31st Jul 2022: Med Gulls!

Tuesday evening there was an adult Dunlin along the western side, making use of the floating weed instead of the usual concrete shore. On Wednesday morning John had 2 Common Sandpipers.

Friday late afternoon I hadn't really expected to see much (I was going to look for inverts), but I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a juvenile Mediterranean Gull amongst a small gathering of Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. They were obviously feeding on emerging flying ants, with birds 'flycatching' up in the air over the reservoir and surrounding area and picking them off the surface of the water too. As I was scanning though I picked up a second bird and a Yellow-legged Gull. Scanning through again a bit later I saw one bird fly off north and two birds still on the water, so at least 3 birds present. I did think I had another bird, but on reviewing photos then next day it turned out to be a juvenile Common Gull.

Two of the Med Gulls

Med Gull and the Yellow-legged Gull

Juvenile Common Gull

This morning John and I had a Whimbrel fly over going south-west, another (maybe one of the same) juvenile Med Gulls come in for several minutes, a Peregrine over and then a juvenile Little Ringed Plover appeared on the western side.

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

24th Jul 2022: Small Red-eyed Damselflies

On Tuesday Mark Ribbons had a Yellow-legged Gull.

Courtesy and copyright of Mark Ribbons

There were 3 Little Ringed Plovers on Wednesday evening, an adult and 2 juveniles.

Friday morning a Redshank flew in and lingered for a little bit but was apparently gone later in the morning and a Peregrine flew over. Mike Pollard had 2 Common Terns late morning which stayed until c.5:25 when they flew off north and John had 4 Ravens fly over in the afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon there was a Common Tern and an immature (3CY?) Yellow-legged Gull flew in briefly. I also had a really good look for odonata and found we Small Red-eyed Damselflies on site (a new species here), with 9 seen along the river and 35+ at the Borrow Pit pool with pairs ovipositing there. I also saw a female Brown Argus in Reg's meadow and a Clouded Yellow up by the Borrow Pit.

Comparison of size between Red-eyed (left) and Small Red-eyed (right) 

This morning a Common Tern dropped in briefly and Clive had 2 Ravens over. John also spotted a colour ringed Black-headed Gull, which we think is EMK1 and would have been ringed in the Netherlands.

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

17th Jul 2022

Another quiet week but more signs of return passage. John had Essex Skippers in the meadow on Friday.

This evening I had a juvenile Little Ringed Plover at the reservoir and at least 3 Purple Hairstreaks around the oaks along the river. I also saw a Hawker Dragonfly sp. along the river that I didn't see well enough to ID, but it was possibly a Southern Hawker as I know they are out now.

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

10th Jul 2022

It's been another fairly quiet couple of weeks.  On Weds 29th there were 2 Common Sandpipers and 2 Skylarks, with one singing over the cattle field. Clive had a Common Sandpiper on Sun 3rd and Small Skippers in the meadow.

On Mon 4th Steve H and I had a walk around mainly for recording odonata, but we had a Common Tern at the reservoir and a Peregrine over. Dragons and damsels recorded were Banded and Beautiful Demoiselles, Azure and Common Blue Damsel, Blue-tailed Damsel, Red-eyed Damsel, Emperor Dragon (at the Borrow Pit pool), Black-tailed Skimmer and a Darter sp. - probably Common. We also had Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, Red Admiral and Comma butterflies. Later in the evening I also saw a Scarlet Tiger Moth.

26th Jun 2022

On the 14th there was a Common Sandpiper at the reservoir and a Peregrine flew over and on the 19th Clive had a Common Sandpiper and I had 2 Little Ringed Plovers at the reservoir. Clive also saw the Little Grebes at the Borrow Pit pool have 4 juveniles.

Yesterday a Kingfisher flew down the river and over the road towards Spiceball Park and this morning Clive had a Common Tern at the reservoir. 

Over the last couple of weeks Black-tailed Skimmers have around the reservoir in fairly good numbers and Marbled Whites, Ringlets and Large Skippers have all emerged. 

Today I managed to find a couple of Bee Orchids but I think the scrub is encrouching too much where they are and I doubt they'll persist too much longer. On the other hand there appears to be more Common Spotted and Pyramidal Orchids than usual, with several of each seen around the Borrow Pit.

12th Jun 2022

Another fairly quiet couple of weeks here really. On the 31st May Wally had a Little Ringed Plover and today 2 Common Terns dropped in late morning.

Otherwise, there's been more Damselflies emerging with really good numbers of Common Blue Damsel around now and I saw my first (several) White-legged Damsels today. There are still Hairy Hawkers around with Clive seeing 2 along the river today and last weekend he also saw 2 up at the Borrow Pit pool as well as an Emporer Dragonfly.

Courtesy and copyright of Wally Warburton

Courtesy and copyright of Wally Warburton

Courtesy and copyright of JFT

29th May 2022: Redshank

Another generally quiet week. Until this morning when John found a Redshank at the reservoir - number 110 for the year. This afternoon he also had a Common Tern and a Yellow Wagtail.

Courtesy and copyright of Wally Warburton

Swan and cygnets courtesy and copyright of Val Nuttall

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

22nd May 2022: a Cuckoo?!

It had been a pretty quiet week really without much news, until I bumped into John the dog walker today! He told me he and another dog walker had a Cuckoo calling from the wood early Monday morning. Both Mike Pollard and John were also out Monday morning so it must have moved on or gone quiet by then. 

Otherwise there hasn't been much of note, a Yellow Wagtail flew over today and there was minimum of 3 Hairy Hawkers. 

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

15th May 2022: Reed Warbler and Hairy Hawkers!

Monday late morning I had a walk around and got our first Reed Warbler of the year, singing from scrub along the river bank. I also had a couple of sightings of a Peregrine flying nearby and then over the reservoir. 

On the 11th John had a Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and c.40 Swifts - our first good numbers of Swifts this year.

Yesterday I headed up later to look for 'other' wildlife and was rewarded with the spectacle of numerous Demoiselles that have now emerged. There were 15+ male Beautiful and 4+ male Banded with many females. When I was watching them I spotted a hawker hunting over the river and a hawker in May can only really be Hairy Dragonfly! There were actually at least two and these are the first record for here and as it turns out the first confirmed recent record in the Banbury area. The last confirmed records being from Anthony Brownett in 1959 from Wroxton Abbey (where Steve Holliday actually recorded one today after seeing the Grimsbury ones). I also saw 4+ Large Red Damselflies, a probable Azure Damselfly and a Grass Snake.

8th May 2022: Shelducks

Firstly, some late news of an Oystercatcher from last week (w/c 25th) that I heard about through Adrian B and I later found out was seen by dog walker John. 

On Wednesday the conditions looked great but the only birds of note were 3 Common Sandpipers and Garden Warbler seen by Mike Pollard and a Yellow Wagtail seen by Ian Rowe.

There were 4 Common Sandpipers and 2 Yellow Wagtails on the 6th but only 2 Common Sandpipers on the 7th when there was also a Wheatear in the cattle field.

Today was the B.O.S long day count and we were graced by a pair of Shelducks (the first ones we've had for a few years), a flyover Little Egret, a Little Ringed Plover and 3 Common Sandpipers. There was also at least 3 Garden Warblers around. Frustratingly, John and Mike also briefly saw what was either a Whimbrel or Curlew fly over the reservoir and up the valley. Not well enough for them to be sure of the ID (John's fairly sure it was Whimbrel) and not seen by Clive and I up the valley doing the count!

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT (earlier in the week)