Oxon Birding Weblog: January Evaluate

Waxwings by Jane Tomlinson..

Highlights

January was a month of deluges, first within the
typical sense with big quantities of rain resulting in widespread flooding
all through the county and inflicting localised chaos. The second deluge was a a lot
extra welcome one when the dam lastly burst on the Waxwing invasion,
with Oxon seeing dozens of birds up and down the county. We had been made to
wait a short time although, with the sport of whack-a-mole persevering with on from December
and the primary data of 2024 popping up in a number of locations solely to
disappear once more into the gardens, industrial estates and supermarkets of Oxfordshire.
The primary report was belated information of two birds within the grounds of a College in Chilton
on the two^nd, Ardington then had a hen at nightfall on the 5^th
while the next day a flock of 11 had been in Kennington and a single
at Thame. None of those birds had been seen following their preliminary
sightings regardless of some thorough looking, notably at Kennington. The
first semi-twitchable birds lastly broke cowl on the 7^th with
three birds in Bodicote within the far north of the county, permitting solely a
few people to reach on the scene in time. Thame additionally hosted birds on the
7^th with 5 reported on the birding providers. Once more, following the
now well-established sample neither of those birds had been current the next
day.

The Wantage/Grove Waxwing courtesy of Stephen Burch

 

One of many Plater Drive Waxwings courtesy of Ben Sheldon

The mini onslaught of data saved coming with a single hen
on the A420 slip street by Cumnor on the 8^th with probably extra
than one current in a short commentary. Issues actually kicked up a gear although
on the 9^th when information broke of an enormous flock of as much as 70 birds current
in Didcot ranging extensively between the Ladygrove Property and the Tesco
on the outskirts of city. With the birds seemingly current for a number of
days, the counties unhealthy luck continued with not a single hen nonetheless current on
the ten^th. That being mentioned, a flock of 13 did pop up once more on the 13^th.
 A pair of birds within the dying mild in Oxford
on the 9^th seemed set to observe all overs and disappear.
Lastly, although, some correct luck was within the offing and this pair had been nonetheless
current the next day. Though they then bunked for every week this pair grew
to seven on the 17^th with no less than one hen hanging round till the
21^st, permitting loads of people to meet up with them and a few
gorgeous pictures to look. The residents of Plater Drive must take a
big quantity of credit score for being so accommodating to the photographers and birders
that briefly took residence on the cul-de-sac. Some very considerate folks
even created a small espresso and tea stand for the fellows who had spent the day
camped out on road! 

The Plater Drive Waxwings, courtesy of Gnome

 

 

Tea & Espresso kindly offered by the residents Picture courtesy of Andy Final.

Completely happy Birders in Jericho courtesy of Jane Tomlinson.

The ten^th noticed one other report of a mega flock when
50 had been reportedly at Thame, presumably a part of the identical flock that had
been in Didcot the day prior to this. Reviews then adopted similar sample of
birds reported or seen solely very briefly. Grove and Kidlington noticed
single birds on the 13^th and 17^th respectively, while
the 20^th noticed many extra data throughout a wider vary. Cholsey and
Standlake each had flocks of 5 in birders gardens on the 20^th,
absolutely the dream! Freeland additionally had a flock of 16 reported on the 20^th
however all these data had been temporary as we had turn out to be accustomed to. Abingdon additionally
received in on the motion with one briefly in one other birders backyard on the 21^st
and current once more the next day, while a pair was then current on the 24^th
once more solely briefly. 

Watching the ‘wings in Lengthy Hanborough courtesy of Moth.

The subsequent twitchable birds fell on the 25^th when
a unbelievable flock of 21 was positioned in Lengthy Hanborough. This allowed
nearly everybody else to attach with this enigmatic and characterful species in
the county with a mini-twitch ensuing. Essentially the most uncommon Waxwing report
got here from RAF Brize Norton, the place a single hen was apparently perched
on the wing of an A400 on the 19^th, in what would have made for a
unbelievable photograph! A flock of 18 had been then additionally apparently current right here on the 25^th.

All in all it actually has been a unbelievable January,
with Oxon lastly getting its fair proportion of the most important Waxwing irruption
in a few years. With the final main irruption reaching Oxfordshire extra
than a decade in the past in 2013, lengthy earlier than a few of us even arrived within the county, let’s
hope the motion continues for the following couple of months because it did again then.

Waders

The shock report of the month got here within the type of a pair
of Knot on the Farmoor causeway. A really early report for this
species with median arrival date being the 27^th March and definitely
is a unbelievable winter report for this not all the time annual species. The pair current
on the 8^th was not fairly the earliest report because the flip of the century
although, with a report beating it by a single day approaching the 7^th
January in 2006. The pair had been current till the 16^th when solely a single
hen remained from the 17^th till no less than the 24^th. Even
extra shocking was the potential for a 2^nd pair on a flood close to Thame
in Cuttlebrook on the 14^th. Frustratingly the pair
remained distance hidden in amongst the big Lapwing flock. 

One of many two Farmoor Knot, courtesy of Steve Liptrot

 

Gray Plover continued their
winter residence within the county though data in all probability solely associated to a single
particular person ranging throughout two websites. A lone hen was lastly pinned down on Port
Meadow on the 14^th after a number of close to misses earlier within the month
and was once more current on the 20^th. Presumably the identical hen was then
picked up at Otmoor throughout the WEBS rely right here on the 29^th amongst
the 1000’s of Golden Plover, Lapwing and numerous wildfowl wintering
on the positioning. Ruff had been at two websites additionally this month with a single hen
at Chimney Meadows on the 21^st after which 5 on Otmoor
throughout the WEBS rely on the 29^th. Dunlin, nevertheless, had been very
quite a few and widespread this month a attainable consequence of the mega flocks
dispersing from the tip of 2023 into extra elements of Oxon because the water ranges
rose. Port Meadow had by the far the most important variety of data and
people this month with a excessive rely of fifty on the 14^th, though
30+ was reached on a number of events while birds had been semi-resident on web site
all through the month. Otmoor additionally noticed a number of double digit counts with
the best rely of twenty-two on the 15^th, while Farmoor had 25 fly
by means of the positioning on the 17^th. Somerton, Pit 60 and Chimney
Meadows all hosted birds in January with double digit counts reached
on the latter two websites, with a excessive of 29 on Chimney Meadows on the 21^st. 

Farmoor Dunlin, courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

 

Water Rail on a frozen Otmoor courtesy of Sue Carruthers.

The primary large signal of spring on
its approach, except for the lighter mornings and evenings, got here within the type of an
early Oystercatcher on the 27^th at Rushy Frequent adopted
by birds on the 30^th at Pit 60 and Blenheim on the 31^st.
Though not fairly the earliest report of the final close to quarter of a century,
that exact accolade goes to a hen arriving on the 12^th January
in 2021, it nonetheless a fortnight sooner than the median arrival date because the
flip of the century. That being mentioned, birds have been arriving earlier and earlier
lately with a specific change of arrivals famous in 2017 and it’s a sample
I think will proceed with milder winters the brand new ‘regular’. Redshank had been
solely famous at one web site this month – Port Meadow. A single was close to
resident on the frequent for a lot of the month and joined by a 2^nd
hen briefly on the 9^th.

Inexperienced Sandpiper appeared to
have wintered at few websites within the early a part of the winter interval, however a number of
websites hosted birds within the New Yr.  4
websites hosted birds in January with a excessive rely of three at Bicester Wetland’s
on the two^nd. Further websites had been Ardley (1^st),
Grove Airfield (13^th) and Peep-o-Day Lane (26^th).
Frequent Sandpiper was current at one web site this month, with Farmoor internet hosting
the identical wintering hen that was current the earlier month and was once more
current for the entire of January. I’m conscious of Inexperienced Sandpiper displaying
unbelievable web site constancy for wintering websites however not sure of Frequent Sandpiper however given one has wintered at Farmoor for the final couple of years it’s important to marvel if it’s the identical hen.

Farmoor Frequent Sandpiper courtesy of John Workman

Two Jack Snipe data
got here this month with probably the most fascinating one from Port Meadow on the 12^th.
This hen was caught as a part of a ringing effort on the positioning and was facilitated
by the current rising waters and a thermal imager, ensuing within the cracking photograph
under. A 2^nd hen was seen in flight at Otmoor on the 31^st
when flushed by quartering Marsh Harrier.

A ringed Jack Snipe, courtesy of Gnome

Woodcock got here from three websites
and all had been sometimes positioned by means of flushing or seen in flight. Boarstall
Decoy offered the majority of the sightings although and even topped the earlier
months excessive rely with a large rely of 21 in complete, though I’m not sure
of the report rely for this species within the county this should be up there as certainly one of
the best for a single web site. Warburg and Garford had been the opposite
two websites to report birds, albeit a way more typical single hen in flight. 

Though usually ignored within the month-to-month
opinions, Golden Plover and Lapwing had been current in big numbers
on Otmoor over the winter interval. The excessive counts this month of 4000 and
5000 respectively make for an incredible spectacle, particularly while you add within the
1000’s of Wildfowl, looking raptors of a number of species and 50+ thousand Starling
– we’re certainly very fortunate to have such a reserve inside our counties borders. Waterstock
although additionally hosted an enormous variety of Lapwing this month with
roughly 4000 right here additionally, an excellent rely for a lesser recognized web site and
that’s clearly additionally doing one thing proper for our wintering birds.

Wildfowl and many others

A mix of lengthy staying birds
and the odd new one was the story of wintering wildfowl this month. The Nice
Northern Diver continued its winter vacation at Farmoor and was
current all the best way till the tip of January. Having been current now
because the 11^th December it nonetheless has some approach to go to beat
the report staying hen of 2021/22 which stayed for a whopping 155 days between
the 12^th December and 16^th Could. 

The Farmoor Nice Northern Diver courtesy of Nick Truby

The wintering feminine Scaup
additionally continued on web site for a lot of January though it appears it had
determined to bunk on the 26^th of the month and was probably the identical
hen briefly on Rushy Frequent of all locations on the 27^th. A male
Scaup was a pleasant addition then, additionally within the lower than typical spot of Blenheim
on the 22^nd and a pleasant bonus patch tick for one native birder. Sadly
the hen had gone the next day and together with the feminine was not seen
once more within the latter a part of January. 

 

The Farmoor feminine Larger Scaup courtesy of Nick Truby…

…and the male at Blenheim courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

 

A lone feminine Frequent Scoter was
the standout rarity of the month, though sadly after spending a lot of
the day loafing with the Tufted Duck flock on the 6^th it had
departed the positioning by the following day. One other spotlight of the month was the arrival
of 4 White-fronted Geese on Otmoor on the 26^th of the
month. The three juveniles and single grownup had been nonetheless current in direction of the tip
of the month or no less than till the 29^th, a pleasant addition to the month
with this close to annual species and never all the time a simple hen to meet up with in
the county.

White-fronted Geese Otmoor rspb courtesy of Paul Wyeth.

Six websites hosted Shelduck this
month with a most rely of eight coming from two websites – Chimney Meadows and
Port Meadow on the 16^th and the 22^nd respectively.
Cote, Peep-o-Day Lane and North Moreton all hosted a number of birds
all through the month while Farmoor had a pair of birds fly by means of on
the 27^th. Goosander had been additionally widespread with 9 websites recording
birds. The excessive rely got here from Port Meadow the place as much as 9 birds had been
current on the 7^th, though Radley Lakes got here shut with eight
birds on the 14^th. Different websites recording birds had been Peep-o-Day Lane,
Blenheim, Pit 27 & Pit 60, Farmoor, Kennington and Henley Highway GP’s.
Goldeneye continues to dwindle in quantity throughout the county with solely 5
websites recording birds with just one double digit rely anyplace in Oxon. Dix
Pit, probably the most dependable web site now, hosted 12 birds on the 13^th. Different
websites that recorded birds had been all shut within the neighborhood of Dix Pit with
Pit 27 & Pit 60, Farmoor and Rushy Frequent all had no less than
one hen current in January.

A unprecedented rely of Pintail
got here from Pit 60 this month when 912 had been counted on the 20^th.
This rely smashes the earlier county report coming from the identical location with
600 right here in 2014. The BTO estimates 20,000 people winter within the UK (2012-2017) and this rely equates to roughly 4.5% of the wintering inhabitants, a loopy
report for single web site in Oxfordshire and a nationally vital quantity
of birds. 

Combined wildfowl courtesy of Pete Alfrey

 

 

Herons,
egrets and many others

Cattle Egret just about continued the place they left off
from the earlier month. Peep-o-Day Lane continued to host a trio of
birds, which elevated to six on the 12^th and was again all the way down to a pair by
the tip of the month. Farmoor Village had the best rely once more with a
whopping 31 feeding within the livestock pasture on New Years Day, the flock continued
to ebb and circulation in quantity by means of the month with 20 simply down the street at Swinford
on the 6^th. Blenheim hosted a single hen on the ten^th,
while Otmoor and Days Lock hosted a number of birds sporadically in January.

Nice White Egret had been very widespread within the county
this month with 16 websites internet hosting no less than one hen with a number of websites internet hosting a number of
birds. The excessive rely got here from Blenheim as with earlier months the place
4 birds had been seen on the 16^th, though 4 had been additionally seen at Tadpole
Bridge on the 12^th. The Salisbury Plain Nice Bustard continued
to unusually observe the Roe Deer herd round Childrey Area on
the Oxon Downs and was reported sporadically within the month. An unconfirmed report
of two White Stork over the A40 at Forest Hill got here on the
12^th with no additional experiences anyplace else the county this month.

Gulls
and Terns

A protracted staying Little Gull over the border in Gloucestershire was seemingly crossing the tri-county border of Glos/Wilts/Oxon pretty continuously
because it ranged with the Black-headed Gull flock within the early a part of the
month and was a pleasant early addition to the county record for this species. A lone
Mediterranean Gull report got here from Farmoor on the 29^th
throughout a rely of the gull roost becoming a member of the remainder of practically 12500 gulls
roosting there that had been counted on the 19^th as a part of the BTO Gull
rely.

Caspian Gull had been recorded from 4 websites this month,
with the positioning having probably the most motion being Appleford Village. No less than
10 people have been seen right here over the course of the month together with two ringed
birds – one from the Netherlands and the opposite from Lithuania. Port Meadow often
had a 1^st winter hen roosting throughout the month while a 3^rd
winter joined the roost on the 9^th. Blenheim had an grownup
hen current on the 11^th and the 26^th and seemed to be
a often returning hen that has been right here for the previous couple of years. Rushy
Frequent was the opposite web site and hosted a single 1^st winter on the
27^th. 

The semi-resident first winter Caspian Gull at Port Meadow courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

Passerines

The wintering ringed Siberian Chiffchaff continued
at Port Meadow and was often reported from Burgess Gate while often
a 2^nd hen was additionally reported in January, experiences of one other hen got here from Shifford on the 28^th. A single
report of Firecrest got here from Peep-o-Day Lane on New Years Day, while
Crossbill had been reported from two websites – Buckland Warren and Bagley
Wooden on the 6^th and 9^th respectively.

Siberian Chiffchaff Burgess Area courtesy of Thomas Miller.

Brambling had been recorded from no less than eight websites
this month. By far the best rely got here from Blenheim the place 35+ birds
had been counted feeding within the sunflower fields on the positioning. Many of the different data
associated to single and pairs with no different double digit counts from every other
web site. Ring-necked Parakeet continued to collect in a big roost in Cowley,
Oxford with 30 on the 22^nd after which an enormous 42 on the 29^th.

Rob Cadd took an excellent little bit of video of the dancing Starlings at Otmoor final month.

Raptors

The 2 wintering ringtail Hen Harrier continued on the Oxon
Downs and Otmoor this month with each seen sporadically, though the
Otmoor hen was way more dependable owing to the Starling Roost and
presumably a lot elevated protection. The location additionally hosted a Merlin on the
13^th and 27^th and was certainly one of solely two report this month
with the opposite coming from Fyfield Wick on the 18^th.

Ringtail Hen Harrier Otmoor rspb courtesy of Andy Coates.

In what has been a unbelievable yr for Brief-eared Owl throughout
the nation, Oxon was not omitted from the motion. No less than eight websites
hosted birds and ranged from all elements of the county. Some websites hosted as much as seven
birds with a number of birds recorded throughout no less than two places. It simply makes
you marvel what number of birds are literally wintering within the county on this irruption
yr for the species.

                         Brief-eared Owl and Lengthy-eared Owl ringed lately within the county (courtesy of WORG)

Patchwork problem

Patch	Birder	Factors	Species	Spotlight
Aston eyot	Ben Sheldon	51	51
Ardley ERF	Gareth Casburn	59	57
Dix pit	Simon Bradfield	43	40
Grimsbury reservoir	Gareth Blockley	70	73
Lye valley	Tom Bedford	51	50
River Thames	Geoff Wyatt	104	91
Sutton courtenay	Conor MacKenzie	85	80	Firecrest & Cattle Egret
Port Meadow	Thomas Miller
Radley GP’s	Ian Elkins	75	72	Nice White Egret & Goosander
Freeland	Glen Pascoe	34	32
South Hinksey	Alex Figueiredo	42	41
Cholsey	Alan Dawson	81	78

Brief-eared Owl courtesy of John Reynolds.

The place do the birds go?

Piece collectively a map of hen migration.