Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) - Linkey Down, Aston Rowant, Oxon. 20th April 2015.

From Start To Finish - My Pinkneys Green Patch List 2012-2014.

 Ring Ouzel © Jerry O'Brien

 

A Good Start!

 

 

 

 

  

 

1. Grey Heron
2. Mallard
3. Red-legged Partridge
4. Grey Partridge
5. Red Kite
6. Sparrowhawk
7. Buzzard
8. Kestrel
9. Golden Plover
10. Lapwing
11. Black-headed Gull
12. Common Gull
13. Lesser Black-backed Gull
14. Herring Gull
15. Feral Pigeon
16. Stock Dove
17. Woodpigeon
18. Collared Dove
19. Ring-necked Parakeet
20. Cuckoo
21. Barn Owl
22. Tawny Owl
23. Little Owl
24. Swift
25. Green Woodpecker
26. Great Spotted Woodpecker
27. Magpie
28. Jay
29. Jackdaw
30. Rook
31. Carrion Crow
32. Goldcrest
33. Blue Tit
34. Great Tit
35. Coal Tit
36. Long-tailed Tit
37. Skylark
38. Swallow
39. House Martin
40. Chiffchaff
41. Willow Warbler
42. Blackcap
43. Garden Warbler
44. Common Whitethroat
45. Nuthatch
46. Treecreeper
47. Wren
48. Starling
49. Ring Ouzel
50. Blackbird
51. Fieldfare
52. Song Thrush
53. Redwing
54. Song Thrush
55. Mistle Thrush
56. Robin
57. Wheatear
58. Dunnock
59. Yellow Wagtail
60. Blue-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava flava)
61. Pied Wagtail
62. Grey Wagtail
63. Meadow Pipit
64. Chaffinch
65. Brambling
66. Greenfinch
67. Goldfinch
68. Siskin
69. Linnet
70. Bullfinch
71. Yellowhammer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted Flycatcher
 

 A Nice Finish.



Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) - Linkey Down, Aston Rowant, Oxon. 18th April 2014.

 

 

 

Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) - Linkey Down, Aston Rowant, Oxon. 6th April 2013.

Ring Ouzel 6th-8th May 2012

 

Ring Ouzel © Jerry O'Brien

A mid-afternoon walk at the beginning of May, started my new patch list off in amazing fashion. The weather was cool and it was a cloudy day, it still didn't feel like Spring had sprung but despite this a number of returning Warblers were in good song. First a Chiffchaff calling from a nearby copse followed by another some way off in the distance. It wasn't long that these were followed by a singing Male Blackcap, which after some patience eventually showed well before hopping back down in to the undergrowth. A Red Kite slowly drifted overhead and on towards a nearby wood flushing a number of Lapwing as it passed over the fields, the agitated Lapwings took to the air and began to mob the Red Kite aggressively forcing it to quicken it's pace and it was soon lost to view as it dropped in to the woods.

A good number of Linnet, Goldfinch and Yellowhammer were present in the hedgerows, popping up in to view as they were approached and then flying further down the hedgerow to repeat the process. There were a good number of Blackbirds along the nearby lanes, verges and hedgerows and I scanned each individual just in case. Skylarks were singing from above and could be heard from all the adjacent fields, 3 Pied Wagtails and a few Starlings paraded amongst a number of Horses grazing in the fields.

It was after scanning the fields that I picked up on a call I recognised, it called briefly then fell silent leaving me angling my ear in the direction of the call. I walked along the lane finally finding a gap in the hedge to look in to the field, I instantly found what had been calling and lifting my bins to look along the underside of the adjacent hedge there stood a pair of Grey Partridges, they showed really well and I cursed myself for not having my camera. They eventually ran across the field gaining pace before taking flight and disappearing in to the next field, I was pretty pleased to have found them and within ten minutes I had also spotted a few Red-legged Partridges feeding amongst Pheasants in another field.

There was one field that looked quite promising, the majority of which was planted with what I recall was rapeseed and stretched almost a far as you could see. The shoots sprouting from the soil made it a perfect hiding place for Pheasant, Partridge, a number Corvids, Skylarks and anything else that could hide amongst the crops. It was difficult to see all parts of the field due to the lay-out of the surrounding hedgerows. From one viewpoint I spied another group of 5 or 6 Blackbirds, a few Wood Pigeon and what looked to be a Wheatear foraging on a stubbled section of ground alongside a hedgerow.

 

Ring Ouzel © Jerry O'Brien

I made my way along the lane to find a better view and eventually found a small gap in the hedge which I could look through. I jokingly said to my girlfriend that I was going to check through the Blackbirds just in case there was a Ring Ouzel amongst them. I got a complete shock when I got straight on to a female Ring Ouzel through my binoculars, in fact I had to do a double-take but amazingly it was still there. It showed really well for 2 or 3 minutes with close views before everything suddenly took flight in every direction with the Ring Ouzel disappearing across the field and in to the surrounding crops. We waited finding a female Wheatear but the Ouzel failed to return.

Better was to come and a few days later a male Ring Ouzel was now showing well in the same strip of rough ground, thankfully Jerry O'Brien managed to get these fantastic photos of this normally timid species.

 

Ring Ouzel © Jerry O'Brien

 



More of Jerry's amazing photos can be found at his "Birds of Berkshire" website

Blast From The Past - Thrushes.

Blackbird

Mistle Thrush

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) - Linkey Down, Aston Rowant. 13/04/09

Ring Ouzel.

I returned again to Aston Rowant late afternoon today to see if I could get any better photos of the male Ring Ouzel that was still present. Unfortunately it was rather nervy and remained out of sight for long periods and when it did show it was at distance for most of the time, it spent much of it's time feeding close to the fenced paddocks in the middle of Linkey Down before disappearing out of view behind the fenced pens. Other than a few Blackbirds, Red Kites, a pair of Buzzards, an over-flying Meadow Pipit, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler it was quite quiet. I learnt later that somebody had seen a birder walking along the bottom of Linkey Down which isn't a public footpath and perhaps may account for the rather nervy Ouzel.

Linkey Down, Aston Rowant.

Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) - Linkey Down, Aston Rowant. 09/04/09

I made an early evening trip to Aston Rowant to see the male Ring Ouzel that had been found on Linkey Down SU726962 today. After stopping off a number of times last week with no success I was eager to see if I could get any good photos of him. It is an extremely difficult place to get decent photos due to the distance away from the birds but always worth a try.

View map of SU726962 on Multimap.com
Get directions to or from SU726962

Leaving the car at the lay-by I headed off towards Linkey down, at the entrance to the reserve a single Willow Warbler was singing from the pathway near the picnic tables and 3 Chiffchaffs could be heard calling from further afield. The usual Red Kites were circling overhead as were a pair of Buzzards that later were seen perched in the trees in the western woods at Linkey Down. Approaching Linkey Down a few Skylarks were in full song hovering high in the sky above the fields and the hedgerows hosted both Blue and Great Tit.

I met a gentleman who was on his way up the path after watching the Ring Ouzel and he told me the last seen location, after a quick chat I headed off to view the reserve. I set up my scope and scanned the area mentioned without any luck.

I was then joined by another birder and we continued to scan the juniper thickets without much joy, a distant pair of blackbirds proved difficult to immediately identify as they disappeared behind the fauna giving poor views. After sometime we finally got good views of them and hoped that the male Ring Ouzel would be with them. it wasn't and I scanned the vast area across the downs starting at the point it was seen earlier, as I scanned the fenced pens on the eastern slope I spotted the Ring Ouzel moving in to view. it must have been there all along but out of view from where we were standing. It continued searching for food amongst the juniper thickets and grass whilst moving slowly down Linkey Down, a few worms were seen to be taken no doubt aided by the wet weather we had earlier in the day softening up the ground.

The male Ring Ouzel continued to feed around the fenced pens for 30 minutes before being flushed by 2 Roe Deer running across the down. I left at 19:15 with the bird still present.

I normally view Linkey Down from the footpath tat leads down to Hill Farm SU727963, from the lay-by follow the path towards the picnic tables, then through the gate which leads to Linkey Down. After walking along the path you will see the busy M40 in front of you and a short walk down the hill will take you to another gate at the side of Linkey Down. After opening the gate as quietly as possible (it's noisy and alerts everything to your presence) walk 50-75yards and then over to the barbed wire fence on your left, from here it is possible to look down and view the reserve. Over the years I have noted that the Ring Ouzels seem to have a few favoured spots which include the long strip of juniper bushes directly below the viewing spot mentioned above, Along the fence line that stretches north-east to south-west and dissects Linkey Down with the open grass fields. failing that the fenced pens of trees and juniper bushes on the eastern slope are also a good spot but can be difficult to view from some areas.

Earlier in the day whilst working in Chalgrove, Oxon I had seen small numbers of Swallow passing through with one small group including a lone House Martin.

Ring Ouzel, Twyford GP, Berks. 11th April 2007.

With the news on http://www.berksbirds.co.uk/ that Adam Bassett had located a male Ring Ouzel at Twyford GP's, Berks, I decided to make a afternoon visit. As i arrived I was given the good news that the Ouzel was still present and after walking along the track from Park Lane the male Ring Ouzel was located in the Pony fields at SU785749. These are certainly the best views I've ever had of a Ring Ouzel, much closer than my previous experience's at Aston Rowant, and although the Ouzel often hid in a nearby thicket it seemed less nervous than others I have seen. It hopped across the fields 100 yards or so away, 2 Song Thrushes and a single Blackbird added to the Thrush clan as they busily searched for Worms.The Ouzels crescent white breast-band and silvery/grey wing fringes were very clean and clear, as too were the scaly markings underneath it's body, a really good specimen. A Willow Warbler was singing from one of the fishing lakes and a Chiffchaff was in full song above us as we watched the Ouzel, Green Woodpecker also made an appearance.

A Red-legged Partridge was found hiding behind our shed early morning, and Nuthatch and Marsh Tit on the feeders.