Birds
With regard to viewing Gulls at Appleford, can I implore anyone visiting the site to please stay in their cars. The Gulls are skittish enough without birders adding to the angst of their screwed up minds. After all, they have to cope with the sad antics of the falconer and his pyrotechnics, the flight path of RAF choppers, trains and lorries honking their horns and the bangs of local game shooters. If you want to see any Gulls, particularly if you enjoy prolonged, close views, getting out is just counter productive. Having the first Slaty-backed Gull for Britain flushed, never to be seen again, by a firework would be bad enough but by a birder . . . .
One other gentle reminder about this site; the haul road to the tip and the pit are private and the site managers have been very tolerant of visiting birders over the last decade, particularly as we shouldn't really be there. Please make sure that you are parked well off the road as any slight obstruction to the visiting trucks get reported to the Waste Recycling Group manager who is then duty bound to come out and advise the obstacle to move. This increases the chances of decreased tolerance in future.
Happy New Year
- Iceland Gull 13th December
This 2nd winter Iceland Gull was on the ice on the Spit Pit at Appleford late afternoon in the gloom. Along side it there were single 1st and 2nd winter Caspian Gulls. This pit is next to the very busy haul road to the tip. Park in the pull-ins...
- Great White Egret - Cassington Gp
The GWEgret is now at Cassington GPs. This a private site so please view only from the haul road just to the north of the A40, just east of Cassington. The bird is in the south-west corner on the pit north of the haul road. This is a sensitive area so...
- Spoonbills At 1066
Three spoonbills reported at 1066 at 13:18 They flew off high to the west at 16:30 1066 Viewing & Access (A Reminder) 1066 is the name given to the wetland north of the B4016 between Drayton and Sutton Courtenay. This is a private site with no public...
- Appleford Spit Pit 3.05-4.20pm 15th Jan
Glaucous Gull 1 1stW seen feeding at tip, washing in pit and flew off alone to the fields by village at 4.04pm. Common Gull 5 Lapwing 9 c300 B-h Gulls probably outnumbered all other gulls combined. A marked decrease on recent visits and all present could...
- Is This Another Dutchman Wintering In The Uk?
In-between finding white winged gulls, Badger has turned to searching for colour gull rings to read; An infinitely more challenging and rewarding undertaking. When he told me he had found one with the letters ANS (so soon after M.AAK), I thought he was...
Birds
Field craft at the Spit Pit, Appleford
With regard to viewing Gulls at Appleford, can I implore anyone visiting the site to please stay in their cars. The Gulls are skittish enough without birders adding to the angst of their screwed up minds. After all, they have to cope with the sad antics of the falconer and his pyrotechnics, the flight path of RAF choppers, trains and lorries honking their horns and the bangs of local game shooters. If you want to see any Gulls, particularly if you enjoy prolonged, close views, getting out is just counter productive. Having the first Slaty-backed Gull for Britain flushed, never to be seen again, by a firework would be bad enough but by a birder . . . .
One other gentle reminder about this site; the haul road to the tip and the pit are private and the site managers have been very tolerant of visiting birders over the last decade, particularly as we shouldn't really be there. Please make sure that you are parked well off the road as any slight obstruction to the visiting trucks get reported to the Waste Recycling Group manager who is then duty bound to come out and advise the obstacle to move. This increases the chances of decreased tolerance in future.
Happy New Year
- Iceland Gull 13th December
This 2nd winter Iceland Gull was on the ice on the Spit Pit at Appleford late afternoon in the gloom. Along side it there were single 1st and 2nd winter Caspian Gulls. This pit is next to the very busy haul road to the tip. Park in the pull-ins...
- Great White Egret - Cassington Gp
The GWEgret is now at Cassington GPs. This a private site so please view only from the haul road just to the north of the A40, just east of Cassington. The bird is in the south-west corner on the pit north of the haul road. This is a sensitive area so...
- Spoonbills At 1066
Three spoonbills reported at 1066 at 13:18 They flew off high to the west at 16:30 1066 Viewing & Access (A Reminder) 1066 is the name given to the wetland north of the B4016 between Drayton and Sutton Courtenay. This is a private site with no public...
- Appleford Spit Pit 3.05-4.20pm 15th Jan
Glaucous Gull 1 1stW seen feeding at tip, washing in pit and flew off alone to the fields by village at 4.04pm. Common Gull 5 Lapwing 9 c300 B-h Gulls probably outnumbered all other gulls combined. A marked decrease on recent visits and all present could...
- Is This Another Dutchman Wintering In The Uk?
In-between finding white winged gulls, Badger has turned to searching for colour gull rings to read; An infinitely more challenging and rewarding undertaking. When he told me he had found one with the letters ANS (so soon after M.AAK), I thought he was...