Saturday and Sunday 25th and 26th November

Merlin(c) Bark

It was a beautiful winter weekend with sharp clear sunlight, frost on the ground and light winds. The puddles along the paths were frozen solid, crazed and slippery. There were lots of birds to be seen but they took a little while to get warmed up and active.

Starlings warming up (c) Bark

Once again raptors were the stars of the show with all of our regulars showing well and a couple of new ones thrown in for good measure.

Marsh Harrier (c) Bark

On Sunday morning we noticed an altercation, over Greenaways, between two of the Marsh Harriers and a Peregrine, the Peregrine broke away from the scrap and started a dispute with yet another Peregrine. One of these birds is very distinctive having a both a large tail feather missing as well as the second secondary on its right wing, making it look a bit scruffy.

Peregrine with missing feathers (c) JR

On Saturday morning there was a major clash witnessed between a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk out over the MOD land. The Sparrowhawk flew low and fast across the field and then suddenly climbed up to attack the hovering male Kestrel, they appeared to link talons and cartwheeled down to the ground. Later examination could find no trace of them on the field and it was assumed that they had both survived. Four Red Kites were calling, swooping and interacting over Big Otmoor on Sunday morning. It was impossible to say if the behaviour was courtship or a territorial dispute.

Merlin (c) JR

We also had excellent views of the female Merlin perched up on a post not far rom the first screen, Merlin had also been seen attempting to target starlings as they came in to the roost last week. Unlike the three Sparrowhawks that were hunting just at reed top level the Merlin was attacking the flocks high up as they arrived over the reedbed. To add to the raptor report, our resident second winter male Hen Harrier was seen both out on the MOD land and over the flood field on Saturday.

Top; Kestrel with prey (c) Oz          Lower two Kestrel and locked together Kestrels (c) Old Caley

Kestrels have been hunting close to the bridleway and as such have offered many photographic opportunities both seizing prey and then fighting over it with other Kestrels. We saw a pair of Common Buzzards together in the treetops of Sling Copse whilst we made yet another fruitless quest to find a Hawfinch for the Otmoor list.

Sling Copse Buzzard (c) Bark

Raptors seem programmed to try to defend hunting grounds from other raptor species, even when there is more than enough food to go around. Large numbers of Starlings are choosing to forage on and around the reserve rather than going off in all directions with the main flocks at dawn. There were also many more Fieldfares in the hedgerows and over the fields this weekend and this week far fewer Redwings.

Shovellers and Mallard first screen (c) Bark

There were some subtle changes at the first screen and out on the lagoon. A single Drake Pintail was there on Sunday and the number of Gadwall is slowly creeping up. The Wigeon are grazing out on big Otmoor rather than loafing about on the mudbanks. There are still very large numbers of feral Geese out on Ashgrave. Four Ravens flew across big Otmoor on Sunday morning cronking loudly, it looked very much as if one pair were escorting the other pair off their territory. Two of the birds turned and flew back towards Oddington where we know a pair have nested.

Snipe and Water Rail (c) Old Caley

I was lucky enough to be asked to talk to a group of students on Saturday morning and explain a little about the development of the reserve and point out some of the birds. The students are on a Masters course in environmental, wild life and land management studies. The six graduates came from six different countries and had very little experience of British birds. Only one of them was from Europe and she only knew the German names of birds! I was able to show them common birds that we take for granted such as a Wren, the finches and even a Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail (c) Oz and Wren (c) JR

The two who came from Africa were seeing and experiencing frost for the first time ever. It was a delight and a privilege to spend some time with such an enthusiastic, animate and good-natured group of people. It is reassuring to know that there are young people with both a positive outlook on nature and the ability to get on with each other across national and cultural differences.

 

And as usual we saw Bitterns (c) JR