OCD #2; Early July 2021

The rest of June's birding was spent on Anglesey (blogged here and here) and twitching a rainbow coloured Roller (blogged here) so this latest edition of OCD (the shortened version of Old Caley's Diary) picks back up in July.

Saturday 3rd July; BWR & Boddington Reservoir

We don't spend enough time at our local reserve but try to get down there at least once a month. Normally our visits are taken on foul weather days since the hide there affords some protection against the elements, or on the rare occasions when Alan finds something unusual, so it was a joy to actually spend an hour or so in glorious sunny conditions. There is a lot of building work going on in the water treatment works and the Bicester concrete tsunami is creeping ever nearer from the other direction resulting in a definite detrimental effect on the numbers of birds on the reserve this year. The reedbed that the hide overlooks still holds a few Reed Warbler and it was one of those that provided most of the entertainment.

Reed Warbler

We decided to head up to Boddington Reservoir for yet another attempt at finding the resident Willow Tits that are know to breed there. In the event we never got any further than the field next to the carpark because as we were togging up for our walk I heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling away from the marshy area next to the reservoir. We'd had great views of a Gropper here at the end of April (see here) and this reeling bird was probably the same male bird which having reared one brood was now advertising its worth in preparation for a second breeding attempt. We homed in on the reeling, never an easy task, and found the Grasshopper Warbler in a small isolated oak tree. Groppers are one of my favourite birds and I can sit, watch and listen to one for hours, which we duly did! The Willow Tits would wait for later in the year.

Grasshopper Warbler

Sunday 4th July; Otmoor

This was one of the "Bittern mornings" for which Otmoor is rightly renowned for at this time of year. After spending much of the spring hidden away in the reeds when the young hatch in June and begin to grow the adult Bitterns undertake many "feeding flights" and become much more visible as they move around the moor from the nest site to one of their feeding areas. The bridleway is as good a place as any to see them and they can be frequently encountered as they fly over Greenaways. This morning we were watching a Little Egret when a Bittern flew past behind it.

Little Egret with (photobombing) Bittern

Usually the Bitterns head for one of the isolated reedbeds or to the long ditch that lines the cross path that runs across Greenaways. Then it's a case of waiting for the Bittern to fly back to the main reedbed where they breed. This time though we had the thrill of watching the Bittern fly almost directly towards us and then land next to the ditch that runs alongside the bridleway. It stood on the grassy bank for a few seconds before slipping away into the reeds and disappearing.

Bittern

We walked on and were treated to the return flypast of the Bittern as we sat on the "Bittern Bench" (sorry Barbara). The Bittern landed in the closest patch of reeds to the bench as well so we really were being spoiled.

The lure of further flypasts was too great so we spent the next few hours in the same place, we never made it to the lagoons at all on this visit, and although we saw two Bitterns flying over Greenaways at the same time neither gave us a close flypast. A Raven and a male Marsh Harrier were slightly more daring and along with Cuckoos and Cetti's Warblers provided rich entertainment.

Raven

Marsh Harrier

Saturday 10th July; RSPB Bempton Cliffs 

A trip up to Yorkshire to connect with the magnificent Black-browed Albatross that had returned to the cliffs for the second successive summer, except that we didn't because the sought after bird flew out to sea about an hour before we got there. We made two subsequent trips to see the bird and finally almost two months later got the crippling views and photos that I longed for (see here). Luckily the cliffs at Bempton are home to many other birds during the breeding season so even in the absence of the Albatross there was still plenty to see and enjoy. Razorbills, Guillemots and Puffins adorn the cliffs and Fulmars and Gulls fly past along with occasional Peregrines and Kestrels.

Puffin

The star attraction though is the huge colony of Gannets which number many thousands and are everywhere along the cliffs. The air above the cliffs is full of them whirling around and at times bewildering when trying to pick out individual birds. We stayed for almost six hours, all the time hoping for a return of the Albatross, during which time I took a lot of photos of the Gannets.

Gannet (adult top, 3rd calendar year centre & below)

A thriving flock of Tree Sparrows breed in the visitor centre buildings and in nest boxes provided for them and we watched some while taking a late lunch. A beautiful Swallow added to the ambience.

Tree Sparrow

Swallow