Most of March 2024

Friday 1st March; Finching

On the first day of March it was raining….I headed to Balscote Quarry reserve in my lunch hour since I was working nearby. Of the hundreds of finches, buntings and other birds using the feeders for sustenance, none of them were Brambling, and the incessant rain made for difficult viewing and photography. There was surprise in store though when a Woodcock burst out of the grassy scrub followed by a very eager Sparrowhawk!

Yellowhammer

Saturday 2nd March; Another Far Away Shrike

A Great Grey Shrike at Weeting in The Bricks was worth visiting. The last one we saw in Derbyshire towards the end of December last year was extremely distant. This one was closer but still a fair way away and proved elusive. It was a decent morning though, with Woodlark, Common Crossbill and Goshawk also seen, distantly of course.

Great Grey Shrike

Sunday 3rd March; More Birds at Feeders

We wanted to see a Brambling before the winter period was out, and thanks to a Twitter friend, found the ideal place at a Garden Centre not too far from home. There is a small hide that overlooks a mass of feeders where food for the birds, and access for visitors to watch them, is provided for free by the owners of the site. The hide only sits about four people comfortably and there are signs asking photographers not to "hog" the hide and move aside if other visitors to the site wish to sit and watch the birds, especially if children want to see birds at close quarters. When we arrived though, there was no pressure and we had the hide and birds to ourselves.

The feeders are placed on the edge of a wooded area. The number of birds on view was at times amazing. A flock of over a hundred Linnets were noisily chattering away in the trees and provided the backdrop for a really good hours birding. To begin with we had the more common species taking their turns at the feeders. Chaffinches, Robins and the Linnets all dropping in to take their mid-morning breakfasts. Great and Blue Tits were abundant and a Wren took a bath in the small pond.

Chaffinch

Dunnock

Great Tit

Linnet

Pride of place in the early exchanges went to the Siskins which visited in good numbers. They were more photogenic too since the branches of the overhanging trees were used as staging posts.

Siskin

A few Pheasants were busily tidying up the fallen seed, oblivious to pretty much everything, including us and the Sparrowhawk that rattled through silently and scattered everything else every which way going.

Pheasant

When the birds settled again we were blessed when at least four Lesser Redpolls arrived. We often struggle to add Redpoll to our year list so to find this place will be a bonus in future years. One of the males posed beautifully on a bush and allowed me to take a whole volley of photos. A couple of the others chose to pick seeds from the ground.

Lesser Redpoll

More folk were arriving to see the birds and the increased noise meant the birds were becoming more restless. We were considering leaving when a male Brambling suddenly appeared on the ground below the feeders. Our wish list for the day was complete.

Brambling

We stayed for another ten minutes, adding more photos of the lovely Siskins and Redpolls before heading off and leaving the hide for others. The only down point to the morning was finding the onsite cafe fully booked for Sunday lunch.

Friday 8th March; Patch Tick!

I loosely keep a site list at my local Bicester Wetlands Reserve so when a Cattle Egret was found there the day before, a first for the reserve, I made time to nip down after work to see it. Unfortunately it had disappeared but I was able to get there again the following morning and try again. I found the Egret on the concrete bund of the Works Pool.

Cattle Egret

I have no idea how many I have on my BWR list now. It won't be as many as on Alan's, the warden but will include most species seen there over the past twenty years. Highlights have included, both Grey and Red-necked Phalarope, Little Stint, Common Crane (only record found and seen by us), Brambling (first one found by Mrs Caley), Grasshopper Warbler, Barn Owl, Knot and more.

Unfortunately the whole reserve is under pressure from the ever expanding concrete tsunami that is Bicester.

Saturday 9th March; No Luck in Norfolk

A challenging day in Norfolk, firstly dipping out on a Rustic Bunting at Helhoughton and then missing out on seeing Lapland Buntings at Weybourne. Viewing at both sites was awkward owing to distance and strong sunlight against us. We did see some Lesser Redpoll at the first site along with many Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings, and Snow Buntings (year tick) at the second. I hardly took a photo and none are deserving of being included here.

Tuesday 12th March; Garden Siskins!

We hadn't seen any Siskins in our own garden for a few years. They used to be regular at the end of February. The male bird we found at the feeders on the Tuesday remained for most of the week, being last seen on the following Monday.

Siskin

Saturday 16th March; Heathland Favourites

Dartford Warblers have long been a favourite of mine, ever since I saw my first on Dunwich Heath at the very beginning of my birding awakening. I was taken by the fragility of the tiny but long-tailed Warblers and also by their elusiveness. Nowadays I go to Greenham Common at least once every spring to watch and photograph them. This visit was a good one, with eight different birds seen. The first bird that we encountered that morning was a female that certainly hadn't read its own entry in the guidebook, and was anything but  furtive by perching openly on a tall bramble sprig.

Dartford Warbler (female)

We found several male birds in more familiar gorse territory. Most were singing to establish their own patches. Two were disputing, chasing each other round and round the tallest bush within the gorse. The scratchy song is enigmatic and suits the birds penchant for the scrubby, thorny abodes that they choose.

Dartford Warbler (male)

The other bird we search for at this time of year is the Woodlark. Usually they are heard first, their flutey song being warbled out from on high but they are quite happy to continue singing from a bush or even on the ground.

Woodlark

On the stony and gravel strewn grounds by the fire-plane there is often a small wintering flock of Golden Plovers. Their spangled plumage lends for excellent camouflage and they can be easily overlooked but I've learned of their favourite spots over the years. This spring I counted twenty-eight of them once I'd found the first few.

Golden Plover

Saturday 16th March; Big & Little

After lunch we headed to a site where Goshawks thrive. I entertain a wish that one day I'll get an opportunity to get some really good photos of one of our most secretive bird of prey. Goshawks show best in March & April when they take to the skies and perform display flights. For the past five years we've seen a fair few of the birds but I've never gained that photo that I long for. This visit didn't buck that trend although we saw three of the raptors. One of each, a male, female, and juvenile. 

Goshawk (male)

Goshawk (juvenile)

We stopped off at a farm on our way back home to look for a Little Owl that I'd been told likes to stand up on a barn roof. We had tried a couple of times already this spring without success but this time our luck was in and the Owl was exactly where we'd been told it was. We had reached one hundred and fifty birds for the year.

Little Owl

Monday 18th March; Another Surprise Garden Visitor

Although I put plenty of food out for the birds, our garden doesn't attract much in the way of variety. Our mainstay is a flock of House Sparrows, and I know that plenty of folk would be glad of them, and the more usual common birds such as Starling, Robin and Blackbird. We get excited if we see a Wren or Great Tit. The most exotic birds we see are Goldfinch. Most other finch species are rare in the garden, and that's why we got so much pleasure the week before when a male Siskin arrived. That bird was still present.

Siskin

The new, big surprise was provided by a male Blackcap that Mrs Caley spotted. I was at work but our daughter knew enough about the workings of my camera to grab some pretty good shots of the bird as it fed heartily on sunflower seeds. It was the first Blackcap since a male and female sought us out during very cold weather over the year before last's, New Year's holiday.

Blackcap (male)

Saturday 30th March; Mini-tour

Initially our aim was to get our annual fix of one of our rarer breeding birds. To that aim, we trod a well worn, and long path out into the Downs, the oxymoronic name given to the uplands of Oxfordshire, Berkshire & Wiltshire. The target bird there is the Stone Curlew which are present in small numbers. It took us a long time searching up there to find just two of the weird looking wading birds, and views were necessarily from great distance as always.

Stone Curlew

Next stop on our tour was a re-visit to the Goshawk hotspot where I once again didn't get the close views that I wanted. The showiest bird on offer was a Peregrine but that was gliding up high enough for it  to be able to join a different type of glider.

Peregrine

Back at our local patch of Bicester Wetlands, we sought out a pair of Little Ringed Plovers that had been found on the latest building site next to the reserve. We found them easily enough and mused on the fact that they would be one of the few species that would be happy with the newly disturbed and levelled site, considering they enjoy such habitat for breeding. Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to since they'd be smothered in concrete before they could hatch any eggs.

Little Ringed Plover

Sunday 31st March; Little Birds Have Character

We were at Wilstone Reservoir near Tring. Only twenty odd miles from home and yet two counties away from Oxfordshire. We visit the reservoir a few times each year, usually when a scarce bird is found. On this list it was to see a small flock of Little Gulls that had arrived overnight. Wilstone always seems to be shrouded in overcast weather and it's always cold there. The ten Little Gulls were bombing around the reservoir snaring any flies and titbits that they could find. 

Little Gull

Little Gulls are fun birds to watch. They fly quickly and erratically so provide challenging subjects for photography. They also tend to stay away from the banks so frame-fillers are not an option. The flock contained mainly adult birds which are beautifully pink-flushed on the undersides, and a couple of younger birds.

Thanks for reading!