FROST AT OTMOOR

I fancied a winter's walk at RSPB Otmoor so got up earlier than usual on a Saturday morning only to find a blanket of fog.  Checking the met office forecast  it showed sun in Oxfordshire while at home in North Wiltshire it was still foggy. Not knowing the accuracy of this, I thought it might be a good idea to check out an Oxford webcam,  which I did, and incredibly it showed clearing skies. 

So having made sandwiches and a flask of hot chocolate I headed out along the A420..still foggy. But after about 20 minutes or so the round shape of the sun could be seen through the fog and soon it cleared completely. On arrival at Otmoor, the hedges were a beautiful picture of white  sparkling leaves and in the distance the moor looked stunning in its winter beauty. 

With everything still pretty frozen, there were not that many birds currently about, so I took the opportunity to  try out some winter photography. However at the hide the winter feeding scheme ensured that there were good numbers of reed buntings, chaffinches, and a few yellow hammers along with great tits and robin.

At the junction of the path to the first screen, there were a group of birders standing around at the junction with the track who had just been watching a weasel. And as I followed the path I caught up with another couple of birders who were also watching one, which I could see in the distance.  I did actually have another  two weasel sightings, the second one particularly close but although I waited with camera poised, sadly it did not reappear. 

At the first screen, I joined a few others who were watching a group of snipe on an island and flocks of teal wheeling round above the water but not landing. Here bitterns have been seen regularly and not so long ago a family of otters had been frequenting the area. But neither showed during my visit today. 

Birds seen:
coot, moorhen, swan, mallard, tufted duck, teal, snipe, Canada geese, redwing, great tit, pheasant, chaffinch, great tit, reed bunting, yellowhammer, buzzard,  linnet, cormorant.

IN SEARCH OF A SCAUP

After some very wet weather recently it was a pleasant change to have sunshine the whole day, even though the temperature had dropped.

Some scaups have been seen regularly at Farmoor Reservoir this autumn, and having failed in two attempts to find them amongst the similar looking tufted ducks, I decided to have a third attempt today.

The brightness of the  autumn sunshine meant I needed to cross the causeway to get round to a position where I could have a better view of the ducks but despite scanning the ducks through my binoculars I still could not make out any duck with a large patch of white surrounding its beak which would identify it as my target species.

Wondering what to do next, a birder ( who turned out to be the author of a birding blog that I read regularly! ) was coming towards me and I enquired if he had seen the scaup. He told me he had not yet found them but they had been reported there about an hour earlier and it was unlikely they would have flown off in that time.  I joined him and we continued to look, walking down the western side of both reservoirs which were the favoured areas but without success.  However he did point out a hybrid greater/lesser scaup.  As his more experienced eyes scanned the shapes of the mostly sleeping ducks, he also picked out a possible culprit but we could not verify it while its head was tucked in.

We continued walking and looking, mystified that we hadn't been able to locate it,  and then he went back to his car while I  went  to return to my own vehicle in the car park the opposite side of the causeway. Meanwhile the driver of another car which had passed us had stopped and got out a telescope and was joined by the birder who I been searching with earlier. Then I got a shout and quickly hurried over to where they had  been able to confirm the identity of the sleeping bird, it was in the fact the scaup. I peered through the telescope and saw it for myself as it lifted its head  exhibiting its large white blaze but as it was right out in the middle of the reservoir no photos were possible. 

It was however another year tick, and if it continues to stay, then there is a chance I might be able to see it again, as it has been known to be much closer in. 

Other birds seen included:

swan, mallard, wigeon, pochard, tufted duck, cormorant, great crested grebe, little grebe, grey lag geese, grey wagtail, common sandpiper. 

cormorants on a still lake

Farmoor F1

lesser x greater scaup

COTSWOLD WATER PARK

Only six of us turned up for the latest U3A birder walk today, in the Cotswold Water Park. Unsurprising, I suppose, seeing as the forecast was for heavy rain during the afternoon. However, having had to miss many of the recent trips for various reasons, I felt I should make the effort to go, come rain or shine! 

In the event, after some rain during the drive over, it was mainly overcast but with only a few spots of rain now and again and we had an enjoyable afternoon's birding. 

The area was very wet and it became very apparent why a boardwalk had been constructed as we walked from the Neigh bridge car park towards lake 56. We were glad we had been advised to wear wellies as several footpaths were flooded too. After spotting three goosanders as well as the usual tufted ducks and mallards on the water, we soon accumulated a good number of woodland species including spending several minutes observing a greater spotted woodpecker as it hammered  into a tree trunk searching for food.

We retraced our steps and then crossed the road to head toward lakes 44 and 57. Earlier in the year I had seen the yellowed browed warbler here but today we had some close up views of goldcrests instead. These tiny little birds seemed happy to flit amongst the branches within a few metres of us.  Plenty of fieldfares and redwings were flying around, and diving into hedges and trees from time to time and we later spotted a green woodpecker with its characteristic flight.  On lake 44 we were treated to some  views of more goosanders and some red crested pochards and found a heron on lake 57, but sadly not the expected egrets.  However,  I had decided to leave my camera behind, in case it had turned very wet, and in any case the light was mainly on the poor side.  Our usual aim is to see at least the number of species as members on the walk,  and as we returned to our cars as the light began to fade, a quick tally showed we succeeded five times over today! 

Birds seen included:

house sparrow, dunnock, robin, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, goldfinch, goldcrest, redwing, fieldfare, blackbird, green woodpecker, greater spotted woodpecker, mute swan, mallard, tufted duck, goosander, coot, moorhen, heron, red crested pochard, black headed gull, herring gull, lesser black backed gull, great crested grebe, wigeon, cormorant, kestrel, buzzard, magpie, woodpigeon. 

BITTERN!

With a busy week ahead, I was  unsure whether to spend my only free afternoon over at Slimbridge WWT but as it also seemed to be the only fine day this week, I decided to go.

My plan was to firstly visit the newly opened Estuary Hide. Surprisingly it was not that busy but it is a beautiful hide, and the views from the open air top are stunning. There was no wind today but I guess a winter's day could prove very bracing. 

I checked out the Willow hide and watched a pheasant wading through the water, though I did not get a glimpse of the water rail that had been around earlier.

Bitterns have been regularly reported from Slimbridge so I made my way over to the Zeiss hide, where some rides have been cut amongst the reed bed for easier viewing.   As I waited, I overheard another visitor enquiring about  bitterns; he was told that in all probability there was one currently on view at the next hide along.

So guess where I headed next?!  And as I entered the hide and managed to find a seat right at the end, the bittern was indeed showing very well indeed, making its way along the edge of the reed bed! Several people could be heard phoning their friends in other parts of the reserve to let them know but as they did so the bird vanished amongst the reeds, so on arrival they were greeted with the inevitable 'You've just missed it!'

Although it was still only 2.45 pm, I didn't wait much longer to see if it reappeared, as I wanted to visit a couple of other hides and then leave in good time to get home. 

estuary hide

newly arrived Bewick swans

house sparrow

pintail

pheasant

WATERLOGGED WATER PARK

Although I've been out and about a few times, there has been nothing of note to write about hence the gap in the blog. 

Today it was a sunny day between two wet ones, so I went out to Somerford Common to look for redpolls which have been reported there. I don't know the wood that well, but despite having sightings of tree creeper, nuthatch and jays, there seemed few birds about. It was a muddy track which led first downhill then uphill to the open areas and I was glad of my wellies. 
I was also glad of my wellies for a visit to Shornecote reedbeds later on in the day; after following the footpath across two fields, it soon became waterlogged and  every so often I had to wade through several inches of water. At one point, it became obvious that people had gone through the fence at the side to avoid the path. 

I saw my first winter thrushes of the season, groups of fieldfares and redwings in the trees and several flocks of fieldfares calling as they flew over.  From the first hide there were coot and moorhen, mallards and gadwalls and later a marsh harrier flew over. A lady I met in the hide told me she had seen a kingfisher too, just before my arrival. Cettis warblers were also heard and the squealing of a water rail too.  We were hoping for  starling murmuration but decided against waiting as it was getting rather cold. One for another day I think. 

Footpath at Shornecote. It should run between the gates! 

Footpath under water

marsh harrier over the reeds

winter thrushes