December 2025

December proved to be another productive month on my patches and gave me another county tick in what has been a fantastic year locally for me. My December highlight has to be discovering the Ring-necked Duck at Blenheim on the 8th, only the second record for the site, the previous record coming in February 1979. It remained until 22nd December but its presence became increasingly sporadic as the Pochard flock it was with was evidently quite mobile. The leucistic Pochard offered a clue as the movements of that flock being seen at Otmoor on a couple of occasions before arriving back at Blenheim. I wouldn't be surprised if the RND appears back at Blenheim at some point in the winter or just as likely somewhere else nearby. The sun often hampered getting decent views but I certainly got some good looks at it during its stay.

Another highlights from Blenheim this month was 19 Pintail on the 13th. They didn't stay long but from my checks through the records this appears to be the most ever recorded at Blenheim. 

A Peregrine mid-month was notable simply because they seem to be quite irregular in 2025 compared to previous years, I'm not sure why that might be. A colour-ringed Great White Egret was among up to seven present during the month. Hatched at RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset in May this year, this bird has been seen at three Oxfordshire sites namely, Wolvercote, Standlake, and now Blenheim. 

Photo courtesy of Alison Morgan

Flyover Marsh Harriers north of Woodstock and also at Ardley ERF were patch ticks for those areas and they're always nice to chance upon away from their usual haunts.

As has been the case throughout the year my patch birding has been supplemented by some great county birds, and once again December provided a nice surprise with the huge influx of wild geese late in the month. A slightly fraught Boxing Day spent chasing reports of Bean geese paid off with distant views on Ashgrave, providing my latest county tick. It was also great to see so many White-fronted geese and it was clear there were more out there to be found. The Mid-Cherwell Valley seemed as good a bet as any to find some and the next morning I headed out along the canal hoping I would. It didn't take too long to see eight geese distantly in flight and indeed they were White-fronts. They looked like they were trying to land but didn't quite do so and I lost them briefly, but then had seven fly round a little closer, and I assumed they were seven of the original eight. They then headed headed north and lost to view. It transpires five or six settled in fields just north of the Oxon border into Northants, located by JFT a short while later, so likely some of these birds. They remained for a few days at least in those fields in Northants. When looking back at the photos of the eight in flight I couldn't help but think one of them had a look of Bean about it, but unfortunately the photos simply aren't clear enough to be sure.

From the Mid-Cherwell Valley on 27th December. The middle right bird looks a little stockier, thicker necked, and darker in tone but tricky to draw any conclusions from the image.

Water levels along the valley have now dropped and most ducks have moved, but earlier in the month there were a good number of Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler, along with a small number of Pintail. A few hundred Lapwing and a small number of Golden Plover are quite reliable along there currently.

Here's hoping 2026 delivers some more exciting local birding.