Wednesday 7th October
All quiet on the western front, well at least the west side of Oxford that is the Meadow. Whilst we've had some proper rain at last, we're going to need a lot more of that before we've got any kind of floods on the Meadow. In the mean time its the same birds as previously with meadow pipits, golden plover, lapwings, skylarks and linnets making up the main interest on the Meadow itself though on a visit today recorded numbers were lower than last week for all four species. There was no sign of any winter thrushes yet and Burgess Field was extremely quiet. A few black-headed gulls along the bank and a couple of great crested grebes about on the river as well.
With recent interest at Blenheim where the large population of fairly plastic geese are occasionally attracting some good vagrants (five Greenland white-fronted geese yesterday), I scoured the Meadow feral geese carefully but there was nothing of note in amongst them apart from one canada goose.
One of the five Blenheim Greenland white-fronted geese. Let's hope that we get some vagrant geese on the Meadow this winter.
Addendum - Mary Gregory (private e-mail)
In the rain this pm, around 4.30, there was a large and restive flock of golden plover in the usual place, where the north channel used to be. I guesstimated at least 300, but it was a very rough count. A flock of at least twenty Canada geese were nearby; some days there has just been the one, in among the greylags but flocks are appearing more frequently. I put up a single snipe again - same place, north of the channel and towards the mound. There was a flock of goldfinches around the thistle heads towards the Aristotle Lane entrance. Water was beginning to collect in the indentations in the channels so maybe things will start to pick up. Nothing at all in BF except a green woodpecker yesterday, and a pair of deer on three consecutive days a couple of weeks ago.
With recent interest at Blenheim where the large population of fairly plastic geese are occasionally attracting some good vagrants (five Greenland white-fronted geese yesterday), I scoured the Meadow feral geese carefully but there was nothing of note in amongst them apart from one canada goose.
One of the five Blenheim Greenland white-fronted geese. Let's hope that we get some vagrant geese on the Meadow this winter.Addendum - Mary Gregory (private e-mail)
In the rain this pm, around 4.30, there was a large and restive flock of golden plover in the usual place, where the north channel used to be. I guesstimated at least 300, but it was a very rough count. A flock of at least twenty Canada geese were nearby; some days there has just been the one, in among the greylags but flocks are appearing more frequently. I put up a single snipe again - same place, north of the channel and towards the mound. There was a flock of goldfinches around the thistle heads towards the Aristotle Lane entrance. Water was beginning to collect in the indentations in the channels so maybe things will start to pick up. Nothing at all in BF except a green woodpecker yesterday, and a pair of deer on three consecutive days a couple of weeks ago.