This time of year is generally super quiet on the birding front around here, as we hit the summer. It can though, also be a time for the unusual as illustrated on the evening of Monday 06/06 as news broke of two Spoonbill at the Bicester Wetland keyholder reserve! A great local record and only the 3rd ever for the BOS recording area. Frustratingly I couldn't get out to see them initially, with my grocery delivery imminent and also my son deciding he didn't fancy going to sleep at the normal time! However eventually, I managed to fire up the car and scoot over to Bicester to enjoy these scarce local visitors in the fading light, joined by fellow local birder Mike Pollard.
As is pretty standard for Spoonbill, they spent plenty of time sleeping, however they did start feeding very actively in the near darkness just before we left.
Sadly, after being seen first thing the next day, they departed soon after.
But Bicester was not done there. The following day, I had another quick look after work, with a vague hope that the Spoonbills were just hiding somewhere out of sight. No Spoonbills, but was pleased to come across a cream crown Marsh Harrier sat in a willow bush by the main pool, being mobbed by a couple of Black-Headed Gulls! Not at the level of Spoonbill, but still a very notable bird locally. It spent the next 15-20 minutes hunting the reserve, actually catching a frantic Moorhen for a short while, before it wriggled free!
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