Otmoor Birding

This is really the best time of year to see raptors and this weekend was no exception. There were two different merlin around on Saturday, a male and a female. I have no idea whether they winter in pairs or this is purely coincidental. The hen harrier continues to hunt mostly over the flood field and the reedbed and is giving excellent views. There was also a male peregrine spending time both days sitting on one of the fence posts on "greenaways" apart from when it was putting the golden plover and lapwing flocks to
flight. There was also a mystery falcon which we saw briefly on Saturday. It was first seen on a spoil heap and seemed to have a completely white throat breast and belly with a uniform dark back. It was midway in size between a merlin and a peregrine. When it flew it was described as having broader less pointed wings than a merlin. I guess that it is a falconry escape any ideas welcome. The golden plover flock was peaking at about 1200 and the lapwings at 1000. Other notable birds included a jack snipe that flushed from my feet between the two hides and several, probably 5, grey wagtails that flew over onto the land behind the second hide. Bullfinches were again feeding on dried up blackberries beside the path to the second hide. There were at least three cettis calling from the reedbed.

Cheers Peter

Only one days birding possible this weekend due to the appalling weather on Saturday (why does it always seem to be wetter at the weekend ?) I took a group out for the starling roost and it was even more spectacular than the previous week. The birds spent more time in the air in a great mass over the main field before coming in to roost. It may be because of the raptors present: peregrine, hen harrier, sprawk and barn owl. Or it could be to do with the weather conditions. As yet I haven't managed to figure out what kind of display there is going to be given weather, wind etc. It all seems very arbitrary.It may also have been influenced by the shooting that was going on right next to the reserve! Numbers are always difficult to estimate but there were certainly more birds present than the previous two roosts I've been at this winter...35,000 possibly. Also showing well and spectacularly were at least 1,500 golden plover and the same number of lapwings on "greenaways" (the first big field that you see from the bridle way) ,they were very much the target of the peregrine.

Cheers Peter

A ring-tail hen harrier over the reed bed © Pete Styles

Great winter weather for the starling roost on Saturday and the starlings didn't disappoint there were at least 20 thousand and probably more. They came in very quickly and poured into the reedbed. They then flew around quite a bit but at fairly low levels. They also came in much later tha they had the previous week perhaps withthese very short days they have to optimise the time that they can spend feeding. The hen harrier was in attendance as were two barn owls and a peregrine was on the "Big Otmoor " field. Kingfishers are still around despite the cold and we were treted to the sight of a heron eating a perch that seemed to be bigger than its head! Sunday and icy conditions meant that water rails were very easy to see particularly from the first screen. There was also a very serious looking procession of coots walking gravely along the edge of the reedbed on the ice, looking very like a column of monks going off to mass. Several buzzards were evident on Sunday and a male peregrine. The marsh tit has reappeared at the feeder and there were three redpolls feeding by the bridge.

cheers Peter

An Otmoor kingfisher © Pete Styles

Duck numbers have continued to grow but the ducks are very difficult to see and count. They are mostly over on the " Flood Field" on the Oddington side of the reserve and really only show when flushed by a predator. There are also a significant number of Teal hidden in the reed bed. The starling roost is building up and numbers are estimated between 20 and 30 thousand. There are large numbers of winter thrushes in the hedgerows with Fielfare outnumbering Redwing by about three to one. There are at least six hundred lapwing on the Closes Field and varying numbers of Golden Plover. All of these potential dinners mean that it is possible to see all of the common raptors in a visit and all were present this weekend. Notable was a male peregrine that had obviously just enjoyed a large meal. It was sitting on a spoil heap with a crop so swollen that it looked as if it had swallowed a tennis ball.Most unusual bird this weekend was a single passage avocet, the first on the moor for several years, which I saw on Sunday morning as it flew over my head calling repeatedly. It appeared to land somewhere on the flood field but the weather and difficult sightlines made it impossible to locate. There were also two dunlin feeding around the islands in front of the second hide.

Cheers Peter

A shoveler © Pete Styles

A good weekend on Otmoor despite a rather wet start. There are now significant numbers of both Golden Plover and Lapwing on "The Closes" (the field next to the car park) It is looking excellent now it is complete. There was one Dunlin there and on Sunday at least 4 Ruff. There are large roaming flocks of starlings, incidentally I have been given estimates that the starling roost is now up to between 20 and 30 thousand birds. There are also large numbers of both Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on berries in the hedgerows. Raptors showed well with a ringtailed large female Hen Harrier on Saturday and 2 Peregrines on Sunday (after a detour to Dorchester for the Cattle Egret). There were buzzard, Red Kite, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk on both days but still no sign of the Merlin. Duck numbers continue to build, but only really obvious when the shooting started on the range, or flyovers by the Peregrine. There were at least 24 Pintail on Sunday. Interestingly there were still ruddy darters on the wing along the bridle way on Saturday morning once the sun came out. Best bird of the weekend for me was water pipit ( my first on Otmoor ) that was feeding on the small islands in front of the second hide. It was positively identified from photos last night. Thanks Ian.

Cheers Peter

A hovering kestrel © Pete Styles

This weekend gave us our first "mega " of the year. A buzzard seen just before 10 pm on Saturday morning has been positively identified from photos as a Rough Legged Buzzard. It may very well still be in the vicinity and anyone visiting should look out for a very pale buzzard that has an almost white rump and hovers more than a common buzzard. It can easily be taken for a harrier if seen only briefly. Others sightings included a fly by Brambling more redpolls and reports of the merlin being back on Ashgrave field.

Many cheers Peter


Record shots of the rough-legged buzzard © Peter Barker

A very good weekend bird-wise although the weather was less than pleasant on Sunday morning. Highlights on Saturday were a very vocal raven that seemed to be circling and calling as it went. A party of 11 siskins from the second hide. several small groups of two or three redpolls. From the pill ground we saw a short-eared owl being harrassed by crows to the extent that it flew higher and higher and made of in a South Easterly direction. There were very many snipe everywhere and on the edge of the pill itself we found two Jack Snipe. Sunday was a bit of a washout but encouragingly there was a significant number of lapwing (at least 300) on the" closes " field. and they were accompanied by at least 50 golden plover, sadly none of them looked at all American. Patience at the first hide meant good views of Water Rail and Kingfisher. Again snipe were everywhere sometimes in large flocks.

Cheers Peter

A quiet weekend with more signs of Autumn. There were many small flocks of both fieldfare and redwings moving through the reserve on both days. On Saturday there were two flocks of over 150 fieldfare during the morning. The kingfisher was very obliging sitting on the stakes in the water in front of the first hide and there were several easily seen goldcrests moving up and down the hedge row between the two hides, feeding with the tit flock. On Sunday there were the first two Pintail of the winter upending on the far lagoon both drakes, but one of them only partially out of eclipse. The other notable birds were several very confiding redpolls feeding next to the bridle way just past the turning to the screens.

Cheers Peter

A "portly" whinchat. Always a nice passage bird to see © Steve Burch

From OxonBirds:

"Wood Sandpiper still present over the weekend - at dawn on Saturday it was on
the pools near the corner of the track to the main gate, close to the hedge, and
on Sunday afternoon it was on the pools in the other field where the digging
work has now stopped."

A beautiful morning once the mist lifted unfortunately not until after ten am. The main entertainment was provided by a flock of 192 snipe ( I counted them!) on the three small islands in front of the second screen. They were feeding/sleeping/bathing and interacting with each other , they gave fantastic views and great photographic opportunities. The only other birds of note were three redwings feeding in the hedge behind the hide and three kingfishers on the reedbed.

cheers Peter

A stonechat © Steve Burch

From OxonBirds:

"6.30pm A solitary Wood Sandpiper on the shallow water next to the track between
the car park and the main gate. Good views through the hedge as the bird bobbed
and dipped into the water, with clear views of plumage and the white stripe
above the eye.

Light didn't last for long after this as the cloud thickened, but the starlings
roosting in the reeds were making plenty of noise, as were teal and wigeon. Four
bats were hawking along the main track (one noticeably larger than the others)
and the two leverets which have been hanging out in the car park and the first
hide for a couple of months were both present."

A Richard's Pipit was found by Otmoor regular Phil Barnett today on the field between the Pill Ground and the firing range (field 18, see map).

Stonechat © Pete Styles

From OxonBirds:

This morning on Otmoor in the company of Steve Bell still no honey
buzzards but:

1 hen harrier
2 kite
2 buzzard
4 hobby
3 kestrels
1 stonechat
lots of snipe
150+ lapwing

The hen harrier (a ring-tail) was soaring in a thermal with a kite
towards the two distant chimneys as viewed from the main path.

From OxonBirds:

Spent two hours scanning the skies over the moor...

3-Buzzard
1-Kite
2-Kestrel
5-Hobby
1-Peregrine
1-Sprawk

No Honeyz...At least two have been through the county,Farmoor and nr Burford.. Off to White Horse Hill with me deck chair and scope ;-)

On Saturday there were a greenshank and a wood sand on the small islands in front of the second screen. There was a juvenile ringed plover on the closes field and a green sand. There were several others that were flushed regularly by the marsh harrier that was hunting over the whole reserve and not just the reedbed. There was a hobby and the usual buzzards and over-flying red kites. On Monday there were more ( up to 5) green sands and a group of at least ten snipe flying together.There were 19 shoveler in a flock over the flood field. Nine swifts over the reed bed were a late record. Highlight was at least six brown hairstreak butterflies patrolling around one of the oaks along the bridle way about 100 metres from the pumphouse, worth having a look if any one is around in the next few days. The harrier was still around but I am not sure that it is the same bird and there is a strong possibility that there are two individuals. One seems to have a much more custard coloured head than the other, that one being much whiter and more extensive. I would welcome any observations from people who have seen them.

cheers Peter

Immature goldfinch © Pete Styles

Just to show that there are waders on Otmoor again !

This morning as well as the usual hobbies and marsh harrier there were:

8 Ringed plovers
2 whimbrel
1 Curlew
1 dunlin
2 greensand
and 1 wheatear

Cheers peter

This morning there were at least thirty little egrets feeding in a pool or roosting in a dead tree beside it, on the Ashgrave (Noke) field. Surely a county record. The field is being drained and there must have been a feeding bonanza on the small trapped fish. Also two calling quail in the same field. Plus all the usual Otmoor regulars hobby, red kite, buzzard and mixed warblers.

Peter

One of the many Otmoor sedge warblers © Steve Burch

From OxonBirds:

09:15 am: one briefly from the first screen (source Bird Guides)