| Sunday 30th September |
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A fairly dull day (weather as well as birds) at Farmoor this morning. There was no sign of yesterday's Black-necked Grebe,
although I did see five Little Grebes. Cormorant numbers continue to grow - I counted
at least a hundred of them. The only other birds of note were five Ringed Plover, two Dunlin
and a female Red-crested Pochard. I heard a Chiffchaff and a Cetti's Warbler
at Pinkhill. There were a few Common Darters around as well.
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| Saturday 29th September |
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There were several Small Whites and one Large White
at the allotment this afternoon.
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| Thursday 27th September |
As it was a nice sunny morning I visited Chimney Meadows. When I reached the pylon field I spotted a couple of
Clouded Yellows quite quickly, and the total count in 75 minutes was at least
twenty. Some stopped to feed, mainly on dandelions and other yellow flowers. Other butterflies seen
were three Red Admirals, at least a dozen Common Blues, six
Small Coppers (some were very fresh) and four Speckled Woods. There were
a few Common Darters about (including a pair in cop), but not many birds.
Later I saw a Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell in Eynsham.
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Clouded Yellow, Chimney Meadows, 27-Sep
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Common Blue, Chimney Meadows, 27-Sep
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Small Copper, Chimney Meadows, 27-Sep
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| Clouded Yellow | Chimney Meadows |
Common Blue ♂ | Chimney Meadows |
Small Copper ♂ | Chimney Meadows |
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| Monday 24th September |
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After over a week of not being able to go anywhere, I was able to visit Farmoor Reservoir this afternoon. It was sunny with a light NW wind.
There were again large numbers of Coot, Tufted Duck, Cormorant
and Great Crested Grebe. There was a Kestrel on the fence around the water works.
I saw at least six Red Admirals, all flying strongly south. Along the Pinkhill hedgerow there were quite a few
Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers. There were also several Willow Warblers.
A Buzzard flew fairly low over the reservoir. A Kingfisher flew out of the hedgerow
and back again. At Buckthorn Meadow I saw a couple of Southern Hawkers, a Small Copper and
more Willow Warblers. On the way back to the car park there were two Dunlin and two Ringed Plovers
on the causeway, and two juvenile Arctic Terns over F1 (but frustratingly they stayed out of camera range).
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Kestrel, Farmoor, 24-Sep
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Cormorant, Farmoor, 24-Sep
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Willow Warbler, Farmoor, 24-Sep
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| Kestrel | Farmoor |
Cormorant | Farmoor |
Willow Warbler | Farmoor |
Migrant Hawker, Farmoor, 24-Sep
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Southern Hawker, Farmoor, 24-Sep
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Common Darter, Farmoor, 24-Sep
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| Migrant Hawker ♂ | Farmoor |
Southern Hawker ♂| Farmoor |
Common Darter | Farmoor |
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| Thursday 20th September |
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I saw a Southern Hawker while waiting to cross the toll bridge at Swinford this afternoon.
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| Wednesday 19th September |
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I saw two Swallows heading south at Eynsham this morning.
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| Tuesday 18th September |
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A dead Southern Hawker was found in the Northcourt Centre, Abingdon this evening.
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| Thursday 13th September |
Around lunch-time today the Ivy flowers in the garden were well patronised by bees, wasps and hover-flies, and also a Red Admiral
which was missing part of its left hindwing.
I visited Farmoor in the late afternoon. Notable species seen today were a juvenile Ringed Plover, a Wheatear,
a Swallow, two House Martins, a female Red-crested Pochard, four Great Black-backed Gulls
and three Common Sandpipers. I heard a Cetti's Warbler.
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| Tuesday 11th September |
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Today I saw a Large White in the garden and a couple of Small Whites at the allotment.
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| Monday 10th September |
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I saw two Small Whites and a late Meadow Brown at the allotment this afternoon.
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| Sunday 9th September |
I visited Farmoor this morning. It was fairly sunny but there was a brisk WSW wind. There was a lot of sailing activity on F2, which seemed
to have pushed a lot of birds onto F1. There were the usual large numbers of Coot, Greylag Geese,
Canada Geese, Tufted Dusk, Great Crested Grebe and Cormorant
(I counted 94 of the latter). Other species seen included Little Grebe, Sand Martin, Swallow,
Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Common Sandpiper, Redshank
and a juvenile Dunlin.
Along the Pinkhill hedgerow I saw a Common Blue, a couple of Brown Argus, a couple of Southern Hawkers
and at least five Migrant Hawkers.
I saw a Large White in the garden in the afternoon.
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| Thursday 6th September |
I visited Otmoor around mid-day today. When I got there it was partly sunny, so there was some insect activity, but it clouded over
completely which stopped almost everything. Migrant Hawkers were quite numerous, with at least thirteen seen between
the car park and the first screen. There were also quite a few Common and Ruddy Darters.
In the car park field I saw a couple of Small Coppers and a Comma. The feeders were well patronised by
Blue and Great Tits, and I saw a juvenile Willow Warbler here. Up
on the bridleway I nearly stepped on a juvenile Chiffchaff was was sitting on the path. It looked stunned, as though
it had flown into a window. I encouraged it into the vegetation at the edge of the path.
There was nothing to see on Greenaways at all, and all I saw in the hedgerow was some Goldfinches feeding on teasles,
and Hornets attacking a small ash tree. The main bird activity was on the lagoon, where there were lots of
noisy Greylag and Canada Geese, as well as Mallard, Teal,
Coot and a Mute Swan. On the way back to the car I saw a Dark Bush-cricket near the first screen,
a Jay near the hide, a Hobby over the north side of Greenaways, a Whitethroat near
the cattle pens, and a couple of Speckled Woods along the roman road.
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Small Copper, Otmoor, 06-Sep
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Chiffchaff, Otmoor, 06-Sep
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Dark Bush-cricket, Otmoor, 06-Sep
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| Small Copper ♀ | Otmoor |
Chiffchaff | Otmoor |
Dark Bush-cricket ♀ | Otmoor |
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| Wednesday 5th September |
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I saw a Migrant Hawker in the garden today.
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| Tuesday 4th September |
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This morning I saw two Large Whites and a Red Admiral at the allotment. In the afternoon I
went down to Orchard Lake. There were few butterflies about, despite the sunny conditions. One Large White, three
Speckled Woods, five Common Blues and one Green-veined White was all that
I saw in an hour and a half. Dragonflies were rather more numerous, with at least twenty-six Common Darters, thirteen
Ruddy Darters, a very late Emperor Dragonfly, six Migrant Hawkers,
one Brown Hawker, one Southern Hawker and ten Common Blue Damselflies
seen. I also saw three Hornets and a large number of Ivy Bees.
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Common Darter, Radley Lakes, 04-Sep
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Ruddy Darter, Radley Lakes, 04-Sep
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Ivy Bees, Radley Lakes, 04-Sep
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| Common Darter ♀ | Radley Lakes |
Ruddy Darter ♂ | Radley Lakes |
Ivy Bees | Radley Lakes |
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| Monday 3rd September |
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I saw a Hornet and a couple of Large Whites in the garden today, and Small
and Large Whites at the allotment.
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| Sunday 2nd September |
Another trip to Farmoor this afternoon. It was quite warm, cloudy with a very light westerly wind. There were lots of the
usual species present, and a lot more Canada Geese than last time. Notable species were four
Black Terns on F1, a Dunlin along the causeway and a Yellow Wagtail
near the water treatment works. I saw at least three Yellow-legged Gulls, and there were about fifty Lesser Black-backed Gulls
in the pre-roost.
I saw about a dozen Migrant Hawkers, two Brown Hawkers, one Southern Hawker
and six Common Darters, from the reservoir water inlet to Buckthorn Meadow. There were few butterflies about: I only saw two
Large Whites.
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| Saturday 1st September |
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This afternoon I saw a Red Admiral and two Large Whites in the garden. A Feathered Beauty came into the house,
and there was a Setaceous Hebrew Character in the polytunnel on the allotment.
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