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!
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The ringed Siberian Chiffchaff back for its second year, courtesy of Thomas Miller
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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.
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The fly-over Pink-footed Goose, courtesy of Thomas Miller
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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.
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The Little Gull courtesy of Thomas Miller
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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.
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The fly-through Merlin courtesy of Thomas Miller
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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.
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The adult Mediterranean Gull, courtesy of Thomas Miller
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Caspian Gull, courtesy of Thomas Miller
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Peregrine taking a Black-tailed Godwit, courtesy of Thomas Miller
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