Today's Quainton Hills COMMON REDSTARTS - images - Tim Watts

More Migrants on Quainton Hills

Had quick look on South slopes and found 3 SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS and 2 Willow Warblers together at low level. Higher up scanned for, but surprised to get two NORTHERN WHEATEARS. Distant but orange plumage and either immatures or females.

23 Common Swifts flew over top heading South (Tim Watts)

A minor fall of COMMON REDSTARTS on Quainton Hills

Quainton Hills; after a clear, calm night there was a slight fall on the Hills.

A total of 4 COMMON REDSTARTS was found on the North Slopes and fortunately all were very different in appearance: an adult female with a juvenile male at the bottom of North slopes and an adult male with a not so smart female on the top of the West slopes. The juvenile male still had spotty head markings.

Also noted were COMMON RAVEN and several migrant LESSER WHITETHROATS and WILLOW WARBLERS.

Calvert BBOWT; 3 GREEN SANDPIPERS, 2 Common Terns through and an increase in warblers in scrub on both lakes (Tim Watts)

SANDERLING at Calvert Landfill

This moulting summer-plumaged SANDERLING graced the Landfill site today for a short while (Tim Watts)

Calvert BBOWT; 1 Green sandpiper/1 Common Sandpiper

Calvert landfill: no access to this private site. I spotted a small wader roosting and was praying it would be a Dunlin rather than just another Common sandpiper! Amazingly, it was not a Dunlin but a cracking SANDERLING,the first one I have ever found myself and only the second I have seen at Calvert. It roosted for a while, fed for a bit before flying around a corner, and out of view.

Also seen, 2 migrant juv Little ringed plover/2 Common Sandpiper/ 2 Little Egret (Tim Watts)

Today's COMMON REDSTARTS at Quainton Hills

Male and female COMMON REDSTARTS today (Tim Watts)

First migrant COMMON REDSTARTS on the Quainton Hills

Calvert sailing lake; 2 Common Sandpiper

Hillesden; Little Grebe with 3 chicks

Quainton Hills; 2 COMMON REDSTARTS, the first migrants of the autumn and following two juveniles at Ivinghoe Hills NR on 23-24 July; an adult male and female-type. Both very wary birds, first glimpsed in flight in bushes. Sat down and waited but didn't re-appear. Left for an hour and got one in 'scope from extreme range. Crawled closer but they still spotted me. Managed to obtain long range poor quality record shots. The second bird appears on zoomed image to have remnants of speckly head which would make it juvenile, possibly a male as back quite greyish but not sure.

Also 2 COMMON RAVENS over tops regularly and cronking and Warblers are on the move. So open/barren/no scrub up there you only get migrant warblers. Today had 1 Lesser Whitethroat/3 Common Whitethroat and 2 Willow Warbler (Tim Watts)

DIRECTIONS; Walk from Quainton village, head towards radio mast. Go through mast field with mast on right, through next gate, straight on, through next gate and there's a very sparse line of Hawthorns in front of you. Both redstarts were in paddock type field to left. This is top of West slopes. Slightly off path but open grass area and not a problem, just don't wander into farmhouse areas.

Whitchurch; Had 2 nice sightings from garden, first a HOBBY then 2 COMMON RAVENS flying together. We heard them cronking before they appeared quite low right over the garden. .

Calvert BBOWT; 2 Green Sandpiper/1 Common sandpiper/ c300 Lapwing over.

Up to 3 Green Sandpipers have been present all week (Tim Watts)

Juvenile COMMON CUCKOO at Calvert - one of very few recorded in the county thus far

Calvert BBOWT; 2 Green Sandpiper/ juvenile COMMON CUCKOO on post in open area. Indistinct markings, bit looser plumage and slight brown colouration over grey/ Coot struggling to eat Crayfish/ c200 Lapwing over.

Hillesden; 1 Green Sandpiper/ juvenile Yellow Wagtail

Calvert landfill; (private site) 3 Little Egrets, adult with head plumes/bright legs and two juveniles with dull bare parts.

2 Common Sandpiper/ 163 Lapwing loafing.

Tim Watts

Common Sandpipers

Two different COMMON SANDPIPERS present at Calvert BBOWT today (16 July) (Tim Watts)

Green Sandpipers

BBOWT Lake; 2 GREEN SANDPIPERS (depicted above)/ 1 Common sandpiper/HOBBY hawking insects.

Have been watching the Great crested Grebes feed their young and main prey items have been Perch and Pike 3-6" long. Today adult kept trying to get quite small youngster to take a large prey item,but it was either refusing or prey just too big. Got scope on it and it was a Crayfish! Amazingly youngster eventually accepted it and swallowed it whole with a struggle - Crayfish was about a third of it's size!!! (Tim Warrs)

CALVERT - 10 July

BBOWT Lake; 2 Green Sandpiper/ Cuckoo in flight either a very brownish female or juvenile.

Yesterday 3 Green Sand and 1 Common Sandpiper.

A weird sight was a Great crested Grebe chased into shallow pool (2nd hide) by another with chicks. The one in pool really panicked as other Grebe gaurding entrance and water so shallow it got stuck in silt. It then tried to take off or get further away by attempting to run on surface of water but silt stopped it. Then sat crouched facing other Grebe and after a while it attempted to walk around the drier bank. Grebes are certainly not good at this!! legs set so far back on body best it could do was waddle a few steps then fall over; last seen clambering into Juncus. Just to compound it's problems the Swan family was on the mud mound blocking that exit as well!

Tim Watts

1-6 JULY - IMAGES FROM CALVERT - TIM WATTS

Adult GREEN SANDPIPER and adult Common Tern

28 JUNE - Adult summer MEDITERRANEAN GULL at Calvert Landfill

An adult summer MEDITERRANEAN GULL was a very surprise find at Calvert Landfill on 28 June (Tim Watts)

There have also been up to 5 calling EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVES of late (Jon Holt) and YELLOW WAGTAIL is breeding.