Otmoor Birding

Duck numbers have continued to grow but the ducks are very difficult to see and count. They are mostly over on the " Flood Field" on the Oddington side of the reserve and really only show when flushed by a predator. There are also a significant number of Teal hidden in the reed bed. The starling roost is building up and numbers are estimated between 20 and 30 thousand. There are large numbers of winter thrushes in the hedgerows with Fielfare outnumbering Redwing by about three to one. There are at least six hundred lapwing on the Closes Field and varying numbers of Golden Plover. All of these potential dinners mean that it is possible to see all of the common raptors in a visit and all were present this weekend. Notable was a male peregrine that had obviously just enjoyed a large meal. It was sitting on a spoil heap with a crop so swollen that it looked as if it had swallowed a tennis ball.Most unusual bird this weekend was a single passage avocet, the first on the moor for several years, which I saw on Sunday morning as it flew over my head calling repeatedly. It appeared to land somewhere on the flood field but the weather and difficult sightlines made it impossible to locate. There were also two dunlin feeding around the islands in front of the second hide.

Cheers Peter

A shoveler © Pete Styles