Wheatear and Whinchat © Peter Barker

Autumn migration is really gaining pace and it was Wheatears and Whinchats that caught the eye this weekend. On Sunday there were a minimum of sixteen Whinchats on the reserve, with five in the hedge and on the wires behind the hide and eleven on the fence around the eastern side of the Lower Farm at Noke. They also sat up and hunted from dried docks and taller bushes. They seemed to be a mixture of male and female and a good number of juveniles. The birds at Noke shared the fence posts and wires with at least five Wheatears and I scoped a further five Wheatears on the spoil heaps on the flood field where the re-profiling of the field is in full swing. On Saturday morning there was one in the car park itself.
There are still good numbers of Redstarts in the Long meadow although probably not as many as the fifteen that Ewan found on Monday, another example of birds on the move. There were further reports of Spotted Flycatcher in the same place and we found a Marsh Tit there on Saturday morning.
There were three Greenshanks on the scrape and the lagoons on Saturday and Green Sands seen on both days. A Redshank flew over on Saturday morning and Kingfishers were seen on both northern and southern reed beds.
The colour of the hedgerows is changing every week and there appears to be a massive crop of fruit and berries this year. Ducks are reappearing and there are at least twelve Teal and several Wigeon to be seen as well as the odd pair of Gadwall or Tufted Ducks.
There will be nothing from me next weekend but I am sure that one of the Otmoor regulars will post if anything exciting turns up, a strong possibility given my absence.

Greenshank from the hide. © Peter Barker

Some of the Whinchats and Wheatears at Noke (record shot!) © Peter Barker

Ashgrave Wheatear © Peter Barker

Reeds setting seed © Peter Barker

Whinchat at the Pill © Peter Barker

Hi All,

It was a lovely weekend on the moor if you managed to avoid the showers. There was plenty to see both on the avian and the invertebrate fronts.
The Whinchats that I was predicting last week turned up on the MOD land in the hedge alongside Saunders field. This is usually the first place that we find them in the Autumn. There were at least six there on Saturday and a minimum of four on Sunday. There are also several groups of Yellow Wagtails keeping the cattle company and on Sunday morning a Kestrel flushed a party of over thirty from Ashgrave.
There were seven Little Egrets on the rapidly diminishing water in front of the hide on Ashgrave and they were joined occasionally by two Green Sands and a Greenshank. Two Wheatears also could be seen from the hide and a Kingfisher made several appearances.
All the common warblers were to be found in the hedgerows and a Lesser Whitethroat was singing from the hedge on the way out to the Pill. A Goldcrest was flycatching from the top a hawthorn at the back of the first screen, which is often a good place to find them on the reserve. Linnets seem to have had a good year with what is probably a family group along the path to the second screen and a larger number in the Car park field, like the Whinchats they sit out at the top of bushes and are very easy to see.
I found a very large Pikes head alongside the same path and given the absence of its body can only assume that the Otter is again on the moor, it would have been far too big for any of our other fish eaters to tackle.
Amongst the butterflies to be seen this weekend were at least five Brown Hairstreaks along the Roman Road beside the car park field. They seem to centred around a tall Ash tree about three hundred yards from the lane on the left hand side. There are also a number of Hornets to be seen in the same vicinity and it is always surprising to me to see just how big they are compared with more familiar wasps.

Cheers Peter

Goldcrest behind first screen. © Peter Barker

Linnet © Peter Barker

Little Egrets making the most of the receding waters. © Peter Barker 

Another Whinchat © Peter Barker

Jason Coppock made this great video of some of Otmoor’s wildlife that’s around at present

Brown Hairstreak © Jonathan Crouch

Hi All,

Although we are still in August there was more than a hint of Autumn in the air this weekend. It is something to do with the quality of the light, the temperature and the changes in colour in the foliage. The first Michaelmas Daisies are blooming and the Phragmites reeds have flowered and they now have purplish seed heads setting.
The birdlife reflected this. Breeding is mostly done and feeding and fattening up for either migration, moult or the winter, is the priority. There were extensive mixed flocks of small passerines working busily through the hedgerows consisting mostly of warblers and tits. There are still small discrete family parties to be found including at least seven Blackcaps in the Carpark field and several groups of young Reed Warblers in the hedge along to the second screen. We spent a long time just standing and watching by the poplar trees where the path turns right up towards the second screen. The high wide bramble hedge was alive with insects and there was a succession of Willow/Chiffs, Reed Warblers and both Whitethroats, moving through and feeding along with Blue and Long tailed Tits.
Green Sand, Greenshank and Common Sand were all to be seen from the hide and the screens with seven Teal on the southern lagoon and two Wigeon on the northern, they have been present throughout the summer but have shown no signs of breeding. A juvenile Water Rail was seen from the first screen.
All the common raptors were seen, but Hobbies seem to be hunting and feeding much higher perhaps looking for juvenile hirundines. The Marsh Harrier that has been seen during the week seems to be avoiding me and not showing up at the weekends.
There are lots of different butterflies on the wing now, with Common Blue, Brown Argus and Small Copper very much in evidence. I also saw two or three Brown Hairstreaks, I failed to photograph them but Jonathan Crouch has sent me a superb picture of one that he took last weekend (viewable on the otmoorbirding blog)
No sign of Whinchat either at Noke or out on the MOD land, so something to look for next weekend.

Cheers Peter
Young Reed Warbler © Peter Barker

Turtle Dove feeding by cattle pens. © Peter Barker

Snipe from the second screen. © Peter Barker

Hi All,

Just a short posting this week as I only made it down to the moor on Saturday morning for a brief visit.
Best bird on Saturday was a Wood Sand that showed intermittently from the first screen on the far side of the lagoon. There were also a number of Green Sands seen both on Ashgrave and on the Lagoons. There was a Common Sand seen on Sunday.
There was a Wheatear at Noke, on the Barn roof and later on the fence by the farm. The Sparrowhawks could still be heard but are increasingly difficult to see. Kestrels are very noticeable perched on fence posts and hovering over the newly cut fields especially Big Otmoor. There were at least six over the reserve on Saturday. Common Terns are hunting over the northern and southern lagoons and frequently perching on the islands in front of the screen. There is at least one Kingfisher making use of the perches in front of the southern screen.
I see that Whinchat have been seen in the county already this Autumn and it won’t be long before they turn up at Noke or out at the Pill. Maybe next weekend…

Cheers Peter

Tern turn © Peter Barker

I have had some excellent photographs sent to me of the Sparrowhawks and other raptors on the reserve and felt that they deserved a special supplement.

Hobby feeding © Peter Walkden

Sparrowhawk flypast © Nigel Forrow

Sparrowhawk waiting to be fed © Kevin Henshaw

Kite on the wire © Kevin Henshaw

Kite over. © Darrell Wood

Wheatear in Saunders Field © Peter Barker

Hi All,

A wonderful warm and on Saturday still weekend, continued to provide lots of interest around the moor.
The Sparrowhawk family are still out and about on the trees along the bridle way , but are becoming much more wary and reluctant to show themselves. Despite their shyness they were providing excellent subject matter for several of our regular expert photographers, as can be seen from the pictures on the blogsite. Other raptors were ever present with the Hobbies getting going a bit earlier than normal, 10 am as opposed to their “normal” 11.30 am. There were up to eight of them present. Kites and Buzzards seemed too ubiquitous to be worth counting. There have been occasional visits by a female Marsh Harrier and she was seen again this weekend. There are at least six Kestrels around the area. Some of the raptor activity could be down to the hay-making that is currently going on on the MOD land.
There were at least seven Green Sands present on the exposed mud of the reedbed and on Saturday a Greenshank and a Little Ringed Plover were also there.
There are at least two Kingfishers appearing on the perches in front of both screens and we were very pleased to find a juvenile Water Rail on the edge of the reeds. Both of these species were hit very hard by the severe weather last winter and we were not even sure whether or not Water Rail had survived as a breeding species.
We spent a lot of time playing the juvenile warbler mis-identification game, which is always challenging at this time of year. The Redstarts are still present in the Long Meadow. There are a good number of young Green Woodpeckers around. It is very difficult to estimate numbers as I was never really sure whether or not I was seeing different individuals or the same bird multiple times!
Bird of the weekend for me was a very confiding first winter Wheatear that was out on Saunders Field (MOD land). It was my first returning Wheatear of the Autumn although the RSPB staff had found another just over a week ago.
All in all a great weekend.

Cheers Peter
Sparrowhawk © Nigel Forrow

Kingfisher back on its perch © Peter Barker

Turtle dove beside bridle way © Peter Barker

Fishing Common Tern © Darrell Wood

Redstart in Long Meadow © Nigel Forrow

Hi All,

Great to be back on the moor after a couple of weeks away. The grasslands and hedgerows are now very productive and are feeding large numbers of juvenile warblers and other assorted passerines. The Tits and Warblers are beginning to associate in mixed flocks but some are still pursuing their parents and begging to be fed. There are also lots of adult birds to be seen with bills full of insects disappearing into the undergrowth. At the top of the food chain there is a family of three juvenile and two adult Sparrowhawks at the end of the bridleway, that are taking their toll of the inexperienced fledglings. The juveniles are still expecting to be fed by the parent birds and are vociferous in their demands. When I walked through Saunders Field on my way out to the Pill on Sunday the grass was alive with Grasshoppers and these still seem to be the food of choice for the Redstarts that are still in Long Meadow. There were at least seven there on Sunday and on Saturday there were also two Spotted Flycatchers.
Elsewhere waders are moving through with several Green Sandpipers and a Black-tailed Godwit, several Snipe were seen, usually flying between feeding areas. At least four Hobbies are feeding over the reserve from mid-morning onwards and Buzzards and Kites are almost too common to warrant comment. There have been two presumed family groups of Kestrels hunting at the western and eastern ends of the moor. The Ravens have also been seen several times this weekend traversing the moor. Linnets too are very noticeable with several pairs calling from the top of bushes and the males looking very bright and colourful.
Butterflies are abundant and the sunny weather that is forecast this week should ensure massive numbers next weekend if it remains fine.

Cheers Peter

Juvenile Sparrowhawk © Darrell Wood

Juvenile Blue Tit © Darrell Wood

Black-tailed Godwit © Peter Barker

Jason Coppock filmed this fabulous footage of some of the redstarts which are still about.

An Emperor Moth caterpillar was found along the bridleway by Graham Coleman.