Having had a bright, frosty morning, I headed over to RSPB's Otrmoor reserve straight from work, arriving at 1 pm. The car park only held a few vehicles and I hardly saw anyone as I walked down the track and along the bridleway to the Wetland hide. As this blog shows, I hadn't been out and about for a while due to some inclement weather and even now the sun was hastily disappearing behind the gathering clouds and at 2 oclock it seemed as if dusk wasn't far off.
Along the track the bird feeders were attracting plenty of tits and finches whilst a couple of grey squirrels were foraging for spillages underneath. Flocks of fieldfares with a few redwings could also be seen in the trees that edged the bridleway.
From the wetland hide, reed buntings, and goldfinches were regularly seen and from the first screen were the expected wildfowl; gadwall, teal, mallards, shovelers etc.
The main attraction at this time of the year is the 80,000 starlings that form regular murmurations over the reed beds, but with nearly a mile to walk from the carpark, and the possibility of being caught in rush hour traffic around Oxford I opted to leave earlier. Returning to the car, starlings were gathering on the overhead wires, as if waiting for a signal that their show was about to start!
redwing
female reed bunting
male reed bunting
gathering starlings ( and clouds!)
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