Otmoor RSPB & Farmoor reservoir

[pheonix]

Got up really early today so i could hear the dawn chorus at Otmoor, and althought tired now i don't regret it for as second.

I arrived at Otmoor at about 6 in the morning and it was already light. I opened my car door and was hit by a wall of sound,all from birds. Straight away i heard a Grasshopper warbler (my first), Whitethroats, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammers aswell as many others including waders in the distance.
A little further into the site and i was hearing Lesser whitethroats, Blackcap, Sedge warbler, Reed buntings, Cuckoos and three Curlews flew right over my head. Further still i heard Snipe drumming, Redshank and Cetti's warbler.
I later realised aswell half of my Sedge warblers were actually Reed warblers! I was taking photos of Sedge warblers and when i looked through them found that there were some Reed warblers aswell I still havn't mastered warbler calls!
And to top it off on my way back to the car i was passed by a Turtle dove and a pair started 'cooooing' to each other

I then drove round to Farmoor reservoir and right away had Common terns flying around my head. On my way round i spotted a Garganey drake ( that was a bit shy for photos). It was a bit quiet with only one wader seen which was a male Dunlin.

All in all 50 plus species seen (and a good walk!)

[Wild-Woman]

Sounds like you had a brilliant time. I had the good fortune of going on an evening walk that was guided, at Northward Hill reserve in Kent, yesterday. We saw the heronry, little egrets, hundreds of rooks in the rookery. The best bit was hearing nightingales singing deep in the bushes. That was magical. It poured with rain all the way round but it didn't stop the whitethroats, blackcaps and cuckoos singing away.
The worst bit was taking my soaking trainers off(yes stupid choice of footwear I know) afterwards and ringing out my socks ..yuk. My jeans had wicked up water to my knees too.
There's a lesson to be learnt from my evening, but the birds were great and I can't wait to go again.ww

[Mark43]

Sounds like you had a good day Phoenix.

Bird calls........what a nightmare that is trying to figure them out.

I went down to Rye Harbour today...........not to bad..........got my first Wheatear and Sedge Warbler.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by pheonix

Got up really early today so i could hear the dawn chorus at Otmoor, and althought tired now i don't regret it for as second.

I arrived at Otmoor at about 6 in the morning and it was already light. I opened my car door and was hit by a wall of sound,all from birds. Straight away i heard a Grasshopper warbler (my first), Whitethroats, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammers aswell as many others including waders in the distance.
A little further into the site and i was hearing Lesser whitethroats, Blackcap, Sedge warbler, Reed buntings, Cuckoos and three Curlews flew right over my head. Further still i heard Snipe drumming, Redshank and Cetti's warbler.
I later realised aswell half of my Sedge warblers were actually Reed warblers! I was taking photos of Sedge warblers and when i looked through them found that there were some Reed warblers aswell I still havn't mastered warbler calls!
And to top it off on my way back to the car i was passed by a Turtle dove and a pair started 'cooooing' to each other

I then drove round to Farmoor reservoir and right away had Common terns flying around my head. On my way round i spotted a Garganey drake ( that was a bit shy for photos). It was a bit quiet with only one wader seen which was a male Dunlin.

All in all 50 plus species seen (and a good walk!)

Sounds like a fantastic day!! Being able to identify any birdsong is a real skill and you clearly aren't doing too badly!! - which warblers do you struggle on? Took me a couple of years but I now have the Reed warbler / Sedge Warbler thing sorted anyway. The Reed Warbler just sounds a bit bored in comparison with a regular pace to it's song, the Sedge Warbler comes across as very over-excited and is less rhythmic.

Garganey Drake!!! Fantastic, such gorgeous little birds and not often seen.

There's something magical ( I think anyway) about the sound of displaying snipe and other waders in the twilight - dawn or dusk.

I LOVE turtle Doves if I close my eyes on a hot day, I can listen to them and pretend I'm in Africa since they always seem to be in the background of so many of the wildlife docs based over there!!

Can't wait for Suffolk next weekend hopefully I'll get a Turtle Dove then!!

[John]

Otmoor is a cracker of a reserve and you have reminded me that I must go there again in the not too distant future.

That was certainly a good start to the morning for you. I know what you mean about the Sedge / Reed Warbler song. It catches me out now and again also.

John

[sophocles]

Hi I am new to all this but would love to find out about any local (Oxford/Oxfordshire) courses to attend as I am a complete beginner but want to do a garden birds identification course. Does anyone know if one of these exist and if so, who runs them? The RSPB website wasn't particularly helpful.

[PentaxPete]

I was at Ottmoor myself only a couple of months back - and you see a Bittern

What a treat that was


I also went off to Farmoor and caught some more birds in the shutter. A lot of my WAB pics come from both Ottmoor and Farmoor