KIngfisher Video

I had just arrived at the lake by a backwater by the cottages.  A few Gadwall were on the water but the bird that caught my eye was a smart Kingfisher that was perched on some overhanging vegetation.  Reasonably close for a change but unfortunately the light conditions were not good.  It stayed there for a few minutes before departing.  It was the highlight of the afternoon.

A couple of still photos to start with.

A short video of the Kingfisher

Blackcap in the Garden

My first Blackcap in the garden this Winter was a female.  It joined a nice selection of garden birds including Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Siskin, Goldfinch, Greenfich and Long-tailed Tits.

Female Blackcap

Winter Thushes at Medmenham

A stroll along the bank of the Thames at Medmenham did not produce too many birds but there was a group of Thrushes that contained about 50 Fieldfares and 40 Redwings, all feeding on the flood meadow.

Fieldfare  - It was nice to get fairly close to this smart Thrush.

Redwing

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gull

A pretty good sized gull roost this evening with about 4000 Black-headed Gulls Present plus c300 Common Gull, 500 Herring Gulls.  Also fair numbers of Lesser and Great Black-backed Gull.  In the mass were two colour ringed Herring Gulls from the North Thames Ringing Group.  Also two colour ringed Black-headed Gulls.  See below.

This colour ringed bird was on the sand spit. Yellow 2J09"  It was ringed in March 2017 at Pitsea landfill by the North Thames Ringing Group.

Also present was "White 20P3".  Ringed in the UK.  Details awaited.

Otmoor Starling Murmeration

I had been planning a trip over to Otmoor RSPB to see the Starling murmeration for a few weeks.  Most recent days had poor weather or I had been busy, but when it came to 10th January, the weather looked calm and bright, so off we went.

Sue and I arrived at the first screen at about 3:30pm. There were already about six people present.  I asked if any birds of interest had been seen to get a few blank stares. However once I scanned across the reedbeds I soon saw a stunning male Hen Harrier.  A great result as I had missed this on my previous visit a week earlier.  I kept scanning the reed for Bitterns but with no luck but did see a couple of Marsh Harriers, a few Kestrels, a Buzzard, several Red Kites and lots of Lapwings, Golden Plovers and small hard to ID passerines.

Then the Starlings started to appear in the distance.  Lots of groups were homing in on the reserve.  A short time later I picked up a Merlin flying up to intercept a group of Starlings.  I am not sure if it got one but presumably plenty to choose from!

A distant lines of Starlings appear in the distance (click on image to enlarge)

Gathering over the reedbed

The murmeration then got underway with spectacular movements from perhaps 10-15 minutes before they started to drop like stones ito the reedbed.  All that was left was a black topping along the reed tops while a few latecomers continued to drop in.

An amazing sight and well worth a visit.  Please take a look at the short video above.

Little Missenden Hawfinch

I was unable to get over to Little Missenden until 8th when it turned out to be very cold and very dull, so not helping photography.  The birds were first reported here on Christmas Eve!!

As soon as I arrived I saw a small number perched high in trees behind the church but distant.  Then about 25 birds flew in from the NE and joined them. They then melted away and we (Graham Smith, John Edwrds and others) relocated about 8 that had flown into some tall bushes in a field to the west of the church.They fed for a while, had a drink in the Misbourne and flew off again.  We eventually found about 30 birds to the NW side of the village but they flew back over towards the church.  I eventually gave up trying to get close enough for decent photos but it was great to see them in the scope.

Hawfinch - A nice male but rather distant by the church.

Birding Otmoor

While my daughter Katherine was staying with us, we wanted a few hours birding somewhere not too far from home that would give a variety of birds.  We decided to go to Otmoor just to the east of Oxford, about 45 minutes drive.  Weather conditions were not ideal with strong winds but at least the rain held off and we did get a few sunny spells.

We did not get anything too exciting but did see quite a few birds.  Some of these are shown below.

Impressive numbers of Lapwing and Golden Plover were present. Many thousands of each.  Click on photo to enlarge.

More Lapwing and Golden Plover flushed by somethig unseen by us.

Marsh Harrier - A male quartering the reeds

Marsh Harrier - 3 separate individuals were seen.

Linnets - Feeding on seed near to the Wetland Viewpoint

Linnet - Nice to see them so close - About 150 were present.

Reed Bunting - about 75 were present also feeding on the seed.

 Also seen were Stonechats (about 6), Pintail (4-5), Snipe, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Kestrel, Redwing, Fieldfare.

An enjoyable trip even if we did miss a few target species.