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Joe Harris (RSPB Langford Lowfields Site Manager)
It’s drawing very close to the time when the Otmoor turtle doves will start heading back southwards, over France, Spain, Morocco and then the Sahara to reach their wintering grounds in West Africa. Hopefully they’ll avoid being shot or getting caught up in sand storms on the way, and hopefully they’ll find enough food and suitable habitat there to keep them happy over the winter. With over 40000 people having viewed the last blog posting about the doves, I’m sure it’s not only me that’s wishing them a safe trip! Two doves were seen on Otmoor yesterday and three today, but with the breeding season having passed they are now very quiet and skulking around in the thick hedgerows so you’ll need a bit of luck to catch up with them. (Photo below by Terry Sherlock).

The Wednesday and Thursday volunteer teams carried out a hay cut in July’s Meadow last week. We are trying to increase the number of wild flowers in this field and by cutting it each year and taking away the cuttings, we’ll be able to reduce nutrient levels in the field, which will favour the growth of flowers and give them an advantage over the quicker growing grasses. I got great views of a grass snake (photo below by Terry Sherlock) slithering across one of the cut areas earlier this week and the Meadow is proving to be a brilliant place for seeing butterflies, including clouded yellows, painted ladies and silver-wash fritillaries. With the rare brown hairstreak butterflies (photo below by Peter Law) also being seen on the reserve, it’s possible to come across 20 different species of butterfly as you explore the moor.

Whilst the turtle doves might be tricky to see, the lizards up by the reedbed are putting on a much better show. Early in the day before it gets too hot and just after rain, seem to be the best times to see them. I saw 8 young ones and one adult last time I checked. The young ones were particular entertaining as they chased around after ants and grasshoppers (photo below by Terry Sherlock).

Otmoor is a bit quieter at this time of year in terms of bird life (they need to recover from the rigours of the breeding season!), but there are still lots of interesting birds around. Whilst the turtle doves rest and feed up before their long flights, other migrant birds are already passing through the moor on their way south, so you might be lucky enough to see species such as spotted flycatcher, redstart and whinchat. A marsh harrier is also still being seen regularly over the reserve so keep your eyes open for this majestic bird (photo below by Terry Sherlock).

A great way you can help support the Otmoor reserve and help us continue providing an amazing home for some incredible wildlife, is by visiting the Waitrose on Old High Street, Headington. Every month Waitrose donates £1000 to three local good causes. One of the good causes this month is us! At the checkout you receive a token, which you then place in the box of the good cause you’d most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the slice of the £1000 they receive... so if you’re able to add a few tokens to the Otmoor box it really would be much appreciated.