January to March 2026

The Changing of the Guard 

The interval between posts on this blog has now got so long that this one is providing no less than a quarterly update. The truth is that the means of disseminating news has now switched to WhatsApp which is much more immediate and convenient. This, combined with the fatigue and ennui that inevitably comes with nearly 20 years of blog posts means that the prospect of doing a blog post here is now viewed more as a chore rather than the joy that it used to be. This is a real shame in one sense as 20 years of blog history is a great reference to look back on but I don't want to come to resent posting to this blog. Fortunately, a good solution is forthcoming with the younger and more enthusiastic Thomas Miller willing to take up the mantle. It's going to be in a different format which will largely be down to him but watch this space to see how things unfold. Part of the agreement of this hand-over was that I would write a final blog post covering the time up until the end of March. He will then move forward using his numerous eBird reports as a basis for much more frequent reporting. So here is that first quarter update.

By far the star bird of this quarter was the stunning find of a first winter Ring-billed Gull on Port Meadow on the 7th March. The finder was of course Thomas himself, who has single handedly been carrying the Port Meadow year list for a few years now. To put its rarity into context it's only the fourth ever for the county and only the second ever twitchable one. It's discovery is no more than Thomas deserved for the dedication that he shows in putting in so many hours on Port Meadow. It was found on a Saturday late afternoon, which gave enough time for those who were quick enough off the mark to twitch it that evening. The next morning it was around at first light briefly and then on and off throughout the morning before disappearing. Quite a few county birders connected and added it to their county list but quite a few didn't connect which somehow only adds to the mythical status of this spectacular find which remains as a gaping hole on many an Oxon county list.

1w Ring-billed Gull

January 

We had a Nuthatch on New Year's Day in Godstow Holt (the woods behind the Lock Keeper's Cottage up by Godstow Lock). We haven't had this species for several years now so it was nice to get it back on the year list. We also had a Siberian Chiffchaff by Burgess Field Gate (the usual location) though this proved to be a one-off sighting which is a far cry from past years when they've been fairly regular birds overwintering there. Port Meadow got in on the invasion of eastern Geese this year with a smattering of White-fronted Geese at various times. Sadly we never managed to bag the bigger prize of a Tundra Bean Goose. The Ross's Goose was around again - it's a feral bird but a real cutie! 

Probable Siberian Chiffcahff

Russian White-fronted Goose with Greylag Geese

Apart from that we had the usual winter fare with the occasional Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit, a few Caspian Gulls and even a Mediterranean Gull. 

Mediterranean Gull

3w Caspian Gull

February

This started off well with some good gull action. An adult and 1w Little Gull were found on the swollen floods, with the latter hanging around on and off for quite a while. We also had several Mediterranean Gulls over the month. The star gull though was an adult Kittiwake. Picked out one evening on the extensive floods by Thomas, this star bird subsequently relocated to Farmoor where over the course of a few days it became ill. It was taken into care but sadly died.

Kittiwake in flight at dusk

Kittiwake on water north of Burgess Gate

1w Little Gull - found on same day as Kittiwake!

Shelduck and Oystercatchers started to appear on the floods and we had some good count of Pintail. It was a good month for Redpoll with birds being seen or heard fairly regularly. The Cetti's Warbler was still about in the Trap Grounds.

March

The Little Gull hung around into March and it was on the 7th that the Ring-billed Gull was found. There were a pair of Garganey which dropped in for one afternoon though sadly they didn't linger. Redshank made it onto the year list - this year we didn't have any overwintering birds like we used to. The first spring migrants started arriving with Little Ringed Plover and Sand Martins starting to appear. We also had the first Swallow and Willow Warbler of the year. A White Wagtail spent a couple of days in amongst the Pieds and a Wheatear was photographed on the Meadow. There were two Crossbills that flew over one morning and the Redpolls were still regular around the Aristotle Lane canal area.

The Little Gull was enjoyed by many

The 1w Ring-billed Gull against the Wytham treeline - probably the bird of the decade on the Meadow

It also showed briefly on the water at a reasonable distance

Crossbills - a rare patch visitor, these are the first to be photographed on Port Meadow to my knowledge

Great White Egret

Little Ringed Plover

So there you have it. It only remains for me to bid adieu to the loyal readers of this blog. I hope to be moving house sometime this year so I don't know how regularly I will be able to visit the Meadow. Still with Thomas at the helm I know that the patch and this blog are in more than capable hands.

December 2025 Update

Once again my best intentions for some more regular blog updates have gone by the wayside and I find myself being forced into action by the end of year hard deadline to do a post. The truth is that there are several factors at work here. To start with news disemination these days is via WhatsApp so everyone who is interested hears about Port Meadow bird news that way. Secondly, it's been a relatively poor year so there has been less to blog about. Finally, I find my enthusiasm for checking the Patch is generally at a lower ebb this year than usual as personal matters draw my focus and this has filtered through into writing blog posts. Still, this blog has been going since 2011 and it would be a shame if it were to fizzle out completely. I think what it really needs is some young blood to take it over so if anyone feels inclined to take up the mantle then do please let me know. Anyway, in terms of bird news I have trawled back through past WhatsApp messages since August to remind myself what has happened for this autumn and early winter.

We finished August with some more Tree Pipits (what an amazing month for them!), some Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers in Burgess Field, and some Wheatears on the Meadow. On the wader front, despite the lack of water we had a fly-over Greenshank and Whimbrel. One of the most intriguing records was of a White-tailed Eagle seen twice by the same observer over towards Wytham. Given the release scheme birds that now inhabit that south of the country it's certainly a real possibility though I'm a bit unsure how to treat them in terms of year listing. I shall leave them off for now.

Wheatear courtesy of Thomas Miller

September brought a Whinchat and a Spotted Flycatcher in Burgess Field and another Wheatear up at Wolvercote. A fly-over Crossbill along Walton Well Road was a nice bonus in what is an irruption year for them across the country. Another good fly-over was a Glossy Ibis over Burgess Field at the end of the month. In Odonata news we managed to get Willow Emerald on the Trap Grounds year list with a visit to the main pond there.

Glossy Ibis courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

Trap Grounds Willow Emerald

In October we had a flurry of Ring-necked Parakeet sightings. Some Stonechat chose to hang out in the Thistles at the southern end for a while and a lovely Merganser family loitered along the river for a bit. A Little Grebe also found the river to its liking.

Goosander courtesy of Thomas Miller

In November, we stretched the patch boundaries a little to accommodate a Black Redstart up in the new build homes at Oxford North. It's just about in Wolvercote so just about OK. The flood waters finally started to reform after a long absence this year. This at least brought in some bird to look at with a few Dunlin and a frustratingly late report of a Spotted Redshank (a pretty rare county let alone patch bird). A smart 3w Caspian Gull livened up proceedings a little. Also, slipping under the radar was a report of a covey of 10-15 Grey Partridge that were seen by an eBirder one morning at the start of the month.

December saw the floods start to increase in size and with it came the geese. The Barnacle Geese were back and the feral Ross's Goose returned as well. We had a smart adult Mediterranean Gull fly into the roost one evening and a pair of Pochard graced the floods one day as well. We even managed to get in on the county wide goose influx with 21 White-fronted Geese one morning on the Meadow. Three Black-tailed Godwit and several Caspian Gulls of different ages were also welcome sightings. 

White-fronted Geese courtesy of Thomas Miller

 

Ross's Goose: despite its dodgy credentials I just find them so cute! Courtesy of Thomas Miller

End of Summer Update

It's been a sad testimony to the relatively poor year that we've been having that this is the first blog update since April. We've had some extremely good years recently on the Patch so we can't really complain when the weather gods see fit to give us a hot dry spring and summer with knock-on effects for the birding. I also think that we have got "greedy" in terms of what to expect, given the superb birds that have been found recently and this is actually just back to more normal fare.

Anyway, let's get down to bird sightings. In May with the Meadow completely dry it was left to Burgess Field to provide the interest. We had a Cuckoo there and a Sedge Warbler and a couple of fly-over Ring-necked Parakeets. 

Burgess Field Sedge Warbler in the hand courtesy of Thomas Miller

June brought in a patch Mega in the form of a fly-over Crossbill, part of the national influx this summer that has seen lots of sightings in the county. On the river there was breeding evidence with a female Goosander with three chicks on the river.

July brought two more Crossbill and a great total of 9 Common Sandpiper along the river bank. The Goosander family was still around as well. Sadly there was no sign of the Little Owls this year.

August is the start of the birding autumn and the Meadow's bird records certainly reflected that. The highlight was a series of Tree Pipit records including an amazing record of one caught in the ringing nets on Burgess Field. With three other fly-over records, it's been an amazing autumn for them on the Patch.

 

A Tree Pipit in the hand on Burgess Field, courtesy of Thomas Miller

Yellow Wagtails in amongst the livestock is always a highlight this months and numbers have been building up to steadily to a total of about 40. 

 

Yellow Wagtail courtesy of Thomas Miller

We managed a tiny bit of wader action with a brief Greenshank along the river along with a Common Sandpiper and a Snipe. Sadly, in the absence of floods, this is the only bit of habitat that might attract waders. In the King's Lock area there were 8 Cattle Egret seen, probably dispersing birds after breeding at Blenheim and there have been a few fly-over records on the Patch proper in recent days as well. 

In Burgess Field a Marsh Tit was seen. This great Patch record was probably a dispersing bird from Wytham Woods. A Sedge Warbler was trapped and ringed in Burgess Field as well.

The Burgess Field Marsh Tit courtesy of Thomas Miller

In terms of non-bird interest there has been the usual stuff - always nice to see of course. Some Glow Worms were to be seen along the canal up towards the Wolvercote end, near the Plough Pub. On the Odonata front, coverage of the Trap Grounds has been relatively poor this year though Willow Emeralds were found on the main pond this month which was nice to have confirmed. Up at Duke's Lock the Variable Damselfly colony is still going well with up to 8 recorded along with a couple of Downy Emeralds. The usual Hairy, Southern and Migrant Hawkers have been seen in the usual places as we.

 

Variable Damselfly at Duke's Lock

 

On the orchid front, the Pyramidal Orchids were still there in the usual places though no Bee Orchids were seen this year. 

 

A Burgess Field Pyramidal Orchid, just coming into bloom

 

So looking ahead, we are now into peak autuman passerine passage and with some relatively common stuff still missing from the year list there is plenty to look for. It's always a bit random as to when the floods will return. It very much depends on the rain and with the ground so dry it might take more rain than usual to establish them. We shall see. 

End of April Update

In years gone past the end of April update would be awash with all sorts of exciting bird news. In fact usually I do more frequent blog posts at this time of year, such is the volume of things to report. However, this has not been an issue at all this year. In fact this spring has been described by many as the worst for many years. The main culprit is the relentlessly good weather. While it might be good in terms of general enjoyment of life, as far as spring migrants are concerned, the weather is just too good. Birds are probably just passing straight through far too high up to be seen. The good weather also meant that the floods dried up far faster than they normally do. In fact they'd gone by mid April, only to get a reprieve when a bit of actual rain topped them up briefly. Not that it made any difference: I checked them out each morning after their ressurection but saw almost nothing, certainly no waders.

So, what is there actually to report about? The remaining warblers that we might reasonable expect all duly arrived with Whitethroats appearing on the 12th, Lesser Whitethroat on the 13th and Reed Warbler in the Trap Grounds on the 14th and Garden Warbler on the 15th. Common Tern was first seen on the 15th and the first Swifts were on the 20th. In terms of more interesting sightings, we had a couple of Redstarts in Burgess Field: a male on the 12th and a female type on the 20th. We also had a female Blue-headed Wagtail on the 20th as part of a very quiet spring for Yellow Wagtail.

The female Blue-headed Wagtail courtesy of Thomas Miller

We've had smatterings of waders with a few Oystercatchers along with one or two Little-ringed Plover and Redshank. More regular have been Shelduck with a couple seemingly making the floods their home and being seen every day until they dried up completely. Egyptian Geese have been seen regularly on the Meadow. They seem to prefer the river area and so are still around despite the lack of floods now.

The two Shelduck, keeping the faither when all other birds leave!

There are some sightings from up in the King's Lock area to report. A Hobby and a couple of Cuckoos were seen there and a Crossbill was seen to fly over towards Wytham. In terms of where exactly the Port Meadow patch boundaries are, it is rather a grey area and in lean times (which this year certainly is) I am much more disposed to include this area as part of the extended patch so these are going on the year list.

One of the regular Egyptian Geese

There was some interesting ringing news regarding the Peregrine that had been frequently the Meadow in early spring. Apparently this was ringed as a chick in St Alban's on the 27th April last year.

The ringed Peregrine courtesy of the ringers

The only warbler that we've yet to get is Sedge Warbler though this can usually be found along the river up towards King's Lock. With the floods dried up completely and no immediate prospect of rain there's not much to look forward to for the coming month. It might well be time to start looking at butterflies and odonata already.

 

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.