http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/ en-us Webligo BlogHoster I went back for another look on Sunday for the Water Pipit but couldn't find it. However I did see a Hen Harrier (Ringtail) along the back hedge on Greenaways, a Black Tailed Godwit flying about over the reed bed, and around 20,000 Starling in the roost. Also a pair of Stonechat, half a dozen Snipe flying over, lots of Fieldfare and Redwing about, 200 Lapwing, 30 Golden Plover and the Wigeon numbers are slowly building up.  No sign of the Red Crested Pochard that was there the previous weekend though it may still be about. Pete Roby Last week's red-crested pochard © Pete Roby Flying wigeon © Nigel Forrow Teal © Nigel Forrow http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12751/ A water pipit was found by Tom Wickens and Pete Roby on Ashgrave on the new scrapes which apparently are starting to fill with water now. http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12737/ A cold and dismal early morning on Otmoor, with few birds venturing into the north wind. Redwing and particularly fieldfare seemed to be present in all the hedges, as did calling cetti's warbler. A single kestrel hovered over the scrub next to the main track as dawn grudgingly lightened the dark sky, but despite hunting for ten minutes it made no strike. A pair of red kite sent about two hundred lapwing up from the main field and these were joined by fifty starling as they flew over the reedbeds and headed west. Six grey heron were in the air over the first lagoon and four snipe whirred above them; kingfisher, water rail and golden plover all called, but were not seen. The wind was strengthening by 8am, shivering the surface of the water. Most duck were tucked into the edges of the water courses. By 9am Brill hill and Beckley mast had disappeared into heavy rain. Undaunted, a solitary stonechat flitted along the hedge top near the Pill. Darrell A merlin was reported on Saturday morning, flying across the bridleway along Greenaways. A stonechat © Nigel Forrow Hare © David Brown A jackdaw harrying a red kite © Pete Styles http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12621/ We are delighted to announce that Otmoor lane is now open. The Council have done a great job re-surfacing and the drive down is so much more enjoyable. The starlings are still staying at about 10,000, but it really varies as to whether they display or not. The wildfowl numbers are slowly building with the best views over the reedbed where shoveler, teal and wigeon can be seen. You can get good views of kingfisher feeding in front of the first screen. But no more sightings of the bearded tits. Comments on Starling Roost The Otmoor starling roost usually starts in full swing about mid to late November, but this can be so variable, last year it didn't really get going until November and then only lasted a month. In 2006/7 the roost didn't get going until December but lasted into the middle of February. The past three years we have usually reached about 40-50,000 birds. When the roost starts could be related to cold weather, as we have only really had a couple of frosts so far this Autumn. What I would love to know is why some nights they display and some the don't, obviously rain and wind can impact on this, but even when the conditions appear perfect they sometimes don't display. And why do they move on so quickly within 2 nights a roost can go from 50,000 birds to 500! Is this because they have exhausted the food supplies in the area? So many unanswered questions, but this is what makes the starling spectacle so amazing we just don't know why! David Wilding Site Manager, c/o Folly Farm Common Road Beckley Oxford OX3 9UR Tel. 01865 352034 Fax. 01767 685601 www.rspb.org.uk Otmoor starling roost © David Brown http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12581/ Just one visit this weekend due to the appalling weather on Sunday morning. A beautiful morning on Saturday after the overnight rain departed and lots more Autumn and winter visitors arriving. All morning there were parties of Fieldfares and Redwings passing over the reserve Redwings, outnumbering Fieldfares approximately five to one. A fly by from a Peregrine flushed at least three hundred Lapwings from Greenaways and there was a flock of approximately five hundred Golden plover. Duck numbers are building slowly with only low numbers of Wigeon present but at least thirty Shoveller and several hundred Teal. There were over a hundred Skylarks on the Closes and mixed finch flocks in the hedgerows. Several pairs of Stonechat can be found at the reedbed and in the major hedges. Water levels are very low all over the reserve after one of the mildest and dryest autumns.It has meant that massive amounts of groundwork have been completed ,the hide will soon be finished and the new path has been laid. I will not be posting for a while but look forward to coming back to wet scrapes and big flocks of wildfowl. Cheers Peter Lapwing © Nigel Forrow http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12551/ Just one visit to the moor his weekend as the weather was so wet and grey on Saturday. Sadly there was no sign of the Bearded Tits in the reedbed but they might stll be there. It was very windy which makes birds keep their heads down and also makes it difficult to hear well. It is also a very extensive reedbed. It was quiet on the birdfront with perhaps just a few more Teal having arrived. One Green Sandpiper was seen. Several pairs of Stonechats are now resident for the winter. The most interesting and unusual sighting was three Crossbills that flew across the reserve from North to South and seemed to be heading for Noke Wood. This is only the second time that I have seen them on Otmoor. Massive progress is being made on the hide and even in its unfinished state the Lane is better to drive down than it has been for years. Cheers Peter A teal © Nigel Forrow http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12504/ An excellent weekend on the moor with lots of Autumn arrivals the best of which have to be the nine Bearded Tits that we found on Saturday morning. They were relocated this morning and I managed to get some decent pictures of them despite the murky start to the day. They were a mixed group of both adult and juveniles, they were very flighty and vocal. Sadly I was told that they were seen to fly high this morning at approx 9.30 and head North. They were doing this yesterday as well so it is just possible that they went down onto the Flood Field or decided to come back later. They should be easy enough to pick up if they do return as few calls are as distinctive or charismatic. It would seem that the reedbed is perfect for Bearded Tits and it supported a group of seven birds throughout the winter several years ago. On Saturday morning there was a stedy trickle of small groups of both Fieldfare and Redwing moving westward across the reserve with half a dozen Fieldfare feeding in the carpark Field. There are several pairs of Stonechat to be found on the reed bed and in the hedges. The males are often doing a hovering display, which may be to attract a mate or perhaps to claim a winter territory. Kingfishers were seen from both hides on both days and Cettis are very noticeable with at least five different individuals to be heard between the one in the carpark field and the one calling from beyond the second hide. A Brambling was heard to fly over and three Redpolls were seen and heard in flight. There was a report of Siskins being seen on Saturday beside the bridle way. There are at least twelve Wigeon on the North lagoon, there are a few pairs of Shoveller and at least fifty Teal some of which are just starting to come out of eclipse. We saw two Green Sands and a Dunlin on the South Lagoon. Cheers Peter The bearded tits © Peter Barker Addendum - Some comments on the stonechats hovering behaviour by Ewan Urquhart   The hovering you observed is not a display either to attract a mate or enforce a territory. The usual reasons are to better observe an intruder and sometimes to locate their invertebrate prey which with winter coming on is more usually to be found on the ground rather than on foliage or flying in the airspace. A lack of elevated perches from which they can hunt and observe from may also contribute to this behaviour. In my experience reed beds often elicit this kind of behaviour possibly because of the dense nature of reed beds and the lack of clear sight lines. Reed beds are not optimum territory for stonechats they usually prefer more open areas with numerous relatively isolated perches of anything from 2-5 feet on which to perch. Hedgerows the other habitat you mention are also not usual stonechat habitat and not often used to perch on However as it is just males doing this which it often is wherever it is observed then I would suggest that they are using this method to observe more easily whatever intruder is causing them alarm again possibly because sight lines are not good in reed beds. I also note the tracks at Otmoor around the reed beds are sunk below the retaining banks which would again require the stonechat to hover to better see any human or other potential predator walking on the tracks. Another hypothesis is that the males in this kind of habitat hover to locate the female as they often feed well apart http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12427/ I am writing to inform you that Otmoor Lane, the road from Beckley leading down to the RSPB Otmoor nature reserve car park, will be closed for approximately 3 weeks.  The road is closed for re-surfacing, which I am sure that many of you who have travelled down the lane recently would agree needs to be done.  However, this is going to cause some disruption. Otmoor Lane closed from Beckley to reserve car park Monday 19 October 2009 - Friday 6 November 2009 We are sorry for the late notice on this closure, but this is out of our control and we have only had the terms of the closure confirmed by the Oxfordshire County Council Highways today.  It will be closed for the full 21 days, however it should be left passable at the end of each working day.  Pedestrians can still pass the works, the walk down the lane from the village is approximately 1 mile.  The closure could include weekends if they choose to do so, and we will have no notice if this is the case.  So the advice is to avoid the lane for the next 3 weeks.  The reserve is still open and can be accessed from other footpaths and bridleways around the moor.  If you choose to do this please take care in parking, and avoid blocking field gates etc. Unfortunately the Otmoor Feed the Birds Day which had been organised on the 28 October, has been cancelled, due to the lane closure.  An alternative event is now available at Port Meadow http://www.rspb.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=tcm:9-222686 We are sorry for any difficulties this is going to cause, however we will all see some benefits once the work has been completed.  We will keep you updated of any changes. Thanks David David Wilding Site Manager C/O Folly Farm Common Road Beckley Oxford OX3 9UR Tel. 01865 352034 Fax. 01767 685601 Email: david.wilding@rspb.org.uk www.rspb.org.uk http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12403/ No report on Saturday as I was enjoying the delights of Didcot Power Station and the tip. I also saw the gull in question and am now worried that I might have to go over again and try to see the Baltic Gull. The reserve was very quiet on both days and on Sunday it was grey, misty and wet. Yesterday was beautiful however and the colours of the berries and the turning leaves glowed in the hedgerows. There was not a great deal to be seen on the bird front our summer visitors have gone and our winter birds have not returned in any numbers. There are several flocks of skylarks over all fields and larger numbers still of meadow pipits. There were three green Sandpipers on both days and the Black tailed Godwit is still on the southern lagoon. Most interesting was a Raven that was seen being pursued by a jackdaw over Big Otmoor on Sunday morning and was seen again on Monday feeding on the ground on Greenaways. A flock of about 200 Goldies was seen in the distance on Sunday. In the sun yesterday morning there were still a lot of dragonflies to be seen but no sign of the Hobby which has probably left. There is now a large metal skeleton on the edge of Ashgrave and the hide is finally taking shape. It is very exciting as we were very surprised at the scale of it and the amount of elevation it will give to view both Ashgrave and the western end of the Closes. It is great to see all of these major projects coming to fruition and the RSPB staff should be congratulated on the complicated work that has been going on to get these works done. Well done. Cheers Peter Two green sandpipers © Nigel Forrow http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12373/ On returning along the bridleway I almost stepped on what I assume is a juvenile Common lizard. However, on closer inspection it turned out to be a newt, probably a smooth newt. It was no more than 1.5 inches long and was completely motionless in the middle of the path.  Suspect the sudden drop in temperature when the sun went in caught it out.  Anyway, I moved it into the nearby vegetation and when the sun momentarily popped out it seemed to spark it into life & it promptly scuttled away. Jonathan Crouch A smooth newt © Jonathan Crouch http://surfbirds.com/blog/OtmoorBirding/12368/