Farmoor for Grey Phalarope & bacon sardie

I needed a later start on Sunday as I was feeling tired from the previous day & perhaps a glass too many on the evening. So once I was up and about I headed to Farmoor Reservoir to have an enjoyable hour watching a Grey Pharalope at very close quarters. 

For a while I was there on my own until I joined by a couple of jolly photographers from Swindon (Dave & Dave). This arctic breeding wader paid no attention at all to the audience and just went about it’s feeding without a care in the world.  

With the ears getting cold I retreated to the sailing club café where the “Daves” tipped me off to a bargain. They weren’t wrong, £1.50 for a coffee & bacon sandwich (did lack HP sauce though) was just the job as I headed back to Salford Priors.

Grey Phalaropes at stormy Farmoor

Grey Phalaropes

Grey Phalaropes

 Plenty of balls

 Nice comparison with Black-headed Gull

Goldeneye

Great Northern Diver

Great Northern Diver

Yet another very windy weekend for us in the Midlands so we headed down the M40 for an hour to Farmoor Reservoir. The £1 parking fee is nether here nor there but we fancied a good walk but on concrete rather than slugging through the mud in wellies.  Star attraction were two Grey Phalaropes that were putting on a real show for the local birders and photographers. Despite the 40 mph wind the birds were feeding really well and didn’t seem bothered about the audience or the waves. I crouched as low as possible to photograph the birds from the patch and was quite pleased with results given the limitation of the camera. Looking at the photos closely it seemed one bird was an adult whilst the other a first winter. 

The wind on the bottom corner of the Reservoir was so strong it made it difficult to walk straight however on reaching the far side and more cover it was more comfortable. We found six Goldeneye quite close trying to get some shelter and there was a huge count of Great Crested Grebes. A stunning Grey Wagtail darted around the end of the causeway as we continued our walk to the other side.

After a great deal of searching we found a Great Northern Diver centrally located however as we turned back towards the car the Diver drifted towards us enabling some fantastic views and a couple of images. I do love watching Divers and I’m really hoping I get to see some up in Scotland in May.

Red-necked Grebe at Farmoor

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Showing very well

To much to swallow

Perhaps not……..

Black-tailed Godwit at Holt

                         Black-tailed Godwit at Holt (digiscoped through trees)

This Saturday I headed to New Road, Worcester for my pre-season umpires meeting. On the way I called in at Sling Pools, Holt to find a nice Black-tailed Godwit feeding in the pools. Around 150 Fieldfare and Redwing were poised in the fields ready to return to their breeding grounds. I called in at Grimley where the only notable discovery was a first summer drake Goosander which is apparently a difficult bird to see at Grimley.

After my umpires course I made my way over to Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire to try and see the reported Red-necked Grebe. I wasn't convinced I had made the right decision as on arrival it was blowing a gale and raining ! 

After completely walking the wrong round way around the reservoir (poor decision given weather) I found the bird in full summer plumage by the jetty. The bird made it well worth the drive and walk as it showed within 25 feet allowing me to get a couple of sharp digiscoped images. I took advantage of the bird showing well for a good hour before heading back up the M40.