To the Shire and Back

Been in Oxfordshire at Holly's for last few days. Spent some time at the Old Vicarage working on the bioblitz and garden, visited Otmoor RSPB and also checked out St Tigglewinkles- one of the largest Wildlife hospitals on the planet HERE and checked in on Staines on the way back to the smoke.

Here's a few pics.

THE OLD VIC

Red Kite- up to five of these over the garden at once  

 Ashy Mining Bee

 Buffish Mining Bee Andrena nigroaenea (I-spot ID) 

 Bee sp?

 Dark Edged Beefly 

 Yellow Archangel 

Izzie and Bryan and the Morgan 

 Black-horned Sawfly Z.lonicera

 Hedgehog at the wildlife hopsital 

 Muntjac at the hospital-  the pointed nose and head stripes are best id features - see below for comparison and comments with Chinese Water Deer (click on image) 

 Roe Deer at the hospital - the black nose band is a good id feature 

Grey Heron young- breeding on the hospital pond 

'ODMOOR'

One cannot help but notice quite a few odd looking geese at Otmoor. This weekend  I had 2 Snow Geese, 1 Ross's Goose, 5+ hybrid GreylagxCanada, 3 'white' Greylags (Farmyard types) and 3 Barnacle Geese.  Here's my ebird list for the day HERE

3rd calender year male Marsh Harrier - variably marked flight feathers, sub-terminal band on tail and juvenile like head suggests a 3rd calender year male

 Hare 

 A Drumming Snipe showing the 'drumming' mechanism of the spread outer tail feathers 

Still 50+ Golden Plover around 

Hybrid GreylagxCanada 

2 Blue phase Snow Goose- there is a local feral population of 60+ birds in the area 

Hybrid GreylagxCanada Goose (on right). Also Oystercatcher. 

STAINES

Popped in on the way back 5 Little Gull (3 ads, 2 first-winters), 2 adult Med Gulls, 5 LRP and 1 Redshank. 

Adult Meds 

First-winter Little Gull