A great week!

This week has produced for me a succession of notable migrants, with Common Sandpiper, Little Gull, Ring Ouzel, Whimbrel, Grasshopper Warbler, Hobby, Whinchat, Swift and Black Tern all added to my 12-mile 2022 list.

My highlight had to be wonderful views of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler at Bicester Wetland keyholder reserve. Every spring, I seem to hear of people enjoying brilliant views of showy migrant Groppers, however my views have always consisted of a head peeking out in between brambles or in fact no view at all! So this was a real teat, as I sat in the grass soaking up the special spectacle.

A very widespread drop of Little Gulls occurred on Saturday 23/04. In the short time I had to pop out, a quick circuit of Grimsbury revealed nothing. Then along the road to Boddington Res, only for Mark Ribbons to report the presence of one there while I was on route - perfect! A lovely adult that I sat and watched for a while, dip feeding away. Hard to beat a spring adult Little Gull!

I thought my chances of catching up with a local Ring Ouzel were slipping away, so I was very grateful for Ian Dodson to get the news out of a smart male lingering in a field on the edge of the small village of West Farndon. I had the morning to myself on Sunday 24/04 and so after a fairly fruitless visit to Grimsbury, I headed over. It didn't take long to find the bird and showed well, marching around in the presence of a couple of Blackbirds. Spot on!

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Bicester Wetland was kind to me this week, across my two shortish visits there. As well as the Gropper, a female Whinchat was found early on in the week and luckily stuck around for me to catch up with it on fenceposts in the meadow. Spring Whinchats are never guaranteed around here so that was goodun. A flyover Hobby and a unexpected singing Lesser Redpoll made for a nice haul.

Popped over to Grimsbury a few times, mostly pretty swift visits. Best bird has to be the all-too-brief Whimbrel that I picked up on call on 26/04. It circled the res before landing along the W shore, only to be flushed by a jogger some 5 seconds later - only my 2nd ever on patch. Other highlights of the week included a late female Brambling feeding along the river (my first non-flyover for the site), plus my first Swift of the year on 28/04. A few more Yellow Wags finally made an appearance with at least 6 on 26/04, while I also finally got my first Common Sand of the year on 23/04.

My birding week was rounded off on Friday 29/04. A cracking Black Tern had been found earlier in the day at Foxcote Reservoir, near Buckingham and was still reported as present mid-afternoon. So, I made the diversion from work in Bicester for a quick look on the way home. A quick scan revealed nothing, but on entering the hide, I was pleasantly surprised to see it sat out on a buoy out in front, albeit slightly into the sun. Great views had and did get to see it have a bit of a fly about too. Lovely bird and a decent addition to the year.