Friday 18th November

Another reasonably sunny day though with a bit more of a southerly breeze today. This evening there was a much better gull roost with many more larger gulls though comparatively fewer black-headed gulls. In amongst the large ones were a couple of cracking adult YELLOW-LEGGED GULLS. It's noticeable that at present the vast majority of the herring gulls are the large Scandinavian argentatus birds. At last light the red-head GOOSANDER came in to roost again, I wonder where it is going during the day. Apart from that there were the usual ducks and the wonderful murmuring golden plover flock.

Here's a cracking adult yellow-legged gull to drool over...

...and for those who inexplicably can't get excited by a stonking yellow-legged gull, here's a pretty sunset photo instead which you can click to enlarge if you wish. Those black dots at the front are wigeon by the way.

Thursday 17th November

Quite a nice day again today with sunshine and not much wind though not as mild as of late. There was a report from Dai John of a couple of brent geese at Farmoor that flew over the hill towards Port Meadow so I went out this morning to see if I could find them but they were nowhere to be found. Duck and golden plover numbers had increased again with at least 500 of the latter around this morning. There was no sign of the pintail nor the redshank today and this evening's gull roost was disappointingly small though there was an adult YELLOW-LEGGED GULL in amongst it for a while at least though it sloped off to Farmoor rather than staying to roost.

This evening's yellow-legged gull

Wednesday 16th November: Avocets

As I had a dentist's appointment later on today during what would be my usual visiting time, I decided on a late morning run around the patch for a change. This turned out to be most fortuitous as I jammed in on five AVOCETS there which had been found by Cherry Robertson this morning. They weren't actually present when I arrived but flew back whilst I was watching. They remained rather flighty and would occasionally take off, fly several circuits around the Meadow before settling again. Apparently at 1 p.m. they were flushed and flew off high to the south (per Jason Coppock)

The five avocets

I only had my point & shoot camera with me as I was on a run but fortunately Phil Chapman let me take a few digiscoped shots through his scope and this one turned out ok (thanks Phil!). I left Duncan Eames trying to take some DSLR photos.

Duncan Eames (c) managed this flight shot of the birds

Cherry had clearly had a good visit as she also had a fly-over RAVEN on Burgess Field as well as the first PINTAIL of the season, a drake, which was asleep opposite the Burgess Field gate in amongst the other ducks. The floods seemed to have widened even since yesterday though there had been no overnight rain so clearly the water is coming up from below. Duck numbers were up nicely with shoveler numbers up to more typical levels now. There was a good flock of several hundred golden plover and a single REDSHANK. To round it off there were several (at least three) SNIPE tucked up in various locations around the fringes of the floods. All in all the Meadow is looking really birdy now - it's great to have it back!

Tuesday 15th November

Quite sunny today though noticeably colder. My late afternoon visit was somewhat spoilt by a man wading with his two dogs across the channel by Burgess Field gate and putting up what was looking like a rather promising gull roost which promptly sped off to Farmoor instead. Apart from that it was the "default birds" today: wigeon, teal, shoveler, golden plover and the usual gull species.

Monday 14th November: Goosander

Today has been dull and gloomy all day and so it was pretty dark by the time I came down to the Meadow for the evening roost. The poor conditions meant that there were hardly any people visiting the Meadow and as a consequence the gull roost was much larger than of late. The golden plover flock numbered about 300 birds and the wigeon, teal and a few shoveler were all present and correct though the two redshank seemed to have moved on. The gulls were much more widely distributed this evening with the largest ones in the North Channel, a large swathe of mostly black-headed along the North Reach and a smaller number of again mostly black-headed in Burgess Channel. There were no gulls of particular note this evening with just one adult common gull spotted and relatively few larger gulls about in general. The bird of the day was the first GOOSANDER, a red-head, of the season which was presumably going to roost on the floods.

The red-head goosander this evening.
It looks like a female to me but I don't know whether
goosander have a first winter plumage or not.

Sunday 13th November

I wasn't able to get down to the Meadow on the previous days so I took the opportunity this afternoon even though Sundays are not usually that great due to the increased number of people and dogs around. The heavy rain that we had recently had increased the flood level nicely and there was a rather nice Turner-esque sunset which was enjoyed by about half a dozen birders who came and went by the Burgess Field gate. The golden plover were still there, numbering about 60 though apparently a large number had flown off earlier on. Duck numbers were down somewhat as well and I guess that a dog had probably gone through there earlier in the day and had chased them off. The two REDSHANK were still about seeming very much at home. The gull roost this evening was rather small and rather distant with a couple of common gulls (one first winter and one adult) the pick of the bunch.

Ducks at sunset

Thursday 10th November

Today continued the trend of the week with progressively nicer weather and regrettably a progressively smaller gull roost. Many of the gulls that were present were frightened off by a couple of rampant dogs and sped off to the safety of the Farmoor roost so there were only a handful of larger gulls about and the juvenile common gull to keep the ubiquitous black-headed gulls company. The two REDSHANK were still around as were the flock of about 150 golden plover. Duck numbers have increased and there were about half a dozen shoveler tonight. Yesterday evening I finally heard my first redwing of the season go over and today whilst scanning the floods a fieldfare was "chakking" away behind me in the Trap Ground border hedge.

Something a bit arty this evening: the two
redshank shot directly into the reflected sunset.

Wednesday 9th November

This evening it was much brighter than the previous two evenings but still mild and calm. The gull roost seems to be getting smaller each evening and it was a comparatively paltry affair tonight. However what it lacked in quantity it certainly made up for with quality in the form of what I thought at the time was cracking adult Caspian gull. The birds were once again quite close and the low numbers meant that one was able to get a great view of the bird: so often when they are standing around on the floods one can only see parts of the bird in the crowd. The bird had what appeared to be long spindly pink legs and a sort of aloof imperial look that Caspians have. Admittedly the bill wasn't as long or as pale as one would ideally like to have but I was convinced. Fortunately Ian Lewington put me straight: the underside of the P10 primary is diagnostic and this bird obligingly kept it on display the whole time. Whilst I knew this feather was important, I'd mis-remembered what exactly it should look like. Take a look at the photos first:

I even had a go at a digiscoped still shot though in the half light
of dusk even at ISO 800 the shutter speed was only about 1/30th sec
so I've had to over-sharpen it to compensate. Click to enlarge if you wish

Video footage - this would have been great apart from the slight tilt.
You can of course correct for this in a still photo but not so easily with video
as you have far fewer pixels to play with

On a yellow-legged gull, the P10 underside is basically a black feather with a white tip (as above). On an adult Caspian it's a white feather with a black band about an inch wide close to the tip. This will more or less apply to a 3rd winter Caspian as well with a long white tongue coming up into the black but not for younger birds. Ian reckons that this bird might come from the south-western part of the yellow-legged gull region e.g. the Iberian peninsula. Apparently they are quite a common occurrence in early December and can fool the unwary (such as myself!).

Apart from this interesting gull there were only about fifty non-black-headed gulls all told including a common gull that was barely out of juvenile plumage with just one or two of its scapulars starting to turn grey. Gulls aside, the usual suspects were about: the two REDSHANK were still present and there were a couple of hundred golden plover around still as noisy as ever. I've noticed that as well as their usual murmuring sound they also occasionally make a call that is remarkably like a green sandpiper. The first time I heard it actually thought that it was one though I've since got used to it. Talking of mimicing calls, as I was cycling down Longworth Road towards the Meadow I heard the distinct distant call of a wigeon coming from the roof tops! Of course it turned out to be a starling doing an excellent imitation.

Tuesday 8th November

Very similar weather to yesterday with overcast and gloomy conditions though mild and with little wind. The birds were once more half way down the South Channel though the gull roost was much smaller than of late with only a few large gulls to look at. The two REDSHANK were still about though their dunlin cousins had moved on. There were about 150 golden plover tonight which murmured away constantly and there are now good numbers of wigeon and teal about with the two shoveler still present as well.

As the chosen congregation point for the birds was quite close to the main path they would occasionally get spooked such as on one occasion when a cyclist went past too quickly or a dog threatens to head out into the floods. When this happens they all erupt upwards in a stunning snowstorm of white gulls whilst the golden plover zip around at high speed in a tight flock just like some high speed aerial display team. The duck aren't so easily spooked and just loaf around in an unconcerned manner. I'd love to take a photo of it all but the light has been so poor over the last couple of nights that it wouldn't be worth it.

Monday 7th November

It was very gloomy though calm and mild when I visited the Meadow this evening. Despite there not having been much more rain since my last visit the flood waters have now extended all the way down to the Southern Tail and it all looks like a really great piece of habitat once again. There were good numbers of birds which were all congregating along the South Channel today. Wigeon and teal numbers have increased since my last visit and there was a pair of shoveler today for the first time in a long while. The golden plover flock numbered about 75 birds and it was fantastic to have them swooping low and fast right over my head at times: they seem to be very noisy fliers with their wing beats making quite a whooshing noise. Waders were represented today by a pair of REDSHANK and a pair of DUNLIN. A reasonably sized gull roost found the first YELLOW-LEGGED GULL of the season, a fine adult which I would guess was a female, as well as a few great BB's and common gulls in amongst the usual suspects. All in all it's great to have the Meadow back on form. All we need now is for something really good to turn up.

The adult yellow-legged gull on the floods this evening

Friday 4th November

Heavy overnight rain has really perked up the Meadow floods which now stretch in a continuous arc all the way from Stint Corner through to half way down the South Channel with only the Southern Tail now still dry. Admittedly they are still rather thin but they are certainly proving attractive to the birds and it was just like old times this evening out there. As I arrived I heard the distinctive call of a GREENSHANK and spotted three of them flying about overhead before they headed off vaguely towards Farmoor.A wonderful murmuring flock of about 500 golden plover (I even did a rough count) were on the west shore of the South Channel along with a single REDSHANK. There were literally hundreds of mallards about on the grass and at last the winter ducks were back with about 60 WIGEON and 20 TEAL looking very much at home in the damp conditions. Not to be out done the linnet flock was numbering about 100 birds and a flock of about 100 pied wagtails flew off to roost with more of them still dotted around the Meadow. About 50 of the ever-present lapwing kept vigil along the shoreline looking as exotic as ever. The only slight disappointment was the gull roost which was rather paltry by recent counts with no more than a handful of larger gulls (compared to about 50 last night) though there were a couple of hulking greater black-backed gulls there for good measure.

I'm afraid most of my photos are going to be pretty poor
for a while as I'm making my visits to the Meadow during the
last hour of daylight at present. Here's a lovely first winter
common gull which has only just started to get it's grey scapular feathers

Some even worse quality video footage of tonight's redshank
feeding in front of the golden plover flock

Wednesday 2nd November

The Meadow seems to be getting back into its stride a bit more the last few days as it's starting to feel like proper winter birding there again. A REDSHANK was reported by Mary Gregory on Sunday and on Tuesday a PEREGRINE was seen hassling the gulls (Phil Chapman). I've started going down there for the last hour of daylight to check out the gull roost which I'm pleased to report is looking pretty healthy especially considering the relatively small size of the flood water still. On both Monday and today there have been a remarkable number (literally several thousand) black-headed gulls and today there were a reasonable number of larger gulls coming in as well with several greater black-backed, several dozen lesser black-backed and a couple of dozen herring gulls. They are starting to get their streaky heads which makes picking out the yellow-legged and Caspians much easier. Tonight as well there were at least six common gulls - I always enjoy picking these out from the gull throng. Golden plover have been around though the last few visits they've been rather small in number and also rather flighty. Still no winter duck to speak of though apparently the wigeon are back at the Wolvercote end.

You know it's winter when I start posting crummy video footage of gulls again

Saturday 29th October

I've been away for a few day (see Pendeen Birding) and my first visit back to the Meadow found the thin sliver of floods pleasantly enlarged. The recent rain has added sufficient water so that at least it has submerged the cattle footprints which were making it so hard to pick out birds along the shoreline. On the bird front the main difference has been the noticeable increase in golden plover with a flock of about 250 present with about 100 lapwing on Thursday though the fact that the floods are still rather small means that the birds are easily flushed so numbers can vary quite a lot. A couple of teal were also hanging about and numbers should increase substantially as the flood waters expand. Plenty of pied wagtails and linnets, with a smattering of meadow pipits and a passage of skylarks still going on overhead. Burgess Field is rather quiet though there were a couple of jays seen near the copse in the middle.

It's wonderful to have these beautiful plovers back on the Meadow

Whilst I was away a WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was found by Dave Lowe hanging out with the greylag flock though it only stayed for a couple of days. There are no escapee white-fronts around that I know of and I have no reason to doubt the credentials of this bird which will go down as a year tick for the patch. Another patch year tick was provided by Steve Goddard who finally had a MARSH TIT in his garden in Wolvercote. Apparently they're normally fairly common visitors but this was the first one that he'd had all year.

Lapwings in flight

In amongst the black-headed gulls on Thursday were a lesser black-backed and a common gull. With the clocks going back now I might start checking out the Meadow to see if we're getting much of a gull roost yet.

Wednesday 19th October

There's still not very much to report, hence the long delay since my previous entry. There has been a noticeable change in the weather over the last couple of weeks with the Indian summer giving way to more seasonal weather again. There have been the first signs of autumn and winter in amongst the bird life on the Meadow as well: I've seen a few SNIPE around the flood strip and there were some teal hanging out in the vicinity though there's not really enough water to keep them entertained properly. Lapwing and black-headed gulls continue to loiter by the pool and today for the first time there were about 50 GOLDEN PLOVER wheeling around before settling near Stint Corner. It's great to have this lovely species back again on the Meadow and I always associate the autumn period with their wonderful overhead wheeling flocks as well as searching through the grounded birds for rarer American cousins. Plenty of meadow pipits, linnets and pied wagtails about and there has been a steady overhead light passage of skylarks over the last couple of weeks. Along the river and the Castle Mill Stream the kingfisher has been seen regularly again.

A male common darter enjoying the sunshine

I've only visited Burgess Field once in the last few weeks but was rewarded with a couple of SISKIN flying over and it looks like it might be a good season for this delightful finch this time round. Today in the hedge along the Trap Ground allotments my patient searching was rewarded with a treecreeper, actually my first of the year on the patch though they have been seen by others. This small bit of hedge is often surprisingly productive when looking for birds.

When all the other birds have deserted the flood puddle,
black-headed gulls still keep the faith

A bit of decent rain should expand the pool enough to attract back some ducks and perhaps even some waders as well as the wonderful winter gull roost. It's all a matter of waiting patiently.

Friday 7th October

There's not been much to report since the last entry. I've been away for a week but there have been no reports by anyone else from the Meadow. I went out today to check things out and there is still a thin sliver of flood water though it really needs some water to top it up a bit more. There were 20 lapwings along its edge as well as the usual party of black-headed gulls. Linnet numbers continue to grow and the flock must have been at least 80 strong today. Meadow pipits are also increasing in numbers though the marked decrease in livestock numbers means that there is less of interest to keep any passing yellow wagtails and I didn't see any today. There is a large contingent of canada geese (at least 100) keeping the feral greylags company on the Meadow. A few kingfisher sightings have been reported by Adrian Gray along the river recently. All in all it's a pleasant enough autumnal pastoral scene though not much bird action.

Wednesday 28th September

An early afternoon walk on the Meadow today found a single WHEATEAR working its way over the southern dried-up area of the floods. There were also noticeably more meadow pipits around today with about 20 all told. One of the LITTLE EGRETS was still about, standing in the middle of the field and there are still one or two YELLOW WAGTAILS in amongst the cattle. Common buzzard and red kite have also been taking advantage of the good weather for soaring over the last two days. The highlight of the last two days though has been another SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, found by Sydney Penner along the canal tow path.

Today's wheatear

Monday 26th September: Spotted Flycatchers

It's been a depressingly long time since my last posting but there has been precious little to report until today. I've continued to visit the Meadow two or three times a week in the vain hope that this autumn's Nearctic wader bonanza might cast a bird or two (ideally a buff-breasted sandpiper) in the direction of the Meadow. We're still hanging on to a thin sliver of flood water which continues to attracted some loafing black-headed gulls and an increasing number of lapwings (60 today). There have been a handful of YELLOW-WAGTAILS about each time I visit and the LITTLE EGRETS are still kicking around but that's been about it. However today my visit was brightened up by the presence of three passing SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS in the hedge by the Trap Ground allotments along the path to the southern Burgess Field gate. They seemed quite happy there and were still around half an hour later when I returned from scrutinising the floods. Spotted flycatchers are less than annual on the patch and this is a great year tick for the Meadow.


Lot's of my photos came out blurred as the autofocus ended up latching on to a branch rather than the bird itself but these two came out ok.

Friday 16th September: Whinchat

Another reasonable bird on the Meadow today in the form of a WHINCHAT (a patch year tick), found by Dave Lowe, which instead of being in the usual location of Burgess Field was working its way down the Meadow itself close to the main path. The three DUNLIN were still there on the puddle shoreline but there was unfortunately no sign of their diminutive stint cousin. Lapwing numbers had gone up to about 40, there were a few loafing black-headed gulls and a single grey heron by the flood pool. On the Meadow itself there were plenty of linnets, a total of 16 YELLOW WAGTAILS in amongst the cattle, a single skylark and the first few autumn meadow pipits flying over.

The whinchat (click to enlarge)

One of the many yellow wagtails (click to enlarge)

Thursday 15th September: Little Stint

It's been far too long since I last did an update but sadly that's a reflection on the current state of the Meadow floods. We have actually got a small sliver of flood water along the North Channel though mostly it's been attracting little more than a few black-headed gulls. Today I went out for a midday run and was scouring the flood shoreline when I came across a DUNLIN. After a little more searching I found a couple more and then a juvenile LITTLE STINT in amongst them. They were typically approachable and I was able to get close enough for a record shot with my Point & Shoot camera. We had the cracking adult bird a few months ago so this isn't a patch year tick but still a very welcome bird given the current poor state of the patch.

A couple of record shots with my P&S camera (Click to enlarge)

Apart from that there were about 8 YELLOW WAGTAILS in amongst the cattle and a few lapwings (I counted about 50 recently) and black-headed gulls. In amongst the feral geese there has been a BAR-HEADED GOOSE recently. There have been a few of the vanguard of winter TEAL loitering on the floods recently though they've receded again to the point where there's not much left for any self-respecting duck to bother with. If we get a decent spell of rain then the floods should top up again nicely though it may be too late for the autumn passage.

Friday 2nd September

Hey ho - another very quiet week on the patch. We've managed to retain the puddle along the North Channel and I have been more actively checking it out most days though there's not been a single wader on it that I've seen. The highlight of the week was a lovely WHEATEAR in the dried up area of Stint Corner on Tuesday. That same day there were also four GOLDEN PLOVER in amongst a flock of about 40 lapwings. Apart from that there has been a single LITTLE EGRET loitering near the river and a few dozen black-headed gulls loafing on the puddle. Plenty of YELLOW WAGTAILS in amongst the cattle and I counted at least 15 today. One or two common terns still around.

The bird of the week (Click to enlarge)

The little egret has been around for a while now (Click to enlarge)

Burgess Field is still largely birdless and most of the butterflies have now gone with just a few small heaths still about. There were a couple of dragonflies in the "ride" today: a southern hawker and a ruddy darter I believe.

A female Common Darter (Click to enlarge)

The TAWNY OWL was heard at least once this week, as usual only calling once or twice so probably just passing through the patch from its roost to its hunting grounds.