It's springtime!

So, it's now well into March and the local wildlife has a very much springlike vibe to it, with the first of our migrants beginning to trickle in. Exciting times!

It all started with a good, healthy dusting of Chiffchaff during the first week of the month, a touch earlier than last year. 

The first 'proper' migrants arrived for me all at once on Thursday 16/03 with a lovely male Little Ringed Plover & 5 Sand Martins, both at Grimsbury Reservoir. The LRP was I think, my earliest yet & was the first in Oxfordshire for 2017 too!

As of today (22/03/17), the LRP numbers at Grimsbury have now swelled to three with some entertaining displaying going on pretty regularly. Your classic Grimsbury 'chain-link fence view' of the female bird below!

Other notable Grimsbury records from recent weeks, have included my first Redshank for the site, a singing Blackcap (presumably a wintering bird, as apposed to a migrant), a female Stonechat, (a pretty scarce bird for the res) and best of all, today's winter-plumaged Knot. The Knot is a fantastic record for Grimsbury and is a patch tick for most. To Gareth's knowledge, it's also only the third known record for the site. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come this spring!

Away from the birds, the more milder, sunnier days have brought out my first butterflies of the year, with Brimstone on 09/03 and Small Tortoiseshell on 15/03, both in Banbury.

My garden pond has also been fascinating to watch with well in excess of 20 Common Frogs gathering for a bit of 'hows your father'!. The amount of spawn this year is certainly by far the most we've ever had, which is excellent. It won't be long before the pond is a writhing mass of tadpoles!