Otmoor Birding

The Marsh Warbler was reported on Bird Guides as still being present today.

There was a Quail singing half way along the main bridleway at about 6.15 am. (Ian Lewington)

Some more great photos of our star Marsh Warbler, which is becoming a bit of a long-stayer.

The Marsh Warbler in the reeds © Nigel Forrow

The Marsh Warbler in its favourite hedge © Nigel Forrow

The Marsh Warbler continued to be the star of the show over the weekend and always had admirers watching from the bank. It does not seem to be inhibited or intimidated by the attention and certainly hasn't been frightened away. Elsewhere there are lots more butterflies and dragonflies on the wing. A walk up around the top of Ashgrave produced hundreds of Meadow Browns and Ringlets. There were also good numbers of Marbled Whites and Large Skippers. I saw one White Admiral on the edge of the wood. There are more Hawker dragonflies on the wing now though they seldom stayed still long enough to photograph or to id. properly. There are now lots of parties of juvenile tits and warblers to be seen and I assume that with so much insect food about many species are into their second or third broods. On Sunday a Barn Owl was seen along the bridle way to Noke hunting at 9.00 in the morning. Sadly there have been no further records of Quail but I will be keeping my ears open this week

Cheers Peter

A Ringlet, showing off the rings from which it is named © Adam Hartley

A Marbled White © Adam Hartley

The Marsh Warbler was still showing well again this morning but the singing had rather more quiet
periods in between the bursts. The bird is very site faithful and never seems to leave the fifty metre stretch that seems to be its territory.

Cheers peter

The Marsh Warbler © Peter Barker

Some of the many admirers that have come to see the warbler © Peter Barker

With the marsh warbler so far proving a rather elusive photographic subject, this lunch time I went down to the reserve with a hand held camcorder in the hope of making some recordings.  I'd not been down at lunch time for some time and I was struck by the huge variety of insect life that is now about: Meadow Browns, Five Spot Burnets and Ringlets are now flying and I also saw a Painted Lady, a Large Skipper, a Speckled Wood,a Comma and a few Small Tortoiseshells. There are also vast numbers of dragonflies and damselflies most of which unfortunately I'm not expert enough to identify but there was a male Black-Tailed Skimmer sunning itself on the path and what may have been a Four-Spot Chaser. On the down side there were large numbers of horse flies about and as I'd chosen to combine my visit with a run, I was rather hot and sweaty which seemed to attract the flies. There were several hobbies flying around over the reed bed and at least four red kites were soaring over The Closes/Lower Farm area. Of course the star of the show was the marsh warbler and despite meeting a number of birders coming the other way when I got there I actually had the place to myself. The bird itself immediately obliged with a prolonged burst of song for several minutes delivered from near the top of the reeds which I was able to capture on my camcorder. The quality is not great but at least you get to see the bird and to appreciate its wonderful song. The bird was still there when I left at 2pm

Adam Hartley


The Marsh Warbler singing from the reed bed © Adam Hartley

Roger Wyatt has subsequently come up with these superb photos showing a comparison between the two warbler types.

The singing marsh warbler © Roger Wyatt
and a reed warbler for comparison © Roger Wyatt

The marsh warbler was present all day in the same location, flitting from the hedge to the reed bed, singing and occasionally showing. Marek Walford took these great record shots at 8pm in poor light.



All photos © Marek Walford

06:00a.m..
This morning early risers found the Marsh Warbler still present and singing in the same location as last night. It was seen to fly across the track at least once at about 5:45am and gave occasional views from the tops of the reeds.

It is singing right by the edge of the reeds close to the track so that one is able to hear it and very close quarters. Marsh Warblers are well known for their mimicry and this one has a wide repertoire of different bird calls: it can be quite entertaining identifying the various ones that it impersonates. The location is between the first and second screens, close to but before you get to the wooden barrier on the bank on the right hand side.

Adam

08:30a.m
Hi All
Bird was still present at 8.30 this morning when I left. In the last hour or so it has spent more time in the hedgerow than in the reedbed and every so often could be seen flitting about hunting on the edge of the hawthorn. I understand that the last record of Marsh Warbler in Oxfordshire was in 1984, so it was long overdue a return. I assume that it was a regular breeder in the Otmoor area in the early 20th century before its national decline. It was fun to hear its mimicry and I hope it won't be too long before the pinging of a bearded tit is the real thing again and not this superb imitator.
Many Cheers

Peter

till 19:47 at least
The bird has been present all day, singing occasionally, later tending to favour the hedge rather than the reeds. Last known sighting was 19:47 (Bird Guides).

Spot the marsh warbler! Unfortunately, given how secretive it is, taking photos has proved very difficult but here's a body-only record shot of the bird © Peter Barker

This evening at about 8pm Otmoor stalwart Phil Barnett found a Marsh Warbler singing along the track between the first and second screens. It was seen to fly several times between the reeds and the hawthorn hedge on the opposite side of the track. Once the word was put out about a dozen local birders assembled and were able to hear the bird sing from close quarters at the edge of the reeds until dark though unfortunately it did not show again.

I went down the moor late Monday evening and there was a couple of thousand starlings or more flying over the reed bed at about 9pm. They put on a good display and a Sparrowhawk tried unsuccessfully to catch one for its supper. One or two Hobbies turned up at dusk and I could hear Gropper’s, lesser whitethroats and sedge warblers calling on the walk back to the car park. The quiet buzz of the insects on the moor turned a lot louder around 9.30 and the walk back to the car park turned into a run as I was getting covered in them along the bridleway!

Pete Roby

A sedge warbler © Kevin Henshaw

Good to be back on the moor and able to see some birds instead of just hearing them and totally failing to see them in the Med. Most notable on Sunday however was the mass emergence of tiny froglets and toadlets. In one metre length of the bridle way I counted over 70 and whilst they were not that dense all the way along there were very many thousands of them. I was surprised that there were not more bird species taking advantage of what must be very easy pickings. Magpies seemed to be feeding on them. They may of course all have been toads and distasteful but I had thought that it was mature toads that developed the warty skin. It was pleasing to see our normal raptors hunting over the reserve with buzzards circling and calling frequently. The Hobbies were also easy to see hunting dragonflies. On Monday I completed my B.T.O. second visit on the Oddington side and was very pleased to find that all the warbler species that we expect were present. Two new locations were found with calling Grasshopper Warblers and in one 400 metre section I recorded 16 Sedge Warblers. There were also several family parties of Bullfinches. Finally it was great to see so many butterflies on the flower rich hay meadows that make up the Northern edge of my square.

Cheers Peter

A hobby © Nigel Forrow
Red kite © Nigel Forrow

4 Curlew flew over....distant Marsh Harrier...Sparrowhawk crashing into willow tree and lots of Swifts. 100+ Burnett Moths on the kidney vetch. 2 Juvenile G S Woodpeckers on the feeder but the star turn tonight was a Lancaster bomber , ID'd by Bob Nind, which flew across the moor towards Oxford and returned 10 minutes later.
 
Graham

The marsh harrier hunting over the reedbed © Nigel Forrow

Paul Greenaway reported that he had heard two Quail out at the Pill on Monday

Kestrel © Roger Wyatt

A hot and sunny morning today from the outset. Two turtle dove were calling softly from the dead tree to the west of the car park field, and whitethroat broke the silence of the car park field. There were four GS woodpecker near the feeders, flitting from tree to telegraph pole and calling vociferously. A young hare ran ahead of me along the main track, until it encountered another birder. It then spent twenty minutes trapped between us, not wanting to pass either, and unable to leave the track. After running up and down and stopping to feed now and then, it eventually plunged down the overgrown southern bank, noisily swam the ditch and hurried into the dense hedge on the other side. Greenaways was quiet except for a drumming snipe and a red kite lazily rolling over the carrion crow flock. Sedge warblers seemed less voluble than they were three weeks ago, but the most notable change was the height of the grass, which in places (the western edge of Noke Wood, for example) is now neck high. A young magpie bounced along the track to the first hide, large-headed, fuzzy, unwilling to fly and yet-to-master the art of disappearing into a hedge. Cuckoo heard from the first screen, and a hobby flushed from the nearby oaks (later flushed again from the willows near the second screen). A young great crested grebe was escorted by an aggressive parent past the squabbling coots. A lone little egret flew over the second screen, as three swallow took on water from the lagoon and swift screamed above. A female marsh harrier was seen three times carrying vegetation (broken reed stems?) into the reedbed near the oak east of the screen. A cuckoo flew into the hedge near the same oak, and hobby, buzzard and red kite all drifted over. A female cuckoo bubbling call heard along the track to Noke, and a kingfisher squatted on a dead branch over the pond near Lower Farm. Another sighting of cuckoo near the eastern edge of Noke Wood, as the hedge crackled with dragonflies. Once the air had warmed through (by about 9am) dragonflies were everywhere - four spot chasers, broad bodied chasers and black tailed skimmers predominating. At about the same time horseflies began to congregate around any sitting target. The end of the morning was hot and birds relatively scarce. A lapwing was very alert and vocal and seemed to be employing diversionary tactics in the farmers field near west of Otmoor Lane, though no chick could be seen. Eight species of butterfly seen over the course of the morning and a moth found in Noke Wood was a Light Emerald. Despite Pete Barker's absence no rare egrets to be seen...
Darrell

Reed warbler © Pete Styles
Coot feeding chick © Nigel Forrow

This evening Jason Coppock found a wood sandpiper on the Pill.

I thought that people might be interested in the following text which I found on Bird Guides. The received wisdom now seems to be that the Otmoor pratincole was in fact the oriental one that appeared at Pagham. Of course this makes the fact that it didn't stay around all the more frustrating!

"The adult Oriental Pratincole that appeared at Pagham Harbour in West Sussex on 28th was originally identified as a Collared Pratincole, and remained so for the duration of its two-day stay. Some fine photographs aided the reidentification, where many of the suite of characters needed to separate the two species were shown to perfection (in favour of Oriental of course). ...To add to the tale, the bird was first seen on Otmoor in Oxfordshire the previous week, on 25th: observers there reported the bird as a Collared, but did mention to other local birders that it didn't seem to have any white on the trailing edge of the wing."

A great crested grebe © Nigel Forrow

Nigel Forrow writes:
In the morning, I was fortunate to have a great view of a Lapwing and two chicks on the Closes. Much to the consternation of the parent, one of the chicks came very close to me along the channel near the feeders. Also, there was a lot of butterfly and damselfly activity as well as plenty of pond life in the same channel and along the Bridleway. Common Blue, Brown Argus, Painted Lady and Speckled Wood were spotted. Azure, Large Red, Red-Eyed and Small Red-Eyed (??) Damselflies were seen. A Pond Skater and basking Tadpoles were also observed.

A probable golden oriole was reported this morning along the bridleway near the dead trees and apparently it was singing. Subsequent searches proved fruitless however.

A busy sedge warbler collecting insects for its young © Pete Styles

Despite the best efforts of a number of birders who arrived at first light on Otmoor this morning, there was no sign of the pratincole from yesterday. However a whimbrel and the marsh harrier were both seen. Cuckoos were also about and a female was bubbling away in the reedbed along the bridle way. A snipe flew over Greenaways and a couple of redshank were about on Big Otmoor. Several turtle doves were cooing away and I even managed to get one to show itself by doing an imitation of their call. Two of the lapwing chicks were visible by one of the pools on the Closes.

The recent mass migration of painted lady butterflies was continuing today with several seen along the bridle way.

A painted lady © Steve Burch

There was a reported possible sighting this evening of a collared pratincole on Otmoor. The bird flew across the first screen and was then seen to go onto Big Otmoor and then onto Ashgrave. The observer is familiar with the species and is quite confident of the id.

A turtle dove on the wires © Pete Styles