March Memories 2025

Saturday 1st March; It was raining!

Far from it actually, since the sun was shining brightly as we marched onto Greenham Common. It didn't stop me singing the Pogues, "Boys from the County Hell" though. Nothing would on the first day of March. We were on the common to get our annual fix of two heathland specialists.

Dartford Warblers have long been a favourite of mine. I always enjoy seeing the little long-tailed waifs of the gorse. Greenham Common is an easy place to see them. They don't seem bothered by the constant disturbance created by people walking and cycling past and not even by the countless dogs, on leads or not. A walk through the middle of the common, down the course of the old runway that one hosted  huge military aircraft, should produce sightings. To find them, you either listen for their scratchy song or spot the whirr of a small dark shape flitting across the path. In early spring the males are just warming up for the breeding season and will often oblige by perching up in a scraggly tree or on top of the gorse or bramble. We saw two such birds on this walk, although singing was limited and the birds just appeared interested in viewing their newly established territories.

Dartford Warbler

Woodlarks are the other scarce bird that breeds on the heath. Again the best way of finding them is to listen out for their lovely flutey song which is usually delivered when the bird is in flight but can also be uttered when perched in a bush or even when stood on the ground. Woodlarks, like their cousins, the Skylarks, can fly remarkably high when singing so I tend to wait and watch and then see where they land. They are not shy and normally allow for reasonably close views. They are rather plain looking birds, brown, white and streaked but have a broad clear supercilium. They do have a crest but it's not as pronounced as a Skylarks and erected far less frequently. They are noticeably short-tailed which helps as a good way of separating from the bigger Skylark. At least five Woodlarks were encountered on our short walk.

Woodlark

Of course there are plenty of other birds on the common but we only had a couple of hours to spare so didn't look very hard. Stonechats were unmissable though, as they always are.

Stonechat

Friday 7th March; Raptor, Raptor, Raptor!

A second visit of the year to our local hotspot for Birds of Prey, and one species in particular. This was a good morning for the variety of birds with six species of raptor seen plus Ravens which are essentially one, although most views were distant.

Red Kites and Common Buzzards were very evident over the farmland, and double figures of each were busy feeding on a newly ploughed field. Sparrowhawks were the first to fly over the woods, and a Kestrel flew past.

Red Kite

Sparrowhawk

Ravens show well here. They can be heard cronking as they approach. On this dull day, a pair passed by reasonably closely and gave fine views. 

Raven

The bird that we really came for proved tricky on this visit. We had to wait until late morning before a female Goshawk flew past. It never came in close, remaining over the woods, and didn't linger, flying purposefully southwards. We were hoping for some nice display but we'd have to wait for another time.

Goshawk

We transferred to a nearby site where a good friend had told us that Peregrine Falcons breed. This was a surprise to us and I never expected to have stonking views of the male bird stood on a gargoyle of a church tower. It flew off almost as soon as we arrived but I managed to grab a few quick frames. We'd definitely be back for more.

Peregrine

Saturday 8th March; Lesser is Better!

Over twenty years ago, I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in some prime woodland in Buckinghamshire. Back then they were much more common than they are now and I knew of a few places locally where they could be seen. Sadly over the next decade or so they pretty much died out in my home area and it was necessary to travel further afield in order to see them. We became aware of some in a Northamptonshire wood, and for a number of years visited there to see them. They too disappeared around three years ago so we started travelling even further to see one, often going to watch a well publicised male bird that frequents trees by the carpark at the RSPB's Middleton Lakes reserve. Then this year after already dipping twice there, I saw reports of a few Lesser Peckers showing well at an undisclosed location in South Buckinghamshire. I did a bit of detective work and discovered that they were in the same woodland as they had been two decades ago. Presumably that wood had remained a stronghold for them throughout that time.

So I knew exactly where I was going as I walked with Mrs Caley down a minor road that skirted the oak and beech woodland. I spotted a friend of mine, who just happened to being conducting a survey of the Woodpeckers. He reckoned there were at least three pairs active and helpfully pointed me in the right direction of where to look. He also asked that I'd keep the site confidential so that the birds didn't get unduly disturbed by the crowds that would surely come if they knew.

It was somewhat surprising then that for the next two hours we didn't see or hear any Lesser Spots! We did however, find a couple of Firecrests which were new for the year. It was only when we met a couple of birders, who were already following a female Lesser Pecker did we see one. She was feeding right by the road as well. Viewing was tricky with the bird preferring the outer branches high up in the canopy but it was good to finally see one at the third attempt this year.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Sunday 9th March; More Peckering!

Now that we knew of a reliable place to see Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, we just had to go and look for them again, and hopefully get better views than we did first time. We were earlier on this morning as well, and we could hear Lesser Pecker drumming coming from the woodland as we approached. The fact that a bird was drumming, the act of hammering on a tree to establish territory or to attract a mate, should make it much easier to find since all we had to was walk toward the sound. Of course you still have to establish the exact tree that the Pecker is pecking.

The bird had ceased to pecker away by the time we had reached the section of wood where it had been drumming. We took a track into the trees and found a small pond which I'd been told on the previous day was a reliable spot for the Woodpeckers. The deeper, yet shorter, drumroll of a Great Spotted Woodpecker started up from somewhere further in the wood. Almost immediately the faster and tinnier sounding drumming of a Lesser Spot joined in. The bird we wanted was closer and appeared to be coming from a large old tree about fifty metres away. We followed the path until we were under that tree. The Lesser Pecker stopped peckering but we saw it fly out of the top of the tree and disappear overhead. I decided it would be a good policy to stand and wait and see if the bird returned since they have favoured drumming stations.

It was only ten minutes before the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker returned to the tree again and resumed drumming on a dead branch that rose vertically out of the main bole of the tree. By backing away a little bit we could not a good view of the drumming bird which turned out to be a female, proving that it's not only male Peckers that drum for attention.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

I backed off a bit more, resulting in being less close to the performing Woodpecker but in having a much better view of it. The branch it was using for a drumming post was fairly substantial meaning that most views of the bird were of its back. Head shots were only possible when it stopped for a breather. 

The Lesser Pecker was very particular in its choice of the part of the branch on which to hammer. We stayed half an hour or so, during which time the bird returned four or five times and it always hit the same tiny spot of wood. I guess there must have been a loose piece of bark that rattled just as the Woodpecker wanted. Unlike its larger cousin, the Great Spot which hammers horizontally at the wood, the Lesser Spot hammered downwards and from just millimetres away. Accuracy at hitting the correct spot was obviously vital to the bird.

We looked elsewhere in the woods and heard other birds drumming but only saw another female, and no males at all. Obviously the males are there, we just couldn't find any. The Tawny Owls were vocal again although they remained hidden, and noisy Ring-necked Parakeets were busy nest prospecting. Spring was getting under way nicely.

Last Chance Winter Ticking!

Our intention was to have a restful afternoon at home but we were out soon after lunch again because a local Oxon birder had discovered a decent sized finch flock at Sydling's Copse, a BBOWT reserve just north of Oxford and a few miles from Otmoor. Crucially, for the purposes of our year list, the flock contained Brambling and Lesser Redpoll, so it would have been daft not to check it out.

It was only a short walk down a sandy track to the rough field where the flock was feeding. Within minutes I had found both a Brambling and a Redpoll settled in an adjacent bush, thus securing a couple of year ticks that I thought had passed us by this winter period.

Brambling

Lesser Redpoll

The aforementioned birds, along with Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Siskins, were enjoying a small stubble patch next to the path. The larger Bramblings and Chaffinches were dropping onto the ground to feed so were only visible when they retreated to the bushes. 

Redpoll were more acrobatic and clung to the wispy stems of the grasses to take seeds but could also be seen taking refuge in the same bushes if flushed by a passer by.

Friday 14th March; Almost Putting the Gos on it!

Another visit to our local forestry in the hope of seeing displaying Goshawks. Once again there was nothing doing, probably because it so cold with a chilly northerly ripping through the site. It wasn't a wasted trip though because a nice juvenile flew past. Not close but at least juveniles with their streaked under parts can't be mistaken for Sparrowhawks.

Goshawk

Saturday 15th March; A Welsh Napoleon!

Most years we travel down to Kent in late summer to catch up with an adult Bonaparte's Gull which has been faithful to a small marshy reserve at Oare for many years. However, views are not always the best and quite often the Gull (often referred to as Napoleon) is asleep or way out on the nearby muddy estuary. So when an adult, albeit not in full summer plumage, was discovered on a river in South Wales and then proved to show well, I hatched a plan to go.

Ogmore-on-Sea is a place that we've visited before, to twitch a Wryneck on the banks of the same river. That Wryneck remains the best that we've ever seen, it was unfazed by its admirers and showed so closely and well. At one point it ventured so close that it hopped over my boot as I sat on the grass watching it!

Wryneck, Ogmore-on-Sea, 27/08/2029

It was an easy walk down to the river to join the half dozen other hopefuls stood on the muddy bank. A couple of chaps that had chosen a different different route down to the river and provided some entertainment as we watched them slither and slide their way which ultimately ended in disaster when one of them went facedown in the ooze. When I first looked at the river and saw upwards of probably five hundred Gulls loafing on a shallow part, I thought that spotting the Boney's was going to be more than a tad tricky. However, the birders already there told us that the bird we wanted had flown downriver, as it had several times before but had always flown back up and returned to where they, and we, were stood.

After a few minutes of idling, I got restless, and decided to walk and slide down the raised embankment towards the river mouth. I could see another couple of birders ahead of us who appeared to be interested in a section of the river about two hundred metres further away. We caught up and spotted just three Gulls stood in the middle of the river. A quick scrutiny of the birds revealed the Bonaparte's Gull stood preening on a partially submerged rock. I do enjoy an easy twitch especially when it's involved a few hours travelling to get there. I hardly had time to take a photograph before the Gull took off and flew back upriver.

Bonaparte's Gull

Rather than follow the Gull back to where we started, we found a beached tree trunk and settled down on it to wait for the Bonaparte's to fly past again. It was a good job Mrs Caley was paying attention because I totally missed it when it flew past us on its way back down river again. It landed midstream agin to take a quick breather. We remained sat on the log and watched the Gull take off and fly back towards us. I waited until the Boney's was alongside, then I jumped up and filled my boots, taking shot after shot of the Gull as it hunted flies above the water, and other stuff in it. The Bonaparte's Gull even took time to check us out.

The pattern was repeated over and over until we decided it was lunchtime. The Boney's would fly downriver and then fly back up it feeding as it went. It rested for a few minutes at the downward end of its route. Photo opportunities were never-ending and I took hundreds, any of which could be shown here. I do like a showy bird!

Our lunch mission was temporarily delayed when I noticed that an American Wigeon had been reported just fifteen minutes before we made it back to the car at Kenfig Pool, which I knew was in South Wales as well. When I realised that it was just ten minutes drive away it made sense to go straight there. Sustenance could wait. Although we only travelled a few miles, the cold grey conditions at Ogmore were replaced by bright and warm sunshine at Kenfig. That made for a hot, strength sapping walk along the soft sandy paths to the pool. It took me a few minutes but I found the Wigeon on the far bank associating with a female Eurasian Wigeon, and oddly, a Coot. Heat shimmer over the water destroyed my photography attempts there.

American Wigeon

Park Here for Hawfinch Hit!

We took lunch at the same cafe that we'd visited after seeing the Wryneck in 2019 (search back to see the whole posting of that bird). With nothing else locally to go for, we discussed options and, on a whim, drove to Parkend in the Forest of Dean, even though we wouldn't make it there until three-thirty in the afternoon. Parkend is famous amongst birders, and especially toggers, for being a place to observe Hawfinches. We'd been a couple of times in the past but, although we'd seen a few of our largest native finches, our views had never been that good (apart from a bird that was bamboozled by a total eclipse of the sun once). So late in the afternoon with only an hour or so of usable light left, I didn't hope for much. Nobody else was parked by the yew trees which I took for another sign that it would probably be a waste of time.

But we were there, so I threw a handful of seed on the ground, and we sat in the car and waited. It took a good fifteen minutes before the first birds showed interest. A pair of Nuthatches began feeding on another spread of seed left on a log, placed to create an artificial but natural perch for the birds (toggers will go to great lengths to improve their photos), and a male Chaffinch dropped out of the yew nearest to us and took readily to the sunflower seeds that I'd provided.

Nuthatch

Chaffinch

Other birds were stationed in the yew tree. We saw Great, Blue & Coal Tits, plus Goldfinches, Greenfinches & more Chaffinches. Some of those dropped out of the tree but all were wary and flew back up at the slightest alarm. This was a Saturday afternoon so the village green where the yew trees stand, was fairly busy with walkers, cyclists and lots more. Many birders become frustrated at the constant disturbance at Parkend, and is why most visit in the early morning before "normal" folk get out and about. When there was a lull in activity then the birds did pluck up enough courage to come to the seed and feed. Around half an hour after we arrived the first brave Chaffinch was followed by a couple more. Suddenly as if a switch was flicked, the ground below the tree was covered by over twenty Chaffinches. Then some real magic occurred. Mrs Caley who had sat in the rear seat of the car for a better view so that I could park side on to the yew trees, whispered, 'look, in the tree, just off the ground'. Just fifteen feet away in the lower branches of the closest yew, was a superb male Hawfinch eyeballing me. I couldn't believe it!

Hawfinch

I tried to control my excitement, this was an incredible moment since I'd never had a Hawfinch so close before, and rattled off some photos. As always it was dark under the yews and it was nearing the end of the day so was getting very dingy but the camera performed pretty well at low shutter speeds. Any blur was created by my shaking hands. 

The Hawfinch remained on the slender branch for probably thirty seconds, a long time for such a wary bird to stay still, as it eyed up the potential risks and then it was on the ground, munching away on the seed that I put out to try and entice one! I love a plan that works out. I reckon the Hawfinch stayed on feeding for ten seconds, long enough to grab a few more shots and then it was gone, back in to the secret world of the yew tree. 

We waited for ten minutes longer but there was no further sign of the Hawfinch, or indeed any of the other birds. I had another idea for the way home that I wanted to act on before it was too dark. Having dipped Dippers a few weeks back, I drove a few miles to a bridge that crosses a small stream where I'd seen the little fast water specialists before. Mrs Caley was sceptical but I cajoled her out of the car to look downstream from the bridge. And, voila! There fifty metres away on the pebble bed of the stream was what I'd come for, a fine Dipper, although by now at gone five o'clock, we could barely see it!

Dipper

Sunday 16th March; Sweet Corn!

A little jaded by the big day out to Wales and the Forest of Dean, we opted for a quiet day, and only ventured out to visit some local farmland in the hope of adding our first Corn Buntings of the year. We always seem to go on this walk when it's a grim, grey and dreary day, I guess because when the sun is out we like to seek out rarer birds further away. Not that Corn Buntings are common anymore, certainly not in North Oxfordshire. This path, and the birds, is just a few miles from home, and we should really walk it more often since we've found breeding Yellow Wagtails in the summer from it in the past. Too early for them yet but we did find our target birds. The Corn Buntings played quite hard to get, preferring to perch in distant hedgerows but a prolonged sit on the only available bench eventually gained us better views when one of the Bunting proclaimed its territory from the top of a nearer bush.

Corn Bunting

Tuesday 18th March; Hawfinch Heaven!

Churchyards and cemeteries are well known places to find and see Hawfinches. A large percentage of  all the Hawfinches that I've seen in my local county have been on holy ground. A friend and top local birder, Gareth had established that the cemetery in the heart of Woodstock was hosting a few of the enigmatic finches. Indeed we'd already tried to see some there at the end of February but only had a brief view of a couple. Since then Gareth (Woodstock Wildlife Record), and Ewan (aka Black Audi Birding) had selected a good spot where the birds could be observed without disturbing them, and began putting down food in an attempt to entice the Hawfinches into it. Their combined efforts reaped results and within a few days they were getting great views and photographs. An early morning visit was needed and I'd been fairly busy so hadn't had a chance to go myself for the first week or so.

I was also keen to go on a sunny day so that the light would be good. It was early for us, but not so for Ewan who was already secreted behind a tree studying the feeding area. He'd already seen a female Hawfinch so we were confident of having a successful morning. The first glimpse of a Hawfinch for us though, wasn't on the ground but of a female perched up in a tree about fifty metres away. It was taster for what was to come.

Hawfinch

Twenty minutes after that first sighting another, or the same, female Hawfinch dropped out of a box tree and warily started feeding on the scattered seed. We weren't as close as we'd been at Parkend a few days before, unfortunately there's no provision for driving in and parking up in this churchyard, but the views were still outstanding. Over the next fifteen minutes there was repeated visits to the feeding spot by at least two female Hawfinches. They may have been more of course, but two was the maximum seen at any one time. 

Plenty of other birds were resident in the churchyard, some attracted to the seeds, others seeking worms and other food. Many provided excellent size comparisons with the Hawfinches. A pair of Blackbirds were already building a nest nearby and the female posed beautifully on top of one of the headstones. 

Pheasant

Blackbird

We made a promise to return for another stint at photographing the Hawfinches, males had been seen by the others, but in the event didn't make it because we had a short break to North Wales starting the following day. The females however, were just as fabulous. I could never get bored with seeing Hawfinches. They are such special birds.

Wednesday 19th-Saturday 22nd March; Wonderful Wales!

The recount of a short break to North Wales, to see Black Grouse and other good birds is blogged up separately.

Black Grouse

Sunday 23rd March; Back to Local Matters

Mrs Caley's birthday week is the time of year when we expect to see our first Garganey of the year. We normally get one or two on our Wales excursion but this time we had to wait until the day after. We didn't have to go very far either because JFT found a pair of our only summer migratory duck at our local reserve at Bicester Wetlands on Saturday as we travelled home. We chanced our luck as early as we could make it out the next morning. The male of the pair had been seen already so we knew that they were still present. Initially we couldn't find them but after twenty minutes, and on my umpteenth scan of the reserve, both ducks suddenly appeared at the far side of the main pool.

Garganey

Normally we'd been happy enough with that but as we readying to leave, the Garganey stood up and flew off in the direction of the cattle bridge pool, a smaller water body at the southern end of the site. Views would be closer there, if the birds did indeed touch down, so we thought that we may as well walk down and have a look. The two Garganey were there, so we settled into the hide as quietly as possible, birds are easily spooked there, and eased the slats open. We were rewarded with some nice views of the pair although they were very wary.

The pool also gives good opportunities for seeing Green Sandpipers and Common Snipes at closer range. At least a couple of each were feeding along the inlet on the far side. We even saw one of the Green Sandpipers cough up a far from delightful looking pellet.

Green Sandpiper

Common Snipe

Instead of going home and getting some rest, we headed down to Farmoor reservoir to year tick a couple of Little Gulls that had been reported. Typically for the species they were out in the middle of F1, the smaller of the two basins. So the tiny Gulls were extremely distant for the most part. However, I legged it down the north bank while Mrs Caley sensibly stayed nearer the carpark, to get some slightly closer and better views, and a couple of usable photographs. 

Little Gull

Saturday 29th March; Just Wow! Put out the Bunting!

We were wanting a Treecreeper for our year list so we visited a local woodland on the Chiltern ridge where we've seen them many times before. There is another attraction in the woods there but we'd already seen Firecrests this year so wouldn't be actively searching for them, although naturally we'd be happy to see one again if any came our way. The Firecrests nest here but tend to stick to a block of conifers well away from the carpark so it was a big surprise when, alerted to movement in a holly bush just fifty feet from the car, I spotted (presumably) two males chasing each other around. The action was frantic but after a while one of the birds, seemingly vanquished, flew out leaving the winner in the bush. Calmness resumed, the Firecrest started feeding and relaxed giving me the chance to gain some nice images.

Firecrest

The Firecrest even began singing a few times. Not that I could hear it that well, my tinnitus doesn't allow me to but I could see that it was. Some of the views when it hopped into surrounding deciduous trees and the nettles around them were jaw dropping.

We saw several more Firecrests as we walked around the wood but never found a Treecreeper. It's incredible that on all our travels this year, that we haven't seen one. No panic though, one will be sure to come along somewhere.

We hadn't made any other plans for the day but when a report came in via BirdGuides that a long staying Little Bunting had been seen again near Woking in Surrey, we thought we may as well go and chance our luck. We'd need it too. Our friends Rob & Thomas had tried four times already to see that bird and had failed every time! I messaged them to ask for details. As chance would have it they were the ones that had reported it, having connected that morning. Fifth time lucky!

Lunch was taken on the way, and we arrived at Send just after kick off for Woking v Braintree Town, that we'd driven past a couple of miles along the road. There was just a handful of other birders looking and soon the enormity of the task dawned. We were stood in a huge stubble field viewing a tall and tangled hedgerow with a few taller trees dotted in. I reviewed the past sightings and realised that the bird could be just about anywhere in a two hundred metre stretch of the field edge. I checked with Thomas again, and he said that the Little Bunting favoured the hedge close to a row of containers parked at the back of the carpark that we'd left the car in. So at least we didn't have to walk far and knew where to concentrate our efforts. To compound the problem, there were a number of Reed Buntings also using the trees and hedge as lookout posts.

Reed Bunting

The first half a dozen calls from various people (not us) concerned Reed Buntings. It was becoming frustrating so I distanced myself from the rest of them. A slightly smaller bird hopping around a bramble got my hopes up but it disappeared. Almost an hour and half had passed, most of the other birders that had trickled in had left, leaving just us, a chap whom I recognised from a few twitches and a couple of others. We were well spread out so communication would have to be done by semaphore. I had a quick chat with Ross, the fellow twitcher, who had driven up from Kent for the bird. He was ultra confident, and was adamant that the Little Bunting would show. I was less so, but then he'd only been there for ten minutes. Five minutes later he was frantically waving at us and pointing to the tall tree that I had studied most of all since arriving. A brisk walk followed. There were four birds in the tree. I quickly photographed them all in case they flew off, then looked at them through my binoculars. As I checked the birds, three of them did fly. Fortunately the one remaining bird was the Little Bunting!

Little Bunting

Now I had an opportunity to get some decent photos of a tricky species to catch up with. Last year we tried in vain to see one, even failing to pick up any of multiple birds while in Flamborough last September. Luckily for us all this Little Bunting stayed in the tree for a couple of minutes giving everybody ample time to get good views and photos, the best I'd had since seeing two at Thursley Common after the second lockdown had ended in April 2021.

Sunday 30th March; Familiar Haunts

Only our second visit of the year to Otmoor. The Moor used to be our second home but we rarely get out there these days because we always seem to have somewhere else to go. I've never been an avid patch watcher because I get bored with seeing the same stuff. Even Bitterns and Short-eared Owls, that captivate so many other folk, fail to hold my attention for long. However, it's always good to walk out onto the reserve and to spend a bit of time relaxing at the screens, and of course always good to have a catchup with friends who do visit the Moor regularly.

One good thing about visiting infrequently, is that we see the Moor changing. When you go to a place a lot then the changes through the seasons happen seamlessly and smoothly. Go only every couple of months, then the changes are marked and are very noticeable. But, this is Oxfordshire, so the apart from winter birds leaving and a handful of summer migrants coming in, not much changes regarding the birdlife. Bitterns are still the best birds of the Moor. Not that we saw any on this walk, although several were booming from deep in the reedbeds.

A single Yellow Wagtail flying over, and a couple of singing Willow Warblers, were otherwise our only new birds for the year. We did get nice views of some of the expected birds, especially of a small gang of drake Gadwall mercilessly chasing a female around. Who'd be a duck amongst drakes?!

Gadwall

Marsh Harrier

Back at home, actually at my Mother's house, we saw the latest of many leucistic birds that we've had in our area. Although not as stunning as the Snow Crows (leucistic Magpies) that had graced our local streets last Autumn, the House Sparrow that I'd noticed a few weeks ago, was now feeding in Mum's front garden. It's a female and is paired up with a normally plumaged male. They have been next building on the house next door.

House Sparrow

March had provided much, and varied birding. We added thirty-two to our year list, mainly owing to taking the trip to North Wales, and had seen a new bird albeit only a subspecies, a Kumlien's Gull (more about that in the next blog).

April would be eagerly anticipated because we had a week's holiday booked to Lesvos!