Pete Styles took this nice photo of one of the redstarts in Long Meadow still

Some video of foxes taken near Charlton-on-Otmoor by Jason Coppock

Turtle Dove © Nick Truby

 Hi All,
>
> I was expecting a quiet and uneventful weekend and expected to be telling you about the butterflies, which were spectacular and the first returning waders, which did appear.
> The major event and excitement however was finding at least eight Redstarts in the long Meadow on Sunday morning. They seemed to be in two distinct groups with a very smart male and two juveniles at the western end of the field and another party of three juveniles and two adults at the eastern end. The western end juveniles looked much younger than those at the other end in that they looked much more speckled on the breast and their tails were shorter. The west end youngsters were pestering the male for food. All the birds were hunting from the isolated hawthorns and briars and flying down to pick up insects from the ground, they were also calling frequently. Occasionally they flew up into the oaks alongside the track to the rifle range. It is interesting to speculate where these birds bred. There is suitable broad leaved woodland nearby and it seems very early for them to start heading south. There was also a Spotted Flycatcher feeding from the same bushes, which made my Sunday complete.
> Elsewhere this weekend the Silver Washed Fritillaries were nectaring on brambles beside the path on the southern edge of Ashgrave and we also saw at least two White Admirals and Purple Hairstreaks in the same area. There were three Green Sands on the edge of the first lagoon and a Common Sand on the island in front of the first screen. A juvenile Grey Wagtail was catching damselflies on the island in front of the second screen, where water levels seem to be dropping fast.
> I will not be getting down to the moor next weekend but I am sure that anything new and exciting will be posted, if only to tell me what I have missed!
>
> Cheers Peter

Adult Redstart beginning to moult. © Peter Barker

Juvenile redstart still showing some gape. © Peter Barker

Common Sand © Peter Barker

Silver Washed Fritillary © Peter Barker

Camomile on Ashgrave © Peter Barker

Hi All,

Although we are getting towards the midsummer birding “doldrums” there is still plenty to be found on and around the moor.
I am particularly interested in establishing just how many Turtle Doves are present. On Sunday morning I was able to establish that there are three calling males on the Beckley side of the moor as there were two calling and displaying along the bridle way at the same time and another could be scoped in the hedge on the northern edge of Greenaways. There is also an established pair on the Oddington side of the reserve and so it is tempting to say there are four pairs. The snag is that there may be three calling males and no females, we can only wait and hope to see juveniles in a month or so.
Probably the last adult Cuckoo of the year was seen emerging from the reed bed close to the first screen, where it had been looking for a Reed warbler as host for its egg. Hobbies are active all day now and can give some spectacular views while hunting dragonflies over the reedbed and along the ditches. There would appear to be four regular birds seen. Early in the morning Snipe are still drumming and displaying over Greenaways and the M.O.D. land. Grasshopper Warblers are reeling again in the car park field and on the Oddington side of the reserve and the very showy Lesser Whitethroat continues to perform up and down the track to the second screen. A pair of Bullfinches are being seen regularly at the point on the bridle way where you turn to go to the hide. The juvenile Tawny Owls have been seen again along the Roman Road and another was seen and photographed up in Beckley (see the otmoorbirding blog for pictures). A female Redstart was seen near Oddington by a member of the R.S.P.B. staff and it is worth checking hedgerows and bushes for early returning birds.
I have noticed that there are more rabbits around especially coming down the lane in the mornings but they still tend to keep to the slightly higher ground, presumably to avoid flooding in their burrows in winter.
We are just getting into the best time of year for Butterflies and it is possible to see up to fourteen or fifteen different species on a good day. The sheer abundance of common meadow species that can be seen whilst walking around the edge of Ashgrave gives a nostalgic glimpse of what the countryside used to be like before intensive farming.

Cheers Peter
Tawny Owl © Jason Coppock

Displaying Turtle Dove © Peter Barker

Record shot of drumming snipe notice the feathers at right angles to the body that create the thrumming sound. © Peter Barker

Rabbit on the edge of Sling Copse © Peter Barker

Hi All

There seem to be juvenile birds everywhere you look at present. Some are still being fed by parents and I watched a female Blackcap bring several beakfulls of food to complaining youngster in the corner of the Car Park field on Sunday morning. Other birds are singing again and we had good views of one of the Grasshopper warblers reeling behind the feeders. They have been quiet for a while and I wonder if it means a second brood is imminent.
There are young fledged and nearly fledged Redshanks around the new scrape on Greenaways still accompanied by adults. There are also a group of juvenile Lapwings loafing in the same area.
Hobbies are up and about hunting, much earlier in the morning than previously this season, and this might suggest they have other mouths to feed. More dragonflies are on the wing and in the sunshine on Sunday hunting must have been more productive for them.
Six Snipe were drumming and chasing over Greenaways on Saturday with just two seen on Sunday. A cuckoo was patrolling the ditch along the bridleway looking for an opportunity to lay in a Reed warbler nest and was chased off by a pair of Chaffinches. The Turtle Dove was heard calling along the bridleway but was never easy to see.
Other species of butterfly continue to emerge with Marbled White, Small Skipper and Ringlet joining the list of butterflies seen this summer.
There is a “chicken of the woods” fungus growing on one of the oak trees behind the first screen, which is quite spectacular both in colour and structure and well worth a look if you are passing.

Cheers Peter

Blackcap breakfast.

Juvenile chiffy.

Juvenile Long tailed tit.

Curlew fly past.

Another Hare….I cant resist them.

Marbled White.

Small Skipper………I think !    All above pictures © Peter Barker

Spoonbill is still present on the moor on the Ashgrave field. Thanks to Pete styles and Jonathan Crouch for these pictures.

Above images © Pete Styles

© Jonathan Crouch

Hi All,

I failed to see the Spoonbill on Saturday as it turned up after I had left and I didn’t get down to moor on Sunday due to the rain and family commitments. Thanks to Jonathan Crouch for his excellent pictures which are on the Otmoor blog.
The most notable feature of this weekend for me was the huge number of newly fledged warblers that could be seen specially in the Car Park field. Many of them were still being fed by their parents and were calling and begging in the hedgerows. Amongst them were families of Grasshopper warblers, Whitethroats and Willow Warblers. There is a Little Grebe with chicks in the pond on the Southern edge of the hide and they could be seen riding on her back and bobbing about beside her like stripy corks.Hobbies were going much earlier than usual this weekend perhaps due to the better weather and more abundant dragonflies.
More butterflies were on the wing with Large Skippers particularly evident and early Meadow Browns.
I hope that the Spoonbill hangs around, it was described as having a pronounced limp on Saturday. The heavy rain on Sunday will have topped up the water levels over much of the reserve and this will maintain suitable feeding areas for it.

Cheers Peter

Spoonbill © Jonathan Crouch

Lesser Whitethroat at the second screen © Peter Barker

Turtle Dove in dead elms © Peter Barker

Stripy Chicks © Peter Barker

Large Skippers © Peter Barker

Hi All,

Avery windy and unsettled weekend after a warm and settled week. The birding was certainly better on on Friday as this excerpt from an E-mail that I received from Steve Roby shows:

“Thought I’d let you know about a few things I saw this evening in case you want to include them on your blog. One of the most interesting finds was a male Black Hairstreak, apparently recently out of the chrysalis, drying out on the ground.

As the evening drew to a close a Barn Owl flew past with a rodent dangling from it’s talons.”

I have also received a superb photo of a Black Hairstreak from Jonathan Crouch which can be seen on otmoorbirding.com along with a couple of photos from a new contributor Dave Mc Bride.
Highlight of the weekend were a family party of Tawny Owls that were seen in the Roman Road area beside the Car park field. We had heard them calling earlier in the season and it is great to know that they have successfully fledged two chicks. The Roman Road area is a great place to see both insects and birds. There is a regular Song thrush that sings there and one birder I know refers to it as Warbler Alley. Cuckoos continue to fly around the reserve looking first for each other and then for unwary Reed Warblers. The Lapwings are still putting up stiff resistance to possible avian predators and as more are fledging small groups of unrelated juveniles are starting to be seen. Our survey on Friday confirms that there are at least two pairs of Turtle Doves around, one on the Northern edge of the reserve and the other along the bridle way.
There are also large numbers of newly fledged Blue and Great Tits around the reserve but especially near the feeders and I counted at least 12 Great Tits there on Sunday morning.
I found my first Meadow Brown butterfly of the year on Sunday and saw a Black Hairstreak but was unable to photograph it.
Although bird activity tends to quieten down in June there is always something new and interesting to find.

Cheers Peter

Black Hairstreak © Jonathan Crouch

Lapwing attack © Dave Mc Bride

Songthrush on the Roman Road © Peter Barker

Hi All

A fairly brief report this week as I failed to make it down to the moor on two of the three days. The weather was wet and windy and it made birds difficult to see. We still appear to have at least two Quail on the reserve they could be heard calling simultaneously from Ashgrave and Big Otmoor. The Little Ringed Plover on the scrape on Greenaways seems to be sitting on eggs and we keenly await developments. There are still a lot of Lapwing chicks to be seen and on Saturday there were two almost fledged and trying their wings in front of the hide. The four Wigeon are still in residence in front of the second screen and I assume that they will now over-summer here. There are family parties all over the reserve now with the Geese and Swans appearing to have been very productive. Two Ravens continue to be seen on a regular basis.
Jonathan Crouch kindly sent me a picture of two Downy Emerald Dragonflies mating along the bridle way. They are an uncommon species and we hoped that this might prove that they were breeding on the reserve. I have been told that to prove breeding however we must find exuvia (the case that they leave behind when they emerge as flying adults). So I can only claim that they were visiting Otmoor for their honeymoon!

Cheers Peter

Downy Emerald Dragonflies on their honeymoon. © Jonathan Crouch

Near fledged Lapwing chicks. © Peter Barker

Productive Swans © Peter Barker

Dog Rose time on the moor. © Peter Barker

Hi All

A windy and on Sunday a squally weekend meant that many birds were easier to hear than to see although the Hobbies, at least eight of them, put on a brilliant flying display on Saturday morning. They really are late risers and don’t seem to get going anytime before 10.30. I assume because there are not enough dragonflies on the wing until they had enough time to warm up.
A Marsh Harrier was seen on Friday and Saturday over the Reed bed and the M.O.D. land. Two Ravens have been seen on both days and must be resident in the area somewhere. The Lapwings are putting up stiff resistance to both Kites and Buzzards when they stray into their airspace on the lookout for easy meals. I saw at least sixteen harass a Red Kite into moving away. Some of them appearing to fly into the Kites wing tips.
The Quail was heard briefly on Saturday morning calling from the western end of Ashgrave. There are still four Wigeon on the northern lagoon three drakes and a duck. Two different male Garganey were seen both in eclipse but one much more tatty and faded than the other. They both showed in the small pools to the right of the hide. The Little Ringed Plovers on the Greenaways scrape were both displaying and mating on Saturday morning, it felt quite voyeuristic to take photographs, but I did it anyway! I also heard the Cettis on the far side of the moor while carrying out a survey on Thursday morning. Interestingly it was calling from exactly the same place as the very first one that we found down there almost eleven years ago.
Snakes were very easy to see alongside the track in the Carpark field with eight there on Saturday morning and a very obliging one curled up on top of some vegetation on Sunday (pictures on the blog).

Cheers Peter
Marsh Harrier on Friday © Pete Styles
Tatty Garganey © Peter BarkerMating Little Ringed Plovers © Peter BarkerLapwing squadron scramble! © Peter BarkerGrass Snake © Peter Barker

Hi All,

We ran a dawn chorus walk this weekend and the sixteen hardy souls who turned up for a 5 am start, could not have been disappointed by the range and volume of the voices on offer. The only slight surprise was the silence of the Grasshopper Warblers, but they don’t seem to like singing when it’s windy and they do go quiet once they have set up territory and have started breeding. The Turtle Doves were also quiet this weekend with only a brief fly-by on Saturday morning. On the positive side the first Quail of the year were calling from the Closes field and could be heard from the bridle way next to one of the gaps in the hedge. Perhaps this is going to be a better “quail summer”, as there was only one record from the moor last year. Cuckoos also were very noticeable and voluble. There were at least three chasing around on both days. One of them using the bare tops of the oaks by the first screen as a song post.
Both Curlew and Snipe could be seen and heard. Three Snipe were drumming over Greenaways on Saturday and three Curlew were roving over all three of the main fields. Two Dunlin were in front of the hide and the drake Garganey showed very well on Saturday morning. There are still two Little Ringed Plovers on the scrape in front of the pump house and a Ringed Plover was present on last Thursday.
What was most noticeable this weekend was the massive productivity of the reserve with Lapwing chicks and Redshank chicks easily seen on both Ashgrave and Big Otmoor, accompanied by neurotic and vocal parents. The Redshank parents moved their young around the scrape in front of the hide and several times they had to swim to keep up with the relocation. A female Mallard appeared in the ditch beside the hide with fifteen very newly hatched Ducklings, the Canada Geese nesting by the turning to the screens were seen with eight goslings and a pair on Greylags were out on the water with ten. Coots and Moorhens could be seen in several of the ditches feeding their chicks. There will be pictures of all of these later today on the otmoorbirding blog. Up to six Little Egrets were feeding on Ashgrave and close scope views revealed that they were hunting and catching some kind of newt, while the Little Grebe that has taken up residence in the wide ditch to the South of the hide, seemed to be eating either small crayfish or very large insect larva.
In the sheltered ride beside the car park field there were lots of Dragonflies basking including some very smart and newly emerged Broad Bodied Chasers, Hairy and Four Spot Chasers. Wayne Bull photographed an Emperor and this is very early for this species to be on the wing.

Cheers Peter

Lapwing chick.

Lapwing patrolling above.

Redshank chick.

Anxious parent.

Cootling in a ditch.

Mallard family.

Greylag Flotilla.

Little Grebe eating something large.

Common Tern back on the moor. All above pictures © Peter Barker