Madness! But Necessary Weekend Therapy. 15th February 2020

Hardly news anymore as the weather spokesperson on the telly relates to us beleaguered Brits that Saturday gets another storm. Following on from last weeks Ciara, Dennis is set to wreak havoc upon us all this time. My garden fence barely survived the wrath of Ciara, my over the road neighbours was less fortunate, so my teeth were gritted most of Friday night as I waited for a crash that would confirm that my strategic placing of a couple of extra posts had failed. Amazingly, however, the fence did live on ready for the next storm event (which would no doubt just be a few days away). As we all know the Met Office tends to overdo their weather warnings, well to folk that live in Bicester anyway since nothing extraordinary has ever happened here, if we get a single snowflake drop from the sky then we all get the sleds out ready to have some fun, but seeing the flooding and damage elsewhere in the country, just underlines the fact that weather patterns are changing and becoming much more extreme than they used to be. The advice from the newsreaders was "to stay indoors, turn out the lights and draw the curtains" but we are birders and birders don't like staying in especially on a non work day. Strong winds make walking in woodland a no-no, even a hard hat won't save you if half a tree falls on your head and the Tower Hide at the local wetland reserve didn't seem a good idea since they'd be a fair chance we'd end up flying high up along with the birds that we want to see. Luckily, for once, the coast doesn't come very close to North Oxfordshire so we'd be safe from the sea, although the TV was showing footage of some very big waves. Most birds would be sensible enough to be sheltering anyway, they'd be in the bushes or in the reeds at Otmoor so we needed to choose a destination where the birds didn't have anywhere to hide. Farmoor is hard work in strong winds and if you're exposed to the gusts along the causeway then you can literally be swept right off your feet. Besides apart from the Toggers delights down by the river (I didn't fancy being shored up inside a hide for hours listening to other folk comparing pixel sizes)  there hadn't been much reported recently there. Decision then to head to Draycote Water, which would be just as windy but the South-western side at least offers some protection owing to a small hillside affording shelter, for another whirl at finding the Black-necked Grebe that we managed to miss a fortnight before.

Reader(s) of my last blog will know that I belatedly did some homework and found out that the Grebe was to be found in an area called Rainbow Corner which is generally sheltered from the winds and not along the Farborough Bank where Mrs Caley and I got windswept in the storm before Ciara. Armed with that knowledge we arrived at a virtually empty carpark, most other folk had obviously and wisely taken more heed of the warnings to stay at home, just after ten o'clock and set off through the marina. The water was only lapping gently at the slipways and jetties but further out there were "white horses" which were leaping way up above the surface, a state that I believe designates near gale force winds on the Beaufort scale. The marina is set into a low hillside and hence was getting some protection from the south-westerly winds. The protection of the hill allowed us to walk fairly comfortably along the southern shore while I scanned for the Grebe, until we reached the low dam that constitutes the Hensborough Bank where we were laid open to the full force of the wind. The dam wall still kept the immediate reaches of the reservoir reasonably calm and most of the wildfowl species were busy either resting or feeding there. We set up the scope and looked at each and every bird in turn. There were many Grebes but all were of the Great Crested or Little variety. Try as hard as I could I just couldn't turn any of them into the Black-necked whether it was close to the bank or further out on the edge of the spray. I did find a couple of first winter drake Greater Scaups that were lolling around in the quieter water, preening and stretching to pass the time. Of course, Scaup are really ducks of the sea so this windy day wouldn't bother them in the slightest.

Greater Scaup, 1st winter male

I spotted a female Goosander further along the causeway so we ventured further out into the gale, we didn't linger long mind you, and hurried towards the other end where a small wooded copse would offer more scant protection. At least it wasn't raining! At our approach the Goosander swam lazily out from the wall to watch us from its own perceived safe distance. Goosanders are impressive large ducks and I always enjoy seeing them whether on a windblown reservoir in the winter or on a fast running river in Scotland in summer.

Goosander, female

We were now at Rainbow Corner and I erected the scope again. A fine looking drake Mallard, more at home in the presence of people, eyed me suspiciously but stood its ground on the dam wall. All duck species are reaching full breeding plumage now and even our common and taken for granted Mallards look resplendent. The main reservoir dam wall, the Draycote Bank, was to our left and faced westwards right into the teeth of the storm which appeared to be increasing in strength all the time. I scanned along the dam but there were only hardier species to be seen there, more Great Crested Grebes and female Goosanders, a few Tufted Ducks and very close in a couple of Little Grebes but still no sign of the Black-necked Grebe. I looked further afield and found a fine drake Red-crested Pochard, our first of this year, and more Goosanders including a couple of males this time. The only birds out in the rougher water were Cormorants and large Gull species which like the Scaup would be perfectly at ease out there. I thought that we'd may as well go and have a closer look at the Red-crested Pochard.

Mallard, male

Undertaking the walk along the Draycote Bank proved to be a rash decision since halfway along it began raining and heavily at that. We had the weather at our backs so decided that seeing as we were already and quickly wet that we'd take refuge in the trees at the far end rather than return just in case the Black-necked Grebe was sheltering amongst the submerged trees that stood there. As we passed a small outlet we surprised another female Goosander from its feeding and I managed to react in time to gain a photo of it flying back out into the main reservoir. The Red-crested Pochard had managed to vanish but we added a few Gadwall and Goldeneye to the mornings proceedings.

Goosander, female

The rain was incessant now but we couldn't stay all day so we had to brave it and walk back the way we'd come. We were drenched and the rain really stung as it hit our faces and we both tried our best to walk backwards into it but on unfamiliar territory you do need to look where you're going occasionally. The rough weather must have been getting to some of the Great Crested Grebes since two of them were embroiled in a set to. I don't know whether it was two males, two females or a potential pair but the encounter was far from amiable unless that species likes rough sex! At times it looked as though the dominant bird might drown the other until the maltreated bird managed to wriggle free and fly off. Definitely male and female then, none of that thank you very much!

Great Crested Grebes

We reached the sanctuary of the southern end of the dam and the hillside and trees once again gave us some shelter. A female Goosander had hauled up onto the grassy bank so I stealthily, as well as I could in my damp clothes anyway, used some bushes as cover to take a couple of closer images. A drake also drifted closer in, maybe keeping an eye on its own dame as well as me on the shoreside path, before it also took to flight having decided that I posed a threat. Perhaps it had noticed how at home I was in the rain, not! A Grey Wagtail flew in and settled on the rocks nearby and also eyed us cautiously before searching out some food in amongst the rock crevices. I mused on the notion that insect eating birds like Wagtails must have it tough in poor conditions but I also guess that they are well adapted to find sustenance in such places otherwise they wouldn't be here.

Goosanders

Grey Wagtail

I kept scanning all of the likely looking candidates for the Black-necked Grebe as we toiled back towards the cafe and that well earned coffee but still I could only come up with Little Grebes. Then almost back at the marina I noticed a small Grebe tucked up against some bramble bushes which lined the edge of the reservoir. Bingo! I knew even before scoping the bird that I'd found my quarry since, well, I've seen enough Black-necked Grebes in my time and I wondered why I'd bothered scrutinising so many Little Grebes thus far since I also knew that none of them really filled the credentials I was looking for. We walked towards the brambles and realised that we had missed the Black-necked Grebe first time around because it had been obscured by them and I had neglected to study the area enough. But, hey, we now had the bird so set about getting a better view. Fortunately there is a small car parking for anglers at this point so we could watch the Grebe from there at fairly close quarters. The Grebe had of course spotted us too because it now moved out away from the bank which was actually helpful since the bushes were no longer in the way. Even in the awful weather, rain was still falling heavily, the red eye of the Black-necked Grebe shone out like a beacon and appeared to penetrate the gloom giving a focal point to my otherwise somewhat monochromatic images. The Grebe was our 112th species seen this year which, incredibly it seemed to me after our big effort of last year, was more than we'd seen by this point last year.

Black-necked Grebe

That persistent rain meant that, even though we had found our target bird, we didn't tarry long and instead went in search of that warming drink in the cafe. On the way we encountered a pair of Coots next to a small flooded area on the grassy bank, one was doing very Coot like things such as tugging at the submerged grass and weed and eating the results, the other was acting very strangely in that it just sat on the grass as if it was sitting on eggs on its nest! The sitting bird was very loathe to move even when I made a move towards it. I take pride in not purposely scaring any birds away so didn't move any closer to the bird and satisfied with a couple of close up shots left it alone to continue its repose. I later learned through Twitter that the seated Coot was actually stricken by having fishing line wrapped around its feet but despite others best efforts had so far managed to escape capture. Discarded fishing line presents a big problem to water birds.

Coot

We made it to the cafe and joined the one other couple present and really enjoyed that coffee which helped to warm us through. The warm air heating floor vents helped dry us and our optics off a bit too. The weather had been pretty horrid but it's always worth getting out there for much need birding therapy!