Atlasing in Stadhampton

After procrastinating somewhat after Christmas and the snow, and with the weather and wife in my favour I decided on Sunday to undertake the first of my five self-allocated TTVs (Timed Tetrad Visit) for the second half of the third winter of the Bird Atlas.

Tetrad SU69 E contains the village of Stadhampton, a large amount of farmland, a small amount of parkland and a small number of ponds; on the face of it habitats not likely to produce anything too interesting!

The tetrad species number stood at 45, and on my first winter visit I managed 38 species; so I had set myself a target of boosting the total by five to reach 50 species for the tetrad by the end of my 2-hour TTV.

The TTV started off well, with large numbers of the more urban species found in Stadhampton; at least 52 Starlings, 33 House Sparrows and 16 Collared Doves (and also some Snowdrops in flower). Other species in the village included good
numbers of Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird and Robin (with fewer encountered in the surrounding farmland, no doubt many of these birds had moved from the farmland into the village to take advantage of feeders and due to the slightly warmer
conditions). Leaving the village (and breathing a sigh of relief that nobody had come to accost me for: a) walking around a village early in the morning where nobody knew me, b) for having binoculars around my neck and occasionally looking
through them at distant roof tops (not through windows!) and c) writing stuff in a small black notebook) and into the parkland produced two calling Great Spotted Woodpeckers, excellent views of two Treecreepers and at least five Stock Doves.

Continuing into the arable farmland, and with the sun breaking through the grey cloud overhead, I spotted a large flock of thrushes moving from a group of trees onto the farmland to feed, I counted approximately 150 Fieldfares, seven
Redwings and three Mistle Thrushes (with at least one singing).

Other species encountered included a small number of Yellowhammer, Linnet and a large flock of Black-headed Gulls feeding in a field. With 15 minutes to go I started to head back to car to try and scoop up any remaining birds; on crossing a wet field I managed to flush a feeding Snipe (a tetrad tick I thought at the time), a Grey Heron, and managed to note a couple of Red Kite and Kestrel that were flying over some sheep grazed fields. Totting up back at the car showed that I had recorded 41 species, which wasn't too bad considering the habitats within the tetrad.

All in all, an enjoyable morning spent walking around a part of Oxfordshire I wouldn't normally go to, keeping fit (I estimate I walked around 5½ miles), increasing my birding skills and contributing to the Bird Atlas.

I managed to boost the tetrad species number up to 48 (two species short of my target), with Grey Heron, Snipe and Kestrel tetrad ticks. I can't think that there can be too many more species to be recorded in the tetrad, maybe
Sparrowhawk and Coal Tit, so if you happen to be passing through Stadhampton (or anywhere) and see these (or any) species, the Bird Atlas website awaits your records!

Boar’s Hill

With my parents visiting for the day on Saturday (23rd Jan) I decided that a quick walk around Boar’s Hill was in order. It was the first time that I had taken them there, and no trip to Oxford is complete with a climb up Jarn Mound to look at the dreaming spires. However, on reaching the top all that could be seen were some trees and some cranes that could be made out in the direction of Oxford (somebody had also taken the map with the direction and distance to towns in the area off of its stand). Undeterred I led the way in the direction of Chilswell Farm, walking through the woodland produced Nuthatch, Jay and Bullfinch, with the pond just in front of the Farm holding a Mallard and two Moorhen. The path wasn’t the best, with it being quite muddy, luckily I had my wellies on even if they were still cold and wet from the morning. Heading back to the car past Chilswell House (where they were better views of Oxford even if it was a bit gloomy) and onto Ridgeway Road produced a year tick- Peacock! (A bit of a sneaky one, but I count it!) The whole walk was in one tetrad, so it wasn’t difficult to add my records onto BirdTrack and a managed to increase the tetrad total by a few species.

Species total: 17

Distance walked: 2.5 miles

Radley

Had about an hour free to quickly nip down to Radley Lakes on Saturday 23rd Jan. Usual species present, including a male Pintail, 3 Wigeon and a female Goosander.

Decided to take a quick trip along the Thames Path up to a lake beside the river, hoping that there might be something interesting there like some Geese (with Bean and White-fronted in the county I was hoping for the best), however, there were only some Mallard and a Grey Heron. On returning back to Radley Lakes, a heard a ‘pitchou’ and managed a quick glimpse of two Marsh Tits before they flew off out of sight.

Species total: 29

Wet wellies

Took the dog for a walk around Barton Fields on Saturday morning (23rd Jan); nothing of particular note apart from a Sparrowhawk flying over which spooked the tits, two singing Song Thrushes, two Bullfinches, and the seemingly obligatory calling Water Rail and Reed Bunting from the south-east of the field. On reaching the end of the cycle path and looking down towards the Thames Path it looked particularly flooded, so I decided to see how far I could get on the Path back in the direction of Abingdon. I got most of the way with the end in sight; however, I knew that there was a slight dip in the path between me and dry land, so proceeding warily I watched as each step I took brought the water higher up my wellies, until trying to tiptoe had no effect and the cold water came gushing inside. So I had almost made it round with warm dry feet, but ended walking home in cold wet wellies- I will have to wait a few days for the water levels decrease slightly before I attempt that again!

Species total: 20

Flooded Thames Path at Barton Fields