Banburyshire: Yellow Wagtails and the Red-rumped Swallow

We've had an exciting couple of weeks birding in the Banbury area, especially at Grimsbury Reservoir with the first ever Red-rumped Swallow recorded in the BOS area.  I think this is the 'first first' since Cattle Egret and Little Bunting were added to the BOS list in January 2017.  A great reward for John Friendship-Taylor's dedication and skill in covering the Grimsbury Reservoir patch in recent years, and enjoyed by many birders and other reservoir-goers during the week or so it stayed around.  Much has already been written about this bird - please refer to John's account for the finders story - so I'm not going to add more, other than a little compilation video I've put together using my own phone clips taken through the telescope and few stills I managed to capture.

Red-rumped Swallow, May 2019

 A recent personal highlight has been seeing a couple of male Yellow Wagtails return to the farmland on the edge of Wardington - between the village and the A361 - an area where they breed fairly regularly but last year were absent.  They sometimes perch on the roadside fence line and have become quite used to traffic so with a bit of patience and luck it is possible to get some nice views.  The look to be nesting in the adjoining expanse of winter wheat this year.  The area has also been good for Skylarks, Linnets, passage Wheatears and Brown Hares.

male Yellow Wagtail

I also managed some nice shots of a male Kestrel perched on a characterful telegraph pole on the other side of Wardington.

You can also now find me on Twitter:  Mike Pollard@mikepnature