Farmoor Reservoir :: 01 April 2015

Noted on a post from Lee Evans (@LeeEvansBirding) that there was a red-necked grebe at Farmoor Reservoir. Having had a late lunch out with the family we returned home at 3pm. Everyone else seemed to have plan so I thought a quick dash to Farmoor Reservoir was in order.

As soon as I stepped onto the reservoir I was greeted by a pair of red-crested pochard - a year tick. Information suggested that the SW banks of F2 were the most likely to spot the RN grebe. Set off in a cold wind but thankfully avoided any rain. Most inhabitants had been pushed to shore by the choppy waters and the few windsurfers and boat being driven along by the stiff wind. Nothing doing and was beginning to think it had been a wasted journey when I spotted something about 50m off the W shore. And there it was. I won't include the photo as it was just a record shot - it is on Flickr though. Lost it almost as soon as I found it and was unable to locate for the rest of the visit.

Completing the circuit I added a few more to the year list: reed bunting, dunlin and meadow pipit - 5 for the day.

The day's sightings (26) included: red-crested pochard, great tit, chaffinch, coot, mallard, pied wagtail, tufted duck, black-headed gull, woodpigeon, carrion crow, rook, cormorant, kestrel, great-crested grebe, greylag goose, red-necked grebe, goldeneye, reed bunting, chiffchaff, wren, blackbird, robin, little grebe, magpie, dunlin and meadow pipit.

Draycote Water :: 14 March 2015

Caught a battle of wits between a female sparrowhawk and a robin in the back garden. The robin was chased around lavender, ceanothus & hid in forsythia. The sparrowhawk flushed the robin out several times but in the end escaped, much to the disappointment of the sparrowhawk who hung around various fence posts hoping for another potential victim to appear.

The were reports from @grimsbury_birds (Gareth Blockley) on Twitter that a red-crested pochard had dropped onto Grimbsbury Reservoir the previous day. I decided to take a look on the chance that it had roosted there overnight ... no such luck. As I had my boots and binoculars in the car I decided to continue on to Draycote Water to see if I could spot the long-staying black-necked grebe or the Iceland gull. Despite a temperature of around 8C, the breeze into your face on the path around the water was biting. I looked forward to the return when at least it would be on my back. I don't think I have ever seen so many little grebes on the same day; groups of 5, 3, 2 and a few on their own. In amongst these was the black-necked grebe, close to shore. Further on towards Toft Bay two groups of geese swam past: the first containing two white fronted geese; the second a single pink-footed goose. These geese were new ticks for me and added to the year list along with the bn grebe, little grebe and a chiffchaff.

From the hide in Toft Bay there were numerous great crested grebe displaying and looking like the weed dance may be moments away. Unfortunately they still seemed to be practicing.

A productive and very enjoyable day.

For the visit sightings (30) included: black-headed gull, mallard, teal, little grebe, coot, cormorant, lesser black backed gull, great crested grebe, pied wagtail, tufted duck, moorhen, long tailed tit, blue tit, great tit, wren, chiffchaff, greylag goose, canada goose, dunnock, pink-footed goose, carrion crow, magpie, rook, white-fronted goose, blackbird, goldeneye, woodpigeon, robin, sparrowhawk and black-necked grebe.

Grimsbury Reservoir :: 21 February 2015

Started following @grimsbury_birds (Gareth Blockley) on Twitter. On his updates I noted that there were some long staying goosander on Banbury Reservoir. As they hadn't been added to my year list I thought I should pop along to have a look. Very quiet on the wall to the far end of the reservoir to catch up with the goosander group but soon was rewarded with a few other species, including a flypast from a kingfisher heading along the river towards Spiceball Park. Made it back before the rain came.

Today's sighting around the reservoir (21) included: carrion crow, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, dunnock, black headed gull, pied wagtail, raven, kingfisher, buzzard, cormorant, great crested grebe, wren, mallard, magpie, woodpigeon, rook, kestrel, robin, goldfinch and lesser black backed gull.

Brandon Marsh :: 20 February 2015

Overcast, cold but an enjoyable visit to the reserve. Just the usual suspects on a tour around - perhaps spoilt by the views of water rail and kingfisher last time. X-rated from the final hide with a pair of kestrels "getting it on" in the far distance. Tea cakes in the Badger tearoom brought an end to a pleasurable visit. Couldn't resist another seed feeder from the shop on the way out.

Sighting on the reserve (38) included: carrion crow, magpie, blue tit, nuthatch, great tit, dunnock, robin, feral pigeon, chaffinch, coal tit, song thrush, blackbird, buzzard, wren, mute swan, canada goose, black headed gull, cormorant, coot, tufted duck, gadwall, shoveler, pochard, mallard, lapwing, moorhen, lesser black backed gull, shelduck, teal, wood pigeon, common gull, goldeneye, great crested grebe, rook, kestrel, jay, bullfinch and greenfinch.

Brandon Marsh :: 11 January 2015

Arriving at the reserve I found cars parked from the entrance right down to the visitor centre. It appeared that Morris dancers were celebrating the wassail at Brandon Marsh. Fortunately there were still spaces in the car park. The tearoom was rammed full so I went straight out onto the reserve - possibly a first.

An amazing number of jays were visible around the site, as were people from Mansfield. The RSPB Mansfield Local Group had brought a bus load. Great to see so many enthusiastic friendly people around. Stopped to talk with a couple of the guys only to find they had spotted a water rail skulking alongside the path and we stalked it down the path until it disappeared from view. No photo as the little blighter just wouldn't show in the clear.

No such problem later when a water rail decided to pose and then swim to cover. A decent record shot. Almost immediately followed by a kingfisher catching fish out of the other window. Lots of excitement for a few minutes.

Sightings for the day (37) included: buzzard, blue tit, feral pigeon, moorhen, carrion crow, black headed gull, kestrel, bullfinch, jay, coot, mute swan, gadwall, shoveler, mallard, tufted duck, cormorant, lapwing, wigeon, shelduck, lesser black backed gull, blackbird, chaffinch, water rail, canada goose, magpie, teal, wood pigeon, stock dove, kingfisher, greylag goose, pochard, goldeneye, robin, great tit, nuthatch, coal tit and dunnock.

Brandon Marsh :: 28 October 2014

Five months since I last got out for a visit to a reserve. Having been away so frequently recently, it is nice to have a few days off and take time to do some things for myself.

After a quick trip to the shops and a little driving practice with my daughter, it was off to WWT Brandon Marsh with Charlotte. Lunch at the Badger tearoom followed by some fresh air as we strolled around the reserve. Caught the nuthatch at the feeders outside the Visitor Centre but it was slow progress as we made our way round passed the edge of the golf course. We hoped to see the jay as it is quite a good time to see them out and about with so much food on the trees, but no luck. Stopped for a seat at the turn and watched a kestrel hover looking for lunch. Just as we were about to leave we had a fly past from a jay right over our heads - tremendous. On our way to the East Marsh hide a kingfisher provided another fly past.

From the Carlton Hide we had several jay sightings and then again from the new hide beyond that. To cap it all, we then had a jay drop onto a fence post just ahead of us as we made our way back the the Visitor Centre as light started to fade - probably our best ever encounter, although light levels made photos difficult.

A good afternoon in pleasant autumnal conditions.

Our sightings for the day (36) included: magpie, great tit, chaffinch, pied wagtail, blue tit, robin, pheasant, feral pigeon, greenfinch, woodpigeon, carrion crow, dunnock, blackbird, nuthatch, buzzard, long tailed tit, kestrel, black headed gull, jay, shoveler, coot, mute swan, tufted duck, gadwall, wigeon, mallard, moorhen, lapwing, starling, common gull, lesser black backed gull, teal, greylag goose, kingfisher, wren and grey heron.

Brandon Marsh :: 5 May 2014

Very late post of a visit to the reserve in the spring half term. It has been sitting in my inbox for a while.

The day's sightings (21) included: carrion crow, pied wagtail, coot, mallard, black headed gull, cormorant, woodpigeon, blue tit, robin, reed bunting, blackcap, starling, chaffinch, blackbird, greylag goose, grey heron, swallow, red kite, great crested grebe, common tern and black tern.

From the numbers of species it can be seen that it was a quiet day on the reserve.