September 2025

The gauge of my birding success this month was going to rest on whether anything good turned up at Ardley. The many hours put in over the past couple of months by both me and JFT haven't been rewarded with anything of real note. The ERF lagoon has looked inviting enough, but other than Green sandpipers and a few Common sandpipers, nothing else has dropped in. With the decent numbers of Little stints and Curlew sandpipers about, hopes were high, but ultimately dashed. Not even a Greenshank, which have been pretty reliable in autumn here. Ruff seem to be in short supply locally so no surprise Ardley didn't produce one. By the end of the month the enthusiasm to keep checking the lagoon was waning somewhat! I hope October might produce a surprise but it feels like the moment has passed. The light fades quickly during September evenings and without much of interest on the lagoon I tried to get some arty shots using the colours on the ERF building and the reflections it creates in the lagoon.

Pied wagtails gathering on the ERF building to roost

A Peregrine atop the chimneys at dusk

A small number of Noctule bats entertained me on a couple of evenings during the month. They would feed over the quarry lake as it got dark and pushed my camera to its limit.

Noctule bat and gulls

During daylight hours, the Whinchat that arrived in August remained into September and its stay lasted over 3 weeks which was longer than I expected. A Spotted Flycatcher was a good bird for the site, and a couple of Stonechats returned by the month's end. I also got a patch tick Marsh tit this month. Teal numbers swelled to over three figures, and who knows, maybe the Green-winged teal that was here earlier in the year has returned and will reveal itself once they emerge out of eclipse!? Wishful thinking!

Towards the end of the month I spent a bit more time on my Woodstock patches. The new housing development north of the town is under construction, so it is a shame to lose some of the area that has produced some good birds over the past few years. But the area near Field Barn Farm remains wild and again produced Whinchats this autumn. This is a very reliable spot for them it seems. Three at once was a record for me and then six Stonechats a few days later was another high count for this spot. 

I spent a few sunny mornings at Blenheim late in the month and saw decent numbers of Chiffchaffs in the trees and vegetations surrounding the lakes. One particular sun spot contained a good number in a mixed flock of the usual species, as well as a Reed warbler that sat quite close to me for a minute or so. One Chiffchaff allowed me to approach very closely for some photos as it sat preening.

Some Wigeon and Pochard arrived by the end of the month and there was a noticeable increase in Mandarin ducks. Where they spend the spring and summer still remains a mystery to me. A single Great white egret was back on the lakes and will hopefully be joined by some more as the winter approaches.

I managed to get to Farmoor for the Manx shearwater, which was another county tick for me hot on the heels of the Marsh Sandpiper last month. It would have been nice to see it in flight but some decent scope views of it on the water sufficed. My second visit towards the end of the month was to see the juvenile Black tern. It was generally distant and sods law once I walked along the west side of F1 to try and shorten the distance, it then came close to the causeway. By the time I walked back it was then mostly back out in the centre of the reservoir.