Otmoor and Garden Birding

It seemed an age since my last birding trip and I hoped that a visit to family and friends in Oxford would allow me some hours in the field.  Fortunately, those we were visiting are not adverse to the odd bird watching themselves and I managed to wangle a trip to Otmoor with a quick side trip to Farmoor.

The weather on Saturday morning was bright, but cold, and as we started to cross the causeway at Farmoor we really felt the wind chill factor.  I believe that the actual temperature was about -1c but it really felt like about -10c.  Even the two Great Northern Divers that had been reported the day before had better ideas and flown off.  However, the cold spell had brought in some Red Crested Pochards, many Goldeneye and some Goosanders, all of which are always a pleasure to see.  We managed to stay for about ten minutes before being completely frozen and retreated to the car to warm up and make our way to Otmoor.

Otmoor did not immediately feel as cold as Farmoor but was pretty much devoid of birds except for those surrounding the feeders, the highlights being one Lesser Redpoll and several Yellowhammers.

We took today off work and spent time round the Warwick area and witnessed large movements of Fieldfare and Redwing over our garden.