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.