What a wash out!

I tried my best to get out and do some birding during the weekend of 14/01/ & 15/01, however the weather was appalling, with persistent rain for the most part!

I was out and about for the whole of Saturday morning and did a mini tour of several sites. I started with Croughton Quarry close to Brackley, which hosted a couple of decent birds for the site in the form of a lone Wigeon & a Little Grebe.

I then took a short 15 minute drive, just into Oxfordshire to Caulcott, near Middleton Stoney. Here I was meeting up with Gareth to see the 3 Cattle Egrets that had taken up residence in a big mucky field full of pigs! Before I did, I popped up the road to a site for Corn Bunting. I arrived in the targeted area and had a good scan...but nothing. Then just as I was thinking of moving on, there was that familar jangle of a singing Corn Bunting. It showed pretty well, sat in the roadside field singing away before being joined by another. They then both flew off across the field. Lovely stuff! On then to the Egrets.

I joined up with Gareth and we began trudging off down a muddy track to the field. It then began raining which was far from ideal, particularly as it wasn't forecast! We spent a good hour enjoying all three Cattle Egrets. One in particular showed pretty close, following every move of a nearby pig, as it churned up some lovely mucky treats for the Egret.

I quick hop down the M40 to Banbury got me a good patch yeartick, with a pair of Wigeon present at Grimsbury Res, together with a male Gadwall. A quick check of the big gulls nearby, in fields W of Chacombe proved fruitful, with a lovely 1w Caspian Gull present. I'd then had enough of the rain so headed home.

The next day was even worse and torrential. I ventured over to Boddington Res for a quick walk about, though again the weather eventually took it's toll! Birds present included a Jack Snipe, a Little Egret, 9 Goosander, 2 Shoveler, 6 Teal & 9+ Wigeon...a decent array of ducks for Bodd!  

Waxwings & excellent winter Rutland

Monday 02/01 offered my last opportunity for birding before heading back to work. Bad times! However, with the forecast looking clear cold and sunny, all was good!

I began my day with a quick drive around Brackley looking for Waxwings, with numbers rapidly moving south. No luck for me, so I rewarded my efforts with the real thing, heading over to Roade in Northants, 100 yards from my old school in fact!

Like most Waxwing twitches it seems, this was a nice social occasion and good to see a few people I hadn't seen for a while, as well as a few new ones too. There were around 10 Waxwings present sitting up in trees or house TV aerials, before coming down to feed on berries together with a good gathering of Blackbirds too! 

This was my first proper Waxwing fix for quite some time and so inevitably, I ended up staying far longer than I intended! With good company and Waxwings to enjoy, why not eh!

Despite the sun being out, it was still absolutely freezing and it got to the point where my car heater seemed a more preferable option. So I set off north, up past Northampton and beyond, to Rutland Water. The main reason for heading to Rutland was to connect with a long-standing bogey bird of mine and an excellent inland record; a 1st-winter Surf Scoter that had appeared by the dam in recent days, associated loosely with a flock of Tufted Duck. I was also quite keen to do a bit of birding here too with plenty about.

My first stop inevitably, was the dam. I soon connected with the scoter, showing fantastically well about half way along. Occasionally it would have a dive and several times too it set off on a flight around the vast reservoir, before again appearing a few minutes later by the dam wall once again. The last one of these flights saw it disappear completely, however by this time I had certainly had my fill of views. The bird was strikingly brown in the sunlight, together with the distinct face markings and pale belly, set this out as a 1st-winter.

I finished my visit with a prolonged look at the North Arm of the reservoir. Here, there was some fantastic birding to be had. A single Slavonian Grebe was giving decent views offshore, while a couple of Black Necked Grebes were also on show, but much further out.

There were at least 3 Smew were in the area, including a cracking drake around the fishponds, as well as a couple of surprisingly illusive Great White Egrets.

It was just the general fantastic numbers of waterfowl present here that I also enjoyed. Scores of Wigeon & Teal, plenty of Goldeneye and quite a few of both Pintail & Goosander. A Redshank was also kicking about.

To finish it all off, everyone there enjoyed a fantastic Peregrine show as it appeared out of nowhere to smash a Tufted Duck into the water. Unfortunately I didn't see this, however I did gain some great views of it as it cruised past, before swooping low after one of the female Smew (nooo not the Smew!). Thankfully it got away and the Peg headed off. Fantastic!

My feet and hands had begun to feel painfully cold and so with a bit of a drive ahead of me, I set off back to Brackley, concluding a heck of a good day out!

Rocking up out of the blue

I was pleased to squeeze in the odd bit of birding in between Christmas and new year. This began on Tuesday 27/12 with a tour around several south Northants sites. I started fairly early at Woodford Halse near Daventry for a Waxwing that had spent the previous day on berries by the local co-op. No luck unfortunately, however nice to see a few familiar birding faces!

Boddington Reservoir was my next port of call, walking the full circuit and giving it a meticulous going over for anything out of the ordinary. Best were a lone Jack Snipe, a calling Willow Tit by Byfield Pool, 10 Goosander, a couple of Little Egret, 3 Shoveler & at least 19 Wigeon, a decent count for the site.

A quick look around Fawsley Park lake revealed very little other than a flock of Siskin and a couple of Gadwall. The lure of the big numbers of large gulls between Banbury & Chacombe then saw me head back down the A361 for another gulling session.

It didn't disappoint with even bigger numbers present than seen previously, all just into Northants. A 2w Caspian Gull was on show for a little while and even better was a striking 3w Caspian too, my first 3w ever I think (poor iphone-scoped pic below). Together with the Casps were 3 Yellow-Legged Gull (2 adults & a 2w) and at least 5 GBBGs (not a spectacularly common bird in the area). LBBGs were in good supply too, together with impressive numbers of Herring Gulls for the area too, possibly in excess of 150-200 birds.

Another go the next day (28/12) with Gareth B produced far fewer gulls, however we still managed 1, possibly 2 1w Caspian Gull, plus 3-4 Yellow Legged Gull.

My last bit of birding during 2016 was to pop into Stow-on-the-Wold with Em on Friday 30/12, while en route to Cheltenham. This was of course to see the now famous male Blue Rock Thrush that had taken up residence on house roofs and gardens, close to the centre of the small town. There were plenty of birders about but nothing compared to the first couple of days it seems, so I'm glad I waited. I spent a very enjoyable 20 or so minutes with the bird, not having to wait too long for it to appear.

There's been a lot of speculation about the origin of the bird, however to me, there is nothing remotely conclusive to suggest that the bird is anything other than wild. With the remarkable number of vagrants during Autumn 2016, why not?! I hear murmurings that someone has obtained a feather so maybe a bit of DNA analysis will put all the speculation to bed.

Starling spectacular!

A big Boxing Day walk is an absolute must to gain some rest bite from the relentless waves of food and drink! So on the afternoon of Monday 26/12, after meeting up with friends in Oxford, Em and I decided to go to Otmoor, with the added incentive of the monster Starling roost. With bright sunshine and a crisp chill in the air, we set off along the long, muddy tracks towards the large swathes of reed bed at the far end of the reserve.

We had a look from both viewing screens, seeing a couple of Marsh Harriers cruising about, as well as plenty of Shoveler, Teal & Snipe in particular. A ringtail Hen Harrier also made an all-too-brief appearance over the reedbed, however I failed to catch sight of it again. We then settled at the viewpoint, roughly half way between the two screens to enjoy the Starlings.

It took quite a while for them to show, however by around 16:30pm birds began to gather. Before long, clouds of thousands upon thousands of birds were arriving from all directions. The murmuring of chattering Starlings slowly increased, like someone slowly turning up a volume knob, as a Bittern briefly cruised low over the reeds. The swooshing noise of incoming Starling flocks swooping in low of the reed beds was frequent and also so breathtakingly impressive.

With little light left, the numbers of birds finally tailed off and with freezing extremities it was time to get home!