A Change for a Change, Then as You Were. Mid-May 2020

Saturday 16th May; Local Uplands

The part of the country that I live in is pretty boring topographically, mainly flat with no interesting features whatsoever! No lakes, rivers or woodland to speak of. We have to get away from our immediate local area for any geographically interesting places, for example to Otmoor, which is still flat of course but full of appeal. To the West there is what I've always known as the Uplands even though they're no higher in altitude, well maybe just slightly higher, than where I live. However, the River Cherwell scythes through the Heyford and Aston area and that has created a reasonably steep sided valley which tenuously resembles parts of Wales and Northern Britain. When I was a nipper I often cycled out to fish on the Cherwell and the Oxford canal that follows its course, and I remember the hills even now with phantom aches in my legs!

Norman had taken some fine shots of a singing male Yellow Wagtail along this walk and had told me to check out the area by a Dutch Barn for them. Before we reached the Barn though I heard a Corn Bunting uttering its jingling song from a bush. I approached as stealthily as I could and took a few shots. Not the first Corn Buntings of the Old Caley year, I found a group of four on the outskirts of Bicester at the start of Lockdown, but I always delight in seeing one of our most uncelebrated of bird species. Corn Buntings are drab, lacking any striking colouring, brown streaked birds with big black eyes and a large conical corn on the cob coloured bill. They are far from common these days, numbers have declined with the shift towards factory farming methods in many parts of the countryside, but in this area at least they appear to be doing well.

Yellowhammer

We peered into the barn, hoping to catch a sleeping Barn Owl or two but only finding our usual number of zero. A couple of Pied Wagtails hunted flies on the barn roof and Skylarks flew noisily overhead in the warm sunshine. We walked on reaching a bend in the path and found a Brown Hare blocking our way. The hare stared at us and we stared back not wanting to send it running but for it to take heed in its own time. 

Brown Hare

When the Hare did decide to move it was almost immediately replaced by a couple of Roe Deers which came lolloping across the wheat field. When they saw us they paused momentarily before realising our proximity and then scarpered in opposite directions. One of them, back in its perceived safety blanket of the wheat field, eyed us with a ponderous look. 

Roebucks

There's a conveniently placed bench by the track here and we sat and loitered for a while. One Corn Bunting had chosen a perch from which to sing in the hedgerow next to the bench and I carefully stalked him and rattled off some shots. He was very confiding and didn't flinch at my approach at all. In fact he was only disturbed when another Corn Bunting suddenly assailed him from behind. The two birds flew off over the field and continued their quarrel while fluttering above the crop. My conclusion eventually was that they were possibly a pair since one disappeared into the wheat while the other returned, flying past closely enough for some flight shots, and perched again on the same song post and continued his jingle jangle song (music reference right there for you!).

Corn Bunting

We stood ready to walk on towards Northbrook just as a bright yellow bird with, crucially, white outer tail feathers landed in the field. Unfortunately it instantly disappeared amongst the wheat and despite us waiting for fifteen minutes it didn't reappear. I had seen enough though, in that brief snatched view as the bird landed, to know that it was indeed a male Yellow Wagtail that we'd come in the hope of seeing and I added it to the Old Caley year list which notched up to 157. The sighting was far too brief to capture on camera but luckily Norman had taken some fine images the week before.

male Yellow Wagtail (courtesy of Norman Smith)

The rest of our walk which ended up at an old decrepit barn, surrounded by chest high nettles so out of bounds for folk garbed in light clothing such as that worn by us on this fine and warm morning, offered up nothing different, except for a pair of Red-legged Partridges that flew up from a patch of those nettles, no doubt surrendering a nest so we quickly moved away, and some Swallows that flew in and out of an open window. If ever a barn looked suitable to slumbering Barn Owls then this had to be it and I made a note to return one evening soon. A topped out old tree in the barnyard looked as if it would be equally attractive to Tawny Owls, another reason to come back. A Common Whitethroat had laid claim to the overgrown area around the barn, we heard him singing as we approached and he was still going as we left. Skylark song filled the air.

Skylark

More Corn Buntings sang from exposed perches as we returned back the way we had come. Another Common Whitethroat chattered away from the hedgerow. I took photos of some weedy flowers, including a single Poppy that stood at the corner of a field. I'm not a botanist so I have no idea what the other plant is called.

There was no sign of the Yellow Wagtail back at the bench but the Corn Bunting was still giving it some, as was a Yellowhammer. We had really enjoyed this walk and were grateful to Norman for pointing us there. We'd be back in the summer for another visit.

Not far away there is a place that usually holds another bird that we'd yet to add to our year list so we headed off to Nether Worton to study the trees around the church there. I did a lot of work in a large house nearby a couple of years ago where, before I'd start work, I watched a fabulous pair of Barn Owls hunting next to the site. I also found a Hawfinch there in the invasion winter of 2017-2018. Our interest today lay in the tall trees either side of the gated road that runs up to Over Worton. On the way out we saw little, just a Garden Warbler of note, but on our way back I noticed the bird we'd come for, a Spotted Flycatcher, zip out from the trees by the church and land briefly in an old tree on the opposite side of the road.

Spotted Flycatcher

I then spotted the same or another Spotted Flycatcher perched on another bare branch but it flew into an oak tree next to a small sheep holding paddock before I could get a shot. We studied the oak tree and could see the Flycatcher darting about but never got a clear view. Another appeared high in a willow tree, so now we were sure there were two birds. This area is a traditional site for breeding Spotted Flycatchers, which sadly have become a scarce bird in our part of Oxfordshire. I eventually managed to grab a shot of one of the birds as it rested in a tree closer to us.

It was such a lovely day that we stayed a while watching the Spot Fly's flit from tree to tree in their pursuit of the flying insects that they've been named for. I love birds that are called after "what it says on the tin". These birds catch flies and they are spotted (well actually it's only juveniles that sport spots, on their wings, adults are streaked rather than spotted but we won't split hairs). Mrs Caley then exclaimed, "Look, on the wire" and there was a Spotted Flycatcher perched openly and I had my chance of taking some decent images.

Spotted Flycatchers have a lovely kind face and a quizzical look about them. They're another of those understated little brown jobs that I so adore. Both of the birds were now showing extremely well on the telephone wires and also on the roof of the cottage adjoined to the church.

It had been an enjoyable mornings birding. It's always pleasing to find some good birds locally and especially gratifying to find a "first for the year". The Spotted Flycatchers made it 158 on the year list.


Sunday 17th May; Bitten by the Bittern Bug

With restrictions still largely in place, although plans were afoot for them to be lifted slightly, so we were hopeful of getting out and about more from next weekend, it was back to our mainstay of Otmoor. There are lots of special breeding birds on Otmoor and it was our aim to see some of those on yet another dry, sunny and calm weather day. Over the last few weeks the Moor had quietened down, the spring migrant birds had now mostly found partners and were setting about building nests and breeding so activity along the carpark track and hedgerows was a bit more muted compared to on recent walks. As a result the camera remained largely holstered until we reached the scrapes on Greenaways. No Phalaropes yet but Little Egrets still stalked the shallow weedy fringes in search of a frog or two.

Little Egret

We reached the bench on the bridleway and lingered for a while. I have rechristened this seat, the "Bittern Bench" since I know that at this time of year it is a great place to sit and watch for Bitterns. Greenaways, the field that the bench overlooks is a large, mainly grassy enclosure but which has several small reedbeds interspersed with many ditches and wet patches. The reedbeds, ditches and marshy areas attract feeding Bitterns especially when they have young to feed back in the nest and they can often be seen flying to and from the reedbeds nearest to the bridleway. The bench is as good a place to watch for them as anywhere, particularly while the reserve lagoons remain off limits. We were there for less than ten minutes before a Bittern came flying towards us from the direction of the Northern reedbed! Unfortunately I managed to blow all my photos of the incoming Bittern until it had reached the closest patch of reeds and then only when it was partially hidden by those reeds. Oh well, there'll be another chance soon.

Bittern

I expected to get that chance within a few minutes but unusually the Bittern didn't re-emerge in the next half hour so we moved on to see if there was anything on Big Otmoor. A Brown Hare, huddled up against the anti-predator fence, looked as if it had a hard night and in fact looked a bit like I do when I overdo things in the pub. Not that I, along with the rest of you, have had the opportunity to get worse for wear in the pub recently.

Brown Hare

The only other birds of note were a couple of Lapwings that appeared to be displaying even at this late stage in their breeding season. My best guess would be that they had already failed once at nesting stage, probably losing eggs to one of the many Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Big Otmoor or maybe even chicks to the same Gulls or one of the marauding Red Kites that pay constant attention to  developments on the Moor.

Lapwing

Not the most thrilling of walks on Otmoor this time, the balmy sunny weather put paid to anything too exciting although to be fair the best sightings can't be shared on this blog this time. 

We had had the excitement on the previous Thursday of a female Red-footed Falcon at Piddington and the next day a Hoopoe was found near Banbury. You can read my account of those two sightings at Surprise, Surprise!