Last of the summer migrants

As we moved through September and into October, summer visitors slowly thinned out and autumn began to take grip. The sound of Redwings seeping overhead again nearly upon us! 

September produced a few more local yearticks with a couple of Great White Egrets (including one over Brackley!), a brief, surprise Merlin from the garden out to the south edge of Brackley and a scruffy Barnacle Goose at Foxcote Res amongst the local Canadas.

Most pleasing find was probably the lovely juvenile Arctic Tern that graced Grimsbury Res on the evening of 11/09. My first juvenile at the res, completing the set, having previously seen a number of adults, as well as a notable Portlandica 2cy bird back in June 2017.

One of the more bizarre records of the month were a pair of juvenile Whinchat in the middle of central Brackley. Seen on an evening walk with family, just a few minutes walk from home, I dashed back with bins and camera and was able to get some good views in the fading light.

I had recorded Wheatear every single year at Grimsbury Res since 2015 (!), however that was now under threat in 2024, having not bumped into one by the start of September! Thankfully however, a very showy juvenile spent a short time along the western perimeter on the early morning of 15/09 and saved the record for another year! It was so showy in fact, that it tried to land on a fellow birder's head!

In terms of other migrants, Common Terns too have been surprisingly thin on the ground at Grimsbury this year, with only my second of 2024 appearing on 05/09. Swallows and House Martins were still passing through, throughout the local area into the first week of October. Surprisingly good numbers for this late in the season. 

A 3rd-winter Caspian Gull was a decent find in the Upper Cherwell Valley on Friday 04/10. A particularly reliable area for them in October / November amongst the good numbers of larger gulls.

Wildfowl numbers have slowly increased in usual places, including c200 Teal at Bicester Wetland. Geese numbers have swelled too, pulling in a dubious Snow Goose to the Upper Cherwell / Grimsbury area from the end of September onwards.

Others from September...

Autumn waders

For much of the early autumn period, the main draw was the continued low water levels and mud of the ERF lagoon at Ardley, near-ish to Bicester.

There were periods of quiet, but in the end, a decent run of species with 13 species of wader in total, before we lost the mud to the rain! The standout, without doubt were the 2 juvenile Little Stints found by Gareth Casburn on the evening of 02/09. A long-awaited local tick for me, they showed really nicely and ended up staying for a couple of days. Gareth and I talked quite a lot about getting one, so super chuffed that came to fruition! 

The other headline bird was a crisp and characterful juvenile Wood Sandpiper that I found hanging out with the Green Sands on the evening of 10/08. My first at Ardley that didn't hand around too long and departed overnight.

Two islandica Black-Tailed Godwits were a real treat, found during a brief visit during my paternity leave! I find Black-Tailed Godwits surprisingly hard to come by in this area, so a fairly notable sighting. A juvenile Ruff was also a good year tick, first seen on and lingered for a few days. A tiny bird, similar in size to the Green Sands, so presumably a female.

Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Snipe and Dunlin all made appearances, while more regular visitors were up to 12 Green Sandpipers, up to c100 Lapwing and sporadic appearances from the odd Common Sandpiper.

Elsewhere, the ocassional visit to Grimsbury Reservoir, produced the odd bit of interest including a drake Pochard (barely annual at the res) hanging out with the local Mallards for a while, finally my first local Whinchats of the year on 02/09 and the the odd Yellow-Legged Gull.

My Brackley garden delivered a few nice surprises, including 2 flyover Tree Pipits on 17/08, a Yellow-Legged Gull and 2 early returning Common Gulls, regular Hobby sightings and a house-first Red Underwing Moth! 

Others pictures from the time period...

Summer birding

As May, turns to June, spring migration comes to an end and birding interest in our part of the world at least, slows down somewhat!

But that's not to say June doesn't still throw up the odd surprise. It is also probably the best month to encounter a singing Quail. Despite my efforts every year, I've thus far failed to find my own one locally, however luckily for me, a singing Quail was discovered some 10 minutes from my work in Bicester, near Marsh Gibbon (Bucks). A short wait on 14/06 after work paid dividens, with several bursts of song in the lovely meadows, adjacent to the road. Been a good number of years since my last so a worthy diversion!

A lot of my focus has been at Ardley ERF lagoon near Bicester, roughly 15 mins from home. Despite the wet spring we've had, the lagoon water levels for some unknown reason have remained consistently low and crying out for some waders - just a shame it has conincided with the period slap bang between spring and autumn!

Still, the site has provided some interest and as autumn passage gets underway, who knows what may turn up!

Not a wader, but probably the star bird was the unseasonal one-off of a Short-eared Owl on the evening of 26/06. A new bird here for all the regulars, but not the time of year we expected!

Pleasingly, a few waders have dribbled through and hopefully they're a pre-cursor to more as autumn progresses. As well as up to nearly 30 Lapwing, adults of both Greenshank and Redshank have appeared as well as a couple of the expected Green Sandpipers and 2-3 Little Ringed Plover.

Other notables have included a moulting drake Red-Crested Pochard, a one-off Corn Bunting, a Hobby and a good breeding record of Gadwall too! All in all a very good string of records for June!

The weather has been cool, cloudy or wet during what is the best period locally for butterflies - typical! So all a bit disappointing with no real opportunities to look for Purple Emperors during their peak and equally very little chance to search for Dark-Green Fritillaries too. At least I've managed to enjoy the dependable Marbled Whites, in decent numbers, if not quite the heights of 2023.

It seems to have been a strong year for orchids, particularly Bee & Pyramidal. Many road verges were alive with them and a relatively small area at Ardley ERF had at least 80 Bee spikes.