End of March & Early April

In years gone by March would be a rather quiet month. If we were lucky we would maybe get an early Sand Martin but that would usually be about it. By contrast, this year has been full-on with loads of migrants coming through. There are probably two factors which are contributing to this. Firstly, global warming means that spring is starting earlier each year and the very early arrival dates certainly support this. However, there is another factor in that the floods are at the Goldilocks level this spring: not too large and not too small. Contrast this with last year when they were so full that there was no real shoreline to pull in waders. Indeed, the shoreline has been superb for much of the month and wader numbers have reflected this. 

Let us start with the first March arrival dates for various spring migrants. The first Little Ringed Plover was seen on the 10th, the same date as the first Sand Martins appeared. The first Swallow was on the 21st and the first House Martin on the 27th. We even had our first Willow Warbler on the 28th. All these dates are very early - I normally associated Willow Warbler with the second week of April and never in March. 

Little Ringed Plover courtesy of Thomas Miller

In terms of waders, we've been having good counts of these. In particular, it's been a good month for Redshank with a peak count of 15. This species didn't overwinter on the Meadow this year at all. Indeed over-wintering numbers have been declining steadily in recent years. We had our first Ruff recently. This species used to be a stalwart Meadow species though in recent years has become much harder to come by. Dunlin have been around in ones or twos only this month and Oystercatcher numbers have been rather low as they've been settling down to their various territories. It's been a good month for Little Ringed Plover with a peak count of 6 and birds present for much of the month. We also had our first Ringed Plovers come through as well - once again a bird I normally associate with later in the year. Black-tailed Godwit haven't really been seen much with just a couple of birds which didn't stay. We did have a couple of Green Sandpiper records when one dropped in briefly on the floods and another flew over (heard-only). This species is rather hard to get on the year list so to have two records already is quite an achievement. Finally there are a couple of game birds to record: firstly a couple of Jack Snipe were seen after dark using thermal imaging technology to track them down. Secondly, a Woodcock was flushed from Burgess Field one day.

Ruff courtesy of Thomas Miller

We are really past the gulling season but there have been quite a few Mediterranean Gulls passing through this month, all looking very smart in the full adult plumage. We've also had a smattering of Caspian Gulls in the roost of an evening.

A pair of Mediterranean Gulls courtesy of Steve Sansom

Onto ducks and the over-wintering duck numbers are noticeably down already with only modest counts remaining on the floods. As usual we are getting a spring gathering of Shelduck with up to 6 birds seen. We also had a couple of late Goosander to record this month. Gadwall numbers have been increasing as they often do in spring with a peak count of 29.

In terms of passerines, our orginal ringed Siberian Chiffchaff hasn't been seen but we were graced by a new unringed bird, looking very scruffy as it worked through it's moult. Towards the end it started to sing - it's been very interesting to hear the different song compared to our usual colybitta birds. We've had a couple of late fly-over Redpolls which were actually a year tick.

Siberian Chiffchaff courtesy of Thomas Miller

To round things off we had a Rock or Water Pipit (probably Rock) fly-over on the 10th March and a couple of Ring-neck Parakeet records, one in the Trap Grounds and a couple fly-over the Meadow. Unusually a Red-legged Partridge was seen in a Kingston Road back garden one morning. This is a rather rare bird for the Meadow - certainly less than annual.

Garden Red-legged Partridge

Yellow Wagtails have been gracing the floods with their striking splash of colour in the last week or so. Finally, one of the local Peregrines made its presence felt recently as it harrassed the ducks.

Peregrine being mobbed courtesy of Thomas Miller

Yellow Wagtail courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

Early March Update

As usual I've been somewhat tardy with this blog post and what was supposed to be an end of February update now has a component of early spring mixed in. After what has been a rather long and slow winter, it has been pleasing watching the sudden change in birding activity recently as early spring movement kicked in

Starting with wildfowl, it's been the usual suspects with the usual early spring build-up of Shelduck on the Meadow. The peak count was 9 birds at the start of February but since then numbers have been between 2 and 5. Pintail have been regular visitors with a peak count of about 30. The Barnacle Geese were conspicuous by their absense and haven't been seen much since the start of February.

Onto gulls and while the season is definitely drawing to a close it's been a fairly solid end of winter period with multiple Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls as well as several smart adult Mediterranean Gulls. Sadly yet another winter seems to have passed with no white-winged gulls at all in the county.

Caspian Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

Adult Mediterranean Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

As far as waders are concerned, after a very quiet winter at last things are starting to pick up. We've had a few singleton Black-tailed Godwits since the last update and the first Oystercatchers were back on the 13th February with numbers rising to a peak count of 7 in the last couple of weeks. There were no overwintering Redshank this year but as spring approaches we started to get some movement with up to 9 seen on the Meadow. Dunlin also started to make an appearance with up to 8 birds seens. Our first Curlew was seen on the 2nd of March and we got our first Little Ringed Plover on the 10th.

In terms of raptors, a pair of Peregrines have been hanging out regularly on the Meadow, harrassing the various birds present. We had yet another Marsh Harrier over the Meadow. This one was rather low and went over slowly.

The latest Marsh Harrier courtesy of Thomas Miller

Apart from that there have been some good miscellaneous birds to report. Up to two Stonechat have been seen on and off throughout the period, usually in the scrub at the southern end of the Meadow. We had our first Sand Martins of the year for the patch and indeed the whole county on the 24th February. We also had yet another Yellowhammer on the patch on the 1st March. This one was actually seen in Burgess Field rather than just being a fly-over. We also had a fly-over Pipit a couple of days ago. It was probably a Rock Pipit though might just have been a Water Pipit. Finally a new un-ringed Siberian Chiffchaff was found on the 11th March.

The new Siberian Chiffchaff. The scruffiness is typical of this subspecies which starts to moult about now. Courtesy of Thomas Miller

Looking ahead, unlike last year when the floods were a bit too full to be attractive to waders, this years the habitat is looking really good. We can therefore expect plenty more wader action as we move towards the peak time of year for spring migrants.

End of January Update

So that's the first month of the year completed. In general January is rewarding as far as birding is concerned as it's a chance to reconnect with species for the year list which are overlooked for much of the year as not interesting enough.

We should start with the standout records and there were a couple of stonkers this month. Once again, and continuing the theme from last year, these were both flyovers found by Thomas Miller. The first was a Yellowhammer which flew south over the floods. There is a large flock of mixed finches in the stubble field along the Marston Ferry Road this winter and it is thought that the recent spate of Yellowhammer records on the Meadow might be birds exploring from this central focal point. The second flyover record was a Marsh Harrier. Once again this is a real patch Mega with just a couple of previous records. Frustratingly, I was actually on the Meadow when Thomas found it but I had my phone off as I was shooting a documentary segment about birding on Port Meadow for a Japanese media company (more on that in due course).

Patch gold in the form of a flyover Marsh Harrier courtesy of Thomas Miller

Winter is of course a time for gulls and there has been plenty of gulling action with multiple Caspian Gulls of various ages being seen in the evening roost. There have also been plenty of Yellow-legged Gulls and a smattering of Mediterranean Gull sightings.

A smart adult Caspian Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

Apart from that it's been the usual fare. The Great White Egret has been knocking about the floods and Wolvercote on and off and a flock of 5 unidentified Egret species were seen by a non-birder in amongst the cattle up at Wolvercote. There has to be a good chance that these were Cattle Egret though this report is too vague to consider counting.

Barn Owl was a welcome addition to the year list with one seen on the rough ground looking from the Godstow Road towards King's Lock. A Peregrine was seen on the ground in the Hinterland on one day. Two Stonechat were frequenting the scrub at the southern end of the Meadow at the start of the month though seem now to have moved on. The only waders of note have been a flock of up to 5 Dunlin in the first half of the month. The Siberian Chiffchaff was seen fairly regularly in the first half of the month though not of late.

Male Stonechat

The Siberian Chiffchaff courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

This Weasel by Burgess Field gate was an unexpected surprise, courtesy of Thomas Miller

So as we move into February, there are still a few outstanding year ticks we are missing from January. In addition we should start to expect our first Oystercatchers pretty soon now. With the floods in good shape there should be plenty of birds to look through over the coming month.

2024 End of Year Review

In the customary style of this blog, the end of year review is only being posted once we are a couple of weeks into the New Year. Still, it's that time of year when we are all wanting to hibernate anyway, so sitting down to a review of the past year with a hot cup of cocoa might not be such a bad idea after all!

January kicked off in great style when the Patch hosted between 2 and 8 Waxwings at the end of Plater Drive. They were there on and off for about a week and were much admired by visitors far and wide. It had been a few years since the county had been graced by these charismatic birds so it was great to have them so close at hand.

Waxwings above and below

 

 

Another less than annual species for the Patch is Jack Snipe. This secretive species almost certainly always visits the patch in the winter but they are so hard to see that they usually go unnoticed. However, thanks to some nocturnal ringing efforts some were caught and ringed.

One of the ringed Jack Snipe

We also had two overwintering Siberian Chiffchaff at the start of the year, one of which had been ringed. 

One of the two Siberian Chiffchaff, courtesy of Ben Sheldon

As we moved towards the end of winter there started to be some wader movement. We had large flocks of Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin passing through but the standout record was a flock of three Avocet that dropped in briefly for a few days.

The three Avocet

The winter gulling produced the usual suspects. These days Caspian Gulls are to be expected and we had plenty of those along with Yellow-legged Gulls and some Mediterranean Gulls. Great White Egrets started to be seen regularly on the floods, a theme which would continue throughout the year as this species established itself as a Patch regular. The peak count this year was 5 birds on the floods at the same time!

Spring migration was more a trickle than a flood to start with. This was largely due to a huge blocking pattern of weather over Spain which was holding everything back. This resulted in a very poor start to the migrant season with far smaller numbers than we might typically expect. 

A Grasshopper Warbler caught in the ringing net

The blocking weather pattern continued throughout most of April but just towards the end of the month and the start of May it relented enough to let some birds through. Finally we had some decent birds, including a female (Thunbergi) Grey-headed Wagtail. While this is only a subspecies, it's a pretty rare bird with only a handful recorded in the county.

The female Grey-headed Wagtail courtesy of Steve Sansom

Another good bird which turned up was a Glossy Ibis. In recent years this has become much more regular but it's still a pretty decent bird for the Meadow

The Glossy Ibis courtesy of Steve Lavington

The combination of the blocking weather and the fact that the rather full floods had resulted in a rather poorly defined wader-unfriendly shoreline meant that it was a very poor spring for waders in general. Indeed we didn't get Little Ringed Plover (normally a Meadow staple) on the list until the end of May. We also never got Wood Sandpiper nor Bar-tailed Godwit nor Green Sandpiper which we've managed every year for the last few years.

Still, we did have some larger "wading" species with a splendid Spoonbill dropping in as well as a second Glossy Ibis. The former had been ringed in Denmark before overwintering at the Hayle estuary down in Cornwall. In fact it had been seen there the previous day to being found on the Meadow which shows just how far it had travelled in one day.

The first winter Spoonbill courtesy of Thomas Miller

As we moved into summer there was little else to report. We did have an unseasonal Avocet for one day in June and a probable fly-over Baltic Gull that couldn't be confirmed. With the floods drying up, focus switched to summer activities such as insects and flowers. Because of the weather it was a poor year for Odonata in general but we did manage Downy Emerald on the Trap Grounds pond. This species has become more common in the county recently. Sadly we lost our Small Red-eyed Damselflies and none were seen this year. Willow Emeralds on the other hand were doing well and we had up to 6 reported. A bit off patch, but up at Dukes Lock pond a colony of Variable Damselflies was discovered this year with a "probable" in a Wolvercote garden. Despite the large number of Lesser Emperors recorded in the county there was no sign of any on the patch. Talking of insects, Glow Worms were still to be found in Burgess Field at night. Also in Burgess Field were the usual Bee and Pyramidal Orchids. An Otter was seen in the ditch bordering the allotments on one occasion.

Willow Emeral is now well established in the Trap Grounds

The Little Owls were again seen on the Patch though sadly no youngsters were spotted this year. Presumably, the poor weather is to blame for this.

Little Owl courtesy of Matthew Lloyd

Autumn came without too much fuss. We did manage a couple of Redstarts in Burgess Field and a couple of fly-over Tree Pipits in Wolvercote but we never got Spotted Flycatcher nor Whinchat this year. Mercifully the floods arrived early this autumn and we managed a definite Baltic Gull. Until recently it wasn't thought possible to identify this subspecies of Lesser Black-backed Gull in the field until our own Thomas Miller wrote this seminal blog post on the subject.

The 2w Baltic Gull Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

Things rather stepped up a gear as we moved into October and we ended up having a very good run up until the end of the year.  A calling Yellow-browed Warbler made it onto the Patch Year List in what was a record breaking year in the county for this attractive Siberian warbler. A Whooper Swan dropped in and stayed about a week. This was the first of several sightings of this scarce county species, with a flock of 3 being seen for few hours a few weeks later on the Meadow. 

The flock of three Whooper Swans

One of the main themes of the last couple of months of the year was that of fly-over patch ticks. We managed to add a Rock/Water Pipit to the list as a combined species tick when one was heard to fly-over briefly though sadly it wasn't seen again. Yellowhammer (a rare patch bird) was seen to fly-over before a pair of them were seen a few weeks later.briefly near Aristotle Lane exit. We had some flyover Hawfinch sightings as part of the autumn national invasion. One of the most amazing records was a flock of 14 Kittiwakes. A fly-through Merlin was a great patch year tick. Finally, a Pink-footed Goose caught on camera at dusk in the gloom was an amazing year tick!

Above some of the Kittiwake flock and below a fly-over Hawfinch, both courtesy of Thomas Miller

Other good birds for the last couple of months included a Knot. This less than annual species made up a little for the otherwise very poor year for waders. There was also a candidate Russian Heinei Common Gull. A regular feral Ross's Goose was around for much of the latter part of the year and a hybrid Gadwall x Wigeon made for an interesting diversion. Finally a gorgeously confiding Little Gull graced the southern end of the floods for a day or two.

The Little Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

The year ended as it began with a Siberian Chiffchaff back by Burgess Field gate. What was amazing was that this bird turned out to be the same bird that had been ringed the previous year and had (presumably) been all the way to Siberia and back again in the meantime.

In terms of raw stats, the year list finished on 141 (including the feral Snow Geese which are certainly sustainable Cat C in my book though maybe not officially). We missed some obvious stuff like Green and Wood Sandpiper and Bar-tailed Godwit, Spotted Flycatcher and Whinchat but we got some good birds that we wouldn't have expected. 

In terms of the much coveted Port Meadow Bird of the Year award the short list is an interesting mix of local scarcities and a couple of nationally scarce sub-species.

Grey-headed Wagtail (subspecies)
Spoonbill
Baltic Gull (subspecies)
Yellowhammer
Hawfinch
Kittiwake
Pink-footed Goose
Merlin
Yellow-browed Warbler
Siberian Chiffchaff (subspecies)

I noticed as I compiled this list that every bird on it had been found by Thomas Miller. This is only fitting as one of the key themes of the year has been his "no bird shall escape" approach, accompanied by some stunning photography thanks to his sharp reflexes and his fancy new camera. So in the end I presented him with the short list and he chose the Baltic Gull, largely as it's the rarest bird nationally on the list.

So, that was 2024. Now the year list has been reset and it's time to start all over again. Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

December Update

In typical tardy style, despite it now being January, this is only the December monthly update with the end of year review yet to come. Still, it's a testament to some good end of year birding that there is a fair bit to write about for this last month. The quality of the records are almost entirely down to the efforts of Thomas Miller whose great keeness and determination that "no bird shall escape" has paid off handsomely in the form of some cracking finds this month. What's more, thanks to his new high-tech camera and some very fast relexes, he's managed to capture most of these birds on "film" even though they were often fly-overs in gloomy conditions.

The first thing of note was the return of the Siberian Chiffchaff on the 1st December to it's usual area near Burgess Field gate. The reason why we can tell that it's the same one is because it was sporting the ring that was placed on it last year by the local ringing team. To have a Siberian Chiffchaff travel all the way to Siberia (presumably) and then all the way back to Port Meadow for two successive winters is quite a remarkably feat!

The ringed Siberian Chiffchaff back for its second year, courtesy of Thomas Miller

The Knot made it into the start of December by being spotted again on the 1st though it wasn't seen subsequently. On the 4th two Yellowhammer were seen briefly in the hedge by the Artistotle Lane exit by a single oberserver. This species is a Patch Mega though one was seen to flyover last month so it's not a year tick. We had another Patch Mega in the form of a flyover Pink-footed Goose at dusk on the 11th. It was only through the quick actions of Mr. Miller, who managed to get a photo of it as it flew over, that allowed the ID to be confirmed.

The fly-over Pink-footed Goose, courtesy of Thomas Miller

This amazing purple patch continued when an adult Little Gull was found on the 13th. It showed astonishingly well allowing for Thomas Miller to take an amazing sequence of photos of it - you can see them here. It stayed around for a day or two more but became much more elusive.

The Little Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

On the 15th a second Siberian Chiffchaff was seen, associating with the original bird. Finally. on the 23rd we had yet another Patch rarity when a Merlin flew through the floods briefly. This species is becoming more common on the patch in recent years though they are only ever fly-throughs and you need to be in the right place at the right time to see them.

The fly-through Merlin courtesy of Thomas Miller

Apart from the above headline birds, we've had a good number of Caspian Gulls of various ages in the roost in the evenings along with an assortment of Yellow-legged Gulls and on one evening an adult Mediterranean Gull. Up to 3 Shelduck were seen on the floods along with the usual feral Ross's Goose and just one red-head Goosander. The usual Barnacle Geese were present for the first half of the month in good numbers (up to 300) before disappearing. We also had an influx of Pintail with up to 100 spending a couple of days on the floods before the colder weather pushed them off. There weren't many waders: just up to 6 Dunlin and a hapless Black-tailed Godwit that was taken by a Peregine. Finally, at least one Stonechat was seen in the first half of the month.

The adult Mediterranean Gull, courtesy of Thomas Miller

Caspian Gull, courtesy of Thomas Miller

Peregrine taking a Black-tailed Godwit, courtesy of Thomas Miller