30th Sep 2016

Between us we have been out a fair bit these last couple of days, but generally for nothing new. There are the regular two Wigeon and one Common Sandpiper still and steady trickle of migrants through overhead. Kingfishers are being seen a lot again and there are still several Chiffchaffs around. This morning I had a nice 15 minutes watching two Willow Tits foraging in the pines on the edge of the wood, extracting the pine nuts and then flying off to eat them. Always too fast for me to get good pictures but some are below.

Last night John had another really good session with the gulls, with not as high counts but at least ten Yellow-legged Gulls. tonight there were not as many and the gulls were really skittish but we managed at least six Yellow legs. There were two 2CY birds really early on but they were flushed by a rather loud excitable child. It took quite some time for more to arrive but I saw at least four adult/near adults with two together (one huge one that didn't return) and later three together. 

28th Sep 2016: Marsh Tit

Monday morning Steve found a juvenile Great Crested Grebe at the reservoir, just after we had been talking about not having any around for a while. It was only present for the one day though and obviously a migrant. We really should start predicting birds more often, maybe something rarer... There was also a Common Sandpiper, a Wigeon and in the evening a Green Sandpiper flew over and headed south east.

Yesterday John sneaked in a look before work and found a Marsh Tit in the wood with the roving tit/warbler flock. A great find as they normally turn up in autumn but there hasn't been one here for three years, it was actually a patch tick for him! Reg and the work party were out checking the bat boxes and found a Brown Long-eared Bat. Another good record for the reserve and reward for their hard work.

Both pictures courtesy and copyright of JFT

This morning, with clear skies and lighter winds there was a bit of movement overhead again. A steady trickle of Meadow Pipits went over and although I didn't count them the number was well into double figures. There was also the odd small groups of Swallows and one of three House Martins. I went to look for the Marsh Tit and found it at the back of the wood along the railway. The Willow Tit was also there and a Mistle Thrush flew off and was seen again near the canal. On my way out I saw Steve and as we were stood talking a Green Sandpiper flew in. It circled a few times and looked like it may land but eventually flew off south. Just before I left a little flock of four Siskins flew down into the Alders by the river, they only stayed about a minute though before continuing south.

This evening John checked the gull roost and had a huge number of big gulls for here. Over 1000 birds and at least four Yellow-legged Gulls. He also had quite a large number of Jackdaws around pre-roost.

25th Sep 2016

The weekend was fairly uneventful really. Some birds of interest but no headliners.

On Saturday John and I had a walk around and just after we got there a 2CY Yellow-legged Gull dropped in. We met Steve up the valley and searched for Stonechats but couldn't find any and assume they have moved on. Other than that generally the same birds remain. Two Common Sandpipers, one drake Wigeon and a Willow Tit were the most notable. Steve had four Grey Wagtail on Sunday, which coincides with birds moving through now.

There was steady bit of passage overhead as before. Sunday morning was less steady trickle and more birds 'bunched up' and I noted flocks of 24 House Martin and 16 Meadow Pipits amongst other smaller flocks. Steve had three Skylarks over the reservoir while he was there.

23rd Sep 2016

With the day off I had a really good walk around and look for birds today. The two Common Sandpipers were still at the reservoir. A few Meadow Pipits were flying over south and every so often a Chiffchaff would give a brief burst of song. A Sparrowhawk gave really good views around the sailing club and is the first one I have seen here for a few weeks. A Willow Tit called but went unseen in the woods and two Yellowhammers were in the field west of the canal between the railway and the motorway. This is of note as we don't get many and it is the first sighting I have had of multiple birds here.

The best part of the morning was the visible migration through the Upper Cherwell Valley. As soon as I got past the motorway I saw there were Swallows flying through. I got to the top of the bund and in my first binocular sweep counted over fifty birds. They were flying south east, apparently following the line of the motorway and not down the river valley. I stood and watched and they just kept coming. For a period of just short of an hour around 600 to 650 birds flew through! I lost count and to be honest an accurate count was pretty much impossible, but I kept a rough tally of numbers and that is a minimum number of birds. Along with them were over 100 House Martins, over 50 Meadow Pipits, three Skylarks and two Grey Wagtails.

John had a Wigeon at lunch time and by the evening John and Mike had three present. John had a first winter Med Gull drop in and a Common Gull in the evening too.

22nd Sep 2016

I had an early morning walk before setting off for work a large roving tit and warbler flock entertained me for a while, but other than several Chiffchaffs I didn't see too much of interest in with them. Up at the reservoir a single Common Sandpiper was my only bird of note.

Steve went up a little bit later and confirmed two Common Sandpipers and two Wigeon still present.

21st Sep 2016

I had a quick look around mid morning today and bumped into Steve. Steve had already seen one Common Sandpiper but as we talked we found there was two. He also pointed out two drake Wigeon (probably an adult in eclipse and a first year bird) amongst the ducks and geese. Several Meadow Pipits went over and there were flocks of hirundines, mixed Swallows and House Martins, going over east. Three 1st winter Herring Gulls were of note amongst the low numbers of gulls coming and going and Steve counted 183 Canada Geese plus two hybrids.

Edit: 
As per the comment below. Tim Clark has seen two Stonechats on Monday and Tuesday in the Upper Cherwell Valley. The funny thing about this is that I had said to Steve we should be getting a Stonechat or two through again around now.

18th Sep 2016

It has been a reasonably quiet week bird wise but there has been highlights here and there. All week a steady passage of hirundines and Meadow Pipits has continued overhead, with Colin noting today that significant numbers of Swallows were moving. A few Yellow Wagtails are still passing over too and a Wheatear was present on Friday. There has been a notable amount of Chiffchaffs around, particularly at the end of the week, with Blackcaps and Whitethroats seen too. The Willow Tit has been in the wood and there seems to be an increase in Song Thrush numbers.

A Common Sandpiper has been around most of the week on and off, assuming it has just been one bird. John had a few other good wader records with two Lapwing seen on Tuesday, a Green Sandpiper flew over on Thursday and a Dunlin flew through on Friday. Clive also had six Snipe fly in and land in the Upper Cherwell Valley on Sunday.

Duck and geese numbers are rising and I had 109 Mallards on Thursday, I think my highest count to date. There has been up to four Tufted Ducks too. Colin found a Wigeon at the Borrow Pit on Sunday, which moved to the reservoir, and had a further 37 Wigeon circle the reservoir before flying off north west. This is a great record for here and must be the highest number for many years.

Mike had an incredible experience with a Polecat in the wood on Friday. Mike stood quietly and it came up to around 2m away from him before it was aware of his presence. Unperturbed, it went off and caught a rabbit shortly afterwards.

All pictures courtesy and copyright of Colin

11th Sep 2016: Pipits on the move

The end of the week and it certainly wasn't dull but there were no real headline birds, with the overhead passage on Sunday being the most interesting. The Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper were both around till Friday. Thursday morning there was a bit of passage with a flock of 37 Swallows and 3 Yellow Wagtails going ~south and a Lapwing flew over north.

Above and below courtesy and copyright of JFT
Taken earlier in the week

Saturday morning John headed out in the rain to monitor for anything coming through. He did find an adult Common Tern and a 1CY Med Gull, so some reward for being out in the rain. The tern was around all day and was near enough, if not already, in winter plumage. Later in the evening Colin was out and confirmed a Whinchat was still up in the valley.

John and I headed out Sunday morning to see if the previous days rained had dropped any passerines but apparently it didn't or they had all cleared out overnight. There was a big Meadow Pipit movement though and we had at least 24 over in the morning. It continued all day with Colin having a steady trickle of singles throughout and a flock of 13 late afternoon. He also had a flock of 30 Swallow and three Yellow Wagtails over south and a Raven over west. The Willow Tit was in the wood and a Whinchat was still up the valley.

07th Sep 2016: Another Tree Pipit

Somebody turned the migrant tap on again!

John was out yesterday morning and saw a trickle of migrants coming through. A Common Sandpiper that stopped briefly was the highlight but Yellow Wagtails and Swallows on the move and more warblers around showed promise. A juvenile Ringed Plover dropped in during the evening, so he was rewarded for his efforts for the day.

Above and below copyright of JFT

This morning John found the Ringed Plover still present, which it was all day, and at lunch time found two (possibly three) Spotted Flycatchers along the river near the entrance.

We both went out this evening and before I got there John had a Green Sandpiper fly over and went down low near the river by the railway. It obviously stayed in the area as we had it fly over the reservoir again later. A large flock of gulls that had gathered were flushed by a Hobby that cruised over. It hunted over the reservoir for quite a while before departing. Up in the valley we found a pipit and it only took us a mere moment to realise it was a Tree Pipit. It was elusive but we had reasonable views when it settled in a hawthorn for a short time. It was flushed by a Dunnock, at which point it flew towards the pool and we didn't see it again. There were no Whinchats today but they may have already been flushed by dog walkers.

05th Sep 2016

It has been a rather slow start to the month really. Highlights have been few and far between so this is a quick update. Thursday evening John had a 2CY Yellow-legged Gull, Friday there were two Common Sandpipers around most of the day and Saturday there was nothing of note at all.

Sunday there was a little bit more going on. In the morning I had numerous warblers around and a Willow Tit in the wood and in the afternoon Colin had a Little Egret up at the Borrow Pit and two Wheatears at the reservoir. One Wheatear was present this evening but other than that, not a lot.

31st Aug 2016: Black Tern

John and I headed out for a look around this evening. As I got to the reservoir Colin called to say there was a Black Tern present and a good gathering of gulls. Looking over I picked out the tern at the far end and soon after got John on to it. Unfortunately it left to the north at 18:10 before many locals had a chance to get to the reservoir, but Kyle did manage to pop in quickly to see it.

Courtesy and copyright of Colin

There were loads of gulls around this evening. Many had gathered and perched on the warehouse roof to the north when we got there, with some coming down to the reservoir to bath. We watched them while the tern was around and found one (possibly two) juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls. When we were up in the valley and back at the reservoir many more flew over but few stopped on the water. Most going straight over but some did land in the middle of the warehouse roof out of sight.

Up in the valley at least two Whinchat were still present at the Borrow Pit pool.

29th Aug 2016: More Whinchats!

I had a walk up this morning, which was nice as it is a pretty rare occurrence at the moment! As I approached the reservoir at least two Yellow Wagtails flew over heard but not seen. There were gulls gathered on the warehouse roof to the north and a few coming and going from the reservoir but nothing particularly notable. I found a Whinchat along the ditch in the cattle field with what I assume is the same long staying Wheatear.

Into the valley there was not a lot going on but it is very noticeable how many warblers are around. There were five Little Grebes at the Borrow Pit pool, including two well grown chicks. The Coots appear to be nesting again with the very well grown juveniles still around on the pool now looking after themselves. There were four Whinchats in the tall herb vegetation beyond the pool. Mostly perched up on the dead dock flower spikes but also often low down and out of sight. I believe five Whinchats on patch at the same time is the most I have ever seen and possibly a patch record?

Colin went around a little after me and found a Willow Tit in amongst one of the roving tit flocks in the wood. He was also treated to a display of aerial excellence as two Hobbies hunted over the Borrow Pit pool for around ten minutes.

Hobby and grebes courtesy and copyright of Colin Wilkinson

28th Aug 2016: Whinchats

After John's Tree Pipit it has been a reasonably quiet few days without anything too exciting, until this evening. On Friday John and Tim Clark were out and between them saw one Wheatear, two Spotted Flycatchers two Common Sandpipers and a Yellow Wagtail. Later in the evening John, Dan and I tried the gull roost, but little came in. We had one Yellow-legged Gull early on but it didn't stay long.

Yellow-legged Gull, it was showing well but flew off before I could get better!

Yesterday Colin had five common Sandpipers (two at the reservoir and three at the Borrow Pit pool) three Yellow Wagtails over and there were two Little Grebe chicks still at the Borrow Pit. In the afternoon, after the huge thunderstorm, John and I were disappointed that the best birds were a Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher....

Today John and Kirsty have been out and John found a new Redstart. There was also two Raven, a Wheatear, a Yellow Wagtail one Common Sandpiper and a female Shoveler at the Borrow Pit. Late afternoon Mark found three Whinchat in the Upper Cherwell Valley. I was wondering if we were going to get some again this autumn as they have been regular for a few yews now. True to form, today Mark found them perched up on the dead dock flower spikes.

25th Aug 2016: Tree Pipit

Yesterday evening John had a female Redstart still around and four Common Sandpipers. Little else of note though.

This morning a Tree Pipit was found by John, but it flushed when a dog walker passed by and wasn't seen again. A Spotted Flycatcher was flycatching from the water treatment works roof and a Yellow-legged Gull dropped in briefly. Also, four Yellow Wagtails (2x2) went over south.

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

In the evening Colin found one Wheatear still present and two Common Sandpipers.

23rd Aug 2016

Several days to catch up on so only a brief update today!

On the 18th Mike and John had a male Redstart to the south west of the reservoir and a  Common Sandpiper. Three Yellow Wagtails went over south. In the evening John confirmed two Redstarts one male and one female. I went up later evening and there were really good numbers of gulls building up including at least two Yellow-legged Gulls,

At lunch time on the 19th John had two Common Sandpiper, the female Redstart still and a Yellow Wagtail. Colin also found a Wheatear in the afternoon.

Both pictures courtesy and copyright of JFT

On the 21st Steve had one Common Sandpiper and Reg had a Peregrine fly over carrying prey, which turned out to be a Woodpigeon.

In the morning on the 22nd John had four Common Sandpiper, the Wheatear still and one Yellow Wagtail over and at lunch time saw that a female Redstart was still around.

This evening John had a Redstart calling that went unseen, two Common Sandpipers and three Yellow Wagtails over high to the south.