Star Wars matinée with friends after lunch, so I just managed a brief visit to Farmoor Reservoir early doors. Thought we were in luck when another chap and I watched some tufties, thinking we'd already got on the scaup, only to realise it was a tufted duck, possibly of questionable parentage.
Off across the causeway and very quiet. From a distance I saw grebes diving but they turned out to be little grebes. Looked good though as two blokes were sitting on the reservoir wall at the end of the causeway - by the time we reached the rafts we could see the Slavonian grebe. I spent a good 20 minutes watching and hoping it might get closer. Unfortunately the grebe had other ideas and stayed near the rafts, ocassionally swimming under and even further from the perimeter wall. I did take some photos but the light wasn't great so pleased to have captured something. Totalled 7 little grebe along the causeway and in this corner of F2.
I wandered around to both hides: by the river, and Pinkhill - but nothing of note there.
Back on the shore and the remaining birders said there had been no change with behaviour. I decided to make a quick circuit of F1 to see if I could locate the scaup. It wasn't until I reached the valve station that I found them - a pair cruising just beyond the assembled tufted ducks.
Shame I didn't have time for a better look, or to go onto Otmoor but I did tick the two species I'd been hoping for.
Species today (31) included: black-headed gull, blackbird, blue tit, buzzard, canada goose, carrion crow, chaffinch, coot, cormorant, dunnock, fieldfare, goldfinch, great crested grebe, great tit, greylag goose, herring gull, kestrel, little grebe, long-tailed tit, magpie, mallard, mute swan, pheasant, red kite, reed bunting, robin, rook, scaup, slavonian grebe, tufted duck and wren.
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