Caspian Terns and friends...

Hello

No birding possible today. With the very mild start to the 'winter' it may be that we will have to wait until January and February 2016 for some proper cold winter birds of interest...

It's perhaps at this time of the year when we begin to review the previous 12 months, and I recall with fondness a week-long trip to The Gambia in January 2015. Neil H and I spent some quality time looking at the coastal and woodland birds of coastal Gambia, and for me the big, bold and vocal Caspian Terns were a definite highlight...

Regards

Neil M

Caspian Terns

Royal Tern

Royal and Caspian Terns

Bar-tailed Godwit

Pitsford WeBS count

Hello

The monthly WeBS count took place at Pitsford Reservoir today in mild and pleasant conditions. We couldn't find any Smew or Red-crested Pochard but 1-2 Great White Egret(s) and 18 Little Egrets were still present. The Red-necked Grebe was showing well off the dam and the Ruddy Shelduck was south of the causeway. Two adult Bewick's Swans flew in to the Scaldwell Bay late morning and other birds included 6 Pintail, 3 Green Sandpipers, a Curlew, a Raven, a Kingfisher, 3-4 Grey Wagtails, 30+ Siskins and 8 Lesser Redpolls. A flock of about 500 Golden Plovers were up in the air further east towards Sywell Airfield.

Two Barn Owls were out hunting at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell this afternoon.

Regards

Neil M

Great Northern Diver

Hello

No opportunity for birding today but I did notice a Raven near Hackleton at lunch-time..

Thankfully Bob Bullock has kindly saved the day by sending through some images of the Great Northern Diver at Ditchford Gravel Pits, taken yesterday...

Regards

Neil M

Juvenile Great Northern Diver
at Ditchford Gravel Pits.

Images courtesy of Bob Bullock.

Glyn Davies Wood

Hello

A rather intense ringing session took place this morning at Glyn Davies Wood in the far west of the county. This small section of ancient woodland is a gem of a spot and has been owned by the Banbury Ornithological Society for ten or so years. Sadly it seems that the planned high speed rail route is likely to cause significant issues and some of this site will be lost...

www.banburyornithologicalsociety.org.uk/index.php/reserves/

Today the reserve warden Mike Lewis kindly assisted us as we processed 158 woodland birds of 13 species, 122 of which were new birds. This total was made up of 75 Blue Tits, 33 Great Tits (but not many juveniles), 13 Long-tailed Tits, 5 Coal Tits, 6 Marsh Tits, 7 Nuthatches, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 6 Robins, 2 Treecreepers, a Goldcrest, 3 Chaffinches, a Bullfinch and 2 Redwings.

Other birds noted there included 2 Ravens and a handful of Siskins.

Afterwards a brief visit was made to Ravensthorpe Reservoir and the Great White Egret was still present together with 2 Green Sandpipers and a Grey Wagtail.

At Pitsford Reservoir today, Robin Gossage saw the drake Smew in the Holcot Bay (please see images below), and a visit to the dam area at last light provided views of the Red-necked Grebe near the overflow and the adult Caspian Gull in the gull roost.

Regards

Neil M

Goldcrest

Little Egret

Drake Smew

All images courtesy
of Robin Gossage.

The rain and mud continues...!

Hello

Kenny Cramer presided at a rather soggy ringing session at Linford Lakes on the edge of Milton Keynes this morning and caught 43 birds. The more interesting birds included a Redwing, a Song Thrush, 8 Goldcrests, 17 Long-tailed Tits, a Green Woodpecker, 3 Bullfinches and 3 Lesser Redpolls.

Jim Dunkley kept an eye on garden birds in his Sywell garden today and noted a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a female Blackcap and a Sparrowhawk (please see image below).

Eleanor and I completed a WeBS count at Ditchford Gravel Pits today in somewhat wet and very muddy conditions. It was generally quiet with many birds keeping a low profile but a surprise awaited us when we located a juvenile Great Northern Diver on the watersport pit just west of Ditchford Lane. Other birds included a pair of Stonechat, an adult female Peregrine, three Little Egrets, four Goosanders, four Grey Wagtails and three Kingfishers.

Four Siskins were noted feeding in alders at Kelmarsh Hall this afternoon and Chris Payne caught and ringed four Lesser Redpolls in his Greens Norton garden including a nice pink male.

Regards

Neil M

Sparrowhawk at Sywell.

Courtesy of Jim Dunkley

Chris Payne and John Boland
captured this suspicious-looking
creature at Stortons Gravel Pits
earlier in the year. After some
debate they have named it as a
Boom Owl. With John 's technical
skills and Chris's occupation as a
producer and cameraman I think
they were trying to have me over!
It doesn't normally take much but
on this occasion I think I have
 unearthed their conspiracy!! :~)

Image courtesy of
Chris Payne.

Barn Owl in the rain by
Simon Wantling

Photographs never lie...

Hello

Well I don't know about you but I struggle to identify most things flapping around me in the skies of Northamptonshire. Thankfully the photographer of the following images has labelled them so we at least will recognise them next time they fly over...!

Regards

Neil M

'Auk owl

Images courtesy of digital wizard
Dave Jackson. Not sure I'm going to
believe any of the birds he claims
to have seen to the future :~)  !!

Rainy Saturday

Hello

Eleanor's early morning foray in to the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and around the Blueberry Farm complex produced some birds this morning with a hunting Barn Owl in the northern-most field of Blueberry, two vocal Short-eared Owls on The Hill and three adult Bewick's Swans flying over towards Hollowell Reservoir at about 8am (I wonder if they are the birds from Grafham Water on their way to Slimbridge?).

The below images were taken by Clive Beasley depicting bird-life around the Sailing Club grounds at Pitsford Reservoir yesterday...

Regards

Neil M

All images courtesy
of Clive Beasley.

Several images of the lone
Ruddy Shelduck. The Mute Swan
family is the only multiple brood
family on the reservoir this year. Two
other pairs have a single cygnet each
but all the other pairs failed to produce
offspring. The pair with three cygnets
nested in the grounds of the Sailing Club
suggesting that this comparatively protected
environment made all the difference.

Kelmarsh Hall ringing

Hello

John Gamble was in Abington Park, Northampton today and noted a Kingfisher, 12 Goosanders, 6 Ring-necked Parakeets and a Grey Wagtail.

A ringing session took place at Kelmarsh Hall today which resulted in something like 118 captures of 16 species. Not surprisingly Blue Tit was the most common bird with 41 birds caught. Of the 29 re-traps, one was a young bird ringed as a nestling at Rabbithill Spinney in May also on the Kelmarsh Estate. Other tits were made up of 20 Great Tits, 6 Coal Tits, a Marsh Tit and 7 Long-tailed Tits.

We also caught a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 9 Dunnocks, 2 Robins, a Redwing, a Fieldfare, 12 Blackbirds (including several likely Continental-type birds), a Kingfisher, 2 Greenfinches, 7 Goldfinches, a Chaffinch and 6 Bullfinches.

One of the Bullfinches was an adult male first caught at the same place in October 2011, this bird now being at least five years old.

Other birds noted on-site included a Grey Wagtail, a few Siskins and a redpoll sp. Despite the cooler conditions today, a couple of Mistle Thrushes were in song first thing this morning.

Regards

Neil M

Kingfisher with it's
stickleback prey at
Abington Park.

Courtesy of John Gamble.

Fieldfare

Courtesy of Neil Hasdell

Kingfisher

Courtesy of Neil Hasdell

Feeding Station birds

Hello

Not much new to report today but Neil Hasdell was at Pitsford Reservoir at lunch-time and saw a Great White Egret and a drake Smew in the Holcot Bay.

Cathy Ryden was at Pitsford yesterday and spent some time photographing birds coming to the feeders at the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station, and the below Tree Sparrow images are the result. Today Cathy enjoyed watching a female Brambling on her suspended feeders at Guilsborough and managed an image with her bridge camera via the window...

Regards

Neil M

Tree Sparrows at Pitsford Reservoir.
The feeding station at the Old Scaldwell Road
has been managed for over twenty years now
and was originally set up to support the
local Tree Sparrow and Corn Bunting
populations. The Corn Buntings have
sadly disappeared now but we still enjoy
a healthy but nomadic Tree Sparrow population.
How long we can hang on to our Tree Sparrows
is anyone's guess. Despite similar commitment
this species has absented itself from the
Summer Leys LNR and even Rutland Water
despite the provision of food all year round
and plenty of nest-boxes.

Female Brambling
Guilsborough

All images kindly provided
by Cathy Ryden.

Cool and bright

Hello

A cooler feel today and bright for much of it ensured it was a nice day to be out filling up the feeders and broadcasting seed at the mid-county feeding stations. Plenty of common birds about and they all know where the feed is so the work for the winter begins properly now!

I didn't see anything of particular interest on my travels until I arrived at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon and saw the Ruddy Shelduck in the grounds of the Sailing Club and the now regular adult Caspian Gull in the gull roost.

Regards

Neil M

Robin and his camera!

Hello

Eleanor was out and about first thing as usual this morning and again noted a Barn Owl and a pair of Stonechat in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton.

Robin Gossage was over at the Summer Leys reserve today and noted an Egyptian Goose and a Stonechat. Please see his images below...

Regards

Neil M

Stonechat

Robin and lunch!

Egyptian Goose

Shovelers

All images courtesy of
Robin Gossage

Short-eared Owls

Hello

This morning a wander at Harrington Airfield provided views of a Short-eared Owl and a covey of eight Grey Partridge. Another Short-eared Owl was flushed from a ditch in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this morning, and the two Stonechats were still in situ.

Regards

Neil M

Sunday birding

Hello

Birds in the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir late morning today included a Great White Egret, four Pintail, a Woodcock, a Brambling, and a redpoll sp. Birds in the Scaldwell Bay included a Great White Egret, eleven Golden Plover over, twenty-one Snipe, a Redshank, a Willow Tit and a Siskin and two Lesser Redpoll on feeders at the Old Scaldwell Road feeding station.

Eleanor saw the Great White Egret at Ravensthorpe Reservoir again this afternoon and this morning saw a Barn Owl and two Stonechats at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell. Two Grey Wagtails were vocal at Hanging Houghton this afternoon and a Blackcap paid a visit to a garden in Maidwell village today.

Regards

Neil M

Bicester Wetland Reserve

Please spare ten minutes in the next two weeks to help defend BicesterWetland Reserve, a wetland jewel on the outskirts of Bicester, now threatened by a major new ring road.

Oxfordshire County Council is conducting a consultation exercise providing two options for the new road:

·         Options 1A and 1B are very similar and involve building a raised road across Bicester Wetland Nature Reserve.

·         Option 2 is across open country and misses the Reserve completely.

There is a feedback form which gives members of the public the opportunity to state their preferences and is available on line. Please log onto:

www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/PerimeterRoadBicester

This website gives you the outline to the scheme, explains the options and provides a link to the Feedback Form.  There are seven questions in total, the most important are questions one and two.

Question One – please tick “do not support at all” for Options 1a and 1b. You can remain neutral or support option 2.

Question Two – please select “Southern alignment: Route Option 2”

Question Three – please describe why you think it is important to protect the Bicester Wetland Reserve as an important wildlife site for the area.

The number of responses matter so please make sure you complete the form before the deadline of 18 December.

 

Some extra details about the reserve:

·        The reserve is situated just outside Bicester, one of the fastest-growing towns in Europe.

·         It was established in 1999 and is an increasingly important area for wildlife and a veritable oasis within this rapidly developing town.

·         Major wintering site for Teal - regular counts of 250-350, also good numbers of Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon.

·         Up to 130 Common Snipe winter here, also regular numbers of Jack Snipe.

 B Breeding water birds include Little Grebe. Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen and Kingfisher. Water Rail are regular throughout the winter and possibly also stay to breed.

·         The reserve is a regular site for Green Sandpipers with a maximum day count of 23. Altogether 18 species of wader have been recorded on the reserve.

·         Nine species of warbler have been recorded on the reserve, 8 of which have bred there. In total 126 bird species have been recorded, 17 species of mammal (including Otter), 23 species of Butterfly, 14 species of Dragonfly, 3 Amphibians including Great Crested Newt and regular Grass Snakes.

·         We have even had a few local rarities: Glossy Ibis, Red-necked Phalarope, Great White Egret, Bearded Tit, Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Common Crane and Bittern!

Thanks, please act NOW

Mike Pollard

on behalf of the

Banbury Ornitholigical Society

Wild weather!

Hello

Recent bird ringing recoveries associated with activities in Northamptonshire include a Tree Sparrow that was initially ringed at Stanford Reservoir on 10th September this year which was then caught at Pitsford Reservoir less than a month later on 3rd October. This is one of a number of Tree Sparrows over the years that have moved between the dedicated feed stations at both reservoirs.

On 28th June 2011 a juvenile Blackcap was caught and ringed at Wendover in Buckinghamshire and was caught again as an adult female on the outskirts of Milton Keynes on 3rd October this year. This four year old bird will have travelled far further than Bucks but these records suggest that a locally reared bird has returned to the same region as a breeder. Presumably she was bulking up on berries on this relatively late date in preparation for a migration south.

A Goldfinch trapped at Greens Norton on 23rd November this year had first been ringed as a first year female near a place called Stenigot in Lincolnshire on 16th February 2013 making this bird three years old. These records tend to suggest that this bird winters successfully in the UK but I wonder where she goes to breed?

Eleanor was over at Staverton again today and saw at least four Ravens. On her way back she popped in to Daventry Country Park and saw a squadron of ten Goosanders, one or two Green Sandpiper(s), half a dozen flying redpoll sp and large numbers of gulls included a first year Mediterranean Gull.

Birds visible from the causeway at Ravensthorpe Reservoir included the Great White Egret and a Green Sandpiper.

I flushed up a Woodcock at Harrington Airfield this morning but didn't see anything else there of note. Kelmarsh Hall hosted half a dozen Siskins and two Lesser Redpolls remained feeding on seed heads in Scotland Wood. A single Grey Wagtail was present at Brixworth Sewer Works and birds visible from the Sailing Club at Pitsford Reservoir this afternoon included the stunning adult Caspian Gull again and a Grey Wagtail.

Regards

Neil M

Squelchy underfoot out there!

Eurasian Wigeon

Hello

This morning the pair of Stonechat re-appeared in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton and nearby another pair of Stonechat and a Short-eared Owl were in the southern-most field at Blueberry Farm, Maidwell.

Also this morning a single mist net was enough to catch 65 small woodland birds at Scotland Wood on the Kelmarsh Estate. The total comprised of 17 Blue Tits, 14 Coal Tits, 8 Great Tits, 6 Marsh Tits, a Willow Tit, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Nuthatches, a Wren, 2 Dunnocks, 3 Robins, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Chaffinches and 2 Lesser Redpolls. Just less than half of these birds were re-traps from the previous winter with some of the tits being 3-4 years old. Other birds noted in the wood included half a dozen Siskins and a Woodcock.

A brief foray in to Harlestone Heath this afternoon yielded some fifty mobile Siskins and a few redpoll sp.

Regards

Neil M

Common Buzzard
and 'friend'...

Bullfinch

All images courtesy of
Clive Bowley.

Winter images

Hello

Cathy Ryden has been snapping away again and the below images depict some of her efforts in the challenging weather conditions over the last few days. Well done Cathy for finding some photogenic subjects in the sparse sunshine!

Neil M

Fieldfare

Lesser Redpoll

Great White Egret
and Grey Heron.

December delights

Hello

A walk at Harrington Airfield this morning was pleasant but breezy but there were relatively small numbers of thrushes present. Small numbers of finches provided a nice mix which included a Brambling, a Siskin and a couple of redpoll sp. A Raven flew through in bright sunshine.

A Woodcock flushed up at Scotland Wood (Kelmarsh Estate) this morning, the first for me of the season, and Eleanor spotted the Short-eared Owl and a Barn Owl at Blueberry Farm this morning together with a male Peregrine and four Stonechats. A revisit this afternoon produced a different Barn Owl but nothing else of note.

Regards

Neil M

Short-eared Owl

Hello

Very little to report today but Eleanor located a single Short-eared Owl at Blueberry Farm at the south end of the complex which was showing well. It may actually be the same bird photographed at the same place by Simon Wantling just over a week ago, and here it is again (what a stunner)...!

Neil M

Short-eared Owl
Courtesy of Simon Wantling