Hundred up!

After beginning my 2022 12-mile challenge pretty nicely, things quietened down somewhat through February and early March and the total rather crawled towards 100. Bird number 100...my earliest ever Little Ringed Plover on 11/03, as yet again Grimsbury Res claimed Oxon's first LRP of the year!

Tree Sparrows continues to elude me, but did finally find a Willow Tit in one of it's final remaining bastions and Corn Buntings were a welcome addition, just inside the 12 mile circle.

Covid has now come knocking for me and my family unfortunately, so we're currently housebound, juggling a poorly 14-month old and work commitments - oh joy! Cannot wait to get out again very soon - a break is very much needed!

Northants Dartford

On Saturday 12/02, by way of a change, I ventured slightly further afield in the hope of connecting with my first Northants Dartford Warbler. Found on 02/02, it had been residing in a fairly non-descript rough field on the SW side of Northampton at Duston Mill - a great little find. There was no opportunity for me to get over and see it for a good while, however my luck was in, as it continued to stick around in the loose company of a pair of Stonechat. 

It was a breezy afternoon - not the most ideal Dartford Warbler conditions, however the Stonechats were visible straight away. Nice too to bump into birding mate Dylan and his other half. 

It took a good half an hour, until eventually the Dartford called and appeared at the left hand end of the nearby barbed wire fence.

It then went onto show really well over the next 15-20 minutes or so, frequently sat stationery tail-flicking on the fence. Had a good number of county tick over the last couple of years so nice to carry that into 2022!

New Year's runaround

Before heading back to work, I had the day on Monday 03/01 to get around some sites and kick off my 2022 local birding. It turned out to be a very decent day , with several potential banana skins added to the list already.

I began at Grimsbury Res for sunrise, teaming up with Gareth B. A steady start with a couple of flyover adult Great Black-backed Gulls (a scarce bird in these parts), a Redpoll amongst several Siskin. Potentially tricky patch birds such as Kestrel, Jay and Pheasant were also seen.

Beyond the res, the Upper Cherwell Valley provided more interest with 2 Jack Snipe, 4+ Snipe, 1 Woodcock, a pair of Stonechat and a flyover Peregrine too.

Late morning, I moved onto the Mid-Cherwell valley, south of Aynho Wharf.

On the way, I paused for a short while at the floods at Kings Sutton, noticing c200 large gulls loafing here. A single adult Yellow-Legged Gull was the best I could pick out, plus at least 2 big beasty adult argentatus Herrings.

The recent floods between Aynho & Somerton had produced great numbers of wildfowl and gulls in recent days and again, the long walk along the canal there didn't disappoint.

Large numbers of duck were soon visible, consisting of at least 9 Pintail, several hundred Wigeon, c30 Shoveler, c100 Teal, several Gadwall and big numbers of Greylag and Canada Geese. It was a real sea of birds!

Further on, where the floods had receded a little, several hundred Lapwing were in situ also making for quite a sight. With a bit of effort, 13 Golden Plovers and 2 Dunlin were picked out among the throng, while a pair of sleeping Shelduck were an unexpected bonus.

The day was slipping away fast, but I still had a good couple of hours left. Firstly I stopped off at a bit of set-a-side / game cover near Aynho, that had recently caught my eye. Whenever I drove past, there always appeared to be quite a few passerines about and as luck would have it, a short stop-off revealed the hoped-for presence of at least 11 Brambling, among Chaffinches, Linnets and Yellowhammers.

With the weather looking a bit suspect, I decided to give Hinton Airfield a miss and instead head across to Boddington Res for the gull roost, in the hope of perhaps picking out a Med Gull or something rarer. The roost was underwhelming, however a redhead Goosander was about for a bit and 2 Green Sands came through south calling loudly - an unexpected bonus bird, making that 7 wader species for the day!

Finally on the drive back, I was lucky to see the familiar dumpy silhouette of a Little Owl in the fading light, at a regular site close to home. That completed a very satisfactory start to 2022!

The 2021 12-mile challenge - how did it go?

My birding focus for 2021 has been a realistic one with the arrival of my awesome son in January. Inevitably, it has been about staying close to home, largely focusing on a handful of sites within 12 miles of Brackley.

For the most part, my 2021 birding has been a case of begging, stealing or borrowing the odd hour or two here and there. However, I've really enjoyed getting to know and understand a few more sites a lot better than I did before. In previous years, I've overlooked sites such as Hinton Airfield and the Lower Cherwell valley, however this year I've found that at the right time of year or in the right conditions, both can produce some great birds.

 

I set myself what I thought was a realistic but potentially tough target of 130 species for the year which as it turned out, was a solid benchmark. I finally reached 130 in mid-November and in fact went on to add several last minute additions, to sneak onto 137.

Highlights have included a possible Baltic Gull, Pale-Bellied Brent Goose, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Cattle Egret, Hawfinch, Merlin, Common Scoter, Wood Sandpiper, Garganey, Corn Bunting, multiple Caspian Gulls, Black and Arctic Terns, Rock Pipit, Gropper, Crossbill, Med Gull and Little Owl to name but a few!

I'm encouraged to see many others adopting a similar birding focus for 2022, spurred on by Birdwatch magazine's #LocalBigYear. I've found it to be a really enjoyable way to go, reducing travel distances and unearthing potentially new sites. There's also nothing more rewarding than finding good birds on your doorstep and so I'll definitely be going again for 2022 - the question is, can I crack 140!?