Bicester wetland reserve: brim full of ducks

A busy weekend visiting local sites, starting Saturday morning with a two hour survey for the Banbury  Ornithological Society's Winter Random Square survey.  The square selected for me happened to be right on the edge of Banbury itself, a housing estate called Bretch Hill, and adjoining farmland.  It is an area earmarked for more housing in our Local Plan, and some bird survey info might be useful in helping protect habitats from too much damage.  In this particular area the best wildlife habitats seem to be small woodlands, hedgerows and some long established grassland.

It was very interesting to compare the birds of the urban habitat with the more rural.  In the housing area there were lots of sparrows and starlings, good to see, but not too much else.

Venturing away from the houses along a muddy path through a strip of woodland next to a grassy meadow, I was surrounded by the calls of bullfinches and then a sighting - a flock of five arranged like Christmas decorations on a small ash tree. 

Walking on a bit further, a big flock of redwings - about two hundred - were feeding on hawthorn berries in tall hedgerows surrounding horse paddocks.  Further on still, a flat expanse of oilseed rape fields were enlivened by chirpy calls from a flock of forty skylarks and a single meadow pipit.

It is a bit sad to see the disconnect between the urban area and the countryside - footpaths that should encourage people to explore their local patch are hidden from view or fenced off.  Hopefully this situation can be changed when the new housing areas are built here in coming years.

In the afternoon a chance to explore the Upper Cherwell Valley north of Banbury was too good to turn down.  Highlights were big numbers of cormorants roosting in alder trees and a flock of Canada geese numbering about 180.

cormorants

 Little grebes were ferreting around in the weedy river margins, searching for small fish and invertebrates.  Barn owls and a single short-eared owl have been seen here in the past week, but no sign of them this afternoon up until sunset.  A pair of ravens "croaked" loudly as they flew overhead in tandem, no doubt surveying part of their territory.

Interestingly, the gull roost at Grimsbury was a complete no show, literally just a handful of black-headed gulls.

The highlight of my weekend was a visit to Bicester Wetland Reserve, managed by the BOS.  I was met by voluntary warden Alan Peters, who very kindly agreed to induct me as a key holder for the site (this being a secure Thames Water treatment works).

Bicester Wetland Reserve

The wetland was full of duck, especially teal, but also wigeon, shoveler and gadwall.  Also a few snipe, two little egrets and a green sandpiper.

little egret

 Ringing was in progress and four chiffchaffs had been caught in the mist nets - a surprisingly large number.  Alan explained to me how each year he is able to improve the wetland, creating new areas of shallow pools, funded by small grants from Thames Water.

a few cattle graze the wetlands at this time of year

Though small, this must be the best wetland for wintering ducks in Banburyshire at the moment?

flight of shoveler

My final stop was at Ardley Quarry and specifically the vast new incinerator plant with it's striking rainbow glazing.  It is easily spotted from the M40 just south of junction 10.

rainbow reflections

There is new lake beside the building, recently constructed with hard stone shorelines that has been attracting gulls, though not on this particular occasion.  I did see a couple of green sandpipers and a spectacular flocking of  several thousand starlings before their departure at about 3.30pm, heading in the direction of Otmoor, where the reedbed roost numbers several tens of thousands.

Upper Wardington: Polecat

Yesterday I discovered a "road-kill" polecat slumped up against the kerb near the middle of the village.  Polecats are more often seen dead than alive - I've only ever seen one alive, but several like this, killed by a car.

polecat, deceased

 

Polecats have done well in recent decades, spreading back across their former English range from western outposts - a resurgence they share with the buzzard and raven.

Other members of the Mustelid mammal family found in our area - stoat, weasel, otter, mink and badger - are also vulnerable to being hit by vehicles during their nocturnal ramblings.

Boddingtoin Reservoir: search for Caspian Gull in the gull roost

The weekend's lengthy dose rain finally cleared away on Sunday afternoon, encouraging me to get out to Boddington again to see what the gull roost had to offer.  Arriving about quarter to four, the sun cast a strong yellow orange glow across the autumnal landscape, illuminating the gathering of gulls already assembled in the middle of the reservoir.  A quick scan through the flock revealed the vast majority to be black-headed gulls, but also good numbers of common gulls plus a few lesser black-backed and a couple of adult herring gulls.  These birds will have been out and about foraging across our landscape during the day, returning to the safety of the reservoir overnight before leaving very early in the morning.  It feels like quite a social gathering too - probably an interesting mix of gull "dialects" from across Europe!

I continue watching and counting for about forty minutes as waves of gulls arrive to roost, some departing as well, possibly heading for Draycote Water where there is likely to be a larger roost.  The black-headed gulls are hard to count, I estimate something like 4000.  Common gulls number over 250.

I'm hoping to find a Caspian gull, and eastern relative of the Herring, more elegant, with a slimmer but longer bill and distinctively pale head in winter.  One has been seen here recently but they are still pretty scarce locally, and very likely under-recorded.  A white-headed "herring-gull" type bird does stand out from the crowd.  It is a third winter - so not quite an adult (a smudge of darkness in the tertials and a dark marking on the bill).  I am now trying to convince myself this is the elusive Caspian: the head shape looks right (pear-shaped), the eye small and dark.  The light is failing so I take a few pics to check when I get home.

On the monitor screen, the images of the bird are a bit distant and too grainy to interpret any more detail. The field guides all point me in the direction of Caspian but I'm just not 100% sure - though feeling better informed for next time - hopefully a closer view in better light!

Boddington Reservoir: wild mushrooms in the woods

Misty murky weather has prevailed all weekend with the merest glimpse of the sun.  Today I reacquainted myself with Boddington Reservoir.  It is only ten minutes from home, but in the "wrong" direction i.e. not a convenient stop en route to Banbury like Grimsbury Reservoir is.  It is though, undeniably, one of the best areas for nature in Banburyshire: our largest expanse of water is surrounded by really nice habitats like wet woodland, flowery meadows and scrubby grassland.

Today it was not at it's best - grey misty conditions seemed to dampen bird activity.  But it was still rewarding to watch great-crested grebes at close quarters, check through the mixed gull flock for a few common gulls and kneel down to inspect a cluster of woodland mushrooms.  Wildfowl were surprisingly few in number-  just mallard.  The area is known to be good for tree sparrows and willow tits so I will return in better conditions soon.

Later in the day I managed a quick visit to see the gull roost at Grimsbury Reservoir - at 4.30pm the roost contained about 800 black-headed gulls, 80 lesser black-backed gulls and a single herring gull.  The latter IS notable - my first of the year at this site (since I stepped up my coverage in early summer).  Herring gulls have undergone a huge change in status in our area over the past twenty years - from being quite numerous and frequenting the rubbish tip at Alkerton in hundreds, to being something of a scarcity and a notable sighting. Much of this is linked the closure of the open refuse tip at Alkerton a few years back.