Slurping, Crunching and the occasional Burp.

Sounds like pigs at the trough but no! This is the noise of twenty something Birders participating of the excellent cuisine and service dished up by the Cowley road Yeti Nepalese.
The occasion ? Oh no! this was just an excuse for like minded folk to get together and swap mainly birding experiences and of sourse rub shoulders with other obsessives invariably able to relate interesting and sometimes surprising Avian occurences and/or bird behaviour in Oxfordshire and sometimes much further away.
As usual we must once again thank the Badger/Gnome combination for not only setting this up but also for the raging indigestion i'm now suffering (not really) who put in a great deal of time and effort serving the countys Birders.

Spring is on the way.

camboy

What a great pair of Tits.

After the monsoon like conditions it was good to get a little respite although the weatherman is talking of more soon.
A super pair of Coal Tits in the garden along with several Great Tits and about eight Blue Tits.
Parties of Winter Thrushes everywhere at the moment busy stripping the Haws and already some have moved on to the fields- that is the saturated fields- where Buzzards are busy taking the drowned Worms that are everywhere, hope its not Slug pelletted Slugs they're eating as they are toxic and may bring long-term problems.

Blue Tit.

camboy

Alright Cock!

Three Woodcock and six Grey Partridge seen on the Marsh today. Lesser interest included two Buzzard, Mixed small focks of Fieldfare and Redwing, two Mute Swan, three Jay and mixed Finch flocks also a few Starling, and of course lots of Corvids and Woodpigeon.
camboy.

Look Out! There's a Thief About.

Thieving Jackdaw.

Still a few apples on the trees that I hoped would be a feeding bonus for either or both Winter Thrush or maybe Waxwing but no, my local band of Jackdaws are helping themselves big-time.
With the sharpish frost this morning a better showing of birds in the garden taking advantage of the various bird food I have on offer. For the first time in ages there were several Coal Tit stopping briefly and grabbing morsels also some ten Chaffinch are back and a non-stop band of Long Tailed Tits breezed through, and the Mistle Thrush was prominent on a high Conifer branch.
The usual crew of Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Wren, Great Tit and Blue Tits and a few House Sparrows.

An old photo taken in neighouring Aston previously of a Waxwing, hoping to see some locally soon.

camboy.

If the cap fits-wear it.

Two little gems have appeared in my next door neighbours garden (Lord Donnagamore-Yeah I really bring the level down from very posh to really common) that have given me good views from my kitchen window, A Blackcap and a dainty tireless little Goldcrest. Also a partially white Blackbird has been putting in a regular appearance. The garden has been preventing me suffering birding withdrawal symptoms as i've been tied up with 'things' keeping me at home.
My late lovely Linda's favourite bird was Goldcrest and Lewbelu Lewington very kindly sold me a fantastic painting he painted of this exotic bird (not a print) that hangs just two yards from where i'm sat and she was able to enjoy this painting before her death. Be warned Lewbelu doesn't usually do this. I suspect he wanted to show his gratitude for all the times i've had to put him right when he has identified birds wrongly - if you believe that last sentence you must be from planet Zog.

Blue Tit pretending to be The Lone Ranger

Black & White Blackbird

camboy

Thousands on the Marsh

An early morning call from a mate to meet him on the marsh was a sure sign that he had something special to show me and I arrived to find him waiting in his landrover, it took a short time for me to sit myself next to him. In the back were his dogs sprawling over the back of the front seat and sticking their noses in my ears.
He had brought me to show me the sight of in excess of ten thousand Fieldfare/Redwing in a ratio of two thirds Fieldfare to one third Redwing that he had witnessed yesterday, numbers after a lifetime spent in the countryside that amazed him, in fact there were so many the sky was black with them and he thinks it may have been many more. Just before I arrived a female Peregrine Falcon dropped into a flock of winter thrushes and although it failed to kill, as it flew across the marsh it dispersed huge numbers of birds, so we knew this would make it a much less exciting trip than we were hoping for. Rode round the marsh but only saw about one thousand Fieldfare and some four hundred Redwing, other birds were Red Kite two, Buzzard three,Yellowhammer one,Chaffinch forty, Mistle Thrush one, Great-Spotted Woodpecker one, Starling several Hundred, Grey Heron one and mixed Gull flocks on the flood water.

Winter Thrush

Redwing

Mistle Thrush

Buzzard

Mistle Thrush

Redwing

Blackbird from yesterday with white markings photographed on my garden wall

camboy

I Got Thrush and You Sinners

Must have been over 300 winter Thrush (Fieldfare) on Carswell Marsh today, circa 40 Snipe, 1 Jay, 3 Buzzard, 7 Long-Tailed Tit, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Grey Heron, 200 Starling, 1 Raven and flocks of mixed Gulls on the many floods covering much of the pasture land. Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Rook and Wood pigeon were everywhere along with a few Stock Dove.
Great opportunity for OOS members to pay homage to that great man Bernard Tucker by turning out last night and attending a really interesting talk by a super speaker Chris du Feu after all it was just up the road and didn't require driving miles and miles on a possibility of merely adding another tick - still I guess some of you are collectors and some of us think wild bird welfare is important believing without the second the first may become greatly diminished.

Jackdaw & Stock Doves

camboy