Out of February and into March

Hen Harrier (c) JR

I have only managed managed to get down to the moor twice in the last four weeks, largely due to storm Dennis trapping me overseas and then delivering awful conditions when I finally did get back. Followed by what has felt like a new storm every weekend since.

Reed Bunting (c) Paul Wyeth

Water levels have shot up to the highest that I can remember and once again there is extensive flooding across the whole of the moor. The birdlife is still spectacular with large numbers of wildfowl, Lapwings and Golden Plovers. 

Goldies (c) Bark

The Goldies in particular are very restless and liable to take to the air at the slightest threat. Once airborne the strong gusty winds scatter them across the sky like confetti at a March wedding. They are also very vocal calling constantly and then chattering when they do land, standing close together and facing into the wind. There are still several small groups of Dunlin loosely associating with them.

Muddy billed Curlew (c) Bark   (not a species!)

The single Curlew present since the turn of the year has been joined by some others and four birds were displaying over the northern edge of Greenaway’s this weekend. Four Oystercatchers are now on site, with two birds favouring the Flood Field and another pair on Big Otmoor.

Marsh Harrier (c) Bark

The Marsh Harriers are very active over the reedbed displaying and hunting. There are four different individuals and there is competition between the two pairs. Hen Harrier is now being seen much more reliably from the first screen and hunting across Greenaway’s. We know that there are two birds around, and we are not sure whether one individual is favouring hunting along the bunds and over the reedbed or whether we are seeing both birds in the same area but at different times. 

Hen Harrier (c) JR

They have occasionally been coming very close and demonstrating their extraordinary flying skills in the strong blustery winds. Two Peregrines have been hunting Teal across the reedbed and the Flood Field. They are clearly a pair as can be seen by the difference in size when they are perched up in the same tree and can be compared.

Stonechats   above(c) JR  below (c) Bark

There have been four very confiding Stonechats along the path to the second screen. Unusually the party is composed of three males and a female. We speculated that perhaps they were a pre-migration group, or the three males were courting the female. Normally Stonechats on the moor are seen in established pairs.

Yellowhammer and Great Spotted Woodpecker (c) Paul Wyeth

Spring is very much in the air with singing Chaffinches, Song Thrushes and Skylarks belting out their song whilst holding up in the windy skies. There are one or two early Chiffchaffs calling along the bridleway, but not yet singing all the time.

Kestrel (c) Paul Wyeth

Bitterns are now booming intermittently, and we have yet to establish whether there is just one male calling or two as there were last year. Cetti’s Warblers are establishing territories and producing much more complete and complex songs than their normal explosive burst of sound.

Leuchistic Pochard (c) Bark

There is an abundance of water and the hot dry times of last summer are a distant memory. The corner of the Carpark Field by the feeders is still flooded and Pheasants have taken to wading about under the feeders like ducks! 

Paddling Pheasant (c) JR

The reserve has attracted a new species of mammal. One of our trail cameras has picked up a Chinese Water Deer feeding on the bund. Extensive flooding along the Cherwell Valley and along the River Thame may have helped it to get here, we have been told that there have only been five records of this deer occurring in Oxfordshire since the year 2000. Provided it is not a lone wanderer, they could become a regular sight on Otmoor, as it is a very similar habitat to the ones that they favour in East Anglia.

Chinese Water Deer (c) RSPB trail camera

Hopefully spring will progress rapidly and bring a flood of new birds down to the moor, by the end of March we should be finding our first Wheatears and more Warblers, and the dark stormy days of winter should be behind us.

Spring Heron (c) Bark