Otmoor Wryneck or "My double dip depression"

Cryptic Coloration (c) Graham Lenton

Wryneck (c) Graham Lenton

Having missed the Wryneck on the Downs due to a prior engagement and having been unable to relocate it on Sunday morning I wrote an optimistic last line on my regular weekend blog along the lines of : "perhaps we will have our own Wryneck on the moor ,which I will get to see"
Well part of it came true. Graham Lenton found the first Wryneck to be on the reserve, at least as far as I know. There had been a probable bird in Long Meadow seven or so years ago, but that is off the reserve proper. The latest bird was found along the visitor trail at noon yesterday. it was seen by a number of people before flying up into the poplars along the visitor trail and then disappearing.
Need I say it disappeared about half an hour before I got there! There may be another one one day.

Saturday and Sunday 31st August and 1st September

Whinchat (c) Ewan Urquart

...and from the other side (c) Ewan Urquart

Spot Fly (c) Bark

Linnet (c) Bark

Lesser Whitethroat (c) Bark

Rather battered Brown Hawker (c) Bark

A beautiful weekend and the formal meteorological start of Autumn. The excellent weather reflected the season, there was a subtle change in the quality of the light and a muted more ochre tone in the vegetation.
Passage migration is well under way. It is a much more relaxed and leisurely affair in Autumn when compared with Spring, when birds are driven by their breeding imperatives. Now they are feeding up, completing their moult and putting on fat for their journeys. Often they can be found in mixed flocks and at other times in family parties. This weekend we have had a fall of Whinchats on the moor and the ones and twos of last weekend had been replaced by a loose flock of about nine or ten birds in July’s Meadow and at least eleven or twelve out at the Pill. They were feeding and flycatching from the hedge that borders the Hundred Acre field, they were very active and lively, their fresh plumage epitomising the colours of the season.
In Long Meadow and in the Car Park Field there were still up to three Redstarts and two Spotted Flycatchers. There were plenty of warblers to be seen with large numbers of Lesser Whitethroats very noticeable in their very smart grey and white plumage. In one bush alone on Sunday morning there were at least fourteen. They always seem to be much easier to see at this time of year. There are several parties of Linnets to seen around the reserve with one very active group along the path to the second screen. There have only been a handful of Wheatears recorded on the moor over the last couple of weeks and it is likely that they are moving later this year due to the good weather now or perhaps even in response to the late spring.
Hobbies are taking advantage of the abundance of dragonflies and there have been up to six hunting over Greenaways and the reedbed. The adult female Marsh Harrier was seen over the Flood Field and the reedbed and there are still three juvenile Kestrels in residence. There are larger numbers of eclipse ducks to be seen out on the lagoons with Gadwall, Pochard, Shoveller and at least ten Wigeon amongst them. There are about twenty Teal on the rapidly diminishing pool in front of the hide. Waders are scarce on the reserve at present due to the lack of muddy feeding areas for them, but Green Sandpipers and Snipe were seen on both days.
The week ahead looks as though it will be warm and calm and we can hope for even more in the way of passage migrants, perhaps even our own Wryneck, which would be so much better than the one that I failed to see on the Downs!

Sunday and Monday 25th and 26th August

Yellow Wagtail (c) Bark

Lined up on the reed screening (c) Bark

Lots of plumage variation (c) Bark

Whinchats and Wheatear at Noke in the gloom (c) Bark

Stalking Egret (c) Bark

The Otmoor Flock minus one ! (c) Bark

Lesser Whitethroat (c) Bark

Stunning Spot Fly Carpark Field (c) Pete Styles

The same bird before it flew (c) Pete Styles

Male Redstart (c) Pat Galka

Showing how it got its name (c) Pat Galka

 There were plenty of birds to be seen on the moor this weekend, once the early morning greyness and chill had lifted. It was very gratifying to hear that last weeks predicted Whinchats had turned up only a day after I wrote about them. The birds on Tuesday were out on the MOD land by the Pill, this weekend there were two by the farm at Noke and another juvenile along the path to the first screen on Monday. The birds at Noke were keeping company with a juvenile Wheatear, the first on the reserve this Autumn. Spotted Flycatchers have been seen again regularly, both off the reserve and in the carpark field, hunting from the wires. Redstarts too are still present, with at least three on Monday.
There is a flock of at least fifty Yellow Wagtails feeding around the feet of the cattle on Ashgrave. There are both adults and juveniles and most are in various stages of moult and rather varied plumages. They showed particularly well when the cows were feeding just below the hide on Sunday and they all flushed up onto the roof and the screening when a raptor flew over, allowing great photo-opportunities. There are a resident party of seven Little Egrets still finding food in the diminishing water in front of the hide, at least thirty eclipse Teal were there and a couple of Green Sandpipers came and went, as is their wont. Turtle Doves are still present and a pair of adults and a juvenile have been seen feeding in an Oddington garden. They may or may not be the breeders from the reserve.
There are now certainly two and possibly three Marsh Harriers on the moor. One of the individuals looked significantly different to the one photographed last week by T.S.. A Peregrine put in a brief appearance, three Hobbies were hunting actively along the northern edge of Greenaways all Monday morning and a Sparrowhawk passed over the reedbed.
At least seven Wigeon were on the northern lagoon on Monday, they may be the birds that failed to head north in the spring rather than the vanguard of the returning winter migrants.
When the sun shines there are plenty of butterflies to be seen and the relative abundance of the Brown Hairstreaks is attracting enthusiasts from considerable distances.

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak Roman Road Please view at 720p or 1080p HD

 

Honey Buzzard: Species #147

Honey Buzzard. (One I saw earlier in France) (c) Bark

Spot Fly (c) Derek Hales

A great find by Otmoor regular Paul Greenaway yesterday afternoon. This was the first record for  a couple of years, once or twice when they have been seen late in the day they have roosted nearby. Yesterdays bird seemed to be drifting steadily eastwards.
Also attached one of the excellent Spotted Flycatcher pictures from Derek Hales taken at the weekend.

Saturday 17th and Monday 19th August

Male Redstart (c) Tezzer

Female Redstart (c) Tezzer

Peregrine on Saturday (c) Pat Galka

Kestrel and Grasshopper (c) Pat Galka

Emerald Damselfly (c) Peter Law

Unusual variant of Blue Tailed (c) Peter Law

Brown Argus (c) Andy Last

Brown Argus (c) Andy Last

One of our TV stars (c) Nick Truby

Redstarts were the first of our return passage migrants to arrive, with at least seven being seen on Sunday and at least six this morning. They are a mixture of adults and juveniles and are in different stages of moult. They usually stay around for several weeks feeding up and changing their feathers, before heading south. With them on Saturday morning was a Spotted Flycatcher the first one to be recorded on the moor this year. This is our one hundred and forty-sixth species on our yearlist which has been moribund for over a month. Congratulations to Joe Harris the warden on his TV appearance last week we are justifiably proud of our Turtle Doves. It is good that local television is able to highlight the plight of these beautiful birds and to celebrate our success on Otmoor in giving them somewhere to breed.
A smattering of waders were present including both Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers and Green Sandpipers. Three large flocks of Lapwings were present, each of over two hundred individuals. These are not large flocks by winter standards but are significant and unusual at this time of year. A Marsh Harrier continues to put in sporadic appearances over the reedbed and a Peregrine spooked everything from Ashgrave on Saturday.
Invertebrates are currently attracting many admirers, especially the rare Brown Hairstreaks but they have now been joined on the wing by Brown Argus and Small Coppers to swell any daily butterfly count. After such a desperately cold and unpromising spring it is great to see so many on the wing and it bodes well for breeding success and the promise of good numbers again next year. Peter Law found and photographed an unusual and uncommon variant of Blue-tailed Damselfly on Sunday by the large bramble patch on the corner of the path past the first screen. This is rapidly becoming an insect watching hot spot and is also a good place to find and see warblers and other small passerines. The other popular spot is along the Roman Road and has the additional bonus of regular Brown Hairstreak sightings.
This week it will be worth looking carefully at the farm fence at Noke and out by the bridge at the Pill, as these are the places that usually host the first returning Whinchats, Wheatears and Stonechats.

Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th August

Budgie or Beardie ? (c) Mark Chivers

No just an aberrant Reed Bunting (c) Tezzer

Green Sand and Little ringed Plover (c) Tezzer

Juvenile Little Ring (c) Tezzer

Starlings are starting early (c) Lyn Ebbs

Stunning Sunset (c) Lyn Ebbs

Female Brown Hairstreak (c) Peter Law

Male Brown Hairstreak (c) Peter Law

Another quiet weekend but with a few interesting diversions.
Waders are beginning to drift through with a couple of juvenile Little Ringed Plovers on the Greenaways scrape on Sunday morning and several Green Sands and a Greenshank mobile around the reserve. The immature Marsh Harrier was seen several times but certainly seems to avoid the main part of the reserve. A family group of Kestrels seem ever present over Big Otmoor and Greenaways often perching on fence posts and gates. They have presented some excellent photo-opportunities.  One of the Bearded Tits was heard and seen briefly on Sunday morning in the scrubby reeds by the hide it subsequently moved off along the hedge beside the bridleway probably favouring the reed fringe of the Closes. There is a very odd bird out in the reedbed. When we first came upon it we thought Beardy then Budgie! Careful observation when it appeared at the top of a reed stem showed it to be a leuchistic Reed Bunting. It is white and orange with clear Reed Bunting markings underneath a very unusual individual.  There are at least three different Little Grebe families to be seen from the first screen and they seem to spend quite a lot of time in disputes with each other. It was very noticeable this weekend how many Water Rails are calling from the reedbed and the reedy margins, which suggests they have had a good breeding year and have replaced the losses they sustained in recent very cold winters.
Butterflies and Dragonflies continue to be seen in very good numbers and on Sunday we saw at least seven Brown Hairstreaks with two along the trail to the second screen and the others along the Roman Road. It is currently possible to find anything up to fifteen butterfly species on any visit to the moor.
Over the next few weeks we will be hoping to find the first returning passerines: Wheatears, Whinchats, Redstarts and Stonechats are all possible but only the Stonechats will stay throughout the winter.