Skip to main content

Pit 60 R.I.P





Pit 60 has been very very quiet recently. In fact, I believe there has not been a single wader there for the past couple of weeks. The reasons for the sad demise of what was one of oxfordshires best birding sites is well know to us regular patch workers, namely poor water and vegetation management. Looking at records from only 3 or 4 years ago it is very obvious how badly the site has deteriorated.

So, to avoid another morning staring at coots and tufted ducks from the hide window, I went to farmoor this morning to see what must surely be the most photographed bird in Oxfordshire – the famous Kingfisher at the shrike meadow hide. I was very lucky in that the bird had just landed on its favored post just prior to my arrival. My birding friend Ewan arrived after a little while and we spent a pleasant 2 hours or so chatting and waiting for the star performer but he/she did not return during my stay.







Thanks to all who have asked about my dog Dillon who is recovering from his op and going stir crazy from his enforced bed rest until his stiches come out next week. He only has two modes of existence, asleep and going bonkers. I’m sure that there is an on off switch somewhere but I haven’t found it yet!

Comments

  1. Sad about Pit 60.... Nice kf tho & good to hear Dillon's recovering - tho it sounds like it's probably a bit of a trial for all concerned!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS - just realised you posted 2 pics the same - suspect you meant to post the same 3 as you've put on Facebook? x

      Delete
  2. I think Wader passage is pretty poor across the county this year, Farmoor hasn’t exactly been inundated with them either and, apart from the usual Green Sandpipers, we’ve had little at BWR. Oxon hasn’t even managed to attract many of the thousands of Wood Sandpipers. Maybe the birds see what’s happening to this county of ours and think “sod that” and go elsewhere! We all need to move to a small corner of Lincolnshire!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Albert the Albatross

  What is more improbable -   a)     England’ football team    beating Germany in the knockout stages of a major competition   b)     Seeing an Albatross in England   Actually the answer is a) because it has not happened since 1966 rather than b) as Albert the Albatross, as he is affectionally known, has made a number of passing visits to the UK since 1967!   On Monday evening reports started to emerge of Albert associating with the Gannet colony at RSPB Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, almost one year after his    last brief visit to the same site. During the intervening period there have been a number of sightings of Albert across Europe, particularly from the Baltic Sea where he appears to have spent much of the last 12 months. In fact there were reports that he had been attacked and killed in the area by two eagles.    Reports of his death were clearly greatly exaggerated!   The Black-browed Albatross is circumpolar in the southern oceans but very rarely seen above the equator. If I t

The Hawfinches of the Forest of Dean

   Hawfinch - Forest of Dean, winter 2017 A highlight of my winter birding is my annual trip to the Forest of Dean to see Hawfinches. I was unable to go last year due to the post-Christmas lockdown so this year’s visit was even more richly anticipated than normal.   Parkend in the Forest of Dean is my usual chosen location for watching Hawfinches. Here the proven technique of using your car as a hide normally works well. I must also say that,  after a number of quite strenuous twitches recently, I was also looking forward to a much more leisurely birding session!   The story of Hawfinches in the UK is, to my mind at least, a fascinating one. It is what is known as an eruptive species meaning that it occasionally erupts from its traditional breeding grounds to invade on mass countries much further away. This is thought to be driven by a combination of breeding success and local crop failure resulting in not enough food to go around.    Records indicate that the Hawfinch was a very rare

Perseverance or sheer stupidly? – The Belted Kingfisher nailed at the 4th attempt!

         Belted Kingfisher I have had three failed attempts, or dips as birders call them, to see the Lancashire Belted Kingfisher over the last few weeks, including two harrowing encounters with the slope of death, see here .     So when the bird was relocated a few miles away from its original location in an altogether less challenging spot I was soon off on my 4 th  attempt to see this truly stunning mega rare vagrant from North America. We had friends from the village coming to dinner on Wednesday night so I really didn’t fancy a strength sapping silly o’clock departure.  I hence left home at 07:00 on Wednesday morning and heading north again up the car park previously known as the M6.   The Kingfisher had relocated close to Samlesbury at a place called Roach Bridge on the river Darwen. I arrived at 09:30, found a parking spot very close to the bridge, and set off along a muddy footpath towards the reported location. Disconcertingly, many birders were heading back to their cars alr