The Two Moors

I headed down to Otmoor this morning at 5:30am.  As I turned off the A34 and headed through Islip, the temperature gauge on my car went from -1 down to -3.  To prevent myself from freezing to the path, I did a quick march to the 2nd screen, which always feels like about 3 miles but probably is only just over a mile and sat myself down to look for the long staying "Fudge" Duck among the Pochard and Tufted Duck.  Knowing what skulking birds theses ducks can be in reed beds, I was not that hopeful (especially after dipping on one at Ham Wall earlier this month).  However, this individual proved to be very obliging and was the nearest bird to the screen.  I did attempt a couple of record shots but the light was not that favourable at 6:30am in the morning and the duck decided to remain asleep.

As you can only look at a sleeping duck for so long, I headed back to the car via the hide and clocked the other birds that were on the reserve, which included Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Reed Buntings, Red Kites and Lapwings.

After a quick drive I was soon at the other moor (Farmoor), where I ambled along the causeway observing 4 Scaup, a Red Crested Pochard, two Wheatear, Rock Pipits and a very flighty Black Redstart.  Out in the centre were at least two Little Gulls (which provided far nearer views than we get at Draycote Water).  On the way back to the car I bumped into a couple of Birders who I had seen at Otmoor and as we were chatting, a Sand Martin (my first for the year) flew over our heads.

A great mornings birding with quite a few species that I do not see that often.

Gardening Birding

Decided to stay in today partly because I am suffering from a cold and partly because it is so darn cold outside.

The cold weather spell brought in a good few species this morning to my feeders and the surrounding gardens.  A peak count of 14 Goldfinches in trees nearby, several Great Tits and Blue Tits, a male Reed Bunting and one Siskin (my first of the winter for the garden) - No sign of our Brambling though.

Brandon and Draycote

This morning the weather forecast was overcast and I therefore decided to make a visit to Brandon followed by Draycote.  The plan was a good one, except upon arrival at Brandon I firstly found it to be flooded with access only available to one hide and secondly it decided to tip it down with rain which then turned into snow.  After an hour of waiting for the rain/snow to cease, I eventually gave up and made my way back to the car and then home to defrost.  Brandon was particularly devoid of birds except for a few bedraggled Lapwing and a busy Kingfisher who performed many flypasts.

As the day went on, the rain did eventually stop and the sun tried to come out, so I decided to try again and this way made my way with my birder's wife to Draycote.  The weather had presumably kept visitors away as the car park and area was very quiet except for the odd mad jogger and cyclist.  Birds of note were 4 Tree Sparrow on the Tree Sparrow feeder, two Goldcrest and two Grey Wagtail near the outlet and some loafing larger gulls in the centre.  At one point it almost felt like Spring as we heard our first Chiff Chaff singing for the year.

Garden Brambling

As I was just about to jump into the shower this morning, I caught sight of our occasional Brambling visitor on our seed tray.  The bird for once was fairly obliging and hung around for 5 minutes which gave me just enough time to get these shots.

Home via Slimbridge

After a great Saturday evening and comfortable stay at a hotel in Hembury, we headed home first via Aust Warth for breakfast and possible Short Eared Owls (which we unfortunately dipped on) and then to Slimbridge.

A bitter east wind kept many people away from Slimbridge.  We took our time and visited a lot of Slimbridge that we normally miss out altogether, including the Kingfisher hide and the captive species.  Bonus of the day was when a Goshawk passed in front of the Zeiss Hide and Common Cranes appeared on the Tack Piece.

In the afternoon, we walked round Frampton on Severn and Splatt Bridge The bitter wind accompanied by fine hail eventually got the better of us and sent us back home to some warmth.

4 Counties

This weekend saw us pass through four separate counties, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Somerset (unless you class Bristol and area as separate county then Avon makes five instead).

We were attending a 60th birthday party for a dear friend of ours in Bristol on Saturday evening and as we were in the area we thought we would make the most of it and do a spot of birding in the area.  After an early start on Saturday day morning we headed first to the most obvious port of call, which was Ham Wall RSPB to view the long staying Pied Billed Grebe.  The car park was pretty clear when we arrived, possibly because the bird had been at the reserve for over two weeks and most twitchers had been and gone.  So, after a short walk when we arrived at the 2nd viewing platform there was not any jostling for space and the bird obligingly decided to show clearly for a couple of minutes.  As time was a factor, we decided not to hang around but go and find the Ferruginous Duck and Ring Necked Duck which were a further 400 metres down the path.  Unfortunately, despite extensive searching I could not find the "Fudge" Duck but did locate the Ring Necked Duck and even managed a record short.  Other birds of note in the area were a couple of Marsh Harriers and at least 3 booming Bitterns.

A quick march back to the car and short drive then took us to Catcott Lows NR to view a visiting Spoonbill,  Great White Egret and a surprise star of the show, a Water Pipit near the hide.

As my Birder's Wife started to make noises about the loo and lunch, we winged our way to some services and then made our way back up to Bristol and had lunch at Aust Warth while waiting for some long staying Twite to make an appearance.

Spring is in the air

It must be, as I managed to mow my lawn at the weekend and we have had three days of sunshine in a row along with reports of Sand Martins and Wheatears arriving on our shores.  Also, I saw my first Pipistrelle of the year today.

Green Winged Teal

After meeting some friends for Sunday Lunch, we decided to head over to Brandon Marsh for a walk and to take a look at the drake Green Winged Teal on River Pool.  Within seconds we were onto the bird who was showing particularly well by feeding in the centre of the pool (a lot easier to find than the drake I saw at Blashford where I had to search for 2 hours, swapping between hides).

After securing the usual out of focus record shot (above), we moved onto East Marsh hide which looked quite empty at first glance.  However, after sitting for a while we were rewarded by sightings of two Water Rail and two Snipe, along the usual ducks and Pterodactyls on the goal posts.

Another attempt at the Draycote roost

As the light was so good today, I decided to check out the Draycote roost this afternoon.  To avoid being caught out by the gulls roosting in places not expected, I took my bike along with me.  I arrived at about 4:30pm, cycled half way round from Thurlaston and pitched up.  The reservoir was covered with a white coating of gulls by this time but all I could find were the odd Greater Black Backed, Common Gulls and hundreds of Black Headed.  During this time I was accompanied by several Pied Wagtails fluttering around and one Grey Wagtail.  As the sun began to set, I noticed that the larger gulls seemed to nearer the other side where two other birders were watching, so I made my way over to them.  They were obviously skilled veterans at gull roosts and soon had located Yellow Legged Gulls of varying ages. After dark, I made my home via Grandborough Fields to see if I could spot any Little Owls in the area but had to contend with just one Barn Owl.