Bicester Wetlands Reserve :: 19 February 2022

There was a window in the rain forecast and so we made for the local Bicester Wetlands - a keyholder reserve. We set up in the hide and watched as a range of gulls dropped in - the larger gulls didn't stay long but I added common gull to my year list.

We watched as a flock of snipe were flushed and c.70 wheeled around the main pool - the adversary that spooked them remained invisible to us. They circled several times and eventually landed diagonally opposite the hide over the water (circa 150m as measured on Google Maps). Never one to dodge a challenge, I tried to take a photo of some individuals with limited success.

A kingfisher cut across the main pool and over the reeds to the works pool. We watched shoveler, teal, heron, little egret, mallard and gadwall plus two great spotted woodpeckers on the feeders. Before the rain might arrive, we walked down to the other hide and heard Cetti's warbler calling, meadow pipit circled overhead, and Kev found owl pellets below. The hide is still a little open on approach which resulted in a number of birds departing - we had a jay over but didn't stay long. On the return we met Alan Peters (the Reserve Warden) and he helped us connect with a jack snipe - neither of us had this on our list last year and we'd recently dipped the individual at Otmoor showing in the low-cut reeds - such a treat.

Having retired to the hide we chatted with Alan and managed to pick out two green sandpipers - both individuals opted to drop the other side of the far hedge line and apparently into the brook.

As the rain began we pulled stumps and headed home.

RSPB Otmoor & Dorchester :: 12 February 2022

By the time I arrived at RSPB Otmoor it was apparent that I'd likely miss any starling exit from their roost and so my main hope was for a late view of hen harrier still quartering after the event, or for the return of the previous morning's glossy ibis. I stopped on the bridleway and watched a couple of distant species but soon moved on to first screen. On the way it was noticeable how many red kites were on the hunt and a couple of peregrines passed me - they then proceeded to interact once quite distant - nice to watch through the bins.

Arriving at first screen I watched as teal, snipe, shoveler, tufted ducks, and numbers of pochard fed in the water ahead. As the pochard got closer we could see that the leucitic pochard nicknamed "Luke" had returned for another season - I understand that he has been recorded at Otmoor since at least 2016. A cetti's warbler was calling from far to our right and eventually I saw it dive down into the reeds - I hadn't seen it perched, but the movement gave it away. Both male and female marsh harriers quartered the reed bed, joined by a handful of red kite. Kev arrived and reported his sightings from his passage to first screen - some regulars including Luke O'B, Peter (Bark), John R and Paul T all appeared. Luke mentioned he'd had the hen harrier over Big Otmoor at about 7.20am - I'd just missed it! - and he'd lost it heading over Ashgrave. He'd also seen two tawny owls as he came down Otmoor Lane, presumably one of them was the bird I'd encountered a few weeks ago.

Luke picked out a distant egret heading our way and perhaps we all hoped it would be cattle egret but it turned out to be a little egret - the much more common of the two species.

Kev and I headed for second screen and had numerous cetti's singing as we went, and I added bullfinch to my day's list. There was nothing to excite and we headed back to first screen. There was no change there and so Kev and I decided that we'd decamp and head to Dorchester-on-Thames to see if we could see the ferruginous duck that had been present through the week - I messaged Nick Truby for ideas where to park and set off.

Arriving at the site there we four birders already on the fence scanning with scopes. We joined them thinking that they’d already have the bird in their sights but they reported that it had been seen but had floated off right and out of view. We scanned the water and repositioned to see into the far-right corner of Allen's Pool. All the time we were being watched by alpacas from the fields behind.

With no success here we returned to the position we'd stopped originally and started the vigil again - a lone oystercatcher flew past from right to left. A couple of birders had arrived and stopped at the far left of the pool and within a few minutes called to say that had our bird in their sights. We joined them and watched as the bird dived just off the far bank. It was difficult to keep track of as it stayed above the surface for very short periods but Kev had his scope up and so we could easily verify this was our bird. After about 15 minutes the bird was flushed towards the centre and gave some better views but was again soon lost to our right. After a few minutes we relocated it and we had our best views and a couple of better photos - with the bird diving continuously it exhibited a 'slimy' appearance, much as a pochard does.

The wind had really picked up and so when the bird pushed backed towards the far bank we headed home. We watched for the stonechat reported earlier in the day but didn't see it and couldn't pick out any special bird from the gulls in the fields to our right.

It had been a great morning and I'd added a lifer in the ferruginous duck ,but was still a little disappointed that the ibis hadn't returned (perhaps the water levels from first screen are now too high?) and that I'd just missed the hen harrier - maybe next time.

Bicester Wetlands Reserve :: 06 February 2022

Sunday began windy with waves of rain and so I rose late, had breakfast, and eased into the day. The wind hadn't improved by early afternoon and so we abandoned our planned walk - instead I made my way to Bicester Wetland Reserve for a sneaky visit. I opened the shutters in the hide and worried that the wind might lift off the roof - the rain started again and with the wind direction I had to reposition my scope, bins and camera to avoid getting them wet. I counted the teal and made c160, also ten gadwall, two shoveler and numbers of moorhen. I scanned around and noted a couple of grey herons, one deep in the scrub in the works pool and the other along the hedge between the reserve and the new Technology Park. Three little egrets got up from the works pool and one landed not far from the grey heron on the hedge line. As I watched the egret fishing a single green sandpiper appeared and started feeding along the water’s edge, passing close to the little egret. The little egret seemed to be disturbed by its small companion and tried to flush it off, unsuccessfully – regardless, the green sand was soon gone and the little egret was left fishing along the edge of the reeds.

Four gulls dropped into the water and one of them got me excited thinking it could be something special. Once I got the scope on it, I could see that it was just a herring gull like the other three. I looked back on the opposite hedge and saw the heron had moved on but could see a chiffchaff working the pruned branches. After a couple of minutes, it was lost from view.

I'd hoped to spot a kingfisher in the works pool, but one never appeared. Two little grebes fished together, and a couple of shovelers dropped in. The rain stopped but the wind kept blowing directly into the hide - the light was going and so I took and couple of final photos and headed home.

Great Tew :: 05 February 2022

It was forecast to be windy, so Kevin Heath and I had hatched a plan to visit a reserve with a hide - the rain may also blow in later in the morning. When we met in town it was looking like there was a clear sky, there had been a frost overnight, and the wind was gentle. Our plan changed and we went on a hunt for the local Great Tew hawfinches that has displayed so well for others in the week - perhaps I'd be able to upgrade my photos from the previous weekend.

We arrived before 8.00am and made for the spots we'd encountered them last weekend. We had a couple at distance then another single in a nearer tree but against the sky - I took a record shot hoping it would drop into the yew tree between us - after a while it did but into the opposite side and out of view.

After a short while we gave up and went on the hunt again. Down by the school we waited and watched thrushes, tits, chaffinches, treecreeper, nuthatch and great-spotted woodpecker all in the yew and trees beside. We looked round the corner and saw a few making use of the village cafe, but didn't see anything but goldcrest and chaffinches in the yew trees beyond.

As we returned, we found a hawfinch on the edge of the yew but almost instantly it disappeared into the back of the yew and out of sight. A couple of other birders joined us and the hawfinch paused briefly on a branch before disappearing again, this time into the distance.

We made our way back up to the church and had a coffee looking around here. We met Steve Akers and Laurie Bryant and enjoyed good views of goldcrest under the yew trees. A sparrowhawk cut across the sky and spooked a handful of redwings into the sky.

We marched up and down New Street and eventually caught sight of an individual bird in yew far to the west - it dropped out of view very quickly. We worked our way back to the car and had four, and then five, hawfinch drop into high trees on the road side of the church yard - only record shots available again. They stopped for about a minute and then departed and towards the road to Ledwell. We picked up a couple of birders from the church yard and followed the direction the birds had flown. Kev picked two out in some holly but as I got my bins on them, they departed and behind another yew tree and out of sight. This proved to be our last sighting of the day. 3.5 miles up and down New Street, Great Tew - frustrating but still enjoyable.

Great Tew & Balscote Quarry :: 29/30 January 2022

Mike Pollard had been birding locally in the week and reported a fab day out with highlights being six hawfinches at Great Tew. It was therefore out of the question we should travel far for our regular Saturday morning birding but instead should make for Great Tew and enjoy a rare opportunity of seeing these birds in Oxfordshire.

We arrived with grey skies overhead and parked up at the far end of New Street from the village – this is where Mike had apparently photographed the birds. Initially we walked along the main road towards Ledwell to view a large hornbeam tree seen from the car, a favourite of hawfinches - we encountered 7+ nuthatches, goldcrest, my first mistle thrush of the year (and then three more), but no sign of any hawfinches. We returned to the car, had a drink of coffee, and set off through Great Tew - we made our way down and back to the school where the birds had also been seen. Eventually a couple of birds flew by in silhouette against the grey sky, but we were pretty sure these were our target so walked back to the top of the road and into the church yard – we couldn't locate them - damn. We set off again but this time we saw a couple of birds in a distant tree on the church side of the street - a hawfinch! We made our way back to the church to see if we could get any closer views but as we approached, they took to the wing and away - to our surprise there were six and not only the two we'd been able to see from the road - I'd at least got record shots of a couple of them. We posted on the Banbury WhatsApp group that the birds were present.

We made our way back through the village again and could see the birds relocating from tree to tree and at one point we thought there may be a seventh bird with them. They were always wary and distant but we were happy to have found them. After about ten minutes of following them around they disappeared, and we bumped into Iain Brown coming the other way - the last time we'd seen them they were headed towards the church and so the three of us had another look there. No sign. We set off down the main road and met Mike Prentice coming the other way in his car - he parked at the top of the road and joined us as we walked past the school, the Falkland Arms, along Old Street and back up a lane to New Street. Iain fell behind to see what was at the top of Old Street - this was a mistake as when we started back up towards the church Mike spotted a hawfinch in a tree to our left. We all got our bins on it but by the time I raised my camera it was off - missed the shot but had better views.

Iain joined us again and we passed on the news he'd missed the bird, but his disappointment was short lived as we then spotted three hawfinches in the tree we'd seen them in originally - distant but visible. All happy now. They flew back down the village towards the school, and we thought about moving on but I spotted a light coloured bird in a yew tree beside the street and could see that it was a hawfinch through my bins. We made our way closer and amazingly the bird stayed put and allowed us close enough for some better photos.

Mike headed off to Abingdon for the Pallas's warbler and the ring-necked duck while Iain was headed home. Kev and I went up to the Over Norton feeding station but had nothing of note.

Sunday morning arrived, and I again met Kev and headed down to Abingdon to see if I could at last get a photo of the Pallas's but, despite a number of birders searching, there was no sighting of it at all. Still numbers of chiffchaff but nothing else unusual. We bumped into Gareth Blockley and had a chat - he was the finder of this bird and we asked him for details - like all such encounters he put it down to luck.

We headed home empty handed and after lunch I headed up to Balscote Quarry, my wife having gone to play a tennis league match against Cholsey. I settled in and spotted the usual suspects and a male brambling at the far end of the feeder area. Ray Smilie and his wife arrived and as we chatted, we could see that a female brambling had joined us. Wally Warburton also passed through and shared some of his recent sightings and photos. We spent a nice hour watching the birds pass through - other than the brambling, a flock of 43 goldfinch, 6 yellowhammer, 2 reed bunting, 11 greenfinch, 12 chaffinch and 17 redwing over were the best of the sightings.