No regret, Egret! Sunday 20th January 2019

We had dipped out on seeing a Cattle Egret early in the New Year after seeing a Great Northern Diver on the Berkshire and Oxfordshire border and failed to find any whilst in Gloucestershire yesterday so it made sense to lay that bogey to rest early. Cattle Egret was also one of several glaring omissions on our 2018 year list! The bird near Reading at Englefield Green had been seen just about every day since we'd failed to connect with it so that was the obvious one to have another go at and at under an hours drive from home much to gain and little to lose.

We left home early and parked up next to the Cattle Egrets favoured horse paddock just after daybreak. Nice and quiet at that time on a Sunday morning, the busy A4 runs past the field but was almost devoid of traffic, and it was still quite dark on what was a very dull and overcast start to the day. I scanned the field, particularly around the hay troughs that the horses feed from, while Mrs Caley remained warm and cosy in the car. There was no sign of the Cattle Egret. Groan! I shifted my position slightly and right over by the roadside hedge I caught just a glimpse of a small moving, but crucially, white object. The Cattle Egret was just out of full view owing to the land dipping towards to the road. I wondered if we had somehow missed it three weeks ago because of the lay of the land but then remembered that we'd also looked from a bus-stop lay-by next to the hedge so couldn't have. I drove around to the lay-by and we very gingerly walked up to the hedge so as not to scare the Egret. Despite our stealth the Cattle Egret was already aware of our presence and was walking away from the hedge although it did seem settled and was feeding. I took a few record shots and hoped that the sun would miraculously appear from the heavy clouds but of course it resolutely refused to do so. 

Cattle Egret, Englefield Green 20th January 2019

Over the next half hour we watched the Cattle Egret alternatively feed in the short grass, rest close to one of the hay containers and just twice fly a short distance when a horse came too close. I couldn't coax it to pose on top of one of the beasts and neither could I encourage the big red round shiny thing to appear in the sky either so had to be content with what I got in the picture stakes.

Having had our fill and not wanting to annoy the driver of the 09:18 bus that was due any minute by hogging his parking space we jumped back into the warm car and drove back to Oxfordshire and to Millets Farm near Frilford Heath. This would serve a dual purpose, one to get a warming cup of coffee and two to see if a White Stork seen there yesterday was still around. The Stork itself would be an escaped bird, most found in the UK are, so wouldn't count on our year lists but would be good to see. In the event and despite us searching most of the complex it wasn't to be seen anywhere so we still have just the single White Stork near Buckingham a long time ago on our life lists, in fact we've seen more Black Storks than White Storks in the UK! Much more obliging was a Rook that was feeding out of the food bowls intended for the animals in the children zoo on site. When seen in decent light and at close quarters, too close really since I couldn't get the whole bird in the frame, Rooks are truly beautiful birds. I posted a few photos of this Rook on Twitter and gained nearly twice as many "likes", over 300, as I ever had for a tweet before! Proving it's not only rare birds that captivate interest.

Our next stop was at Buckland Warren near Faringdon where we'd had success with Crossbills at the end of last year, see Crossbills. Although we heard and saw around six of the conifer woodland specialists none settled in the favoured larch trees this time but at least they were added to the year list. We were entertained by a Great Spotted Woodpecker impersonating the Crossbills, it would snip a cone off the trees then jam it up against a branch and vigorously extract the seeds.

I spent a bit of time attempting to photograph a Goldcrest that was deftly searching out food but in reality it was tricky to gain any reasonable images. They are easier to capture in the Cornish valleys.

On our way back to the car we were watched very suspiciously by a Muntjac Deer, the welcome sunshine illuminating it beautifully against the lush new growth grass.

Lunch was taken at the very good Horse and Jockey in nearby Stanford-in-the-Vale and over coffee we hatched a plan to revisit the Short-eared Owl site just over the border in Gloucestershire where we'd been fogged off the evening before. We were there within half an hour but this time as we drove slowly around the perimeter roads we were far from alone, there must have been another twenty birders and toggers with the same idea. We spotted a Shortie almost immediately so pulled the car into the side and geared up for action. This Owl was hunting a fair way out in the field so I didn't go too mad with the camera, until it surprised another one up out of the grass which then appeared to want what ever the other one had which didn't seem to be anything. Perhaps the second just enjoyed chasing the first?

The original Owl having shrugged off the attention of the other which had returned to its roosting, landed on a post which drew the scrutiny of a Kestrel that dive-bombed the Owl a few times before drifting off and finding its own perch to settle on.

The Short-eared Owl resumed its hunting and fortunately for us it preferred the corner of the field not far from where we parked. It put on a really good show for some time but despite frequent dives down to the ground we never saw it catch anything, maybe it was just practicing and having fun.

Unfortunately the earlier sunshine had dissipated this late in the afternoon but at least we could see the Short-eared Owls this time. All species of Owls are a joy to see and Shorties are probably the most interesting to watch since they hunt in daylight whereas the other species are primarily nocturnal unless feeding young. In total there were three seen hunting in the field that we'd chosen to watch, there may well be more in the adjoining fields.

We were lucky enough to see another Barn Owl perched by the roadside near Eynsham on our journey home. We pulled up and watched it glide back over the road and past a farmyard until it was lost to sight, the third Barnie I'd seen in little over a week. Now we just need the Long-eared Owl to complete the set of British breeding Owls for the year list, something to look for next weekend.