Otmoor

It was good to actually find the time and will to go to Otmoor today. Ebird list HERE. This is a really tough site to work but must get rarities. I've put a bit of time in over the years but not even had a sniff of anything decent (just a Temminck's, a Brent and a few shorebirds). Sometimes described as the rarity black hole of Oxfordshire, the site is vast and not all of it is accessible and most of it can only be birded from paths and hides (i.e you can't kick or flog the site and there are always plenty of unturned stones- and you cant even wander off piste because there is an army of RSPBSS volunteers ensuring you stick to the rules, they even troll your blog to make sure you are complying to the order :-) Also if you wander off piste on other areas of the site you actually get shot or can step on a landmine as its MOD). There also doesn't seem to be much in the way of visible migration going on over there, presumably related to the fact that it's a relatively 'new' site (since 1997) and migration in Oxfordshire presumably follows the Thames and the various escarpments and ridges (which have been here since the last ice age I suppose so plenty of time for flyways to evolve.) Also the site is excellent for breeding birds  (Cranes, wetland species, Marsh Harriers, Bitterns etc) so presumably territorial defence in top location breeding areas is very high, presumably why rarities tend to turn up in smaller lower quality habitats where strangers are more tolerated in a less competitive environment (like Farmoor and Port Meadow)? Who knows, one thing for sure is Otmoor is an Enigma. I often resist the urge to try and 'break it' as the ratio of hours of work to find something good could be an extremely poor return. However it remains the closest decent birding area to me at the family home so in a way I feel I should.  Anyway, today's visit was no different to many other visits- an impressive range of species and some great local residents but nothing particularly 'interesting' in the way of migrants or rarities. 

Adult Red Kite 

Juvenile Hobby (above), nice to compare this plumage at a similar view to last week's juvenile Red-foot at Elmley (below).  

Four or so Stonechats around- sounds like there is a very large passage going on in some areas (e.g North Downs in Surrey) but just the usual numbers by the looks of it here 

Migrant Hawkers- plenty of Hawkers and Darters around keeping the Hobby happy

Painted Lady