18th February

I don't quite understand how it's been so long since my last post but somehow it's happened that half the month has slipped by. I was actually away for this last week (down in Cornwall - see my Cornish blog) which partially accounts for it. Anyway, there have been a few year ticks to record though these have only been in the last few days. February is actually often a rather quiet month on the birding front with the heady start of the year tick rush now long faded and no sign of any migrants yet, it's a lot of slogging about for not much reward.

The new birds to report are an OYSTERCATCHER that was seen by Martin Gebauer and Steve Goddard, a singing SKYLARK that Mary MacDougall reported up at Wolvercote Common and a TAWNY OWL that Steve Goddard heard calling, again up at Wolvercote.

I visited the floods for the first time in a while today to find them looking nice and healthy though there was already a sense that some birds had started to depart. There were only 3 SHELDUCK, 6 GOOSANDER and 5 PINTAIL, noticeably down on peak counts from the previous week. The gull roost was about average in size though with nothing of particular interest at all apart from a handful of Common Gulls. May MacDougall reported a flock of about 50 BLACK-TAILED GODWITS earlier in the day though there were only three when I was there. She also found 5 REDSHANK in their usual location along the river.

Bathing Linnets