My last bird species of 2014 was a briefly glimpsed owl at Otmoor and I’m not sure which one it was. I can be sure that I didn’t end 2014 seeing my first ever Snowy Owl (a species high on my bucket-list of bird species) nor was it my first Little Owl of 2014 (yes, another year of slightly inept birding passes without me seeing one of these little beauts!). I am almost completely sure that it wasn’t a Barn Owl, and fairly sure that it wasn’t a Tawny, which leaves us with SEO and LEO and no way to choose between them, and not complete certainty that that is actually the choice anyway!
It was a fitting and momentarily humbling (I’ve got over it, completely) end to the year.
I can tell you that one of the last bird species of the year was a party of Long-tailed Tits making their way down an Otmoor hedge; calling and silhouetted against the last glow of the set sun. And we saw those as we left the ‘blind’ (which is a place for seeing) overlooking the Otmoor reedbed into which, in the opposite of the conjuror’s trick with pulling rabbits out of hats, about 20,000 Starlings had poured themselves.
It had been a moderate spectacle rather than an ‘Ooooh! Ahhhh!’ spectacle. There were lots of birds but maybe the chill air had made them undisposed to dispose themselves and disport themselves in amoeba-like flowing movements over the reedbeds. They had, on the whole, just poured in, in long streams (making me think ‘Passenger Pigeons’). They were still a fine sight though, and the c20 people assembled to watch did not act as though they felt short-changed at all.
So that was how 2014 ended as far as birds were concerned.
2015 began with the call of a Robin and then the sight of a Blackbird. There are plenty more where they came from. When will I hear the first Blackbird song of spring? Have you noticed that the nights are drawing out already?
Happy New Year!
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Mark I don’t know if you saw a Nightingale in 2014, they are pretty thin on the ground these days in Lincolnshire but I was very happy to see three at Whisby Nature Park back in April, which is now probably the most northerly population in the UK.
The Lodge Hill SSSI in south east London which is currently the best spot for Nightingale in the UK is under threat of being completely destroyed. The local MP Mark Reckless who recently defected from the tories and won a by election for UKIP is saying that the tory approach to handling such environmental issues was part of the reason he jumped ship. See this article in The Ecologist: http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2696583/the_other_reason_i_joined_ukip_to_save_our_nightingales.html
What do you think, should we vote UKIP to save our birds or do you thinks its a bit of greenwash? I had thought UKIP were nowhere on environmental issues.
Happy New Year Mark! First-year male blackbirds may start singing as early as late January in fine weather, followed in late March by adult males. The nights are drawing in, but at a snail’s pace…
My guess is that your owl on Otmoor was an SEO. one has been seen recently over the carpark field. There used to be LEOs on the eastern edge of the reserve near the MoD firing range but not seen for several years.
Could that be your third visit to Otmoor this year? Certainly worth the trip.
Happy New Year and all the best for a campaigning 2015.
Richard – thanks! That was my first thought but, who knows?
Yes – visit number three in 2014 to otmoor – every one a good one.
hope for several in 2015 too.
best wishes
ForMark, for your Snowy Owl you really should visit the Uists in May this year! A really great place for birds, especially raptors including a few hen harriers. I wish the rest of Britain could be like that.
I’ve already heard snatches of spring song from a (very confused?) blackbird who visits my mum and dad’s garden. That sound is like food for the ears – a reminder that spring is coming!
Speaking of confused things, I saw my first snowdrops on the 16th of December!
Carrie – you must live in the south or southwest – surely?
No – 30 miles north of Inverness!!
Carrie – crikey! Shows how much I know!
Those took me by surprise as well!
A great spotted woodpecker drumming several times west of Derby on 31st December was rather surprising, especially with snow still lying on the ground.
Nick
Ps. Dusk is definitely getting later…..with a robin bathing at 4.30pm yesterday.
I had 2-3 great spotted woodpeckers drumming above my head on the morning of the 28th December here. That was a clear morning of very hard frost (so far no real snow in this area, apart from a little skiff).
As nice as it is to see signs of spring already, should we be worried that things are happening so early? We might get hit by some proper winter yet!