4 Swallows and 2 Common Sandpipers.
On Thursday there was a Wheatear in the cattle field and 3 Common Sandpipers.
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| There is a Wheatear there, honest |
Friday afternoon there were 2 Siskins and a Grass Snake along the river and Saturday morning there was 3 Common Sandpipers.
This morning John and I had 3 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 2 individual Snipe over, 11 Yellow Wagtails over and 27 Meadow Pipits over.
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
Tuesday morning 3 Common Sandpipers were present and it seems the easterly wind prompted a bit of overhead passage with 31+ Yellow Wagtails (mostly heard only but included a group of 8 birds) and the first 4 Meadow Pipits of the autumn. A Raven went over very high - there's been a few sightings this week/recently. There was also a Wheatear in the Upper Cherwell Valley, on the Northants side of the river. A colour ringed Black-headed Gull on the railings, I think it's Polish (blue TOT4?) but I need to send it off to confirm.
On Wednesday Steve H and I headed out to look for odonata, the main aim being to try and record Willow Emerald again. Steve found one pretty quickly in a Alder near the entrance but then no more were seen until later (2 there later). In the heat of the day they seemed to liven up and 20+ were seen in one area, mostly pairs gathered around an Ash overhanging the river and mostly egg laying. I counted 9 pairs and a single female egg laying and a lone male (probably more) all in one small area. There is older scarring too, so they have been egg laying here in previous years.
Thursday early morning there was 4 Yellow-legged Gulls (1 ad, 1 2cy and 2x juv) and an adult Common Gull with the early morning gull gathering. Also 4 Common Sandpipers, a Great Crested Grebe again and 17+ Meadow Pipits over.
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| Bat photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
On Monday Sandra had 2 Common Sandpipers and John Beak had a Redstart. Wednesday John had 4 Common Sandpipers and a Hobby hunting over town.
Friday afternoon there was a big gathering of gulls (mostly Lesser Black-backed) and amongst them our first Caspian Gull and Mediterranean Gull of the year and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls (all juveniles). There was also the 4 Common Sandpipers and 2 Yellow Wagtails. As good as the gulls were, the icing on the cake was an Otter along the river. It looked pretty small so maybe a young one. I'm not sure who was more shocked when it popped up right in front of me and it certainly wasn't in the mood to hang around for a photo!
Yesterday morning there were 2 Sandwich Terns when John arrived but already on the way out unfortunately. He also had a Great White Egret over for another year tick this week. A Green Sandpiper on the deck, as well as 2 Common Sandpipers, is unusual here. Later in the afternoon Mike P had a Peregrine over.
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| Great Egret courtesy and copyright of JFT |
Quiet again this week. There's been 2-3 Common Sandpipers and a few Yellow Wagtails seen either over or down at the reservoir.
Clive had a Little Egret on Monday and on Wednesday I had a flock of c.170 House Martin move through
Highlight of the week was a Nuthatch on Friday, with a tit flock in the trees around the car park. I assume one of the Spiceball Park birds and nice to get on the year list.
Yesterday there was 4 Swift at the reservoir and 2 Yellow Wagtails over.
This evening a fem/juv type Redstart was along the ditch/hedge in the cattle field. There was also 2 Common Sandpiper at the reservoir and Kingfisher along the river.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
Not a terribly exciting week, but there's been a few nice bits.
On Wednesday Mike P had a Little Egret, Common Sandpiper and 5 Swift.
Thursday evening I had a Hobby, Yellow-legged Gull and 2 Common Sandpipers.
Today Clive had a Yellow Wagtail, Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover.
A pair of Sparrowhawk have also successfully nested in the trees around the water treatment works, and the juveniles are calling regularly.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
Mike P had a Peregrine at the reservoir on the 1st, harassing a Cormorant! There was a Wheatear and 3 Common Sandpipers on the 4th and this morning John had 4 Yellow Wagtails over.
Not much to report this week but another Sanderling was at the reservoir on the 27th with 2-3 Common Sandpipers. Later in the day John also had a Yellow-legged Gull.
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| My distant record shot |
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| John's much better shot! |
On the 17th Mike P found a juvenile Redstart again and a Dunlin. It may be the same Redstart but has been elusive/not see for several days or a new one maybe. Either way it was still around on the 18th as well.
On the 20th Adrian T found our first Spotted Flycatcher of the year and there was also a Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Common Gull on the same day.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
Another fairly slow few weeks, but things are looking up with a few bits on the move.
John Beak had 2 Oystercatchers on the 5th. Mike found a juvenile Redstart and 3 Common Sandpipers on the 12th. The Redstart showed incredibly well for Mike but was not seen the next day, but 4 Shovelers were present and were surprisingly new for the year. There was also the 3 Common Sandpipers still and a Little Ringed Plover later in the day.
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| Courtesy and copyright of JFT |
It's been a very quiet few weeks with very little bird news of any note. One or two Little Ringed Plovers have been seen occasionally and two Common Terns were at the reservoir on the 18th and one was there again today. The only other notable bird has been a Yellow-legged Gull that dropped in to the Borrow Pit pool for a few minutes on the 18th.
Dragonflies and damselflies are my main interest at the moment, with Southern and Brown Hawkers new for the year today. There's been a lot of Marbled White butterflies up around the Borrow Pit and on the 18th Clive and I saw a Small Heath too, which neither of us remember seeing there before (Clive maybe has, but not for several years). There's also a good number of Common Spotted Orchids and several Pyramidal Orchids again this year, but I haven't seen any Bee Orchids yet.
Just recently, it seems to be there's nothing around for days (John has been up most days this week checking for Black Terns) and then a few good birds all turn up at once for no apparent reason.
This week there was nothing of particular note all week until John found a Sanderling late afternoon on Friday. Then in the evening Sandra and Adrian B also found a Dunlin and we had a Hobby fly through and later in the evening Mike P had a Little Egret fly over. This morning John also had 2 Lapwing at the reservoir, which is pretty unusual.
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| Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT |
