Thursday 30 December 2021

Farmoor & Grimsbury Reservoir :: 29/30 December 2021

An unexpected opportunity to visit Farmoor Reservoir late afternoon - wife's idea for a short walk - who am I to argue.

As always, we made our way across the causeway but found nothing until the scaup on the F1 west end of the causeway. The wind was blowing directly into our face and we looked forward to soon be walking across or away from it – at least the rain had stopped. Another birder approached from F2 and informed us that he had found nothing of note - we shared the location of the scaup behind us and decided to circumnavigate F1 - it wouldn't be long before sunset.

Scaup

There was still no sign of the great northern diver and as we continued there were few birds on this section of F1 at all. We soon reached the eastern end of the causeway, approaching the Visitors Centre - the sun had already set. I scanned the water a couple of times and there it was, the great northern diver was fishing in F1. We returned to watch and I took a few shots, one of which showed it catching a small fish. The settings hit my maximum ISO limit of 12,800 but I would wait and see what I could pull out of the records - the photos turned out well given the circumstances - happy with that.

Great northern diver
Great northern diver
Great northern diver

I was just sending a message on WhatsApp when Kevin Heath informed me I'd missed an update that a pair of red-crested pochard had been found by Clive Payne at Grimsbury Reservoir - not a species I've come across on my travels this year. To make things worse Edwin Barson had a nice photo posted that evening on the Banbury Birding WhatsApp group. I checked with Edwin and he confirmed the RCPs had been there just before sunset - I decided that I’d head to Grimsbury Res for sunrise.

There was a very light drizzle as I popped on my walking boots. I opted to investigate the western side as that is often where the best views are obtained. As I approached the last group of ducks on this side, I could make out the RCP pair - a nice end of year tick. I laid my camera's waterproof cover on the bench and sat waiting for either better light or a closer pass. As I waited, I heard my phone buzz and found it was John Friendship-Taylor updating the continued presence of the RCPs. I looked along the path and could see him approach - he stopped and we had a nice chat and catch-up. We took a few photos each time the birds made a closer pass, but they were never really 'close'. The drizzle continued and soon he, and then I, packed up and headed home.

Red-crested pochard
Red-crested pochard
Red-crested pochard
Red-crested pochard

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