Brandon Marsh :: 27 June 2015

Out birding with her indoors. A stop at the Badger Tearoom for lunch before we went onto the reserve proper. The area outside the tearoom was overgrown and much of the ground area was not visible - we were honoured with good views from a great-spotted woodpecker.

On the reserve the conditions were so peaceful and there weren't too many people around - it was good to see a few families around. We did come across rather an odd looking long-tailed tit fledgling with brown head rather than the dark / black I am used to seeing. It also had a very long tail from our viewpoint.

From teal hide we saw the green sandpiper but the (probable escapee) fulvous whistling duck had moved on. From the final hide we were treated to a hobby hunting over the fields and returning each catch to a tree opposite - nice. On passing through the Visitor Centre, everyone had gone and we were treated to the swallows darting around the beams and roof - a good way to finish.

Today's sightings (38) included: magpie, feral pigeon, swallow, blue tit, great tit, reed bunting, great spotted-woodpecker, blackbird, carrion crow, willow warbler, tufted duck, woodpigeon, common buzzard, long tailed tit, greylag goose, canada goose, lapwing, common term, black-headed gull, lesser black backed gull, herring gull, oystercatcher, starling, cormorant, mallard, sand martin, coot, moorhen, wren, green sandpiper, redshank, grey heron, mute swan, goldfinch, linnet, chiffchaff, hobby and pied wagtail.

Seamill, Ayrshire :: 11 June 2015

A short walk on the beach before setting off home after the funeral. Quiet, still, warm and an absolute indulgence. People greeting you as you passed by, birdsong and a feeling of calm. Just 15 minutes each way to take in the morning adding great black-backed gull, ringed plover, eider, herring gull and sand martin to the year list.

The species noted (22) included: ringed plover, house martin, herring gull, swallow, feral pigeon, great black-backed gull, collared dove, sand martin, eider, jackdaw, starling, lesser black-backed gull, blackbird, woodpigeon, grey heron, oystercatcher, mallard, pied wagtail, black-headed gull, rook, goldfinch and house sparrow.

RSPB Otmoor :: 16 May 2015

A glorious afternoon at RSPB Otmoor. Even on entering the reserve, red kite and hobbys were soaring and diving - a great reception. Not to be outdone, hobbys were in an abundance as they hunted dragonflies all across the reserve. The return of swifts was evident with groups joining swallows as they streaked across the sky, fields and water. Caught a good view of a turtle dove as it purred in a tree just off the bridleway - it could be heard from some distance and didn't disappoint in showing itself on a number of ocassions. Nice chat with a couple of guys also on a solo visit.

Large numbers of reed bunting sang, joined by whitethroat too. Just passed the first screen, we were lucky enough to have direct sight and sound of a cuckoo - my first of the year. Just to be seasonal the skylarks also erupted like fireworks, singing to great heights then dropping back to earth.

Sightings for the afternoon (39) included: hobby, carrion crow, red kite, kestrel, chaffinch, lapwing, magpie, blackbird, great tit, swift, goldfinch, reed bunting, pheasant, mute swan, mallard, blue tit, turtle dove, little egret, coot, oystercatcher, canada goose, greylag goose, grey heron, redshank, woodpigeon, shoveler, skylark, common tern, tufted tuck, pochard, gadwall, cormorant, cuckoo, swallow, great crested grebe, buzzard, common whitethroat, moorhen and greenfinch.

Burton Dassett :: 11 April 2015

Just finished breakfast and checked with @bobhazell whether the Ring Ouzel from yesterday had been reported at Napton Reservoir this morning. While waiting for a response, @grimsbury_birds tweeted to say that he had just spotted one near the Burton Dassett Country Park. I jumped in the car and found where they were viewing from. Initially I joined Gareth and Allan in viewing from the road but after a while they decided to take a stroll to get a better view down in to the hollow. No view from there either. Eventually they had to go but about 20 minutes after they had gone it appeared at the bottom right of the field. Another tick for me.

Also managed to tick yellow wagtail and jackdaw with a single swallow flypast. Entertained by a buzzard attempting to catch a thermal on the edge of the hill, and it appears that @grimsbury_birds managed to catch a photo, possibly of the same bird, on the ground later.

Brandon Marsh :: 06 April 2015

The reserve car park was rammed when we arrived. Great to see so many people out on a glorious Easter Monday. Fortunately there was space for us both in the car park and the Badger Tearoom. The feeders outside the Visitor Centre were relatively quiet with just a few species visiting. Much busier inside.
Under blue skies we had a beautiful walk around the reserve and encountered amphibians on the verge of the footpath as well as in the water - notable was a common toad. Onwards and it was obvious that so many butterflies were around - peacock, comma, brimstone, large white, ...
Added oystercatcher, redshank, swallow and sand martin to my year list on East Marsh. Great watching buzzard, kestrel and canada geese too.
Today's sightings (37) included: great tit, blue tit, blackbird, chaffinch, robin, reed bunting, canada goose, long-tailed tit, tufted duck, mallard, moorhen, dunnock, greylag goose, carrion crow, coot, shoveler, lapwing, redshank, black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, oystercatcher, teal, mute swan, shelduck, magpie, sand martin, wren, gadwall, cormorant, woodpigeon, buzzard, jay, swallow, kestrel, chiffchaff, goldfinch and great spotted woodpecker.

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.