I visited an area in the north of Oxford today, known as Port Meadow. This is a large flood plain with the River Thames flowing through the centre and attracts large numbers of wildfowl. I chose to park in the northern entrance today, and walk south which I had not done before. With the area being so vast, I was unsure which path to follow, and ended up going a very long way round to reach the flooded areas. Crossing the rough grass, I could hear skylarks all around me and from time to time saw them as they flew fairly low across the meadow, (year tick). I also spotted a distant golden plover which was quite camouflaged amongst the grassy tussocks. Horses were grazing in a large group in one area.
As I walked southwards, which was further than I had anticipated, I came across the entrance to 'Burgess fields' a nature reserve adjacent to the meadow. I entered through the gate and followed the path through it until I reached the exit, by doing this I could avoid walking in some of the water-logged areas. There was not much in the way of notable bird life, although I had a nice view of a red kite which was sitting in a tree and also spotted a green woodpecker which flew across the path ahead of me before landing on the tree trunk of a distant tree.
As I left the reserve, I re-entered the meadow and followed the path around the edge of the 'lake' caused by the floods and then made the long trek back to the car park. There were many ducks and gulls on the water; mostly wigeon, but also teal, mallards, shelduck and shovelers. I didn't spot any waders amongst them though. I had hoped to find a mediterranean gull which had been reported but didn't succeed.
Having done rather more walking than I intended, I was pleased to get back to the car and thankful to have brought a picnic lunch which I ate before returning home.
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