Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th December

White fronted Goose (c) Mark Chivers

Into the sun (c) Bark

Three Bewicks (c) Bark

People often say that good things come in threes. This weekend we had two comings of three! On Saturday I found three White-fronted Geese and on Sunday I found three Bewicks Swans, ironically whilst scanning to see if I could re-locate the geese. It was a crisp cold and sunny weekend with the low golden bright light that is typical of deep midwinter.

Low Golden light on Wigeon (c) John Reynolds

The change to colder weather has finally brought to the moor a couple of species that were missing from the yearlist and were also missing last year, namely the White fronts and the Bewicks. The swans look to be a family group with a pair of adults and a much greyer individual that may be a second winter juvenile. The Geese however all appear to be mature adults.

White front (c) John Reynolds

I hope that the cold snap doesn’t last too long this time, if the water bodies freeze hard the wildfowl may abandon the moor for deeper waters. Additionally the Starling roost may collapse as there will no longer be any security from roosting in the reedbed.

Pintail (c) Bark

The two new additions to the yearlist were not the only good things to be found on the moor this weekend. On Sunday at least four Bearded Tits were found in the reedbed beside the bridleway as it goes towards Noke. We had speculated whether this extensive area of reeds might be the place they have been hiding out. Sadly they are also vulnerable to extreme cold and would also benefit from a return to less harsh conditions. The Starling roost is still drawing large numbers of birds and large numbers of visitors. Yesterday there were estimated to be 75,000 birds arriving, some in huge flocks thousands strong. There is not always a big display but the sheer numbers are in themselves impressive.

Beardie (c) Pete Roby

A Barn Owl has been seen hunting along Otmoor Lane early in the mornings and Peregrine is now reported daily, often chasing down Lapwings and Golden Plovers. It has a favourite vantage point in one of the oak trees on the northern edge of Big Otmoor a little to the left of the high seat.

The areas where we are carrying out supplementary feeding are drawing in a good number of birds as the weather starts to bite.

Frosty Reed Bunting (c) Bark

Notably to the south of the hide where thirty or so Reed Buntings, twenty or so Chaffinches and a handful of Yellowhammers are feeding on fine seed. It will be worth checking through these birds over the next few weeks. We have already had an anonymous report of Brambling and it is just the kind of place where we might find them. Tree Sparrow would also be another species to look out for. The other areas worth checking out are the cattle corral and the feeders themselves. On Saturday and Sunday a Coal Tit was making use of them, a species that is uncommon on the moor.

Coal Tit (c) John Reynolds

Only a few days now until we start a new yearlist but our current tally of one hundred and fifty two species is only two short of last year’s record. Who knows how many 2015 might bring us?

Kestrel Take-away in Carpark field (c) John Reynolds

 

Saturday and Sunday 20th and 21st December

Sparrowhawk (c) John Reynolds

It was a quiet weekend on the bird front but a very sociable one on the moor. Saturday was beautiful with crisp sunshine and a light breeze. Sunday however was overcast, drizzly and very windy. The gloom of the weather was more than made up for by the “Otmoor Massive’s” regular mince pie, chilli chocolates and sloe gin, get together, which is rapidly becoming a must on the birding calendar.

Otmoor Massive (c) Bark

On Saturday in the sunshine we played spot the Snipe from the first screen. Careful scanning of the edge of the reeds revealed at first nine, then twelve and eventually seventeen of these superb cryptically marked birds. The Snipe spotting was competitive in a very good natured way and we were all shown to have been wrong when a female Sparrowhawk made an abortive attempt to grab one. At least forty seven flushed from the one spot and several other small parties flushed from other parts of the reedbed. The Sparrowhawk showed really well and was one of the highlights of the weekend.

How many Snipe can you see? (c) John Reynolds

Sparrowhawk attack. (c) John Reynolds

There are currently very large numbers of Lapwings and Golden Plovers on and over the moor. On Sunday they could be seen swirling over Big Otmoor where they are tending to spend the daytime. They would flush regularly at both real and imagined threats. Geese are also present in large numbers but neither the Greylags nor the Canadas have managed to draw down any of their scarcer cousins.

The Wigeon flocks are much larger and there are more of them. They can most easily be seen feeding on the grass in front of the Ashgrave hide. From time to time they will retreat en masse from their grazing and splash noisily back into the water where they whistle their characteristic alarm calls until the apparent threat has gone and they can clamber back onto the land and resume their feeding. Numbers of Pintail and Shoveller are also going up and I counted twenty two Pochard out from the second screen on Saturday.

Shoveller (top) and Pintail pair (c) John Reynolds

Despite careful looking and listening we failed to make contact with the Bearded Tit this weekend but I am confident that it is out there somewhere and hopefully will make contact with others of its kind in the new year.

Well there had to be one this week (c) Bark

Sunday was the winter solstice and despite still having the coldest days of the winter ahead of us, one can only feel positive as the days begin to lengthen and the nights draw in. Soon we will be starting a new year list and will be speculating on what we might see in the year to come and reflecting on the highlights of the year that has passed, of which there were many, some very special. In the next few days I will endeavour to write a short review of some of them.

Fieldfare at second screen (c) John Reynolds

Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th December

Winter Robin (c) John Reynolds

A quiet weekend both in terms of the  birds and the weather. The emphasis was very much on small passerines with the hedgerows and scrub busy with the buzzing of wrens, with a different confiding Robin almost every twenty yards and Blackbirds chacking away in the leaf litter under the bushes. Higher up there are still significant numbers of winter thrushes finishing off the haws and Bullfinches giving their quiet little wheep calls.

Wren (c) Bark

The bright sunlight and windless conditions on Saturday helped the sharp eyed Pete Roby to find a Bearded Tit. It was feeding in the reedy fringe beside the path to the first screen. It appeared to be in the company of a couple of blue Tits and several Reed Buntings. It only showed for two  minutes and was probably the same female that Roger Wyatt photographed a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless I was very pleased to see it and hope that we can connect with the larger group that were also reported at around the same time.

Frosty Robin (c) Bark

A large female Peregrine was seen to pursue a Common Buzzard across the fields to the west of the visitor trail and the buzzard itself was chasing a Red Kite. It was most unusual to see all three raptors interacting. There may have been a prey item that they were disputing but the Peregrine gave up and  sat high in a tree on the edge of Big otmoor for the next hour. There have been no reports of Marsh Harrier for the last three weeks and we may well have seen the last of them for the winter. More disappointing is the absence of Hen Harriers this year and that itself is indicative of the parlous state of their population in this country. Persecution by the grouse shooting industry looks sure to make these stunning birds extinct in England as a breeding species. Something of which we should all be ashamed; allowing a rich minority to deprive the rest of us of a beautiful raptor, in order that they have more flying targets to shoot down.

The Starling roost is again not predictable as to the quality of the display, but I have heard that there were really good performances on both evenings this weekend. There is an excellent piece of video  below by Andy Last that gives some idea of how good it was yesterday. We are currently estimating in excess of 40,000 birds coming in each night. There have been owl sightings in the carpark field as people make their way back.

Please click the cog and view at 720p or 1080p HD

Stonechat near the kissing gate (c) John Reynolds

Stonechats are well established and the pair by the kissing gate seem the most reliable and there is another pair to the south of the hide. Ducks are increasing slowly and the highlight was a party of twelve Pintail on Big Otmoor on Saturday, comprised of four males and eight females.

Our yearlist is somewhat moribund on one hundred and fifty species, four short of last years record. There is still time to find something new however and optimism is a virtue I share with most of the birders I know.

Moody Heron (c) Andy Last

Saturday and Sunday 6th and 7th December

A frosted looking Red Kite (c) John Reynolds

Real frost (c) Bark

On Saturday morning the first really hard frost of the winter had left its mark on everything. Every leaf delicately outlined in white and spiders webs looking like icy lace. The sky was crystal clear and as the sun crept above the horizon the whole place was bathed in a red gold light. It was very beautiful but led me to initially misidentify a small party of Long Tailed Tits as Bearded Tits. The low gold sun made them look orange.

Golden Dawn (c) Bark

We tried all weekend to find the Beardies that were seen over a week ago. I feel sure that they are out there somewhere and there is plenty of suitable habitat for them all over the reserve. Up towards Noke there is a substantial Reedbed on the northern edge of Ashgrave, which is inaccessible and could harbour them. Sunday morning was in complete contrast to Saturday with squally rain showers rattling through on a strong westerly wind.

Fieldfares (c) Tezzer

Very large numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings are occupying the hedgerows and their numbers are only really appreciable when for some reason or another they are flushed up. When that happens they scatter across the sky like wind blown leaves. Sunday’s weather only really got better just as I was leaving at lunchtime.

There are parties of Geese everywhere both Canada and Greylags. They are noisy and impossible to miss as they move from one feeding area to another. It is worthwhile checking them carefully as in previous years it about now that they can be joined by their wilder cousins. Sadly we have not seen any Whitefronted Geese at all this year but it is still not too late and it has only just begun to get colder.

There are more Shovellers out on the reedbed lagoons now. I counted over fifty when they flushed for a passing Peregrine. On Sunday morning in the rain we watched as several pairs circled nose to tail and spun round and round. We speculated as to whether this was a feeding strategy or a form of courtship. Are they creating a vortex to draw up food from the bottom or simply getting to know each other better and cementing a bond?

There are always Pied Wagtails out from the first screen (c) John Reynolds

Wigeon and Teal numbers are hard to estimate because the Wigeon are spread out over the whole moor and the Teal are well hidden in the reedbeds. Both species however are certainly present in greater numbers. As yet we have only seen one drake Pintail it was out on the distant scrapes of Big Otmoor.

Bittern was seen on both days making its way from one feeding area to another in the southern reedbed. Both Lapwings and Golden Plover were evident in the sky and seem to be favouring the western edge of the reserve and the fields beyond it. Water Rails are making their presence known and they would seem to here in good numbers. They can often be seen from the first screen and if the weather does get colder they will venture out onto the ice.

Chilly Weasel (c) John Reynolds

The Starling roost is still drawing a crowd, especially at the weekend. When I went down to see it last week I spoke to a woman who said she had been to see it three times and had come back again and brought friends. I had a report of at least a hundred people there last Sunday,  if people are planning to visit some kind of car sharing is a good idea as parking space is limited. A Barn Owl is frequently being seen as people leave the roost, often hunting in the carpark field. Woodcock are also being reported, usually moving across from Morleys to the Closes.

As we move into winter proper it will be worth checking through the Golden Plover, Teal and Wigeon flocks for their trans-atlantic equivalents. It would be great to have a rare American on the reserve.

 

Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th November

Redwing (c) John Reynolds

Dawn Saturday (c) Pat Galka

Hard to readjust to being back in winter after ten days in the southern hemisphere. Saturday dawn was beautiful and the sun shone most of the day. In contrast on Sunday fog and low cloud shrouded the moor  but mid morning the sun burnt through and just as though a curtain had been drawn the day went from monochrome to colour.

Fieldfare (c) John Reynolds

Most noticeable on both days were the large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares in the hedgerows and across the bushes in the carpark field and I assume they will stay until the berry crop is exhausted. The second screen is an excellent place to see them, as the haws are consumed elsewhere along the hedge they will get closer to the screen in order to eat those that are adjacent to it.

It was quite a surprise to realise just how much it has rained during the time I was away. Scrapes and ditches have filled and once again there are muddy areas and pools for birds to feed around. Duck numbers have risen dramatically and the birds are well spread out over the whole reserve. One of the most popular areas is at the western end of Big Otmoor where large numbers of Wigeon are accompanied by at least five hundred Lapwings and a similar number of Golden Plover. The numbers can only really be appreciated when they are all flushed by a raptor.

Teal (c) Pat Galka

On the reedbed the same principle applies. This time however the birds were flushed by the first volley of shots from the rifle range. There were at least six hundred ducks that flew, largely Teal with Shoveller and Gadwall amongst them. A smaller number of Pochard are present but seemed reluctant to fly. Amongst the Pochard is a slightly odd, different looking bird, perhaps some kind of hybrid or one with aberrant feather colouration, it is very pale around the face and with a lighter area under its head. We looked at it carefully on Sunday but could not come to any conclusions about it. 

Gadwall and Shoveller (c) John Reynolds

From the second screen there were twenty four Gadwall, already paired up the drakes were looking especially smart in their crisp grey and black plumage. A couple of flocks of at least twenty five Snipe were active over the reedbed and there were odd parties of two or three birds lurking around the margins.

The Bittern or perhaps one of the Bitterns made a brief appearance on Saturday morning flying over the southern reedbed. There seems to be reports of one bird in the northern sector and others from the southern. Until we see two in the air at the same time, as we did back in October we can not be sure. Marsh Harrier and Peregrine were also recorded this weekend. The Cetti’s warbler was heard on Saturday up by the second screen and on Sunday made a brief appearance in a bush by the first screen.

Lapwings (c) John Reynolds

Amongst the Lapwings and Goldies on Saturday morning were at  least three Dunlin, a Redshank that flew away calling and four medium sized waders that were probably Ruff. Further indication that the scrapes are functioning well.

Crayfish (c) Darrell Woods

At Noke the track up to the farm is flooded again and in the flood Darrell saw a fearsome Signal Crayfish ready to take on the world. I assume that they are preyed on by Herons and I know that they are a popular snack for Otters.

Most welcome news was the sighting on Sunday of a female Bearded Tit in the reedbed close to the first screen. There has been a bird seen intermittently over the summer and it may well have been the same individual still lonely and looking for love. It is probably still not too late for another bird to join it from elsewhere.

Long Tailed Tit (c) John Reynolds

The Starling roost is undeniably large but is totally unpredictable in terms of display and activity. If anyone is planning to go down to see it I would strongly recommend a weekday evening as the parking at the weekend is difficult.

Green Woodpecker from the screen (c) John Reynolds