STANTON PARK

Another visit to a local country park  produced a surprise in the car park, with a large wooden model of a unicorn!  A little out of place I thought but it adds to the increasing collection of carvings which seemed to be popping up everywhere!  

I circuited the lake before stopping at my preferred bird feeding area, where a group of benches is arranged a few metres away from the bird table, reached by a short path leading from the main track. Here, a well stocked bird table produced a constant stream of visitors. Five members of the tit family were present; great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, coal tit and marsh tit, along with nuthatch, robin, chaffinch and blackbird. 

coal tit

great tit

long tailed tit

marsh tit

nuthatch

tree creeper

a surprise in the car park!

SPARROWHAWK!

 

Sadly I have had to (temporarily) cease feeding the birds in my garden in order to discourage a rat from entering my loft, but looking out of the window today I saw this character at the end of my garden who had obviously no intention of going hungry! 

This female sparrowhawk had caught a pigeon and was methodically pulling out feathers and insides , making a terrible mess as she did so, but by hiding behind various trees/shrubs I was abe to get quite close (within 5 metres) before she flew off. 

SCAUP TRIO AT FARMOOR

  

For a number of reasons including a temporary change of hours at school, plus a visit from a heating engineer, I've not been out this week until today.  It was a mostly grey day with a brisk south westerly wind  blowing when I headed over to one of my regular birding sites at Farmoor Reservoir. I'd been reading a number of reports of several Greater Scaup on the reservoir which were associating with some tufted ducks not too far from the western end of the causeway which divides the two reservoirs. As I parked, I noticed the orange wind sock blowing horizonally which indicated that I would be heading into the wind as I crossed the causeway. I felt in my pockets for my hat and gloves, which thankfully were there in readiness.

 There were several groups of   tufted ducks visible on F1, and I scanned them with my binoculars to see if I could pick out any female Scaup with their white blaze. Another lady told me that she thought she could find one that was sleeping but it was difficult to identify it. I thought I could see the one she meant although there were another few ducks asleep as well. I decided to continue across the causeway  to see whether I could find any other birds of interest or  indeed anything else that looked like a Scaup. As I got to  the corner I  did spot what could be the possible immature male Scaup which had also been reported -  I'm always grateful to photographers who add their pictures to the Oxon birding blog, as it helps me check the birds I am trying to identify! . I turned to walk a little way along  the western bank of F1 but there appeared nothing that resembled the birds I was looking for. However, l did see a couple of kestrels perched  on the Thames Water building.

Returning across the causeway, this time with the wind behind me, I noticed a couple of photographers focusing on one of the  groups of  tufted ducks. I quickly realised that they had found the two female scaups, which had obviously been the sleeping birds I'd seen earlier!  Both had their white flash showing well, though the different colouring of the birds showed they were of different ages  - according to one birder's report they were probably first and second winter birds.

I took a few photos  before returning to my car to enjoy a flask of hot chocolate which I had brought with me in the car to warm me up after my walk!

2nd winter Scaup f

1st winter Scaup f

prob immature Scaup m 

kestrel on the roof

..and between some pipes

A CROSSBILL BONUS

 One of my aims this winter was to find some crossbills; these are birds that I've never seen before but from time to time can be seen locally though I've not managed to see any myself

. Consequently I was pleased to see an entry on the Oxfordshire birding blog recording that ,over the weekend,  several had been seen in Buckland, a little village near Faringdon, about 15 minutes from home. 

The earliest opportunity I expected to have was Thursday this week as I generally work Mon - Wed. However, yesterday I was informed that my class bubble at school was having to self isolate for 14 days and I would be working from home, though without the need to completely self isolate as I hadn't been in school at the end of last week. 

As a result,  I decided to take the opportunity to see if I could find the crossbills at lunch time today.  They had been seen in some conifer trees which lined a bridle way leading to a farm, just off the A420. I soon found the location but the only parking I could find was on the opposite side of the road outside a gated entrance so  I  hoped I wasn't going to upset anyone by parking on their property!  Looking down the drive/bridleway I could see a few people with binoculars looking up at one of the trees a 100 yards or so  away. On reaching them I found  a couple with cameras plus a couple of ladies who told me they lived there and were enjoying all the interest that the birds ' presence had generate!. They also reassured me that it was a public bridleway so we were not trespassing in any way!  The crossbills were easy to spot,in branches half way to two thirds the way up the the tree and often at the outer edges although their colours ( red males and green females) blended in quite well with the pine cones and leaves respectively.  I was very pleased to spend a while watching them use their specially shaped beaks to extract the seeds from the  cones. There were at least half a dozen, maybe quite a lot more, mostly males, (I only spotted one female)  On enquiring I learned that the crossbills seemed to have selected that particular tree and were returning to it regularly. 

STAYING LOCAL(ISH) DURING LOCKDOWN NO 2

The  start of the new lockdown coincided with my days off this week  and some beautiful autumn sunshine. I had fully intended to pay a visit to Slimbridge on Thursday, but sadly that is closed for the moment, I therefore headed for some more local sites. At Stanton Park, on Friday, I was surprised to find the car park almost full, even at 10  o'lock in the morning. However, it is a large area and I had little difficulty in finding a quiet spot next to some a  bird feeding station, which some thoughtful person had filled with a range of food.. No sooner, had I sat down on one of the wooden benches, when I saw my first bird table visitor,  a marsh tit.  Gorgeous little birds, but in common with other members of the tit family, they don't hang about for long, but grab a seed and fly off with it. 

Next to visit was another of my favourite woodland birds,a nuthatch, followed by coal tit, blue tit and great tit. A robin and blackbird also made an appearance as did a couple of grey squirrels. I stayed a while, for a time, being joined by another couple who sat, at a suitable distance on one of the other seats, before taking another path back towards the car park. 

marsh tit

nuthatch

coal tit

I'd been reading on the local Oxfordshire birding blog of a juvenile great northern diver that was currently visiting Farmoor Reservoir so as this bird was not yet ticked off on my year list I decided to make the half hour trip today to go and find it. After a rather cold, murky start to the day, it was brightening up and with little or no wind, I thought the water would be calm enough to take some photos if it was near enough to the bank. 

With lockdown in progress I   thought, rather naivily that it might be quite quiet there, but no, I was wrong, the car park was full, and  many people were taking advantage of the autumn sunshine, including families, joggers, anglers as well as photographers and  birdwatchers. 

The diver was located in an area of water on the eastern side of F2 which meant only a short walk from the car park (for a change!|) There were a few photographers seated on the wall, and they  pointed out the bird to me. It was a fair distance from the bank, but easy to spot on the calm water and obtain a few photographs. Amongst the chat between the birders/photographers I recognised the voice of my cousin, Jon, so joined him ( socially distanced of course) for a chat and subsequent walk across the causeway. 

The usual birds were present, great crested and little grebes, cormorants, herring and blackheaded gulls, mute swans and mallards and the usual good numbers of coots. 

great northern diver juv

great crested grebe

mute swan

a raft of cormorants