Yesterday a juvenile Black Tern graced Grimsbury Reservoir in the latter part of the afternoon and early evening. Thanks to the persistence of finder Colin Wilkinson, making his second patch visit of the day, I was able to spend about an hour watching this ever-so graceful bird swooping across the reservoir. On one occasion it rose up into the air with a cluster of alarmed Sand Martins and House Martins - a Hobby was on the prowl. It continued feeding away until I left but was gone by this morning. A male Redstart also showed well, perched on the barbed wire fence along the edge of the cattle grazed field and feeding along a sheltered stretch of hedge.
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| Black Tern, juvenile |
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| Great-spotted Woodpecker, male, in a dead Scots Pine at the entrance to the reservoir this morning |
I've been spending a it more time at Boddington Reservoir recently, and as water levels in this canal-feeder reservoir have dropped, it has become more attractive to Little Egrets (up to 4) and Common Sandpipers (up to six) in particular. Willow Tits have also been quite vocal and I have seen at least three birds in the vicinity of the boat club HQ.
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| Little Egret, Boddington Reservoir |
Up at Tadmarton Heath BOS nature reserve this morning, it was interesting to see that the wild bird food crop, that had struggled to grow at all over the dry summer, has suddenly started to flourish, and Corn Marigolds have appeared again. This years crop of Blackberries is also very notable for the size and quantity of the berries! A few birds were taking advantage of the abundance of food, especially Bullfinches (including just-fledged chicks) and Whitethroats.
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| Corn Marigold |
It has also be great to see quite a few pairs of Little Grebes rearing young on local lakes and pools, including three pairs using the "Borrow Pit" next to the Banbury flood defence. This photo was taken a couple of weeks back.
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| Little Grebe adult and young |
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