Signs of movement

Redshanks in flight over the Port Meadow floods

I'm pleased to report that since my last blog post everything has begun to feel rather more birdy and optimistic on the patch, even if there haven't really been any standout finds to report. The weather has been quite odd, with static periods where there's clearly been some blocking further south and other days where migrant waders have been really apparent.

This is especially the case given the lack of wintering waders on the floods this year - in the past, there would typically be Redshanks lingering all winter together with lower numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and even small parties of Ruff. The arrival, therefore, of flocks of up to nine Redshanks is an obvious shift in the right direction - looks like spring migration may finally be kicking off! Oystercatcher movement has been conspicuous although there has been a lot of fluctuation in the number recorded each day, up to a maximum of seven. This indicates to me that there's probably been quite a lot of turnover, which I've also noticed with Shelduck.

On 2nd March, the first Curlew of the year arrived and spent the day alternating between trying to feed and being flushed off of the meadow by walkers and dogs - these photos were all taken with the 2x extender which I'm increasingly using when photographing larger birds in flight.

Same group of Redshanks as the cover photo for this blog post

Black-tailed Godwits are just beginning to trickle through, with a few lone birds preceding the main passage in late March/early April. This individual arrived late one evening and settled quite close after being chased by Black-headed Gulls coming into roost - it looks like it's partway through its pre-breeding moult.

The first Little Ringed Plover was reported on 10th March, with two more on 12th March and three present the next day. Unfortunately, the area of the floods that they're favouring is quite distant, making them very hard to pick out and impossible to photograph even with the 2x extender. Adam summed it up quite well after spending several frustrated minutes trying to get onto the birds yesterday evening - "LRPs never used to be so far away back in the day!".

Dismal digiscoped record shot of one of the first Little Ringed Plovers of the spring, in the glare of the evening sun

A flyover pipit on 10th March which called like a Rock/Water Pipit was infuriating and a timely reminder that I needed to set my passive sound recording plans in motion. Since then I've been making an effort to use my Zoom H4n Pro recorder whilst birding in the hope of capturing any interesting calls - it clips nicely onto the top of my rucksack and the recording quality seems acceptable. I have bigger plans on this front with regards to improving the setup (maybe with shotgun microphone) and building a DIY parabolic microphone for nocmig - which will again be the subject of a future blog post.

I am having to carry around an increasingly large amount of "kit" these days - in fact, I'm often leaving the scope/tripod behind on my morning walks as that setup is particularly heavy and I'm just not able to manage it all!

On 11th March I was alerted to the presence of a Siberian Chiffchaff in the ditch by Burgess Field gate by a series of "peeping" calls - in fact, the bird was calling so loudly that it actually startled me somewhat as I walked past. Initially assuming that this must be PHX356 making a reappearance (see this blog post), upon getting bins on the bird I was surprised to find that it was unringed, and therefore probably a new arrival with this movement of Chiffchaffs that's taken place over the past couple of weeks. The bird showed very well in the bushes along the ditch, flycatching in the sun and allowing close examination of its rather tatty plumage. Siberian Chiffchaffs moult earlier than colybitta and this can be quite a good feature when comparing with newly arrived Common Chiffchaffs - this individual was moulting body feathers (resulting in a rather small-headed appearance), had dropped some of its tertials and was regrowing its central two tail feathers.

The other early migrant that I've been eagerly anticipating has been Sand Martin. Despite the first individuals being recorded on patch in late February (indeed, these were the first in the county and some of the earliest arrivals nationwide), it took me until 12th March to see any myself, when four were brought down by intermittent rain showers during the morning. I'm hoping that there will be a chance to get some better photos of this species in the coming weeks as they mostly stayed quite distant.

Although this image is a very heavy crop I like the colours and "painterly" style which in my mind really captures the way these migrants drop briefly onto the meadow before continuing their journey

Some ominous weather the same evening - always excellent conditions for grounding migrants at this time of year

Aside from this little burst of migrant activity the gull roost is still providing some interest although has drastically reduced in size (with birds typically choosing to roost at Farmoor this late in the winter) - there have been regular Yellow-legged Gulls most evenings and the occasional Caspian Gull. We are nearing peak passage for Mediterranean and Common Gulls and I'm always hopeful that something rarer might drop in with them.

Caspian Gulls are so distinctive in flight and more often than not I pick them up whilst they're still in the air, resulting in some photo opportunities. ISO 10000 for this shot in the gloom of the roost.

This particular individual has been lingering in the county since September, where it favoured Farmoor reservoir during the day

Mediterranean Gulls are beginning to feature more regularly in the roost although we've only had single adult birds so far - I find that immatures tend to pass through slightly later

This large and rather brutish-looking Yellow-legged Gull has been around all winter - it is a 3cy but has a strangely delayed moult, with its appearance more closely resembling a 2cy bird in summer

The patch is also still hosting a large number of wintering ducks and two Great White Egrets. In fact, the Wytham Cattle Egret flock is often viewable from the meadow as well at the moment so there have been a couple of occasions where I've managed to get all three egret species on the daily eBird list. Below are just a few photos selected from the many that I've taken over the past three weeks.

Great White Egret

Eurasian Teal - the right hand bird has an "intersex" plumage, with mixed male and female characters. Whether this bird is actually intersex is another question - apparently older females can also develop these traits due to a decline in hormone production as they age.

Some fantastic light on these Gadwalls and I was most interested in the shapes that this group made as they flew around me

Around this time of year I always make a bit of an effort to go and see Goshawks and I've been pleased to record them on five local territories this season. I've also seen one on Port Meadow - a juvenile that flew high east over the southern end of the meadow before continuing on over the Jericho and the city centre. I have had Goshawk over the city only once before, but I suspect that sights like this will become increasingly common over the next few years as the population is doing so well in Oxfordshire and even better in neighbouring Gloucestershire.

Juvenile Goshawk powering its way over Jericho

At my local raptor viewpoints, the birds have usually been displaying too far away to consistently take high-quality photos - however, with the 2x extender I've been able to get some acceptable results when the light has been good.

Juvenile (male?)

Adult (female?)

As well as the patch working I've continued with my Oxon year listing efforts and also managed a quick out-of-county trip to see Willow Tit - thanks to Ben for showing me this site. We saw three individuals at close range, engaging in a presumed territorial dispute along with some calling and a snatch of song. A very pleasant experience and British tick for me. In fact, Willow Tit was the last "common" bird I had left to see in Britain, although I guess they can't really be called common any more.