We began at Grimsbury Reservoir, Banbury from about 06:10am. Covering the reservoir and a sizable chunk of the Upper Cherwell Valley, we got off to a steady start with best birds including Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Willow & Marsh Tits and a couple of Common Terns.
A drive around villages and farmland further W & NW of Banbury produced a surprise Painted Lady around a quarry near Wroxton, a couple of Yellow Wagtail near Mollington & a Spotted Flycatcher by the church in Hanwell.
A stroll further into another section of the Upper Cherwell produced a few Curlew, good views of a fly through Hobby and the now rare sight of several Tree Sparrows.
As the day went on it became unsurprisingly difficult to find new additions to the list, despite our best efforts. Just when we thought they wouldn't join the list, both Jay and Willow Warbler were added at the eleventh hour. It was quite remarkable and slightly worrying how difficult Willow Warbler was to find, in particular.
The best thing late in the day, were another two Painted Lady around farmland near Wardington, before we returned to Grimsbury with a very respectable count of 75 species in the bag.
The next day (Monday 15/05) I carried out my usual lunchtime visit to Grimsbury Res. With heavy cloud and rain during the morning, I was hopeful that something may have dropped in. For once, my expectations were fulfilled with an obliging Sanderling along the W shore, coming nicely into summer plumage. This is the third for the site in as many years...pretty impressive for Grimbo!
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