It was possibly the last bit of fine weather for a few days so I drove over the RSPB reserve at Otmoor. There has been a lot of rain and the road down to the car park was flooded in a couple of places, as was the main track.
The car park was almost full when I arrived just after 10 am. but I found some room at the side rather than in the marked bays. The reserve, however, looked beautiful in the winter sunshine, and it actually felt quite pleasant in the sun with little in the way of wind.
Walking up the main track I looked across an area known as The Closes which has had some grey plover recently but there was a work party there so not many birds were brave enough to stay put. As I joined the main bridleway, a number of photographers were standing socially distanced admiring a fantastic spectacle of birds which had formed vast flocks in the sky and were wheeling around, mainly lapwing and golden plover. It seemed as if they had been spooked by some sort of raptor. A red kite was sitting on a post in the distance, but I also overheard reports of a marsh harrier. After staying to watch, I decided to separate myself from the groups of birders and continued along the bridle way. During the spring this area is busy with warblers but today it was quite quiet and peaceful; Canada geese and white fronted geese were present but quite distant,
I decided to stop off at the Wetland watch hide as I enjoy watching the various finches that are attracted to an area where seed scattered on the path below the hide windows. You have to choose your seat carefully so as not to have the sun shining directly towards you or your camera and I was pleased to see there was plenty of room.
It was mainly reed buntings that I saw, with a few chaffinches and the occasional yellow hammer and linnet. Bramblings occasionally make an appearance but not during my time there today. Although I walked the 500 metres or so to the first screen there was little close up to see, though a variety of ducks were at a distance, including teal,wigeon, mallard and shoveler.
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