Grimsbury on a roll!

Thought I'd give a bit of an round-up of my patching highlights from July & August (so far)!

The main highlight was undoubtedly chancing upon 3 flyover Whimbrel, moving south on a gloomy Sunday 29/07. I've really wanted to see Whimbrel on patch and thought to be honest it was fairly unlikely. So I was understandably mega pleased!!





Med Gulls were scarce at Grimbo last year, so it was cool to find two smart juveniles, as part of a sizable increase in gulls on Friday 20/07. Yellow-Legged Gulls usually peak during September on patch, when larger gulls are drawn to the area by the ploughing of local fields. I have though seen a couple of adults already, including one that unfortunately snuffed it, with it's corpse being pecked at by the local crows soon after.





A feature of most of July and early August was an eclipse drake Mandarin, loitering with the local Mallards. It wasn't a plumage I was particularly familiar with but I certainly am now!



This period also saw the first of a steady run of migrant Willow Warblers, which don't breed around the reservoir itself, however are fairly frequent during Spring and Autumn. I particularly love the lemony yellow juveniles at this time of year...very smart indeed!





Having been away in Spain for a week, my visits to Grimsbury Res recommenced on Monday 20/08. The Mandarin has departed in my absence, however since my return, I've seen no less than SIX patch year ticks, and seemingly something interesting has been turning up on a daily basis. Certainly encouraging me to keep coming back for more!

A Spotted Flycatcher was associating with a small tit flock along the river at the start of last week. They were hard to come by last year and this was also my first on patch this year, so I was pretty pleased to find it! 



An expected juvenile Shelduck spent a day at the reservoir last Tuesday. Shelduck are a scarce species at the reservoir and I think it's only the fourth time I'm seen them here and the first since 2016. This particular juvenile was very skittish, continually flying to the centre of the reservoir whenever anyone walked past. It must have spent so much valuable energy across the course of the day! A Teal also showed up the following day and was a good bird to see as they are expected, but never straightforward.





A real theme of last week was the appearance of several migrant chats. Wheatears have featured twice, with 2 on the 23/08 and 2 on the 26/08. A moulting male Redstart has been seen on and off all week, along the fence and hedge and the southern end of the adjacent cattle field. I've only managed to see it once so far! Finally, my personal highlight was a Whinchat, lingering for a couple of days along the western side of the reservoir. I do love an autumn Whinchat!







Grounded waders have so far been nonexistent this early autumn. However, the flyover wader sightings have continued, (not that I'm complaining!) with Green Sandpiper and Greenshank both great additions to the yearlist this week. Both were picked up on call and would certainly have passed by unnoticed had they not been so vocal!

Flyover Yellow Wagtails have been a feature in recent days, with c18 passing through yesterday morning during the couple of hours I was there.



So...things are most definitely happening! My patch yearlist to date stands at 114, amazingly already beating my 2017 total, with still a third of the year to go!!

It's only 2 weeks until the anniversary of last year's Grey Phalarope, so fingers crossed we get something of that calibre during the next month or so!!

Otmoor & Aston Rowant

Still playing catch up on the blog at the moment!

I was at a loose end for much of Saturday 28/07 and so for part of the day at least, I planned to give both Otmoor and Aston Rowant nature reserves ago in search of a few scarce butterfly species.

I arrived at Otmoor mid-morning, in broken sunshine/cloud and a heavy breeze. I wandered straight up along the old Roman Road to search for Brown Hairstreaks, the fifth and final Hairstreak species of the year to emerge. It would also complete the set for me for 2018.

Conditions were not ideal, but I will never forget seeing my first ever Brown Hairstreak here, in far worse weather five years ago. I spent a good hour and half in this general area, finding a few common butterfly species, including one or two Purple Hairstreak. A showy Migrant Hawker dragonfly also posed nicely.



While I failed to connect with any Brown Hairstreaks, I was pointed out a surprise female Purple Emperor by an enthusiastic young lad also looking for Hairstreaks with his Dad. I put the word out about it, but unfortunately some of the Otmoor regulars arrived too late as after a good 25 minutes, the Emperor cruised off, up and over the adjacent oak trees. Apparently the 3rd or 4th for the reserve so pretty damn notable!





With the sun behind some cloud, I wandered round to the cattle pens, hoping to find a Turtle Dove and I did indeed get some brief views of one in some nearby Blackthorn, before it flew. A very ominous cloud was looming rapidly from the west and so I marched back to the car for shelter, just making it back before the heavens opened. That put pay to finding any butterflies anytime soon, so I left for Aston Rowant, in the hope the weather would be a touch better.



I arrived at Aston Rowant around lunchtime and made my way down from the car park, to the flower-filled hillside. Despite a continued stiff breeze, the sun was shining and I was quickly enjoying stacks of butterflies on the wing. Chalkhill Blues were floating about in great numbers, some looking pretty fresh, while others looking very much past their best!





I was surprised to connect with a late-ish Dark-Green Fritillary as an added bonus too, flitting from thistle to thistle, although it quickly vanished into thin air, before I could get a photo.

A small warm brown-coloured butterfly flicked up from the path, soon alighting on a nearby flower. The first Silver-spotted Skipper of the day! They're great little things and certainly one of the more interesting of the skipper family. It had been a good 3 years since I last saw one so it was cool to become reacquainted once again!







I probably saw around 50 Silver-Spotted Skippers in total by the end, nearly all a nightmare to keep tabs on as they zoomed about the steep hillside. Later on though, as a bit of cloud appeared, I did find a few more docile ones, including a couple that seemed more than happy to wander onto my hand, as well as pretty fresh Chalkhill Blue too.





There were a few other species about, but it was mainly quality over quantity. There were lots of Common Blues & Meadow Browns, pretty much everywhere. Brown Argus were numerous too, many of which were amazingly small, pretty much Small Blue size! 

Having had my fix and with my calves starting to protest against me traipsing up and down the steep hillside, I hopped back in the car and headed for home.