July 23rd - 25th

White Stork (c) Tezzer

We are still expecting to enter the midsummer “doldrums” but events on the moor keep happening to keep us interested and excited.

There are Common Cranes, Hobbies lots of Little Egrets and very frequent Bitterns. Unfortunately, the Turtle Doves are not so easily seen and heard at the moment and we have yet to see any evidence of juveniles, which is a bit worrying.

Juvenile Blue Tit (c) Derek Lane

There are lots of young birds in the hedgerows in mixed flocks. Elsewhere it is possible to find adult birds feeding youngsters, like the reed warblers that were being kept busy provisioning their just fledged chicks in the reeds beside the bridleway. The young birds were keeping up a persistent clamour to attract the attention of their parents.

Reed Warblers clamouring to be fed. (c) JR

There is plenty of food for the adult birds to find for their young. There are insects everywhere and mostly in profusion. There are certainly very large numbers of the biting horsefly types! The weather has not been so good for butterflies though; my purely subjective view is that there are not as many to be seen as we expect at this time of year. The first Brown Hairstreaks were seen at the weekend in their regular haunts and over the next few weeks they will be attracting good numbers of butterfly aficionados to the reserve. Dragonflies however, after a slow start, are really getting going and most open water has resident hawkers and chasers, while darters hunt from the hedgerows. The Hobbies are getting going earlier in the morning to take advantage of this more abundant food source. On Saturday morning there were two birds swooping low and fast along the ditches on the eastern side of Greenaways, jinking rapidly and then suddenly flying up with a dragonfly in the talons, eating it whilst on the wing and then resuming the hunt. When they come so close it is possible to really appreciate their speed and agility.

Common Tern with food (c) Derek Lane

Even though we have nearly reached the end of July there are still Snipe drumming over the reserve and it is possible to hear birds “chipping” on the ground. This suggests a long breeding season for our resident birds and more than one brood.

On Monday afternoon a White Stork was seen circling over and then landing on Ashgrave. It later moved to the sheep fields at Noke. Its tale is a fascinating one and can be read in full on the Oxon Birding Blog. It did not stay long but may very well be back as it seems to have been wandering around Oxfordshire for the last few weeks. Whether we will be able to retain a Polish Stork after Brexit is yet one more thorny issue thrown up by the referendum result!!

White Stork over the reserve (c) Tezzer

There are at least twenty Little Egrets on the reserve at the moment. They spend their time loafing on the leafless willows on the southern reedbed but fly out over the whole area to feed.

Loafing Egrets (c) Derek Lane

There are fish in the main lagoons, I saw one of the Great Crested Grebes catch two small pike at the weekend, but the deeper ring diches are extremely well stocked with fish both large and small. I am very surprised that they have not yet joined our list of breeding species, although I did notice an individual rearranging sticks on the far willow. They have also been spending time close to the Herons nest in the dead oaks on Ashgrave.

Great Crested Grebe with small pike (c) JR

We are still monitoring the increase in Bittern activity on and around the reedbeds. As yet we are unable to draw any firm conclusions from it but in time we may. Reedbeds are very difficult secret places to watch and deductions and conjectures are based on behaviour patterns and supposition rather than empirical evidence. If and when we do come to any conclusions they will be reported here.

Bittern in transit. (c) JR

The Great White Egret at Pit 60 is probably a wanderer from the established breeding population on the Somerset Levels. We have hosted several over the last few years and were this bird or some of the other dispersing individuals to realise just how well stocked with food our ditches are, then I am sure they will be back.

Male Redstart (c) Pete Roby

Long Meadow is once again hosting Redstarts, as it always seems to do at this time of year and also a Spotted Flycatcher yesterday. Sadly, they do not appear to have bred so close to the reserve as they did last year. The Bearded Tits from last week have very annoyingly gone quiet again, hopefully next week we can re-find them.

Sedgie (c) JR

Teazel (c) Derek Lane

Saturday and Sunday 16th and17th July

Bittern (c) Lew

The moor changes rapidly in early summer but as we move into July and August the pace of change slackens. There was a however a very different look to the place when I went down this weekend after a fortnights absence. Where there had been hundreds of shades of green across the grassland there are now many soft subtle shades of yellow, orange and ochre. The different grasses have set seed and their long stems ripple like the sea as the wind passes over them. The only vivid splashes of green now are along the edges of the ditches, around the scrapes and from the reedbed where the phragmites reeds have now overtopped last year’s dead stems. Out on the far side of Greenaways, if one is lucky and looking the right way, the head and neck of one or both of our Cranes can appear, just peering above the grasses, a measure of just how long and lush the vegetation has become.

Great spot (c) JR

As is to be expected we are now seeing large mixed flocks of Tits and Warblers moving along the hedgerows in loose parties. The groups often include birds from seven or eight different species, all taking advantage of having many eyes on the lookout for danger. Such a group on Sunday morning included Willow and Reed Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Lesser Whitethroats a couple of Treecreepers and three species of Tits. The juvenile Blue and Great Tits standing out in their fresh yellowish plumage. A Grasshopper Warbler is reeling in the Car park field again. Clearly a bird bent on a second brood.

Little Egret (c) JR

Little Egrets are very much in evidence across the whole reserve. I saw a group of fourteen flush from the Flood field in response to a flyover from one of the Marsh Harriers. They may be feeding of froglets and toadlets which can sometimes be seen in the dewy grass along the bridle way early in the morning or perhaps taking advantage of the huge abundance of grasshoppers in the fields. As for the Marsh Harriers, they appear to have raised only one chick this year, it is very distinctive in its fresh chocolate coloured plumage with a large dab of custard on its head.

Juvenile Marsh Harrier (c) Badger

The first returning waders have been recorded. Common Sandpiper was present on both days this weekend and a Greenshank was seen on Saturday. Green Sandpipers have also been seen on the scrapes on Greenaways and on Noke Sides. Snipe are still drumming but we would expect that behaviour to stop soon. As the water levels on the southern lagoon drop, due to evaporation in the heat and transpiration from the reeds, there will be some very wader friendly patches of mud emerging. It should certainly be worth keeping an eye on this area over the coming weeks.

Common Sand at first screen. Tiny when next to a Mallard. (c) Andy Last

Bearded Tits were heard and seen briefly last weekend in the ditch beside the bridleway, the last birds seen were by the balancing pond at Noke back in the spring and we had assumed that they were just passing through. There are many clumps of reed that are isolated and not near enough to regular trails to enable visitors or wardens to pick up the distinctive pings. They may very well have been spending their time out of sight and earshot so any sightings and even better photographs, would be welcome and enable them to be aged and sexed.

Yellow Wagtail at Noke (c) Badger

A male Redstart was seen on Sunday in one of their regular autumn haunts and a Whinchat was seen close to the hide last week. There were a couple of Yellow Wagtails near the farm at Noke and as we move into August I would expect more of them to turn up, feeding around the legs of the sheep in the close cropped paddocks. Six, including a couple of juveniles, were in the reedbed on Monday morning.

(c)JR

(c) Lew

and even on the bridleway (c) Norman Smith

Bitterns have been very active over the past few weeks. They are flying frequently from place to place in the reedbed and beyond, out onto Greenaways, Big Otmoor and as far as Ashgrave. There are certainly two individuals. One is slightly darker than the other and has some minor damage to the tips of its primaries on the right wing. It was even seen standing on the bridleway at one point. Anyone spending time at the first screen should see one or other of them in flight at some point although the view will be brief! We are hopeful that we can work out optimal feeding areas and preferred habitats from our observations.

All Hare pics (c) JR

Anyone who would like to see a Brown Hare should spend a little time at the first screen. Our photogenic and fearless leveret is still giving amazing views down to point blank range. It would even be possible to get good pictures of it with a Kodak Box Brownie Camera.

Starlings are already roosting in the reedbed (c) Tom N-L

Beautiful Demoiselle (c) Andy Last

Darters (c) Tom N-L