Birds
Local blog write-ups can be found on Black Audi Birding & Gnome's Birding Diary
- Editorial Policy On Oxon Birding Blog
In the light of the number of comments on the recent Marcham Garden posting we (Badger & Gnome) reluctantly feel that we need to step in to state the official position of Oxon Birding. It was originally set up due to dis-satisfaction with the available...
- June Highlights
Hairy Dragonfly by Andrew Last So that was June. Did it live up to it's billing as the most boring birding month of the year? Well to a large degree sadly it did but there were enough nuggets of interest to keep things ticking over. By way of diversification...
- May Highlights
Spotted Sandpiper by Andy Last So we’ve come to the end of May and the start of the summer doldrums. Whilst statistically this month should be the best one for the first half of the year in terms of rarities it had to do pretty well to beat what had...
- Review Of The Year 2010
So another birding year is up and so I thought that I'd write my traditional** end of year report for the county. I've been moaning all year that it hasn't been as good a year as last year but looking at the totals it doesn't seem that...
- Lesser Yellowlegs
The Port Meadow Lesser Yellowlegs, October 2010 (c) Nigel Forrow All Records of Lesser Yellowlegs in Oxon 2010 Port Meadow, juvenile 14th Oct to 8th Nov. Adam Hartley1999 Otmoor, 25th May. Jason Gosler1998 Otmoor, adult, 29th Aug to 5th Sep. (British...
Birds
Whiskered Tern
There have to date only been two Whiskered Terns recorded in the county. The first was a five day stayer at Standlake in 1970 though back then it was part of Berkshire. The second record, found on Friday 25th April 2014 at Otmoor, was therefore to all intents and purposes a county first. It was first seen at about 2pm by a chap called Paul Thomas at the first screen at Otmoor RSPB but he at the time he had just thought that it was a colourful Common Tern. He did mention it to RSPB staff Zoe Edwards and Adam Reid who went to check it out at 16:30. They then came back to the office with their photos and checked with the field guide before calling the warden Joe Harris who went to check it out. He then called Peter Barker and Ian Lewington with whom he discussed the ID before the official news went out at 6pm. There then followed a mad scramble by many of the county birders to get down to see it before it got dark. Some fourteen county birders connected before it flew off high to the north about an hour before dark. Two birders who had just missed it stayed on and they reported that it returned at last light and looked like it was going to roost. Quite a crowd of birders were there at dawn the next day though sadly there was no sign of it.
Local blog write-ups can be found on Black Audi Birding & Gnome's Birding Diary
Some great photos of the Whiskered Tern (c) Terry Sherlock
- Editorial Policy On Oxon Birding Blog
In the light of the number of comments on the recent Marcham Garden posting we (Badger & Gnome) reluctantly feel that we need to step in to state the official position of Oxon Birding. It was originally set up due to dis-satisfaction with the available...
- June Highlights
Hairy Dragonfly by Andrew Last So that was June. Did it live up to it's billing as the most boring birding month of the year? Well to a large degree sadly it did but there were enough nuggets of interest to keep things ticking over. By way of diversification...
- May Highlights
Spotted Sandpiper by Andy Last So we’ve come to the end of May and the start of the summer doldrums. Whilst statistically this month should be the best one for the first half of the year in terms of rarities it had to do pretty well to beat what had...
- Review Of The Year 2010
So another birding year is up and so I thought that I'd write my traditional** end of year report for the county. I've been moaning all year that it hasn't been as good a year as last year but looking at the totals it doesn't seem that...
- Lesser Yellowlegs
The Port Meadow Lesser Yellowlegs, October 2010 (c) Nigel Forrow All Records of Lesser Yellowlegs in Oxon 2010 Port Meadow, juvenile 14th Oct to 8th Nov. Adam Hartley1999 Otmoor, 25th May. Jason Gosler1998 Otmoor, adult, 29th Aug to 5th Sep. (British...