Battle Fm, Preston Crowmarsh

Thursday 30 December 2010

Carried out my final count, for the year, of the fields around Battle Farm.  A grand total of 309 birds of 35 species were identified.  Two new species were seen which, as I am now in the 6th year of the monthly survey, is not bad going.  They were both "flyover" jobs and not normally associated with farmland being a small party of 6 Tufted Duck and a single Egyption Goose.  Very few Redwings and no Fieldfares presumably because all of the berries have been eaten and the ground is still too hard for worms.  Good to see 4 Yellowhammers, a couple of Goldcrests and a Blackcap.

Roke - Ewelme circuit

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Walked the route through Rokemarsh, Roke and Ewelme.  Very quiet, the most noteworthy birds being a couple of widely separated Treecreepers.  Teal was still on the cress beds.

Ewelme and Thames

Monday 27 December 2010

The only new birds at Ewelme were a Common Gull and the Lapwing had ben joined by another.  Three Water Rails, a Green Sandpiper, male Teal and 6 - 8 Snipe were present.  I saw the Scaup on the Thames at Benson though it has moved 1/4 mile upstream from the Riverside Cafe.  The numbers of Tufted Duck and Pochard have increased and 45 Cormorant were counted between Benson and Shillingford.  Also 3 Great Crests and a Little Grebe were seen.

Brambling in the garden briefly - first of the winter.

1 hour birdrace

Saturday 25 December 2010

Went for a one hour walk counting species down to the Thames by way of the brook and back via Littleworth.  Managed 34 species - Scaup, Kingfisher and Bullfinch were the most noteworthy.

Bird count at the cress beds

Friday 24 December 2010

Thought I would try a bird count at Ewelme today - not easy as some birds tend to move away as you approach and it is easy to count them twice.  Nevertheless this list is probably fairly accurate:

1           Teal

30        Mallard           

5           Red Kite         

2           Water Rail

20        Moorhen         

1           Lapwing          

9           Snipe  

1           Green Sandpiper         

50        Black-headed Gull      

12        Woodpigeon   

2           Meadow Pipit  

2           Grey Wagtail

3           Pied Wagtail

1           Wren

1           Dunnock

3           Robin

12        Blackbird

1           Fieldfare

2           Song Thrush

10        Redwing         

4           Blue Tit

6           Great Tit         

1           Magpie

6           Rook   

8           Starling

3           House Sparrow

31        Chaffinch       

3           Goldfinch

Its all happening

Thursday 23 December 2010

A quick trip to Ewelme to top up the feeders.  The open water had attracted a Teal, a Lapwing, numerous Snipe and Meadow pipits plus the usual stuff. Also a very friendly Grey Wagtail which seemed attracted to my camera lens.

We needed some last minute shopping so called into Waitrose, Wallingford and was somewhat amazed to see 19 Waxwings there - I thought they had long gone and I was never going to catch up with them!

I was alerted to the presence of a Scaup on the river by AHB so headed down there and managed the following photo.

Quiet day

Wednesday 22 December 2010

What with meeting and decorating no time to birdwatch but still managed a couple of unusual sightings.  On my way to the meeting I came across a Meadow Pipit in the tiny front garden of one of the estate houses and, taking a breather from painting, spotted a Pied Wagtail on our conservatory roof.