Local Is Best

Out and about locally over the last few days and of course my usual Sunday visit to Brandon Marsh this morning. To be honest nothing too exciting to report, not even a single sighting of Spotted Flycatcher down at Napton churchyard. The churchyard Buddleia did however provide Red Admiral and Large White butterflies to photograph. It was also nice to catch up with Kevin Groocock, who I bumped into during my visit.

Red Admiral - Napton Churchyard

In fact anything of interest has actually been seen right on my doorstep, or pontoon as the case may be. On Friday afternoon while giving the boat a well earned wash, four Common Tern were fishing around the marina for most of the afternoon, this shortly followed by two of the local Ravens over and a single Greenshank, which circled overhead calling for a short time before heading off east.

Blackcap

A trawl of the marina grounds this morning before heading off to Brandon yielded (35) Pied Wagtails, (2) Yellow Wagtails and (2) Linnet feeding on the west side bank, plus juvenile Blackcap and a Chiffchaff in full song. Swallow and House Martin numbers have depleted considerably over the past several days and it's over a week or so since I had my last Swift sighting.

Poor light record shot of Greenshank on Teal Pool @ Brandon 

Brandon was dank and overcast when I arrived this morning and an early tour of the river meadow and the farm field area was extremely quiet, save for Buzzard, Willow Warbler, Bullfinch and Whitethroat. Although East Marsh Pool was heaving with geese and ducks this morning, (Teal and Shoveler numbers now building), the best of the bunch were my first two Wigeon since late spring. Waders consisted of (4) Snipe, single Greenshank and Little-ringed Plover, plus (4) Green Sandpipers on Teal Pool. Among the Swallows passing through were a half dozen House and at least three Sand Martin, a Common Sandpiper was also heard but not located!

On route to the screen area fresh Otter spraint was found in one of the usual hot-spots and indeed an Otter sighting was forthcoming, when a gentleman was kind enough to show me a picture he'd taken at Carlton Hide mid-morning.

Finally a pleasant hour or so sky watching at the marina produced of note: Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, (3) Common Tern, numerous Swallows and (2) Yellowhammer.

Pleasant Tuesday

Purple Hairstreak butterflies are like buses, you wait for ages and then two come along at once! Having never quite managed to connect with this shy and elusive species at Brandon Marsh before, I've now managed two separate sightings in the course of three days.

Purple Hairstreak - So difficult to pick out in the Oak!

A quick tour of the marina this morning before heading off for my regular Tuesday visit to Brandon Marsh had the long staying Yellow Wagtail on the west-side bund, plus (2) Yellowhammer, (5) Linnet, (17) Pied Wagtail and the usual congregation of Swallows and House Martins on the phone wires.

Young Blackcap - Feeding up on the elder berries

Brandon started off pretty slow but things improved as the morning wore on, lots of mixed flocks feeding up on the ripening berries, in particular the Elder fruit and these included Blackcap, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. In fact even at this late stage in the breeding season both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were both heard in song today.

Although East Marsh Pool was initially quiet, Water Rail, two Snipe and a single Greenshank were found after we returned from the screen area, where the only species of not were Reed Warbler and Kestrel.

Brimstone

By mid morning plenty of butterflies and odanata were on the wing, providing the perfect opportunity for a good troll of the reserve. Goose Pool was awash with Red-eyed Damselfly, which were mainly resting on the floating patches of vegetation. Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker and Common Darter were also noted throughout the reserve.

The River Meadow provided my second Purple Hairstreak of the week and on the river Avon itself, two Water Rail were also recorded. The walk past the farm area had two Hobby hunting over the farm pool reedbed and butterflies of note included various numbers of Whites plus: Meadow Brown, Brimstone, Small Copper, Common Blue, Brown Argus and Small Heath, which are now showing in good numbers.

Small Tortoiseshell at Napton Reservoir

Finally, a last look at Teal Pool before leaving had an increase in Green Sandpiper, now six and a cuppa in the nature centre before heading off had the only two Small Tortoiseshell of the day, which were seen on the Buddleia from the window.

Young Great-crested Grebe at Napton Reservoir

A stop off at Napton Reservoir before home threw up a pleasant surprise in the form of a single Clouded Yellow butterfly. I'm sure the fisherman thought they were watching a demented birder, as I spent a good 15 minutes chasing around for that all important record shot, which I duly failed to secure! Four juvenile Common Tern came through during my stay and a single Grey Wagtail was another highlight. I spent a final few moments taking shots of two very young Great-crested Grebe before ending a really enjoyable day.

Barren Spell

As expected for the time of year were currently going through a barren period on the birding front, both locally and at Brandon Marsh. It's also time to note your Swift sightings too, as these wonderful birds are leaving UK shores in droves, it won't be long before their finally gone for another year!

Common Tern at the marina

The best birding I've managed personally over the last week or so has been a long staying Yellow Wagtail and a pair of Common Tern at the marina, plus (7) Green Sandpiper (a year best) at Brandon, along with a brief Greenshank visit last Tuesday and a solitary Dunlin on east Marsh Pool on Thursday. Also worth a mention were (5) Sparrowhawk on the 'Tip' area during the week, this a family which have successfully bred in Horsetail Glade and are constantly on the prowl around the locality.

One of a number of young warblers foraging today!

Today's visit to Brandon produced Muntjac Deer and more foraging flocks, including Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Long-tailed Tit, all taking advantage of the early ripening fruit, a bumper berry yield is definitely on the cards. A couple of juvenile Bullfinch were also noted, a good breeding record for Brandon.

Of course while the birding is slack the bumper butterfly year continues and there's always plenty to find around the reserve, including plenty of damsel and dragonflies. Common Blue, Meadow Brown and Peacock butterfly are all abundant throughout and today more Small Heath around with a count of (8).

Purple Hairstreak

Also of note: (5) Small Copper, (20+) Small White, (2) Red Admiral, (2) Brimstone, (2) Green-vein White, (5) Gatekeeper, (3) Large White and (1) Brown Argus. The surprise of the day came as I was leaving the reserve around lunchtime. As I unlocked the goudy gate a small butterfly took my eye and after a brief search turned out to be a Purple Hairstreak, amazingly my first on the reserve.

Migrant Hawker

Dragonflies today included Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Common Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer, lets hope the birding picks up soon as birds begin their journey south.

Perseids

In true tradition Dee and I have been out on the canal over the weekend in the hope of catching up with the Perseid meteor shower, something we do every year. Finding an area of sky with the least light pollution is always a challenge but the canal offers better options than most.

Perseids peak on August 12th

Although the peak is in the early hours of Tuesday morning there's still plenty of opportunity to see one of these usually bright meteors streaking across the sky. Although the signs looked good around dusk on Saturday evening, it wasn't long before the cloud cover came and although we managed around a half dozen meteors during several breaks in the cloud, it was disappointing.

Still, it's always a real pleasure to be out on the canal and over the course of Saturday evening we were treated to an amazing passage of Swallows just before sunset. Around 200 or so circled overhead chattering away, first flying south and then surprisingly returning overhead, before heading south once more. Orientating themselves for migration or just looking for a place to roost I'm unsure! Barn Owl, Little Owl and Tawny Owl were all heard, plus lapwing in the nearby fields. One or two, what I assume to be Pipistrelle bats, were constantly flying around the boat, and some eerie rustling at the base of the hawthorn behind us may well have been a Hedgehog.

Silver Y Moth - Not the best picture but you get the gist!

Lots of butterflies on the wing during the day, the best of which was a Silver-washed Fritillary and really large amounts of Silver Y moths too, which seem to be everywhere at the moment. Of course being on the canal both dragonfly and damselfly are always to be found and these included Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue and Blue-tailed damsel, plus Southern Hawker, Common Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly.

Yellowhammer

The usual selection of farmland birds were also noted, including Linnet and Yellowhammer, but sadly no further signs of any Turtle Dove in the area, having checked my usual hot-spots it's looking like a disastrous year locally.

Arriving back at the marina Sunday around 6pm, after a slow breezy cruise home, a couple of young Buzzards entertained us for the remainder of the evening, constantly calling from the large oak tree in the field opposite. They finally quietened down at dusk and thankfully, unlike Saturday evening the sky cleared. After the crescent moon set shortly after sunset a very bright pass of the ISS, which passed close by to Arcturus before moving almost directly overhead, finally dimming as it moved east. At last I managed a 45 minute vigil on the pontoon with a couple of hot chocolates managing 9 Perseid meteors, 2 sporadic and 6 satellites before the cloud returned!

Draycote Stroll

I'm not sure as to why I don't visit Draycote Water more often than I do as it's almost on my doorstep, but each time I do I thoroughly enjoy my time there. During today's visit I met up with Keith Foster and Bob Hazel for a morning and early afternoon stroll around the perimeter.

Dunlin

The overnight rain and remaining showers had just about cleared when we set off along Farborough Bank, bumping into the dynamic duo of Richard and Dave. A good breeze and cloud cover to start had low flying Swift and Swallow. It wasn't long before Bob picked up the first of two Yellow-legged Gulls during our visit, with one perched atop one of the buoy's. A couple of Common Tern were busy fishing and a juvenile was also seen during our walk.

Small Copper

Plenty of Pied Wagtail to be found and it wasn't until we'd passed Farborough Spit that the first wader of day was sighted, with a lone Dunlin feeding along the waters edge. The tree lined area just after the hide held Song Thrush, Goldcrest and Treecreeper and as we progressed along towards Grays Barn the sunshine had broken through with: Large White, Small White, Green-vein White, Common Blue, Small Copper and Peacock butterfly on the wing.

As we approached Biggin Bay the first raptor of the day was a Hobby, when one came in from the north, a second Hobby, possibly the same bird was seen much higher up as we passed Dunns Bay a little later. Just prior to the turn at the Valve Tower a small cluster of waders ended up providing (5) Common Sandpiper and (1) Green Sandpiper.

Grebe Family 

As we progressed along Draycote Bank some lovely views of a family of Great-crested Grebe, with one of the three young being carried in typical grebe fashion on the mothers back. The Inlet was literally awash with Trout basking on the raised sections, unfortunately far too big for a Kingfisher, which dropped in briefly.

Brown Argus - Not in the most pristine condition!

Pausing for a while along Hensborough Bank, while Bob made numerous attempts to digiscope a Brown Argus butterfly, under the able supervision of Keith#2, a distant Osprey flew low over the inlet, unfortunately dropping down before I managed to get Bob and Keith onto it. Yes I know, that old chestnut, but sadly we were unable to re-locate the bird after a good while waiting for it to re-emerge. During our vigil at least (3) Common Buzzard, lots of House Martins which had a lone Sand Martin among them, a very enjoyable day.

Norfolk Away-day

An opportunity to borrow the Trust's minibus on Monday and a trip to RSPB Titchwell and NWT Cley on the north Norfolk coast, along with 16 of the Brandon volunteers. Despite the poor forecast the team enjoyed an almost perfect day with glorious sunshine and only one short shower encountered.

Little Gull - One of several around the reserve.

First stop was RSPB Titchwell arriving around 10am and as we made our way along the West Bank Path the first species of note was Little Gull, followed by 3 Marsh Harrier and Little Egret across on the wet meadow. With waders now on the move the freshwater marsh was literally teaming and here good numbers of Avocet, along with various counts of Golden Plover, Red Knot, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover, Ruff and Oystercatcher. A single Spoonbill flew in at the top end of the pool and a search along the reed bed perimeter yielded Green and Wood Sandpiper feeding on the mud.

Stonechat

A stop off at the Parrinder Hide for coffee gave an opportunity to have a good scan locating Snipe, Curlew Sandpiper, Little-ringed Plover and several Spotted Redshank, with a few birds still looking stunning in summer plumage. As we left and made our way down towards the beach a single Whimbrel flew across the wet meadow and just prior to arriving at the sea shore a brief view of Stonechat, before the now strong breeze sent it on its way.

Wall Brown

The sea watch was a real treat with good views of Sandwich Terns diving for fish, along with a small passage of Little Tern. The shore produced of note: Sanderling, Common Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit and a lone Grey Plover, which was still showing signs of summer plumage and was probably one of the first early migrant adults. Further out to sea Gannet and Common Scoter! Also of note on route back to the centre was a Wall Brown butterfly, which thankfully posed just long enough for a photo.

Ruff

A brief stop at Cholsey Barns failed to yield our target birds, Turtle Dove and Corn Bunting, but a Grey Partridge, sadly missed by me, and Yellow Wagtail were worth the stop.

We arrived at Cley Marsh mid afternoon and several of us took the walk along the east bank past Arnold's Marsh, where 2 more Spoonbill were easily identifiable among a large flock of Cormorant. The walk along the shingle north produced Skylark, Sandwich Tern, Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and a single Grey Seal. We took shelter for a while during the one and only shower of the day in the hide overlooking the north scrape. Here Wood Sandpiper, Little Gull, Whimbrel, Yellow Wagtail, Shelduck, lots more Dunlin and distant views of young and adult Bearded Tit.

The migratory Painted Lady!

Finally the walk back to the nature centre had Hobby, several Sand Martin, 4 Marsh Harrier and a good passage of Swift. Running short on time the briefest of visits to Pat's Pool produced  of note: single Wigeon and one of my highlights of the day, at least 3 Painted Lady butterflies, one of which posed nicely for a photograph and ended an excellent day out!

The Weeks Review

Last Thursday morning was a real treat at Brandon Marsh with Teal Pool hosting a selection of birds that any local birder would be delighted with and what's more all showing at close range. The selection contained: (3) Green Sandpiper, (1) Common Sandpiper, (1) Wood Sandpiper, (1) Greenshank, juvenile Water Rail and from Big Hide a short time later, a distant Red Kite thrown in for good measure. A birder with a camera's dream, sadly guess who'd inexplicably left his at home!!

Green Sandpiper - Teal Pool Hide (Monday)

Over the weekend period the settled high pressure finally gave way and normal summer service was restored! With heavy torrential rain forecast overnight Saturday and into Sunday the signs looked good for any early passage migrants to drop in during the deluge. Unfortunately a morning visit on the Saturday, which was remarkably quiet save for a couple of Green sandpiper and single Common, was all I could manage with other commitments keeping me away until Monday. It came as no surprise therefore to get a text message with news of a summer plumage Turnstone at Brandon Sunday morning. After five years working and birding at Brandon, this would have been a site first for me so a little disappointing.

Goldfinch - Several feeding on the thistle around the screen area!

Notwithstanding, an early morning visit yesterday (Monday) paid off, with the Turnstone still on East Marsh Pool and very grateful to get another Brandon first, incredibly my sixth new Brandon species this year! Before leaving (4) Mistle Thrush from the screen area and several close feeding Goldfinch offered a few nice photographic opportunities.

Large Skipper

Today was my normal Tuesday visit to Brandon Marsh and despite rain in the forecast I managed a totally dry morning. A walk past a rather quiet Sheep Field and through New Hare Covert had a couple of Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker. However, just prior to entering Teal Pool Hide a small foraging flock produced Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Tit, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Other birding highlights of the day included: (7) Oystercatcher, Little-ringed Plover, Hobby and a summer plumage Dunlin on East Marsh Pool.

Peacock - Seemed to be everywhere today!

A walk around the River Meadow and Farm Pool areas with Jim, Derek and Martin produced a superb array of butterflies, far too abundant to complete a realistic count with 14 species noted, including a 2013 first Small Copper and increased numbers of Common Blue and Red Admiral from recent previous visits. Strangely only two dragonfly species noted today with Brown Hawker and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Flying Things!

It's that time of year when I give up a few paragraphs of my blog over to one of my other passions in life and no surprises when I tell you that it also involves flying things!

Stunning Flypast!

Each year Dee and I pay a Saturday visit to RAF Fairford during the weekend of the Royal International Air Tattoo. This year we were joined by our dear friends John and Pat Gibson, John being somewhat of an aviation expert, formerly the engineering director for Monarch Airways and always worth a good aviation story, not to mention a fountain of information.

Brietling Super Constellation - My all-time favourite!

The two main highlights for me this year was firstly the Brietling Super Constellation, an aircraft capable of crossing the Atlantic without any stop-overs, but unfortunately only on static display and the previously unseen flypast of the Red Arrows alongside British Airways spanking new Airbus A380, a real sight to behold.

B-25J Mitchell with the amazing F4 Corsair

Other personal highlights were the 1949 Hawker Sea Fury, Red Bull's immaculate B-25J Mitchell, a gleaming silver World War Two era bomber and accompanied in flight by the F4 Corsair. The Swedish Air Force SAAB JAS-39 Gripen with it's superb maneuverability and of course the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Red Arrows and the Avro Vulcan Bomber XH558, a terrific day out!

Another Show Stopper! 1949 Hawker Sea Fury...

Back to the birding and a visit to a very thundery Brandon Marsh early morning, which despite a slow birding time of year threw up a few goodies. Firstly a couple of Common Snipe, my first since the spring and later in the morning a very nice looking Wood Sandpiper flew in around 10:30 am. Also of note: Hobby (1), Common Sandpiper (1), Green Sandpiper (1), Little-ringed Plover (4), Oystercatcher (4) and Common Tern (5), not including the two young birds which appear to be doing quite well on the nesting rafts.

Speckled Wood at Brandon Today.

After the morning downpours a significant improvement in the weather after lunch enabled Derek, Mike and I to take a tour of the Tip and Farm Pool areas of the reserve, where a host of butterflies, damselfly and dragonflies were on the wing in the now humid conditions.

Dragonflies of note: Southern Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer and Brown Hawker. Butterflies Noted: Marbled White (6), Large White (5), Gatekeeper (7), Peacock (2), Comma (5), Red Admiral (2), Small Skipper (2), Large Skipper (1), Small Tortoiseshell (3),  Speckled Wood (2), Brimstone (1) plus excellent numbers of Small White, Green-vein White, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Glorious Summer!

A third consecutive weekend out on the Canal sums up what's fast becoming one of the best summer periods for several years. There's no doubt too that it's not only great for us boaters but for the UK's resident and visiting wildlife as a whole. After suffering a few disasters over the previous few years our visiting warblers, hirundines and swifts for example, finally have food a plenty and in lots of cases appear to be enjoying second broods.

Another glorious weekend out on the UK waterways!

Looking back at some of my butterfly records over previous years things are looking a little brighter too for a number of local species, in particular Meadow Brown and Ringlet, which seem to be everywhere at the moment, but of course only time will tell as to whether the recovery is significant or not!

Sedge Warbler busy feeding young.

Dee and I literally spent the whole of the weekend moored under a large willow tree on the Oxford Canal near Flecknoe, just watching the world go by, in fact from a boating perspective the canal resembled the M25 motorway at times and so being moored was a bonus, particularly in the 30C+.

Linnet - Seem to be in good numbers this year.

Even spending a short time in one place you get a feel for the local wildlife and I spent a lot of the time watching a pair of Sedge Warblers caring for their young, constantly in and out of the undergrowth opposite. Also nesting close by were Common Whitethroat, Dunnock and Moorhen, the latter of which seemed to be only caring for one chick. In the evening a huge number of Jackdaws could be heard at a distant roost and at one point a small party were overhead heading off a couple of local Buzzard. The dawn chorus, which with all of the hatches and windows open seemed to be almost deafening at times, has a different edge to it on the canal with Linnet, such a lovely song, along with Goldfinch and Yellowhammer. Sadly no Owls during our stay, something we normally never fail to see, with Barn Owls a regular feature on this stretch of canal.

Ringlet

Of course a summer weekend wouldn't be complete without the company of butterflies and these included excellent numbers of Ringlet and various numbers of: Meadow Brown, Small White, Large White, Marbled White, Large Skipper, Comma, Speckled Wood and Brimstone, plus a single Fritillary flew by, sadly too quick for a positive ID. Lots of Brown Hawker dragonflies busily feeding on the many insects but never landing long enough to entice me out of my chair to attempt a photograph.

Reboot!

After our recent trip to Canada and unscheduled few days in Scotland things are finally returning to some normality!

Weekend on the Oxford canal

Like most people I've been out and about enjoying the countryside in 'summer' and have even managed a couple of weekend cruises out along the Oxford Canal. These produced numerous butterflies, odanata and bird species including of note: Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Common Tern, Barn Owl,  and a dozen or so Yellowhammer. On Saturday evening a Daubenton's Bat entertained us skimming over the water close to the boat on several occasions.

Comma

Friday last had Dee and I completing our annual Glow Worm search at Brandon Marsh and this year we were joined by several of the Brandon volunteers and wives. I'm happy to report that these charming little bio-luminescent insects seem to be doing reasonably well and for a few of the team it was actually their first experience of seeing one. From my perspective it seems that this current hot spell has somehow rebooted the whole of nature and it was a real surprise to find no less than three Grasshopper Warblers reeling away at Brandon during our late evening visit. Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Sedge Warbler were all recorded in full song and hopefully this bodes well for what could possibly be the forerunner to second broods.

Meadow Brown - Considerable numbers at Brandon today!

Today's visit to Brandon Marsh in glorious sunshine produced a whole host of flying bugs, odanata, and butterflies on the wing, the breakdown of which were: (3) Marbled White, (4) Speckled Wood, (1) Common Blue,  (4) Comma, (3) Small Skipper, (6) Large Skipper, (1) Small Heath, (1) Red Admiral, (1) Brimstone, (2) Large White and (3) Small Tortoiseshell. I literally stopped counting Meadow Brown and Ringlet, which were in considerable numbers throughout the reserve. Brown Hawker, Common Hawker, Southern Hawker and Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonflies, plus Azure, Common, Red-eyed Damselfly and Banded Demoiselle were also recorded.

Longhorn Beetle

On the birding front, not too much time devoted to the hides with Hobby, Sparrowhawk, (2) Green Sandpiper and the usual selection of youngsters, which included Oystercatcher, Little-ringed Plover, Great-crested Grebe, Lapwing, Mute Swan, Gadwall and Tufted Duck.

The only disappointment to an otherwise excellent visit was when Mike, Derek and I reached River Meadow to find it being mutilated by a grass cutting tractor. A real disaster from a conservation point of view, as the meadow had been looking stunning with lots of wild plants, odanata, bugs and butterflies. As we arrived just after the event butterflies had been dislodged and were literally everywhere and plants had simply not been given a chance to seed, a real disaster zone. As this is not currently part of the BMVCT remit and totally out of our hands, I have spoken to the trust manager and the chairman of our group in the hope that the grass cutting timings can be reviewed.