Richard the 2nd, an Oxon Tick! 3rd November 2018

Late on Friday afternoon a Richard's Pipit was found in a horse paddock off one of the tracks that lead out on to the Oxfordshire and Berkshire Downs and being on the North side of the Ridgeway meant it was in Oxon! Richard's Pipits are rare birds in Oxfordshire, just 4 recorded before and none twitchable in my birding lifetime so I was eager to see the bird if I could. Problem was that at 3 o'clock on that Friday afternoon I was still at work and besides, getting the 35 miles or so to Blewbury through the traffic that would undoubtedly be jammed fast (oxymoron, love them!) on the A34 there would be no hope of making it to the site before darkness fell. So when pictures from the finder and eminent Oxon bird photographer, Roger Wyatt, hit Oxon Bird Blog later that evening, I was well and truly gripped!

It had taken me almost 20 years of birding to finally see a Richard's Pipit after several near misses in the past. Almost every holiday that Mrs Caley and myself had taken to Cornwall or Suffolk had offered one up and we had failed to see any. Thankfully we laid the bogey to bed by seeing the long staying bird at Arlingham in Gloucestershire earlier this year. That particular twitch had involved a long slog through ankle deep mud and then we had to find the bird ourselves since nobody else was present! Read the full account (if you can be bothered!) here Richard's Pipit, Gloucestershire

Badger, to whom I'm grateful once again, informed me on Saturday morning that the Pipit was still there so we drove the 40 minutes or so from home to the parking area just outside of the delightful village of Blewbury. We had been trying to get into our local reserve at the time of receiving the news, where a Jack Snipe had been seen the day before, but couldn't undo the bloody padlock on the gate, do I ever hate that lock, so were already in the car ready to roll. It was only a short walk to the paddock where the bird was and we joined fellow Oxon birders, Ewan, Pete and Steve next to the enclosure fence. They were all comfortably looking at the bird but despite their expert guidance to its location, it still took me a few moments to spot it in the long grass! Mainly because the Pipit was only about halfway away, about 40 metres at a guess, to where I was looking and expecting it to be! Once on the bird, my 229th species recorded in Oxon, it was easy to track even though it disappeared frequently into the grass. I rattled off a couple of record shots and then attached the converter to my lens to give some extra reach.

There it is!

Richard's Pipits are the largest Pipit species that we are likely to encounter in Britain standing almost as tall as a Song Thrush on its long Wagtail like legs. Indeed it superficially resembles a Song Thrush being as it is, a brownish bird with a streaked breast (ok the Song Thrush has arrow shaped spots) and "kind" looking face but differs in its habits and jizz (obviously, its a Pipit not a Thrush so is much less bulky), longer and thinner bill (but still robust for a Pipit), a striking supercilium and long tail. It favours open grassland to feed and since they are mainly autumn migrants to our shores, are usually found on clifftops or coastal fields so it was easy to see why it was happy here on the inland Downs and in this particular horse paddock since there is long (but regulated by the grazing of the attendant racehorses) grass in abundance. We watched the Pipit at leisure and I enjoyed the banter being passed around. Taking good photos wasn't easy (is it ever for me?), as we were facing East and it was still mid-morning, but I took plenty anyway. Mostly you could only see the head and shoulders of the bird as it peered around in search for its next snack. It would chase some unseen insect for a short distance through the grasses before appearing again. Only on a couple of occasions in the hour or so that we were there did we get to appreciate the whole bird! For stragglers even more straggly than me the Richard's Pipit appeared well settled so would likely stay around all day and probably for a few more days yet. It may already have been here for a long time already since there are infinite unseen bits of fields that it may have been hiding in.

After a coffee and a slice of cake at the local farm shop cafe we decided to take a walk around the Churn farm area which lies just a mile or so west of the Pipits chosen field. Again there is a long track that goes right out into the Downs here ending in a small parking area near to a disused railway. We've had good and bad days here in the past, sometimes seeing loads of good birds and at others next to nothing! Such is Downland birding. We noticed a few birds on the manure dump next to the railway bridge but could only pick up Chaffinch, Pied Wagtail and a very fresh Meadow Pipit.

Meadow Pipit

We strolled along the concrete road that leads to a ruined building about half a mile due east. The road is flanked by two large fields and we've had success here in autumn with Wheatears and Whinchat before (see Churn) but now already in the first throes of winter those migrant birds will be long gone. I spotted a bird in a distant tree and yelled over the wind to Mrs Caley, "Barn Owl! "Where?" was her reply just as a Kestrel materialised from the Owl shape and flew out. Oops! Specsavers anybody!!! 

Oh dear! Kestrel

I redeemed myself by correctly identifying 4 Corn Buntings that alighted onto the overhead telegraph wires. Plain and nondescript looking birds are a big favourite of mine so I was having a good day! I like Corn Buntings a lot, they are a vastly underrated and underwetched bird and in the spring have that delightful jangling song. Before long they departed and flew off across the field towards the trees and bushes that line the old railway. They were followed by a small group of Skylark that appeared to be engaged in much chasing and jostling, maybe already gearing up for the breeding season ahead.

Corn Buntings

Skylark

We cut across the field to access the second railway bridge. The bushes here are adorned with tons of berries and it was on those that a good size flock of a couple of hundred Fieldfare were feasting. It's always nice to see the flocks of winter thrushes even it does herald the onset of colder weather. The flock was very flighty but would always return to the same trees. I couldn't see a single Redwing amongst them though, they must still be holed up further north but they'd arrive soon enough. I spent a bit of time trying to capture the Fieldfare in flight but in truth they were never really close enough.

Fieldfares

The Ridgeway, the long track that runs right across this part of southern England was easier to walk than the muddy field path so we made our way back via that route. A small party of 3 Yellowhammers flew up and out of the cabbages (maybe Kale) and landed in a small tree. A flash of colour in what was now a dull and overcast day. Yellowhammers, particularly the males, are one of our most attractive songbirds and sadly declining as quickly as many others so places like the Downs are an important stronghold for them.

Yellowhammers

Several Red Kites were patrolling the farmland but also resolutely stayed just out of reach and a flock of 25 Lapwing flapped past. More flocks of Fieldfare filed through along with Starlings and many Gulls, mainly Black-headed but some Great Black Backed and Herring too.

Fieldfare

Lapwings

Red Kite

Back on the concrete road some more Corn Buntings put in appearance again using the overhead wires as a vantage point. One of them posed very obligingly and allowed me a much closer approach than earlier.

Corn Bunting

We finished the walk with a male Stonechat perched distantly on one of the old fence posts and the Barn Owl impersonating Kestrel had returned to its perch!

Stonechat

Twenty years with no Richard's Pipits and now we've logged two in just nine months. Birds are like buses!