Oxfordshire birding (5 Viewers)

[gareth_blockley]

and now the first Wheatears are in!

Gareth

 

[RobinD]

Winter visitors are still in - Scaup, Goosander and Smew still on Henley Road...

 

[gnome]

At last a really good bird in the county after what has been a rather quiet spell. Black-winged stilt at Pit 60. Here's a rather crappy record shot but there are loads of better photos & video on the Oxon Bird Log

Adam

 

[gnome]

After the stilt, another county blocker has fallen: pied flycatcher is notoriously hard to get in Oxon. This afternoon a cracking male was found at Farmoor by Terry Shylock. Suberb video of it here

Adam

 

[arjacee]

Hi all. I was hoping someone could help? I will be in Oxford for 2 weeks at the end of July / August and would love to see / photograph a Bullfinch. I have never seen one and would really like to! I also haven't seen several other common English passerines like Nuthatch, Spotted Woodpecker so anywhere where I could see these aswell as a Bullfinch would be great. I visited my folks in Oxford last year at the same time of year and visited farmoor, Otmoor and Watlington Hill which were great and I managed to get my first looks at Goldfinches, Green Woodpeckers, Greenfinches and Red Kites of course. Maybe I just need to return to these places and look harder? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you

 

[gnome]

Hi all. I was hoping someone could help? I will be in Oxford for 2 weeks at the end of July / August and would love to see / photograph a Bullfinch. I have never seen one and would really like to! I also haven't seen several other common English passerines like Nuthatch, Spotted Woodpecker so anywhere where I could see these aswell as a Bullfinch would be great. I visited my folks in Oxford last year at the same time of year and visited farmoor, Otmoor and Watlington Hill which were great and I managed to get my first looks at Goldfinches, Green Woodpeckers, Greenfinches and Red Kites of course. Maybe I just need to return to these places and look harder? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you

Hi,
Otmoor is a pretty good place for Bullfinches along the hedgerows as you walk down to the first and second screens. For Nuthatch and Greater Spotted Woodpecker I would try somewhere like Wytham Wood or Blenheim Palace.

HTH

Adam

 

[arjacee]

Thanks very much. So they can be seen in the summer time?

 

[gnome]

Thanks very much. So they can be seen in the summer time?

Yes, they are resident breeders so they're around all year.

 

[gnome]

There's currently a Dotterel (a really good bird for the county) at Balscote. More details on the Oxon Bird Log (see link in my signature).

Adam

 

[knotsbirder]

A couple of shots from today of the stunning group of 4 White Storks currently gracing the county. Oh, and a couple of one the Black-necked Grebes just down the road at Farmoor.

Cheers, Sam

 

[Bird spotter]

Red Kites M40

I understand that this is a common occurrence now to see Red Kites flying whilst driving along the M40.
Yesterday afternoon driving on the M40 London direction, I counted at least 25 Red Kites over and on the both sides of the M40 motorway.
Great sight...

 

[gnome]

I understand that this is a common occurrence now to see Red Kites flying whilst driving along the M40.
Yesterday afternoon driving on the M40 London direction, I counted at least 25 Red Kites over and on the both sides of the M40 motorway.
Great sight...

Yes, it's very common. When we go on a drive along the M40 sometimes our family play "guess how many red kites we'll see on the journey" with the closest guess at the end winning. The total is quite weather dependent but one can usually get at least into the teens.

Adam

 

[gnome]

Another good bird has turned up in the county in the form of a singing male Corncrake at Otmoor. It's on Greenaways, about 100 yards past the last of the three new scrapes along the bridleway towards the turn off for the screens. Of course it's well hidden and you're not likely actually to see it.

Some video footage of it calling on Gnome's Birding Diary and also on the Oxon Bird Log (see links below)

Adam

 

[gnome]

After a rather long and quiet summer we finally got another good bird, this time in the form of a Great White Egret. It was initially found at Farmoor by Keith Clack before being relocated by Roger Wyatt at Cassington GPs. Unfortunately it proved to be a a one day wonder and was not seen the next day. Apart from that there have been some good terns going through at Farmoor and there's a good variety of waders at Port Meadow.

 

[gnome]

Rather quiet in the county of late. Highlights have included:

• Bearded Tits at Otmoor and now at Radley GP
• a Grey Phalarope briefly yesterday morning at Farmoor
• an adult Caspian Gull in a field near Didcot
• a Red-throated Diver (a county rarity) that spent a little over an hour at Farmoor a couple of weeks ago
• Some Merlin sightings on the downs
• A Short-eared Owl in Burgess Field, Port Meadow

Adam

 

[gnome]

At last another decent bird for the county, this time in the form of a juvenile American Golden Plover on Port Meadow. It was found on Thursday at last light and was seen between 10am and 2pm on Friday though not after that. At the time of writing there's been no news on it so far today (Saturday). Visitors looking to twitch it should be careful as there is an aberrant grey-toned Golden Plover in amongst the flock which has very similar colouring to the AGP and can only be distinguished by looking at the structural details. See Port Meadow Birding for more details.

Photo (c) Ian Lewington


Adam

 

[gnome]

Rather quiet in the county now. A couple of different Caspian Gulls have been seen on Port Meadow over the last week and the first Waxwings are starting to appear in the county.

 

[gnome]

Recent county highlights include an adult drake Falcated Duck at Farmoor, a Long-tailed Duck, a red-head Smew and lots of Waxwings

Adam

 

[gnome]

So far this year we've had some Waxwings, a Firecrest, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls, and an elusive Great Grey Shrike at Cholsey. More details on the Oxon Bird Log

Adam

Shrike (c) Roger Wyatt
Gulls (c) Ian Lewington