Sat 4th and Sunday 5th April
Hi All
Another excellent weekend on Otmoor with migration really starting to get under way. There were five species of warbler singing the new arrivals being blackcap and a very early sedge warbler. The bird was found first thing in the ditch beside the bridle way and moved the whole legth of the ditch during the morning. It was very secretive singing from the base of the reeds and keeping out of view. The blackcap was singing in the avenue that leads out to the Pill. There were good numbers of ducks displaying especially Pochard, Tufties and Shoveller. There are several water rails calling now from the reedbeds and a recent survey suggested that there could be as many as seven pairs on the reedbed alone. The hares are still behaving as if it was March with boxing displays. The hen harrier was present both days but as far as I know the Marsh Harrier was not seen. There were 290 golden plover on The Closes along with fewer redshank than last week and one Ringed Plover.
Cheers Peter
Three redshank © Nigel Forrow
Another excellent weekend on Otmoor with migration really starting to get under way. There were five species of warbler singing the new arrivals being blackcap and a very early sedge warbler. The bird was found first thing in the ditch beside the bridle way and moved the whole legth of the ditch during the morning. It was very secretive singing from the base of the reeds and keeping out of view. The blackcap was singing in the avenue that leads out to the Pill. There were good numbers of ducks displaying especially Pochard, Tufties and Shoveller. There are several water rails calling now from the reedbeds and a recent survey suggested that there could be as many as seven pairs on the reedbed alone. The hares are still behaving as if it was March with boxing displays. The hen harrier was present both days but as far as I know the Marsh Harrier was not seen. There were 290 golden plover on The Closes along with fewer redshank than last week and one Ringed Plover.
Cheers Peter
Three redshank © Nigel Forrow