Sunday 12th April; Farmoor used to have Far More to offer
Farmoor Reservoir is one of Oxfordshire premier birding hotspots. It often turns up good birds although it must be said, usually on the days when we don't go there. To us it's often just an empty place blighted by overuse by the general public, whether on the water or around it. It was much better before the 2020 covid outbreak but ever since the lockdowns of 2020 & 2021, has been less productive due in no small part by people "finding" the site as a place that they could go to for all types of recreation. I moan about that a lot.
Anyway, on the Sunday morning after our excursion to see the Stone Curlews at Weeting Heath, we took a leisurely stroll down the causeway between the two reservoirs and back. We were hoping that some wading birds would be out taking the air but they weren't. In fact there was very little on offer, and I was so bored that I took photos of a Mallard and her fly-catching duckling. It's always nice to see new life on the reservoir.
The only other bird that caught my attention was a fine looking Pied Wagtail that perched on one of the wire cages that lay forgotten about on the edge of F1, the smaller of the reservoirs. I liked the pose and the geometry of the wire as well as the bird. The Wagtail even sang a little ditty. That photo might even make it on to one of my calendars that I print off at the end of the year. Even on a quiet day with little happening, there are still little snippets of wonder to be had.
Friday 17th April; A Year Listing Exercise
We were back at Farmoor but this time chose to walk in from the village so that we could explore the Pinkhill nature reserve area of the site. We do this walk annually so that we can get our first look at several spring migrants. The bushes and scrub attract many different warbler species, and on a good day you can see and hear ten or more species. Unfortunately this wasn't a good day; it was cold, windy, and there were showers blowing in from the north at regular intervals. It was like birding at dusk; semi-dark, even at midday.
Despite all that, we give it a good go and saw five new birds for the year; Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, and best of all, Grasshopper Warbler. It was the gropper that I most wanted to see so I was pleased to hear its reeling song coming from a thick patch of rough grassland as soon as we entered the reserve. We went on to hear two more close to the Thames. However, all three proved very difficult to actually set eyes on, in fact two went unseen, and the other in that thick grassy patch, only showed when it flew out across the path and into a thick bramble. We'd hope for a showier one in better weather later in the spring. In addition to this five new year ticks, we also encountered Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, and Cetti's Warbler so the only omission from the "full house" of ten was a Garden Warbler.
I didn't take a single photo on this walk. I now generally don't bother if the conditions aren't great, mainly because I have plenty of photos of most common species already and don't need grainy, dingy images as well. It takes something much scarcer to get me photographing in poor light. It also requires a bird to actually show itself.
Saturday 18th April; A Day of Two Halves
But only the first half is recounted here; the less exciting part.
It was time to make our annual visit into Berkshire to listen for, and hopefully see Nightingales, our most celebrated of all songbirds. We have a favourite place for these birds, and have never failed to see them there, but in keeping with almost every other place where Nightingales sing, it is getting harder each year to find them. I'm extremely worried that this place will go the same way as lots of other sites where we used to go to see Nightingales, and end up devoid of them. The Nightingales range appears to be shrinking rapidly in the UK.
However, initially all seemed rosy because we heard a Nightingale singing as soon as we geared up in the small parking lay-by on the no-through road that runs between two gravel pits. From the same exact spot we had terrific views of a male Nightingale two years ago. This time, although we could hear the Nightingale singing at fairly close quarters, it was very difficult to pin down, and the best I could manage was obscured views and photos despite conditions being favourable. Sometimes extreme skulkers like Nightingales just don't want to reveal themselves.
We had better views of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, and heard our first Cuckoo of the year but ultimately left a trifle disheartened owing to the reluctant Nightingales, and the seemingly massive loss in the number of them returning to the gravel pit complex.
The disappointed feeling that we left with would be well and truly dispelled later in the second half of the day though. More of that in a subsequent blog; Blue birds rule!
Sunday 19th April; Another One, but this One's a County Tick!
At the beginning of the month we travelled down to Hampshire to see an American Golden Plover. Whilst we were down in neighbouring Dorset the day before watching the fabulous blue bird, Lucky Luke found another American Golden Plover from the Wetlands Hide at our local hotspot of Otmoor. So despite being a bit jaded after Saturday's excursion, and not needing to see another, except that we did because this one would be a county tick, we made our way onto the moor on another sunny and beautiful day.
We already knew that the Plover was still present because everyone that we met walking in the other direction told us that it was, and added (the oft dreaded statement) that it was showing well. Because of that we didn't tarry too much, not wanting to miss out, and stopped only to enjoy a few moments with a singing Sedge Warbler which was making an early claim to be the best "Reggie the Sedgie" of the year, and just couldn't be resisted.
Surprisingly, for a Saturday morning, there was nobody else in the hide. Even more surprising since there was a rare bird in the offing. I guess that those who had already seen it, and hadn't left for home, had made their way along to the screens further into the reserve. So we had to locate the American Golden Plover ourselves, and thankfully that proved to be considerably easier than it had been two weeks before. The American Golden Plover was one of only two birds, the other was its close(ish) cousin; a Lapwing, that were stood out in full view on the edge of the scrape in front of the hide. It wasn't very close but provided a much better view than the bird we'd seen in Hampshire had. Plumage details proved that this bird was different from the former, so we'd seen two of these scarce waders in as many weeks. We've now seen around ten in total, most of which have been in the last half dozen years, and most have been first or second-year birds.
Our views were fine so there was no need to spend hours trying to will the Plover to come closer. I'm not sure it did anyway, at any time during its stay. A bit of scan work revealed our first Whimbrel of the year, although it was very distant so beyond the reach of my camera lens. We found our first Cattle Egret of the year as well, out on Greenaways as we walked back to our car. The morning was topped off by a singing Garden Warbler, also our first of the year and completing our full set of ten Warblers for this spring.
Saturday 24th April; A Local Year Tick
Oxfordshire isn't a bad county for birds but it's a far cry from the birding meccas situated around the coasts of Britain. Thanks to places like Otmoor and Farmoor which attract migrating birds as well as many breeding species, we do alright in our county compared to many of our neighbours. Occasionally scarce birds find Oxon, like the American Golden Plover seen the weekend before. Our local reserve in our home town also has a decent track record for attracting some scarcer types, especially migrant wading birds. Not lots but a few each year that raise the excitement levels a little. So, when Colin sent me a message to say there was a Wood Sandpiper on the main lagoon, we drove straight there to add our 193rd bird of the year.
The Wood Sandpiper was loosely keeping company with a Greenshank out in the furthest "bay" of the lagoon. Views were thus distant but scope views were good. We saw our first county Wood Sandpiper at Bicester Wetlands, and I think from memory, that we've seen four there now plus a really showy bird just the other side of the adjacent railway line at Graven Hill. I always enjoy seeing Wood Sandpipers. They are very neat looking birds and just scarce enough to get that heartbeat going a little when they are found locally.
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