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.

Greh-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

End of Autumn Update

With the first cold weather spell upon us, we are ushering out autumn and starting full-on winter. The second half of autumn actually has been pretty productive on the patch with quite a few reasonable birds. What's more the shamefull year list is now looking much more respectable and can reasonably hold its head up in the historic archives.

October

Things kicked off in style on the 9th when a Yellow-browed Warbler was heard to call twice near the allotments. Unfortunately it wasn't heard again nor seen. It's been a spectacular autumn in Oxon for this species with half a dozen different records.

On the 22nd an adult Whooper Swan arrived on the Meadow. This winter swan is very much less than annual so it was exciting to see it. What's more it stayed until 26th giving plenty of time for people to catch up with it. On the same day a Rock or Water Pipit was heard and seen to fly over. Unfortunately it wasn't found again and will have to go down as a combined species tick.

The Whooper Swan courtesy of Thomas Miller

Fly-over ticks were very much the theme for the end of the month with some diligent vis migging from one observer paying dividends with some really big patch Megas. The first was a Yellowhammer on the 25th. This is only the second record that I know of so it's real patch gold. This was followed on the 28th by 3 Hawfinches going over. This is very much a Hawfinch year in the country and county so it was good that Port Meadow got in on this action.

Apart from these particular records, in October we had up to 300 Barnacle Geese, up to 3 Goosander, 4 Shelduck, the feral Ross's Goose on-and-off and a weird Gadwall x Wigeon hybrid. 

The feral Ross's Goose courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

The "Gadgeon" (or is it a "Wigwall"), courtesy of Thomas Miller

On the wader front we had up to 9 Black-tailed Godwits and a Ruff that was seen in flight on a couple of occasions with the Golden Plover flock but never seen on the ground. We had a 1w Mediterranean Gull seen on one occasion. Stonechat were back in amongst the Thistles with up to 3 seen in various places. A Cetti's Warbler spent a few days along the Castle Mill Stream before it (or another) was found in the more usual location of the Trap Ground pond. The semi-resident Great White Egret was seen on-and-off throughout the month. Redwing started to arrive in numbers, heralding in the change in seasons.

The "usual" Great White Egret, courtesy of Thomas Miller

November

November kicked off in style on the 1st with another fly-over Hawfinch along with an adult Mediterranean Gull briefly on the flood. 

 

A record shot of the Hawfinch, courtesy of Thomas Miller

The adult Mediterranean Gull

On the 11th three Whooper Swans turned up late morning though these only stayed for one day. The Meadow hasn't had two different Whooper Swan records within one year before to my knowledge.

 

The Three Whooper Swans

On the 19th there was a spectacular record of a flock of 14 Kittiwakes circling over the floods for a few minutes before heading north. What was most impressive is that the observer was deliberately looking for this species in the light of good inland movement being reported over the country. This must be pretty close to the record county count for this species.

Some of the 14 Kittiwakes, courtesy of Thomas Miller

Finally on the 26th a couple of Brambling were recorded flying around near Burgess Field gate. Now that the Burgess Field feeders are no longer being stocked, this species is once more very hard to come by on the patch.

Apart from these headline birds we had a Curlew drop in for a visit on one occasion. Up to 2 Redshank and up to 6 Dunlin were also recorded. 30 Cattle Egrets were spotted flying around hear Wytham Hill on one occasion, this being the usual Wytham flock that is more often in the fields near Farmoor Reservoir. A couple of Shelduck were seen on one occasion and 4 Pochard were recorded via eBird. One evening gull roost yielded a 1w Caspian Gull and a candidate heinei Russian Common Gull. On one occasion a pair of Peregrines spent some time terrorising the birds on the frozen floods. The Great White Egret was still around on and off.

One of the two Peregines harrassing the birds in the snow, courtesy of Thomas Miller

So now we are moving into the last month of the year. There is no obvious low hanging fruit still to expect on the year list but you never know what might turn up.

Mid-autumn Update

Once again my intention of posting more regularly has come to naught and I find myself doing an update in mid October. Still, at least there is something to post about thanks in no small part to the reformation of the floods surprisingly early on in the autumn. In addition we've had some good birds reported, going someway to make up for what has been a relatively poor year on the year list front compared to the two previous record breaking ones.

In early September, before the floods reformed, there were a couple of Redstart recorded in Burgess Field. A Cattle Egret was knocking about the Meadow and up to two Great White Egrets were being seen, often in Wolvercote Lakes. 

A Great White Egret with a Tench at Wolvercote Lakes

We didn't exactly have a classic Yellow Wagtail autumn but on the few occasions when they were reported there were good numbers with a peak count of 50+. Other records included a Redshank, a Snipe and a Hobby over. During a rare break from the rain at least 4 Willow Emeralds were recorded on the main pond in the Trap Grounds on one visit. 

Trap Grounds Willow Emerald

The highlight of the month were a couple of fly-over Tree Pipits seen and heard up in Wolvercote. It's good to get these on the year list as they are a less than annual scarcity on the patch.

By October the floods had formed again. Indeed at one point we were back into full on Lake Mode again though they subsided surprisingly quickly. The extended floods offered the opportunity for some early season gulling which produced a 2cy Baltic Gull. This is a proper rarity that Thomas Miller found though unfortunately it didn't stay long enough for anyone else to see it. In addition there was also a 1cy Caspian Gull seen. However, it is too early for much in the way of gulling and as the floods receded so too did the gull numbers.

The Baltic Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller

There were some good passerines to be had. A Yellow-browed Warbler was heard to call twice near the allotments though unfortunately was never seen. This is the fourth one to be found in the county this autumn. Who would have thought that I'd be writing that? Back in 2013 when one was found down by the Walton Well Rd car park that was only the 6th for the county and now they are basically annual!

A ringed Blackcap with no cap!

Apart from these highlights, waterfowl numbers are generally increasing. We've had up to 300 Barnacle Geese as well as the usual Canada Geese and Greylags. Wigeon, Teal and Shoveller are all assembling in increasing numbers as the days go by. The feral Ross's Goose has been knocking around the Meadow on and off for the last few days as well. Also, a Stonechat has been lingering at the southern end of the floods in the scrub area there for the last week or so. Redwing flocks are being seen flying overhead and the days are drawing in. With winter approaching we are getting into the prime time for Port Meadow birding when bird numbers are at their highest.

Summer Update

I had originally intended to do an update at the end of each month but somehow things have slipped and I now find myself writing this at the end of August. It very much feels like summer is over now though we could well some nice weather at the start of September as we often tend to do. In any event, summer is traditionally a quiet one in terms of birds and there has not been much of note to report.

The flood pools lasted for a fair bit of June before drying up. During this time we managed a few straggler waders. In general it has been a very poor year for waders on the Meadow and our year list is lacking in quite a few species that we would normally expect to get. In this respect, it was nice to have some tail-end wader action though there were no new year ticks. The highlight was an unseasonal Avocet for one day on the 12th June. My guess is that it is a failed breeder from the Worcestershire colony which isn't too far away as the Avocet flies. Apart from that it was a smattering of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, a single Curlew, up to 4 Great White Egret, a Redshank and 4 Oystercatchers.

 

The June Avocet

The Caspian Gull put in a few appearances and one evening we has a probable Baltic Gull that was spotted by Thomas Miller. Even though he is an expert at identifying this subspecies in the field, unfortunately due to the distance involved he wasn't able to 100% confirm the identify.

In July some heavy rain recreated the flood pools again for a few days, enough to encourage a family party of up to 5 Common Terns to linger by the water for a few days. We also had a Common Sandpiper along the river shoreline near the Perch. A Sedge Warbler (actually a year tick!) tried to set up territory near the bridge by Weir Cottage for a few days though it was very late in the season and it gave up soon enough. Our Little Owl family put in an appearance in July but there was no sign of any youngsters and they soon disappeared. Apart from that there were a few miscellaneious sightings of a Hobby and a Cuckoo. One evening there were a pair of calling Tawny Owls near Weir Cottage as well.

One of the adult Little Owls courtesy of Matthew Lloyd

Summer is traditionally a time when we turn our thoughts to insects and flowers. Due to the rather rainy weather, it's been a poor year for Odonata. We did manage a single Downy Emerald record in the Trap Grounds along with a Hairy Dragonfly sighting. Given the county-wide influx of Lesser Emperors I had been hoping that one might put in an appearance at this site but unfortunately there were no reports. Nor were there any Small Red-eyed Damselflies this year - a great shame given that it's only been a couple of years that we've had them in the Trap Grounds. Hopefully they might recolonise again soon. Talking of colonists we still seem to have Willow Emeralds with a couple seen in recent days. A bit further afield (and probably strictly off-patch) there are some rarer Variable Damselflies up at Duke's Lock along the canal just north of Wolvercote. In fact there was a "probable" recorded in a Wolvercote garden as well.

A Willow Emerald along the canal near the Trap Grounds

Variable Damselfly, Duke's Lock Pond

Talking of insects, Steve Siantonas reported on some Glow Worm sightings in Burgess Field in early July.

 "I went on my first glow worm search yesterday evening Monday 8 July on Burgess Field. I was there from about 10 pm and despite the drizzly rain I found 10 glow worms. They were by the central path near the North gate and in the field to the left of the path as you walk towards the gate. This is the same general area that I have seen glow worms in the last 2 years.  I expect there are glow worms elsewhere in Burgess Field but I have not looked thoroughly in those areas. "

On the orchid front it wasn't too bad with 14 Pyramidal Orchids and 5 Bee Orchids found within Burgess Field. Back in the day I remember getting the former in the Trap Grounds though those days are long gone now. 

Burgess Field orchids, Pyramidal above and Bee below

One other exciting report was an Otter in the flooded ditch along the southern end of the allotment hedge as you enter the Meadow from Aristotle Lane. Unfortunately it didn't linger. One was seen there briefly the previous year as well, no doubt hunting for trapped fish.

So as we move into autumn proper and with no floods to speak of, the main focus of attention is going to be passerine migrants with Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher probably the main targets. I guess that we might get one or two Common Sandpipers along the river but until the flood waters reform (usually October or November depending on the weather) it will probably be rather quiet on the patch.

End of May Update

Continuing the theme from April, it's been a rather unsual May. Once again we've been low on waders and the hoped-for usual top drawer spring waders never materialised in the first half of the month. Still we've had some decent non-wading birds to make up for it.

Top of the list was a wonderful Spoonbill that was found by Thomas Miller on the 22nd. There was a period from 2009 to 2011 when it was an annual sighting but since then we've only had one more in 2016. Records are generally towards the end of the first half of the year and this one was very much in character. Still a scarce county bird, it's an excellent bird and candidate for Port Meadow Bird of the Year. The bird was ringed and was therefore identifiable as a bird from Denmark that overwintered down at the Hayle estuary in Cornwall. It had been present the previous day in Cornwall still so clearly had travelled a fair distance just in one day.

 

The Spoonbill, courtesy of Thomas Miller

We also had another Glossy Ibis drop in. This was a different bird from the last one and didn't linger too long.

A different Glossy Ibis courtesy of Thomas Miller

Whilst we are talking larger wading birds, we've had a couple of Great White Egrets and Cattle Egrets seen periodically throughout the month.

Onto waders, and as I said in the introduction, it's been slim pickings. The star wader was a Little Ringed Plover which was found towards the end of the month. Amazingly, this was the first of the year. A sad state of affairs given that we used to get dozens of them and they would usually be one of the earliest waders on the list. The general consensus is that the shoreline has been over vegetated and not so attractive to a species that generally prefers a rather flat shoreline to work its way over. The other main wader has been Ringed Plover which has started coming through in increasing number with up to 12 seen at one time. Apart from that it's just been the occasional Oystercatcher, presumably one popping over from one of the neighbouring gravel pits where they probably breed.

A record shot of the first Little Ringed Plover of the year courtesy of Thomas Miller

As far as wildfowl are concerned, whilst its not really a time of year of peak interest, the continuing floods have meant there have been plenty of birds around. There have been up to 50 of the feral Snow Goose flock persent for most of the month. Evidentally the nice damp conditions have been enough to tempt the birds away from their usual Farmoor habitat. Similarly there have been up to 30 Barnacle Geese lingering for much of the month. These are usually here only in the winter but some have clearly decided to stay. Shelduck have lingered for most of the month with a peak count of 11 and a few pairs usually around. Egyptian Geese have been seen regularly as well with up to 8 birds. I hope they manage to breed again this year. The spring non-breeder Mute Swan gathering is still on-going though numbers are now down from their peak count somewhere in the 80's. Recently they've been accompanied by a feral Black Swan. Up to four Tufted Duck dropped in a few evenings in a row earlier in the month. The drake Garganey was seen a few more times at the start of the month before departing.

Rounding things off we had a male Cuckoo calling regularly around Burgess Field and the Trap Grounds for about a week at the start of the month. A pair of Ring-necked Parakeets were seen on a couple of occasions at the start of the month. Onto raptors and a Hobby was seen on a couple of occasions and a Peregrine has been hanging around the general area as well. Finally, there has been an unseasonal 2cy Caspian Gull seen a few times.

Looking ahead, we are now into June, traditionally a very quiet time for birds. At least we still have some flood waters but from past experience it is usually only Ringed Plover and Dunlin that we are likely to see this month. Still, you never know what might drop in and it only takes one really good bird. Finger's crossed!

End of April/Early May Update

Up until a few days ago when I was contemplating writing this post, I was thinking that I was going to have to complain about how poor the birding had been. The persistent blocking weather pattern over southern Spain has meant that everything up until now has been very muted and restrained. It feels as though the spring passage is spluttering along but not firing on all cylinders. However, with the warmer weather over the last few days have also come some decent birds and this post is now going to be more of a celebration of some top patch birds.

First up, and certainly a candidate for Port Meadow Bird of the Year was a wonderful female Grey-headed (Thunbergi) Yellow Wagtail found by Thomas Miller on Friday evening. Conditions were gloomy and the bird was very distant so it was hard work getting any photos or video but it was certainly a striking bird. This is at the same time of year as the male Grey-headed Wagtail back in 2019 so it's becoming a bit of a patch habit!

A record shot courtesy of Steve Sansom

Some video courtesy of Steve Lavington

Next on the list was a drake Garganey at last. The Meadow floods have looked ideal for this species all spring so it's great that one finally turned up. So far it has spent much of its time skulking deep in the flooded grass which comes to over head height for a duck so it's been quite hard to see. Hopefully, it will become more confiding and will stick around a while.

The drake Garganey courtesy of Steve Sansom

Video courtesy of Steve Lavington

The third good bird was a Glossy Ibis which turned up today. There has been one for a couple of days on Otmoor and again the floods have looked ideal for this species so it's good that it's found its way here and onto the patch year list. We've been lucky to host one on four of the past five years with last year being the only ommission.

 

The Glossy Ibis courtesy of Steve Lavington

...video courtesy of Steve Lavington

Apart from that it's been the usual mix of different spring birds. Our Great White Egrets have been a regular feature with up to 5 loitering on the floods though numbers seem to have dropped off sharply in the last few days. Today a single Cattle Egret was showing well at the southern end of the Meadow. At last we had a Wheatear record that wasn't way up by King's Lock,when a tired looking bird dropped in one evening. Cuckoo's have started to be heard in Burgess Field and across the river. The Farmoor Snow Geese have taken a liking to the lush grass of the Meadow and have been dropping in the last few days. Shelduck are still being seen regularly with up to 7 recorded. Apart from our star Wagtail we've had up to 25 Yellow Wagtails and 4 White Wagtails though at this time of year they are not lingering at all. In amongst them have been a few female type Blue-headed (flava) Wagtails. The first Swifts have arrived and are now a regular feature. As a throwback to winter, we did have a Caspian Gull record on a couple of occasions.

Four Great White Egrets courtesy of Matthew Lloyd

Finally onto waders and it's been a rather poor spring for these so far. In part this is because the floods have been so full that there has been little in the way of a shoreline for them In fact we've yet to have Little Ringed Plover at all, an amazing statistic given that it's May already. Peak counts have been 2 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 4 Greenshank, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Lapwing and 8 Oystercatcher.

Looking ahead, traditionally, the first couple of weeks of May were the best for the rarer spring waders but given how weird the passage has been so far who knows. We are still missing some pretty basic waders including all three Sandpipers (Common, Green and Wood) as well as Ruff, Little Ringed Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit. Sedge Warbler has yet to be recorded though the last few years this species has become quite difficult for the patch. Other things like Hobby and Spotted Flycatcher should be recorded at some point with any luck. There are also some passerines like Redstart, Whinchat and Tree Pipit to look out for though these are often more return passage species. Anyway, given how it feels like things are picking up, there is everything to play for in the next few weeks.

Mid April Update

It's actually later than mid April but somehow things got away from me! In general it's been a steady start to the peak spring passage. We've managed to get most of the things on the year list that we might expect though there has been a definite feel of it being a trickle of migrants rather than a real flood. I've heard of a blocking weather pattern over Spain holding things back - whatever the reason it will be good when birds really start to move in numbers.

The first Willow Warbler and first Swallow of the season arrived nice and early on 1st April and since then things have turned up in dribs and drabs. House and Sand Martins have come through regulars in modest numbers. Yellow Wagtails have started to turn up with a peak count of 12 recently. Just in the last few days some White Wagtails have been found with up to four counted. Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warber have all started to turn up. One of the highlights has been not one but two Grasshopper Warbler in Burgess Field, one of which was ringed. Whilst they used to breed in Burgess Field, this species is much harder to get on the year list these days. Common Terns arrived in small numbers though didn't linger.

A Grasshopper Warbler in the hand

 

On the wader front we've had a couple of flocks of Black-tailed Godwits go through and a few Greenshank have been recorded as well. 4 Curlew flew over and up to 4 Oystercatchers have also been seen. A (heard-only) flyover Whimbrel was nice to get on the year list - they are by no means guaranteed. One notable feature has been the relative absence of small waders. I think the shoreline has been a bit too boggy for them: so far we've had just a couple of Ringed Plover and a flyover Dunlin but remarkably, no Little Ringed Plover as yet.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy of Matthew Lloyd

We've been blessed with the usual Great White Egret for the whole preiod, joined by a second bird over the last few days. Cattle Egrets have been seen distantly on Wytham Hill and in the fields near Wytham Field Station.

Rounding things up, some heard-only Little Gulls flying over Jericho in the early hours was an unusual record. We've had a couple of Osprey go through and a late Short-eared Owl as well. On some days there has been a distinct movement of Red Kites with up to 20 seen going through. A Cuckoo was heard up near the King's Lock area. There's been little to report on the duck front with no Garganey as yet but there have been up to 6 Shelduck and 4 Egyptian Geese loafing around.

Looking ahead, we should be getting more top quality spring migrants passing through now so it's everything to play for. We're a bit light on waders on the year list so far so it's a critical time to try and get them before the floods dry up.