Lower Heyford :: 27 March 2022

We'd been planning a family outing for Mother's Day afternoon, but my wife had developed a headache and decided to have a lie down to see if it would pass. I went to check on her to find she was asleep - a good sign. The girls were going to feed cake when she woke, so I decided to take a walk myself as the plan was almost certainly going to change. Kevin Heath had been out for a walk around Lower Heyford and had spotted and photographed corn bunting - I decided that I'd like to catch up with them as I hadn't seen them since mid-2021.

I parked at the end of the footpath and made my way to the spot the birds are most regular; there were flocks of linnet, a few meadow pipits and yellowhammer. As I reached the likely area, I could immediately see a corn bunting on the top of a bush - that didn't take long! I took some photos and then relocated as the bird had done so already. In many ways this was a good result as the individual now perched in the open and was singing, giving me an even better opportunity for a photo.

Behind the hedge there was another singing bird and yet another two atop the tree beyond.

I decided to make my way along the footpath spotting three hares in the field to my left, and skylarks rising from both sides of the path. There were two grey partridge in a hollow but none in the field we had found some last year - although they had been there when Kev visited. As I made my way back to the car, I spotted another hare and a further two corn bunting.

Returning to the original area, two corn bunting showed again, most likely two of the original four. In no time I was home and sharing a cake baked by the girls, and soon after that they had dinner on the table.

Farmoor Reservoir :: 26 March 2022

It was to be Mother's Day on Sunday, but with venues all likely to be packed, we opted to book for Saturday lunch instead. This meant setting out birding early and getting home in time to shower and change for lunch. We arrived at Farmoor Reservoir and made our way across the causeway hoping to connect with roosting waders but found none; the best we had was a male goldeneye with four females.

We reached the western end of the causeway and scanned along the water’s edge but saw nothing of note. We decided to drop down to the river and the Pinkhill Hide to see if we could find the garganey that had been showing there for the last few days. We stopped to view a couple of singing warblers - a blackcap and chiffchaff.

We reached the hide and found Ewan Urquhart already in residence. The garganey had decided to have a lie in and were likely hidden somewhere in the reeds and rushes resulting in us mainly having a chat. Eventually we gave up and made our way along to the turn in the river and scanned around the area. With nothing to add we decided that a stroll along the river might be good but as we reached the turn a chap coming the other way stopped to talk to us - also a member of the Banbury Ornithological Society he helps Allan Peters manage the Bicester Wetlands Reserve. He told us he'd seen two little ringed plovers on the western edge of F1 so we parted and climbed up onto the bank to find that they were nowhere to be seen. We dropped back into the Pinkhill Hide but the garganey were still hiding and decided to make our way round F2 to see if the great northern diver and red-crested pochard (seen the previous day) were still there.

As we passed the end of the causeway I saw a distant bird, just about visible, and we decided worth investigation. There were a couple ahead of us and we were very lucky that they hugged the left side of the road, obscuring them from the bird. We made our way passed the spot and looked back - we were now on the right side of the spot to take photos. Looking back, we could see there were in fact two little ringed plover, one feeding at the water's edge and the other watching on. These were our first of the year - the day salvaged with a year tick! We closed distance a couple of times to try and get a decent photo but without flushing the birds - another birder joined behind and followed suit.

We considered picking up a coffee from the Visitor's Centre but realised that it didn't open until 10.00am and instead resumed our diver and pochard plan and set off around F2. On the southern end we found the great northern diver, initially distant and diving. It graced us with closer views after a few dives and I took some more record shots – they were never going to be as satisfying as those earlier in the year eating signal crayfish.

We continued to look for red-created pochard but dipped on those. As Kev scanned the area with his scope a mixed flock of barnacle and snow geese circled with some settling on the western side. I snapped a few as they passed, and we agreed the visit had eventually delivered. Just one of these garganey to see somewhere - probably not a pre-work visit anywhere as I will likely be opening up the office for much of the next week.

We returned to the car, but just before leaving the reservoir I took a photo of a rather attractive (2w?) herring gull.

Balscote Quarry & Maple Cross :: 18-20 March 2022

Over the Banbury WhatsApp Group I heard that numbers of brambling at Balscote had increased to record levels, with up to 24 showing; this I had to see. I finished work a little early and made a detour to Balscote Quarry and arrived to find no one else was there.

Within minutes birds started to drop out of the bushes and where normally I'd be searching through chaffinches for a brambling, today was the exact opposite. I scanned the rest of the site and settled on a bench to enjoy the finches and take a few photos. Before the birds could settle again an alarm call was sounded and a sparrowhawk tore into the feeder area, landing on one of the posts that the feeders hang from. I took a photo - it would have been rude not to.

Before the finches returned some other visitors arrived, including a grey squirrel, a rat and a muntjac deer. The deer was surprisingly calm and accepted that I was on the other side of the viewing screen - not the usual effect I have on these beasts. It fed for quite a few minutes, apparently on the seeds scattered on the ground and eventually left of its own accord. What a good-looking animal.

The finches eventually took back control of the area at the rear of the feeder and I counted 22. They were joined by a jay and this also kept to the rear, as distant as could be achieved without being in the trees.

I decided it was time to return to looking over the reserve to make sure I didn't miss anything. There were lapwings on the edge of the water, but my attention was drawn to a buzzard sitting on a post on the far side. As I took a record shot a roe deer stepped on the narrow strip of land between the front and back pools - I was taken by the way the light struck the deer and although I was happy with the photo I took, it didn't really capture the scene.

The light was getting low in the sky and when I spotted a song thrush in a tree to my left I thought I'd have a go at a more artistic shot - not really my usual thing, but not too unhappy with the results.

It was approaching dinner time and so I packed up to head home - it had been a productive hour. As I left, I noticed that a pair of Canada geese has discovered the free food on the ground and again displaced the finches - not the usual species I'd expect to see under a seed feeder!

On Friday evening Kevin Heath and I agreed to meet and have a go at seeing the serin at Maple Cross. It was likely a long shot as Kev had been there the previous weekend, until the rain had thoroughly soaked him and left at 11.00am (only for a recorded sighting to be posted 10 minutes later). Recorded sightings of the bird had been posted on BirdGuides twice on the Friday. We hoped that we'd be spared the mist from previous days, and we were. We parked up at the Tea Shack, popped om some walking boots and made our way to the tree Kev knew was the one favoured by the birds (linnet, chaffinch, brambling and goldfinch and of course our serin).

As we started to climb the slope a singing skylark caught our attention as it rose and then almost immediately dropped. Not too far from us we managed to locate it in the scrub and I fired off a few photos. It soon decided to resume its singing and rose, this time high into the sky above us. We just stood and listened - what a way to start the day - such an uplifting experience being with, and listening to, skylarks.

There were numbers of red kite, buzzard, sparrowhawk and kestrel around, but it wasn't until we got to the top of the slope we found flocks of linnet and goldfinches. We worked through then as they fed in the field and returned to the trees alongside the footpath. Another birder appeared and said he'd been there for a while and still not seen the bird. We spend the next hour with him, taking photos and scanning through them to see if we could identify our target bird.

Our fellow birder departed but we were then joined by a handful more, including a chap with a rather large lens and who had seen the bird four times but never managed a photo. We waited for another hour by which time the flocks seem to have dispersed and only a handful of birds were landing in and around the trees. Recorded sightings have typically been around 11.00am and 3.00pm and so we decided to have a walk down to the Tea Shack and have coffee and a cake - I can recommend the lemon and blueberry.

We were back with the watchers before 11.00am and they reported we'd missed nothing. And so began our vigil. As the day passed more and more people with families and dogs made their way along the footpath, a few asking what we were looking for. A few also seemed to be drawn to stop and chat right underneath the favoured tree. It was proving to be a fruitless endeavour. We were entertained occasionally by a passing kestrel and occasional red kites, but our commitment was not being rewarded.

We set a time that we'd leave and one by one those around us departed. Eventually it was our turn, leaving empty handed. I'm told it hasn't been seen since - who'd have thought, there for months and we were a day late.

I awoke early on Sunday morning and decided not to try and get back off to sleep; instead, I jumped into some clothes and headed for Balscote Quarry. Three roe deer dashed for cover as I settled in, and a jay flew away at distance before I even contemplated raising my camera. A few finches remained around the back of the feeder area.

I saw little grebe on both the front and back pools, coot and moorhen feeding too. There wasn't much else to see until a snipe flew onto the righthand edge of doughnut shaped island in front of me. It was still gloomy, but I could see there were five birds - one did have the appearance of a jack snipe but it was probably just an illusion - birds flew in and out and I counted that there were eight in view altogether.

I counted 24 brambling and once I had triple checked Iain Brown turned up. As we chatted I remarked that the number of brambling had increased and we had a peak count of 41, a record for the site - almost four times the record of 2021.

Again there was a visit from the Canada geese and pheasant, plus song thrush out in the scrub between me and the pools. Steve Holiday came and went, then Claire Curnow. My last photos of the day were of the bobwhite quail visiting the seed at the back of the feeder area - a stunning little bird, still surviving on the reserve. I looked and saw that I'd noted 35 species for the morning. Not bad but not yet approaching the peak of 54 that I'd managed in the spring of 2021.

Bogside Flats & Seamill :: 13 March 2022

We journeyed north, not for a birding trip, but the whole family to celebrate my mum's birthday. Regardless, I have the opportunity to pop out for a walk around before breakfast each morning, to take the air and undertake a spot of birding before the day starts in earnest.

We had travelled up on the Friday morning, arriving for lunch, then spent the rest of the day eating and chatting with my mum. The following morning started very wet, and I abandoned any thoughts of even walking the beach opting instead for a leisurely coffee in the room before heading to have breakfast in the hotel.

Sunday morning arrived, and it was forecast to be light showers. However, when I looked out the window into he darkness, I could see it was actually dry. I quickly pulled on some clothes and made for Bogside Flats (the old Racecource beyond the Irvine Golf Course) parking up at the clubhouse. I made my way through the course, passed a practice range and onto the edge of the flats. I hoped to connect with a short-eared owl which I'd seen on my last visit and had been photographed well by another birder after my visit.

I settled in and noted the six whooper swans out front on the narrow stretch of water. They swan up and down but soon took to the wing and headed off towards Irvine. A kestrel made a couple of passes and then in the distance, by a small building some crows appeared to be mobbing a buzzard. I scanned through my bins to see that it was in fact not a buzzard but a ringtail hen harrier! I raised my camera just as the crows won and the harrier dropped down into the reeds and out of view, not to be seen again.

A pair of stonechats darted around the scrub and bushes and as sunrise arrived, the sound of singing skylark increased substantially.

There had been a couple of roe deer on the far hillside and another to my left, but both had been distant in the half light. I turned to look back up the practice range and saw a single roe deer coming my way - eventually it spotted me and accelerated passed and over the fence into cover, looking back to make sure it wasn't being followed.

I decided to make a pass along the scrubland to see if I could see any owl movement but with no success and as I packed up to leave numbers of curlew passed in the distance heading for the estuary - silhouetted against the sky. No dice with the owls but an enjoyable visit - back to the hotel by 8.25am.

After checking out of the hotel the family decided that we'd have a quick walk on the beach just to say we had. I didn't pass up the opportunity to strap on my camera, just in case. On the rocks beyond the burn running beside the Seamill Hydro I saw a group of five turnstone and then joining them were two redshanks.

We crossed the burn and walked to the next rocky outcrop and scanned the water. I could see what looked like a red-throated diver but couldn't be sure in the waves and swell - damn - even photos were not conclusive at this distance as the bird was facing away. I repositioned to see if I could get a better view and lost the bird. I did then spot a couple of purple sandpipers feeding in the edge of the incoming tide and then a red-breasted merganser closer in that my mystery bird had been. Another flew by as we set off back to the hotel and car.

We stopped at the bridge across the burn and the girls played "Poo-sticks" - I soon moved on to see if I could find my mystery bird along the shoreline but without success. Eventually the family called me back as the dipper had appeared but as I approached a dog-walker crossed the bridge and the bird flew off, back up the burn and out of sight - no photo today.

We made our way back up to my mum's house and spent the rest of the day, through to late afternoon, with her before making our way home in readiness for another working week.