The recent warm dry weather belies the time of year, although the encroaching evening darkness reminds us that nature’s clock is ticking away.

The county has welcomed some interesting birds, mainly waders, as they stop off on their migratory course, and our local reservoir at Farmoor has again been in the thick of it. Curlew Sandpiper, Black-Tailed Godwit and Little Stint have taken my interest, mainly because of the rareness of their visits to Oxfordshire.

 

The Curlew Sandpiper is a small wader that we record in most years as it makes its way to its wintering grounds, mainly in Africa, after having bred in Arctic Siberia, whereas the larger Black-Tailed Godwit we notice more often, not least because of its more colourful plumage and long straight bill. The Little Stint is indeed small, being about half the length of the Black-Tailed Godwit, but this tiny bird always generates excitement among birders; perhaps its cuteness is responsible.

The late sunny weather and resultant high temperatures have suited the county’s Dragonflies and Damselflies and prominent among them has been the beautiful Migrant Hawker, a Dragonfly that can be seen into November on sunny days. This Dragonfly was an uncommon migrant from southern Europe in the 1940s, hence its name, but it is now common not only in Oxfordshire but also the South East, and can be found as far north as Hull and has recently been recorded in south-east Ireland. The probable reason for its success is the huge amount of mineral extraction the country has experienced since the war and the dragonfly-friendly pits that this leaves behind.

If you wish to see this lovely creature just visit any local open water site, such as Baulking or Shellingford pits, and look and wonder at the remarkable flying ability of these Dragons as they flit back and forth.

 

There is a well-known and spectacular local site not too far from Sparsholt Firs known as Crockle, which is a local shortening of its more correct title, Crow Hole Bottom.

Just to make it more confusing this site is often known as the Devil’s Punch Bowl, but whatever you call it make a point of walking the Ridgeway for a few hundred metres to the east from the Firs and then take the track to the left across the field and the sight you see before you will truly take your breath away.

Just the other day and not too far away from Crockle, I watched and photographed a flock of some forty Meadow Pipits and was surprised to see them fly away rapidly. Sure enough, within seconds there was the expected predator, in this case the seriously threatened Hen Harrier, a wonderful bird that suffers greatly from the persecution that northern criminals mete out to it using either poison or lead shot in an attempt to supply “sportsmen” with the much sought after and financially lucrative Red Grouse.

Other birds that we can count on making their annual migratory journey at this time of year are the White Rumped Wheatear, the Whinchat with its light-coloured supercilium (eyebrow) and its close cousin, the delightful Stonechat, a super little bird and fortunately many stay in our county all winter.

Following on from our enjoyment of these birds, we can look forward to an influx of winter visitors from the conifer forest belt covering Northern Europe, Scandinavia and Russia.

The Redwing will arrive in large numbers along with the Fieldfare, a bird associated with parks and gardens in its breeding range, while I await, with fingers crossed, the arrival of the irruptive Waxwing that sometimes descends on our county in large flocks.

The Waxwing depends mainly on the berry crop, or perhaps I should say lack of berry crop, in its northern breeding territories.