Port Meadow Birding

A run around the patch on a glorious morning with bright sunshine and a bit of a nip in the air found lots of interesting bird life. The small pools of water on the flood area are still there and along the South Channel there was a resting flock of 70 odd lapwing with a sleeping male RUFF in amongst them. Later a couple of dog walkers went through the flock and the birds re-located to the North Channel. There were the usual linnets buzzing around and a flock of 30 odd black-headed gulls in the North Channel. In amongst the pied wagtails was a single GREY WAGTAIL near Burgess Field NR gate. A flock of 60 odd sky larks flew over to the west which was highly unusual. There were also quite a few around the flood area. A single snipe was flushed from the Hinterland.

In Burgess Field NR there was plenty of bird activity along the hedgerows with a noticable increase in greenfinches in amongst the goldfinches and chaffinches. There were several bullfinches along the north end as well as quite a few meadow pipits. A single snipe was flushed from one of the north fields.

This ruff photo was taken earlier in the year when there was proper flood water but the plumage is identical to today's bird so I thought that I would include it again.

Today there were some very large numbers (e.g. 25,000+) of wood pigeons recorded in vis. mig. sessions in neighbouring counties from elevated view points. Whilst the Meadow is anything but elevated, this morning I happened to look out of my window and in 5 minutes I saw three flocks, totally about 150 birds flying rapidly south, following the line of the canal (and therefore in Port Meadow patch air space!).

A brief late afternoon visit found the same birds as usual and the modest flood water still in place. It was interesting to watch a golden plover flock come in to roost: the flock made a number of rapid passes over the area, initially from a reasonable height and then gradually getting lower and lower with each pass until they are only a dozen feet or so of the ground before eventually decide to land. They made an impressive sight in the evening sunlight flashing alternately gold and white as they twisted and turned.

A later afternoon visit to the Meadow found that all the recent rain had resulted in some flood water: actually just a small pool but technically floods none the less. A couple of snipe by the pool were the most exciting bird to find and one hopes a taste of further wader delights to come. Apart from the snipe there were the same birds around as usual: the linnet flock seems well in excess of 100 birds now and they are quite an impressive sight to see as they fly around. There were a reasonable number of golden plover with more coming in to roost as I was leaving. Meadow pipits, lapwings and pied wagtails were about as usual.

A digiscoped videograb of the golden plover in the last of the day's sunlight.


The video footage from which the videograb was taken

An afternoon family walk over along the west side of the river found the female escapee RING-NECKED DUCK still present in the company of a number of mallards. It was happy to take some offered bread as were the increasing numbers of black-headed gulls that are now on the Meadow. In the distance on the still-dry flood area were a flock of around 200 golden plover. There was also a flock of at least 100 linnets so their numbers are continuing to increase also. A few skylarks, lapwings and meadow pipits were also seen distantly.

Golden Plover in flight © Nigel Forrow

A Saturday morning run around the Meadow found the same birds as usual but in good numbers. Notably there was a really good flock in excess of 300 starlings on the Meadow. Plenty of meadow pipits, linnets, pied wagtails and lapwings all frequenting the former flood area. To the north in the hinterland it was pretty quiet though I did flush a flock of 6 skylarks with at least 4 others seen including one in full song. In Burgess Field a red kite flew low over the NR giving excellent views.

At the north end on Wolvercote common there were a couple of wigeon and four or five teal on the small pool by the road near the railway. A small fraction of the numbers of wintering duck that we should get once the floods return but still nice to see them nevertheless. Lots of duck were also reported as flying over the Meadow that evening (JG private e-mail).

A feeding wigeon. It's nice to know that they are at least somewhere on the Meadow.© Adam Hartley

A morning run around the patch found conditions rather overcast and this probably contributed to the fact that there were a lot of snipe around on the hinterland. In fact 13 were counted in total which is a good count for the conditions. Apart from that there was just a single golden plover and the usual mipits and wagtails.

A pied wagtail on the Meadow (taken last year) © Adam Hartley

From private e-mail (James Grundy):

"this evening heard Lapwing and Wigeon over the meadow, and a Tawny Owl in Burgess Field."

The tawny owl is another year tick for the patch: the year list has really ground to a halt over the last few months so any new tick is most welcome. It's also nice to have a wigeon at least fly over the meadow though until we get some floods back we can't really expect any to stay.

A later afternoon run around the patch found very little: there were just 6 golden plover which flew in whilst I was there so it's possible that more might come in to roost later. A single snipe was flushed from the hinterland. There was a small party of perhaps a dozen black-headed gulls loafing on the Meadow though they soon flew off. The usual meadow pipits, pied wagtails, lapwings, linnets and goldfinches still around on the Meadow itself but otherwise very quiet at present.

It's nice to see some gulls back on the Meadow albeit in small numbers. This black-headed gull shot was actually taken last year © Adam Hartley

A morning run around the patch found the birds within Burgess Field more active: there were goldfinches and chaffinches about and singing robins and wrens. The highlight was the first three redwings of the season, one already getting stuck into the plentiful berries there.

The Meadow itself was rather quiet with one snipe flushed from the hinterland and just a few meadow pipits and skylarks around. The large wagtail contingent had moved on leaving just the usual number of birds present. No golden plover this morning and just a handful of lapwings.

One or two nights ago I did listen out of my window and heard a very distant owl calling from across the Meadow. I couldn't quite make out whether it was tawny or little owl which is a shame as otherwise I could have counted it on the year list!

A robin © Nigel Forrow

An evening run around the patch found conditions rather pleasant with lots of autumn sunshine and little wind. The main thing of note was the large number of pied wagtails around. I counted at least 75 and there were probably a lot more. There are not normally anything like this many so they must be on the move. They were rather aggressive and kept chasing meadow pipits, goldfinches and even starlings. Just half a dozen or so golden plover this evening and fewer meadow pipits around than usual. There was a flock of 25 or so goldfinches feeding on the thistles in the hinterland and a similar sized flock near the car park on Walton Well road. Linnet numbers seemed to have increased slightly as well with getting on for 40 or so birds. About half a dozen sky larks were also seen.

A juvenile goldfinch © Nigel Forrow

Today I went for an early evening run around the Meadow and it was interesting to note the differences in the birds at that time. At least 6 snipe were flushed from the hinterland (I need to add this area to the map but it's basically the large swathe of grassland to the north of the floods). During the day these birds are not present so perhaps they are coming in to roost on the Meadow. Another birder is reporting flushing snipe from the same area on evening walks so it must be a time of the day thing. There was a large flock of around 180 golden plover present. In fact they were so well camouflaged that I nearly ran right into the entire flock, spotting them and veering off just in time. Around 30 meadow pipits were also around though in a slightly different place to usual. Also around 30 linnets still buzzing about the place and a similar number of goldfinches in the trees in the mini "park" just by the junction between Rutherway and Walton Well Road. I wondered whether they too were roosting there. But the prize for top bird of the day (and indeed for several months now) goes to four RUFF which were circling the Meadow a number of times before flying off to the west. They were probably wondering where all the water was that they usual enjoy.

Given the lack of flood water I'm usually visiting the Meadow whilst on a run so I've not taken any photos from Port Meadow recently. Therefore, continuing the theme of recent wild geese visiting the county, here's a photo of a dark-bellied brent goose that was on Farmoor Reservoir today.

From OOS (MBG)
25 Goldfinch
2 snipe in Burgess Field

All quiet on the western front, well at least the west side of Oxford that is the Meadow. Whilst we've had some proper rain at last, we're going to need a lot more of that before we've got any kind of floods on the Meadow. In the mean time its the same birds as previously with meadow pipits, golden plover, lapwings, skylarks and linnets making up the main interest on the Meadow itself though on a visit today recorded numbers were lower than last week for all four species. There was no sign of any winter thrushes yet and Burgess Field was extremely quiet. A few black-headed gulls along the bank and a couple of great crested grebes about on the river as well.

With recent interest at Blenheim where the large population of fairly plastic geese are occasionally attracting some good vagrants (five Greenland white-fronted geese yesterday), I scoured the Meadow feral geese carefully but there was nothing of note in amongst them apart from one canada goose.

One of the five Blenheim Greenland white-fronted geese. Let's hope that we get some vagrant geese on the Meadow this winter.

Addendum - Mary Gregory (private e-mail)
In the rain this pm, around 4.30, there was a large and restive flock of golden plover in the usual place, where the north channel used to be. I guesstimated at least 300, but it was a very rough count. A flock of at least twenty Canada geese were nearby; some days there has just been the one, in among the greylags but flocks are appearing more frequently. I put up a single snipe again - same place, north of the channel and towards the mound. There was a flock of goldfinches around the thistle heads towards the Aristotle Lane entrance. Water was beginning to collect in the indentations in the channels so maybe things will start to pick up. Nothing at all in BF except a green woodpecker yesterday, and a pair of deer on three consecutive days a couple of weeks ago.

It's been a while since my last update and this mainly reflects that not much has changed on the bird front on the Meadow. Numbers of GOLDEN PLOVER have been building up steadily with a count of over 150 birds this morning. There are still good numbers of meadow pipits dotted around the Meadow, particularly in the "hinterland" to the north of the former flood area and roughly opposite the poplar trees and the north end of Burgess Field. This morning an estimate of at least 60 birds was made. There was a noticable passage of skylarks this morning, most of whom seemed to be travelling in a westerly direction for some reason. Plenty of linnets are feeding on the Meadow with counts varying between 20 and 30. Still plenty of pied wagtails about though the yellows all seemed to have moved on now. A couple of kestrels were seen hunting earlier in the week. Recently a LITTLE EGRET and a cormorant have been reported (OOS MBG).

Some of the golden plover. They tend to congregate in what was the north channel of the floods where the ground is rather pitted and they can hunker down out of the wind. This photo demonstrates their rather good camouflage on this terrain and they can often be rather hard to spot.

A lunch-time run around the "patch" today found some signs of change. Burgess Field was very quiet with not much around at all. However on the Meadow itself there were large numbers of meadow pipits newly arrived. I estimated at least 60 birds, many of which were feeding in amongst the cattle  à là  YELLOW WAGTAIL (of which there were only three). In amongst the many pied wagtails were at least 2 WHITE WAGTAILS. Five GOLDEN PLOVER were flushed from roughly opposite the poplar trees  and they flew over to the former flood area. There were at least 40 lapwings about and the flock of 30 odd linnets were still buzzing around the grassland. Two buzzards were soaring at quite low altitudes, at times being harassed by crows.

A late afternoon walk through Burgess Field and back across the Meadow in gorgeous golden autumn sunshine found a few birds of interest. There was a noticable passage of swallows and martins overhead with perhaps 100+ birds in total. There were about 30 lapwings on the Meadow which took flight along with 3 GOLDEN PLOVER. It's nice to know that the plover are happy to congregate on the Meadow still in the absence of any water. A "winter" flock of 30 odd linnet were buzzing around the Meadow. In amongst the cattle there were at least 25 YELLOW WAGTAIL feeding away at the feet of the animals. There was not much of note in Burgess Field itself apart from a juvenile pheasant skulking in the undergrowth.

Three SNIPE were reported as being flushed from just north of the former flood area (MBG).

A linnet

A late afternoon visit to the Meadow found the cattle up near the poplar trees and a good number (20+) of YELLOW WAGTAILS in amongst them. They are very difficult to digiscope due to their habit of feeding in amongst the feet of the cattle and moving on from cow to cow very quickly. Nevertheless after a bit of patience I managed a few record shots. There are plenty of pied wagtails around as well though they don't tend particularly to favour the feeding cattle.

Mary Gregory reports: "The hybrid goose with the white eye-ring has beenin the flock at Godstow picnic area in the last few days. Still quite a few swallows and martins at the river, esp between Medley and the Perch."



Yellow Wagtails in amongst the cattle.

A run round the patch today in very windy conditions found a WHEATEAR in Burgess Field along the main path. It flew into the base of a bush where it stayed hidden from view, sheltering from the wind presumably. On the Meadow itself there were plenty of birds feeding in amongst the cattle and horses including at least 12 YELLOW WAGTAILS.

Still very little to report on the Meadow. Lapwing numbers are building up with perhaps 30 or 40 now hanging out on the former flood areas. I noticed a flock of 30 odd linnet as well so their post breeding flocks are now forming. Last week there were a few juvenile warblers about in the hedges including garden warbler, a very pale leucistic whitethroat, willow warblers and a wheeling buzzard mewing overhead. The black-headed gull numbers are now much reduced though last week there were in excess of 150. The main bird of interest at present is the YELLOW WAGTAIL with at least 4 seen on an outing last week and at least 8 on a visit this week. They give their presence away by their distinctive flight call and either land on the northern former flood area (which seems very rich in insects) or they head for the cattle which of course are continually disturbing the insects.

As a point of interest, the mass of tiny red flowers that are now growing where the flood waters were are called "redshank". It's quite remarkable how they mark out where the flood waters were.

There is very little butterfly action on Burgess Field any more, mostly speckled woods and large whites.

As I've not been out to the Meadow for a while I thought that I would show a photo of a humming bird hawk month taken from my garden close to the Meadow. It's been part of a buttterfly bonanza in the garden in the last month with peak counts of 11 painted ladies, large numbers of large and small whites and also red admirals, small tortoiseshells and comma's all visiting one small buddhlia bush.

As some of you may know, Port Meadow is one of the few sites in the world (until recently the only site) where the rare plant Creeping Marshwort grows. With the Meadow having been flooded for the whole two previous years it's been having a tough time of it but is still to be found on the Meadow. Some of the Oxford Rare Plant Group will be on the Meadow doing survey work this Saturday and if asked politely they may well point out this inconspicuous plant to you.

Creeping Marshwort © from the the Oxford Rate Plant Group web-site.

There also be opportunities to help out as well if anyone is interested: if you would like to help out this Saturday 29th August then meet at 10 am at Walton Well Rd car park, or walk out and find them on the Meadow near the Aristotle lane entrance. Bring a packed lunch if coming at lunch time. The session will probably end at 3 or 4'ish. It would be helpful (but not essential) if you are coming along to contact Camilla Lambrick to let her know.

Still not much to report but without any flood water this is hardly surprising. A COMMON SANDPIPER was seen by the river on the 21st, feeding quietly along the bank. Despite a few black-headed gulls being on the Meadow albeit in much smaller numbers, there's been no sign of the Med. Gull since the first sighting. A LITTLE EGRET was seen on the 18th (MBG) and the adult and two juvenile COMMON TERNS have been seen on and off. A juvenile HOBBY has been seen on a couple of occasions flying quite high from Kingston Road though it was certainly in the Port Meadow patch air space when first sighted (and can therefore go on the year list!). One was reported at Wolvercote on the 19th as well which was probably the same bird. On the 23rd an OSPREY was seen flying south rather low at Wytham Mill. It headed across the A34 and may well have gone over the Meadow: it might have been following the river. Apart from that there are the usual suspects on the Meadow itself: lapwings numbers are building up and there are loads of corvids and wood pigeons together with plenty of young pied wagtails still. Burgess Field is rather quiet with reduced butterfly numbers though speckled woods are still plentiful.


The adult and one of the two juvenile common terns © Adam Hartley

After an absense of about two weeks a lunch-time return visit to the Meadow found it looking rather colourful: a small red flower seems to be flourishing where the mud once was creating a wonderful carpet of delicate red across large sections of the Meadow. There were a huge number (I estimated 1000) of black-headed gulls present feeding on the abundant insect life and in amongst them was a single juvenile MEDITERRANEAN GULL, distinguishable by its black legs, smaller size and more strongly scalloped back markings from juvenile common gulls which are also about at this time of year. In amongst the gulls were also two adults and a juvenile COMMON TERN. This morning a juvenile HOBBY was also seen flying east over Kingston Road and probably came from the Meadow. There were also about 20 lapwings arond and at least 50 canada geese.

Apart from the excellent Med. Gull there has not been much to report over the intervening weeks. The main highlights have been a COMMON SANDPIPER (Roly Pitts private e-mail) down on the Thames by Willow Walk and a REDSHANK and LITTLE EGRET (OOS MGB). The COMMON TERNS have been seen on and off over the weeks and the female escapee RING-NECKED DUCK was around for a while but has not been seen recently.

On Burgess Field NR the grasses are passed their best and the abundance of grassland butterflies have gone as well. There were just a few very tattered gatekeepers left and a couple of common blues. Down at the far end by the buddlia there were the usual large and small whites, a comma a peacock and several painted ladies. Various speckled woods were to be found along the pathways by the trees. A few "hueeting" willow warblers could be heard as well as some overhead linnets but it was rather quiet on the bird front.

Another week with little of great note leaves us following the subtle changes in the wildlife in and around Port Meadow. The first thing to report is the successful fledging of the two remaining lapwing chicks. A couple of evening walks across the Meadow earlier in the week had found the chicks still to be present with the parent birds as attentive as ever at protecting them. However by the end of the week the two youngsters were flying around with the main lapwing flock which is now numbering over 40. The two birds can be picked out by small white markings in their wings and some missing tail feathers. It's great that there has been this successful raising of a couple of chicks in what I think is a rather difficult environment, given the numbers of people and dogs that frequent the Meadow.

Apart from the lapwings, the Meadow itself is home to the usual wood pigeons, rooks, jackdaws and  pied wagtails with plenty of youngsters about. There has been a single canada goose on the field this week. A common tern or two is seen occasionally along the river or flying along the canal.

A comma butterfly © Adam Hartley

Burgess Field NR is full of fledged youngsters: greenfinches, great tits and a lovely chiffchaff family have all been encountered. I also saw a young warbler, fresh out of the nest which still had down on its head making it a little difficult to identify though I think that it was a young garden warbler.

On the butterfly front gatekeepers have taken over as the predominant butterfly in amongst the grasses with the ringlets and marbled whites very faded now and much reduced in numbers. There are quite a few commas around and still plenty of speckled woods with singles of a peacock, a red admiral and a male common blue also seen. Large, small and essex skippers are all still about as well as the usual large and small whites.

A male common blue, not that common in Burgess Field © Adam Hartley

We've been lucky to have Roly Pitts patrolling along the river in the evening and he has been reporting back to me. One bird of note is that the female escapee RING-NECKED DUCK is still around along the Thames. I thought that I would include a report from him as it rather nicely sums up the birds that can be encountered along the river at this time of year

"On Thursday evening two Common Terns were on the separate posts at Godstow lock. One of them was cleaner and whiter than the other, which had a greyish tinge to its breast. The latter was chattering away rapidly like a nagging wife or a demanding child. When a boat approached they both took off and flew away along the river together. later I saw them along the river towards the perch and I saw them again this evening.
 
This morning I saw 2 goldfinches fluttering against and pecking at the wall of the lock-keeper's cottage at Godstow lock. About half way along the towpath there is a small copse adjacent to the towpath and separating two fields, with various small trees and bushes in the field on the Perch side of the copse. The trees and bushes can sometimes be quite lively and this morning they contained another 4 or 5 Goldfinches, a small gang of Long Tailed Tits, several Chiffchaffs, a Whitethroat, Dunnock, Wren and Great Tits. A couple of hundred metres before the Perch there were 2 more Goldfinches and right at the gate was yet another. Given the distance between all of these I suspect they were all different birds.
 
This evening a Green Woodpecker flew from Port Meadow over the Thames and across into a tree on the far hedge of the field on the Perch side of the small copse. I have seen and heard one here several times recently.
 
I've looked for the Ring-Necked Duck several times since youir last mail, but without success until this evening. It was down near the pointy-end of a wooden boat called October that has been moored for several weeks next to the towpath about 100 metres before the gate to the Perch coming from Godstow. It is indeed very tame, as I approached the water's edge bank it swam towards me and although it stayed in the water I suspect it is used to being fed and hoped that I might oblige.
 
There was a heron fishing on the Port Meadow side of the Thames this evening close to where I spotted the Ring-Necked Duck." - Roly Pitts

Gatekeepers are numberous at present © Adam Hartley

Another week of butterflies and juvenile birds on the Meadow with not much that's radically different but still enough variation to keep it interesting.

On the Meadow itself it's business as usual with the usual Meadow birds: wood pigeons, corvids, lapwings, starlings, skylarks, linnets and pied wagtails can all be found feeding on the Meadow. Swallows, swifts, house martins and sand martins by the river are all to be seen as well. There is at least one lapwing chick which I've seen and is now relatively mature though I don't think it is flying yet. Whenever one walks onto the part of the Meadow where the young are situated the parent birds get agitated and start flying around and calling as a distraction technique. Despite knowing that the young are there it's remarkably difficult to find them: I suspect that once the alarm has been raised they hunker down and freeze and are then very well camouflaged.

My suspicions about the OYSTERCATCHER feeding along the river shore have been confirmed with a sighting a single bird there and on another occasion four birds flying along the river (Roly Pitts private e-mails). Roly has also seen a pair of COMMON TERNS on a couple of occasions: apparently they often hang out by Godstow lock, sitting on the posts there. Roly also reports some mute swan cygnets down by Fiddler's Island and some grey herons along the river.

Within Burgess Field there are still plenty of butterflies about including Ringlets, Marbled Whites, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns though the first two are starting to look rather faded now and may not be around for much longer. Last week I raised the identification issue of small versus essex skippers. After further research I am pleased to report that both species have been found. The only way to tell them apart is to view them from head on and to examine the underside of the bulbous tip to the antennae: small skippers have orange tips whereas they are black for the essex. Other species that have been seen include: a very worn Painted Lady, a Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell as well as Small and Large Whites and Speckled Woods.

Addendum:
Late afternoon on Saturday a LITTLE EGRET was seen down by the river (Roly Pitts private e-mail)

A marbled white, now starting to look rather faded

A small skipper from the side...
..and from head on. If you look at the underside of the tip of the antenna on the left of this rather fuzzy picture you may just be able to see that it is orange, identifying it as a small rather than an essex skipper.
A young carrion crow pestering its parent for food.

All photos © Adam Hartley

Another week goes by and we're now into July. One or two return waders are starting to be seen within the country and Port Meadow even managed one of these in the form of an OYSTERCATCHER which was reported on Tuesday (OOS PB) and which was still present on Friday morning at the north end of the mud (former flood) area. I suspect that it may be spending some of its time along the shore of the river.

The oystercatcher on the mud © Adam Hartley

There was also a LITTLE EGRET  reported last week up at Wolvercote Common (OXB Adrian Gray) and seen this week (OOS MBG). Friday also found a COMMON TERN hunting along the river and a RED KITE flying over in the distance. A SPARROWHAWK was also reported up at Wolvercote by Adrian Gray.

The Little Egret © Norman Gregory

I'm pleased to be able to report that the three lapwing chicks are all still about and growing well. Lapwing numbers have been increasing and on Friday there were 28 adults together with the three youngsters. The two parent birds are still zealously chasing off any corvid that gets too close.

On the butterfly front in Burgess Field the ringlets, marbled whites and meadow browns are all still about and there are two new species to report: gatekeepers and either essex or small skippers are now flying. These last two are very hard to tell apart differing only in the essex having black underside to the tips of its antenna. I'll see if I can work out which they are next time I'm up there.