Otmoor Birding

By way of a change I decide to visit Otmoor this morning.  45 mins after leaving home I was there.  I arrived to find a few cars in the car park.

There were plenty of Swallows and Willow-Chiffs around but not much in the way as passage migrants.  Three Hobbys hunting over a large rough field in front of the large hide was the most rewarding sight.  Other raptors seen were two Marsh Harriers, two Buzzards, several Kestrels and the expected Red Kites.  A few dabbling ducks had arrived (or perhaps over summered) in the form of a Wigeon, c10 Teal and a Shoveler.  Six Snipe and a White Wagtail were the best birds on view from the first screen.  Also seen were Linnet, Bullfinch, Meadow Pipit, etc.  Unfortunately I had already missed the best two birds of the day, a Hen Harrier and a fly over Grey Plover.
Click on the photos to see full size.

Snipe in front of the first hide.  They were drumming here in the Spring, so possibly locally bred?

A lone White Wagtail was obviously on passage.

Nice to see two Brown Hares feeding in one of the large cultivated field.

On leaving the site I headed towards Forest Hill and soon came across a lot of blue flashing lights and several policemen, one of which waved me to the side of the road.  Then I saw perhaps 50 people stood on the grass verges.  I wondered just what was going on and soon found out the the Tour of Britain was about to pass through.  I like to watch cycling and had been watching "La Veulta" (Tour of Spain) the previous evening on TV!

So I waited at the side of the road with the other spectators and after about  15 minutes and perhaps 30 police motorcycles had passed by, the lead riders appeared.  The main group followed four minutes later to be followed by hordes of support cars all with spare cycles on top.  Impressive indeed!

The race leaders.

Four minutes later the main group passed by