Last week of July

Otmoor - The ones that got away July 2020
by Peter Barker

We have all spent time speculating what we might have missed whilst we were in lockdown and the Reserve was strictly off limits. We can now reveal that we certainly missed two excellent birds on Otmoor, one of which was a first ever record for Oxfordshire and the other a very much less than annual visitor.

David Wilding, the reserve manager and the only member of Otmoor RSPB staff not furloughed, was out in the early morning of 25th May checking pumps and water levels on the bund that separates the two halves of the reedbed. He heard a reeling coming from out in the northern section and knew at once that, although somewhat similar to a Grasshopper Warbler, this was very different. He also knew that it could only be a Savi’s Warbler. He realised that this was a very important discovery and that he needed to confirm it. He shot a piece of video on his mobile phone which although not showing the bird, clearly recorded the hard, dry reeling song. He sent the video straight away to Jon Uren who keeps the O.O.S. records and is an Otmoor volunteer. Jon in turn sent the clip on to Ian Lewington for final confirmation, it was as they had believed a Savi’s Warbler. Unfortunately there was no way that this information could be released, not only was the bird singing from inside the closed reserve, but it was singing from a part of the reserve that is not accessible to the public even when the site is fully open. David kindly offered both Ian and Jon the opportunity to come out and hear it but they both very honourably declined, saying that it would not be fair to all the other county birders, who would not be able to visit due to lockdown and with the site being formally closed.

Reeling Savi's Warbler - note the higher pitch that Grasshopper Warbler

The RSPB runs a number of trail cameras around the reserve to monitor fox, badger and deer movements. One of the cameras, out near the south eastern edge of the reedbed, picked up the unmistakeable and distinctive “whip “ call of a Spotted Crake, almost every time that it was triggered by  passing animals. These recordings ran from the 1st through to the 7th April, when staff were furloughed, and monitoring stopped. The bird was certainly holding territory and may well have attracted a mate. Sadly, we will never know!

Spotted Crake on the Trail Cam

So there we have the two that got away, at least the two we know about…………….and we can only wonder about what else could have slipped under the radar.

Late July

Young Whinchat (c) Bark

Last Sunday it took me nearly an hour to walk along the bridleway as far as the crossroads. Not because I was walking particularly slowly but because there was so much to look at. 

Newly fledged Reed Warblers (c) Bark

After the torrential rain of Saturday evening small birds were out and about foraging in the morning sunshine. Many of them gathering insects to take back to nestlings, others now feeding newly fledged chicks in the hedgerows. 

There were several families of Reed Warblers as well as Blackcaps, Common and Lesser Whitethroats and “willowchiffs”. 

Fine male Linnet on the way to the Pill (c) Bark

Some young birds were taking the opportunity to warm up, dry out in the sun and preen damp feathers. There were  also several mixed parties of young warblers and tits feeding independently of their parents.

Common Whitethroats (c) Bark

At the first screen we saw one of the adult Little Grebes still with a youngster in attendance. What had been a small fluffy chick riding on its parents back three weeks ago has grown now to be almost as large as its parent.

Juvenie Little Grebe (c) Bark

A Water Rail was seen out on the path with two very fluffy black chicks.

Railings ! and Water Rail Parent (c) Tezzer

At the second screen there are still a number of Common Tern chicks on the raft with just four parent birds in attendance. There is still one of the juvenile Marsh Harriers hanging around the reedbed while it waits for an adult to come in and provision it. It spends a lot of time sitting on top of the low willows looking around for the parent and calling. Twice, whist I was there, the female came in and dropped a prey item for it to swoop on.

Young Marsh Harrier (c) Bark

The other three young birds may already have moved off as they seem to be part of a separate brood and had fledged about two weeks earlier.

Juvenile Stonechats (c) Tezzer

Two juvenile Stonechats have been frequenting the path beside the hide that leads up to July’s Meadow. There had been a female Stonechat seen in the same area late in the spring. 

Safety conscious Robin (c) Bark

On Saturday in a more remote part of the moor we found a family party of Whinchats. 

Whinchats lower pic shows grasshopper prey (c) Bark

There were two adults and four juveniles. They were perching on low bushes and flying down to seize their insect prey and in almost every case that we could see they were picking up Grasshoppers. They seem to be especially prolific this year in the fields, perhaps the weather patterns this year have been particularly benign and encouraged their breeding. 

Redstart with Grasshopper (c) Bark

When I found five or six Redstarts in Long meadow on Sunday, they were employing the same feeding technique as the Whinchats. They were flying down from isolated bushes to grab insect prey and taking it back up to the perch to eat and they too were feeding almost exclusively on Grasshoppers.

Meadow Grasshoppers ? (c) Bark

A family party of five Kestrels were hunting together over Saunders Field. They were hovering low over the grasses and dropping down frequently to take their prey. I didn’t see them coming up with any small mammals in their talons and so I assume that they were taking invertebrates and it is not unreasonable to guess they were hunting grasshoppers.

Male Southern Migrant Hawker above and below Migrant Hawker (c) Geoff Wyatt

The Southern Migrant Hawker Dragonflies are still on the wing about a hundred metres beyond the north eastern edge of Big Otmoor a mature male was photographed this week and the first migrant Hawker. Brown Hairstreaks are now being seen in the Roman Road and Carpark Field and will attract many butterfly enthusiasts over the coming weeks.

Weasel (c) Tezzer

Middle of July

Red Kite and Common Tern (c) Bark

The moor is beginning to quieten down now, at least in terms of raucous birdsong, courtship and territorial disputes. There are still youngsters in and out of the nest to be fed and in some cases second broods to be created. 

Young Goldfinch and young Blue Tit (c) Bark

Newly independent juveniles are gathering in mixed feeding flocks and roving through the hedgerows and scrub.

Newly fledged Wren (c) Bark

We are also beginning to see returning waders and the first of the autumn passage migrants. Last week we recorded the first Common Sandpiper and first Greenshank of the year. We also had a flyover Siskin on Saturday morning and I have heard that Siskins have been seen on garden feeders up in Stanton St John. 

Redstart (c) Nick Truby

There are at least three male Redstarts on and around the reserve at present. Two of them are still in the tall broad hedge alongside the first part of the path out to the Pill. 

Juvenile Whinchat (c) Nick Truby

A young Whinchat was found in the same hedgerow, earlier than we normally expect to see them on passage.

Juvenile Tern on the bank..... (c) Bark

At the second screen, the two Common Tern chicks that I had presumed would drown when they fell from the raft are now fully feathered and flying with their parents, but still returning to the mud bank to be fed on the ground. 

.......and now flying (c) Bark

Out on the raft we could see at least six more chicks at differing stages of development. It was impressive to see how half a dozen Terns could chase away a Red Kite from the airspace over the lagoon, diving in with what can only be termed kamikaze attacks. 

Tern Kite aerial battle (c) Bark

Over Greenaways during the breeding season Lapwings attempt the same tactic but the Kites ignore them. When the terns go into the attack they don’t hold back, they really seem to mean it!

It is the turn of the northern lagoon to have water levels dropped this year and muddy margins are already starting to show out on the right-hand side. It is well worth watching this area closely, with the reedy edge being very ragged and sparse. It looks just the area to see Water Rails or as the season progresses even a Crake creeping about. We saw a Bittern stalking along the northern edge, disappearing in and out of the reeds, seemingly appearing and disappearing at will, its plumage is so cryptic.

Raven (c) Bark

There is a family party of four Ravens frequenting the moor and its surrounds. They announce their presence with their characteristic deep cronking, sometimes flying close together and sometimes calling to each other from a distance. Their vocalisations sound to be more than just contact calls they seem to be more of a conversation. While they were flying across Greenaway’s last week one of the bird performed a series of tumbling manoeuvres. It looked like an expression of pure exuberance, doing something just because you can. When they are flying and calling together like that, it is easy to see how they became a fixture of Norse mythology and significant characters in folklore.

Top Emperor and below Brown Hawker with a darter lunch ! (c) Bark

It has been a very good year for Dragonflies and all of the large species are on the wing now with a supporting cast of smaller Darters and Damsels. I have seen pristine newly emerged Emperor Dragonflies and last weekend what I first thought was a mating pair of brown Hawkers, turned out on closer examination, to be a Hawker consuming a captured  Darter. There is no family solidarity!

Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Purple Hairstreak and Small Copper (c) Bark

Bees, Butterflies and Bugs throng to the abundant bramble flowers and cow parsleys as they open in the sunshine. There are invertebrates everywhere on the reserve, but the Roman Road is one of the best places to see the greatest variety. 

Bumble Bee, Soldier Beetle, Long-horned Beetle and a weird Fly!! (c) Bark

In a few weeks time the Brown Hairstreaks will be on the wing and will draw in numbers of butterfly enthusiasts to see them. If you look closely and carefully, whilst waiting to spot the Hairstreaks, you can find all sorts and shapes of other invertebrates; Long -horned Beetles, Bumble Bees, Solitary Wasps, Hover Flies, Grasshoppers and Bush Crickets, it is a rich and varied habitat.

Young Sedgie (c) Bark

First week of July and back to the screens again.

Male Redstart (c) Bark

It is wonderful to be able to get back down to the screens again and look out over the lagoons. Clearing the trail to the screens and making social distancing possible was a massive task undertaken by the staff and volunteer work parties. It has all changed massively since the start of March and who knows what treats we might have missed in the intervening months.

Female Marsh Harrier (C) Bark

Marsh Harriers have bred successfully again out in the reedbeds. There were four free flying juveniles across the moor on Sunday. The newly fledged young are very distinctive, with all over very dark chocolate coloured plumage, except for the top of their heads and faces which look as though they have been lightly dipped in custard! 

Waiting for lunch

They spend a lot of time loafing about sitting on the top of low bushes waiting for the parent birds to come in with prey Items which they drop from a hight encouraging the youngsters to swoop down and seize them. Over the next few weeks, they will move off or be chased away by the adults, they will begin  to disperse and hunt independently, it will be a perilous time for them.

Newly fledged Marsh Harrier (c) Bark

At the first screen was a pleasure to find a small family of Little Grebes. The parent birds were very attentive to the two stripy chicks and as is usual with grebes the young birds spent a lot of time on the parent’s backs.

Little Grebes (c) Bark

At the second screen there were eight chicks visible on the Tern raft but sadly whilst we were watching that number was reduced to six! A Lesser black-backed Gull swooped down towards the raft and whilst it didn’t take anything it panicked two chicks that were on the edge of the raft and they fell into the water. There was no possibility of their climbing back on again. However, the chicks managed to swim across to the muddy bank to the right of the raft, as you look out from the screen, where they were seen once again being fed by the parent birds.

Common Tern (c) Bark

We have been listening out and looking for fledgling Cuckoos, now that the adult birds have left. The last calling bird was heard during the last week of June.

Young Curlew in the grass and calling adult (c) Bark

Curlews would appear to have had a successful breeding season on and around Otmoor. On Saturday I caught a glimpse of a young bird running in The Closes and another in the field to the south of the closes. The parent birds were flying over calling anxiously trying to keep their brood together. It is extraordinary how varied and complex their vocalisations are.

Comma Roman Road (c) Bark

Already people have seen and photographed Black Hairstreak butterflies in the Roman Road area. Once again a Purple Emperor has been seen, I have yet to see one on the moor but when the weather settles down and warms up a little I will be spending some time looking for them in and around the oaks along the Roman Road. 

Marbled White and Small Skipper

Brown Hairstreaks will soon be on the wing and on the other side of the moor there will be White-letter Hairstreaks. Invertebrate life is thriving on the everywhere. When walking through longer grass hundreds of Grasshoppers ping up all around your feet.

Whitethroat with and without grasshoppers (c) Mark Chivers

Many birds are taking advantage of this insect bounty and Whitethroats can be spotted with beaks full of hoppers that they are taking back to the nest. On a walk out to the Pill on Sunday we found two male Redstarts hunting in the lee of the big hedge about two hundred metres from the Roman Road. They were perched about two metres up and flying down to grab Grasshoppers. 

Redstart Roman Road (c) Bark

It seems a bit early to be finding them. They will probably be with us for some time moulting and feeding up before their onward migration.

Black tailed Godwits (c) Dan and Tricia Miller

Now is also the time to be looking out for returning waders. A party of nine superb summer plumaged Black Tailed Godwits was seen early one morning last week, when they stopped for a brief refuelling and preening session on Big Otmoor. It might seem that the excitement of spring is over but there is still lots to see and to look for.

Hoverfly (c) Bark