The Last Week or So.

Baulking Pit

My computer has been down for the last week or so and this is a brief memory of some of the birds I remember seeing during that time when the weather ranged from bitterly cold to yeah! you've guessed it , Rainy.
At Baulking Pit Tufted, Pochard and Wigeon numbering about fifty for each species. At Shellingford Quarry more Tufted and Pochard , also four Common Snipe.
The feeders in the garden at Stanford played host to a pair of Siskin and along the local roads eight Kestrel were noted
A visit to Chimney gave views in the fields to the south of the Great Brook of some one hundred and fifty Lapwing and sixty Golden Plover by the BBOWT barn four Greenfinch were seen.
Meadow Farm had good numbers of Chaffinch circa one hundred and twenty, forty Linnet , four Bullfinch and only four Tree Sparrow this bird has had a most difficult year.

Siskin

Goldfinch feeding on Lavendar seed

Iced herbage Baulking Pit

Along the Cote backroad the early spring sunshine brought out around a dozen Yellowhammer a welcome sight as this bird has been almost absent from its usual winter haunts.

It's Round-up Time Purdners.

Been flitting about all over recently and these are a few of the birds I recall on my local travels.
Longcot a Little Owl atop an electric or perhaps it was a telephone pole. Kestrels, Kites, Buzzards and a couple of Sparrowhawks at different locations.
The plastic Whooper are now showing closer to the Buscot Lake Bridge. A pair of Siskins were good birds for my Stanford garden this morning and several Mistle Thrush are putting in an appearance.
Large flocks of Wood Pigeon are feeding on Oil Seed Rape plants all over the county.
At Baulking Fullers Earth Pit many duck including around sixty Tufted, fifty Pochard and a similar number of Wigeon.

Graceful,plastic and noisy Whoopers

One of a pair of Stock Doves Stanford.

A pair of Siskin Stanford.

Baulking Fullers Earth Pit.

camboy

Whooper Party poopers.

I have been told the recent distant sighting of Whooper Swans on Buscot Lake are plastic , that is they are wing clipped birds given to the lake owner and not a worthwhile tick. The dozen Goosander were absent from the lake also.

More Linnets

camboy.

Super dooper Whoopers.

Ace birder and friend Dr Bill Haynes sent a text yesterday telling me there are four Whooper Swans on Buscot Lake. So a trip to the lake this morning gave me distant views of the Whoopers and a dozen Goosander, another good bird seen today was a Merlin on the Faringdon side of Clanfield.

Far distant Whoopers

and Goosanders

camboy.

Tadpole Linnets

Popped in to my mates Alan's near to the Bampton road Great Brook turn-off today and enjoyed good and close views of Bullfinch, Brambling and several hundred Linnets.

camboy

Alongside the Lasher

As soon as I got out of the car the intense cold wrapped itself round me freezing my hands and stinging my face. I had parked by the path on the Witney to New Mill road, and took the winding footpath that runs down to the lasher field, after hopping over the stile I was rather taken aback by the sudden appearance and flight of a Green Sandpiper that settled a little further away. A walk to the lasher confirmed my suspicions that there is far too much water coming down the Windrush at the present time to offer any attraction for the Dipper.
A continuing walk round the meadow turned up a pair of Mistle Thrush and soon after a pair of Meadow Pippit, with the cold now becoming increasingly uncomfortable it was away to join a friend for a bite at the Harcourt Arms, and very nice it was too particularly as I had forgotten my wallet (at least thats my story -and i'm sticking to it) and my mate paid.

Mistle Thrush

Meadow Pippit

camboy.

Black & White & Red All Over.

The answer to this little puzzle used to be a newspaper but in this case it describes an Avocet that is currently resting and feeding on a large stretch of floodwater lying between the A420 and the minor road running from Fernham to Watchfield the bird seems quite lively but has an obvious wing injury that has bled leaving a patch of stained feather and a drooping wing. Possible explainations are it may have hit something like a pylon or it has been shot , this is mere speculation of course. My thanks to Dr Bill Haynes for bringing this bird to my attention.

camboy