Possibly not quite as exciting as Zoe's last blog posting about her flight over Otmoor, but here are the results from the latest Wetland Bird Survey on the moor. A combination of lots of water elsewhere and the freezing temperatures causing areas of the reserve to freeze over probably explain the drop in wildfowl numbers, especially shoveler and wigeon:
Little Egret 1 (Big Otmoor)
Grey Heron 4 (1 Malt Pit, 1 Ashgrave, 2 Big Otmoor)
Mute Swan 12 (2 Ashgrave, 8 Flood, 2 Greenaways)
Greylag Goose 153 (1 Ashgrave, 152 Closes)
Canada Goose 186 (173 Ashgrave, 6 Big Otmoor, 7 Flood)
Wigeon 129 (76 Ashgrave, 3 Big Otmoor, 50 Greenaways)
Gadwall 13 (4 Malt Pit, 9 Reedbed)
Teal 930 (6 Ashgrave, 91 Big Otmoor, 20 Reedbed, 107 Flood, 706 Greenaways)
Mallard 242 (40 Malt Pit, 39 Ashgrave, 47 Big Otmoor, 21 Closes, 22 Reedbed, 21 Flood, 52 Greenaways)
Tufted Duck 20 (Reedbed)
Water rail 1 (Closes)
Moorhen 5 (Closes)
Coot 10 (Reedbed)
Golden Plover 320 (Flood)
Lapwing 378 (2 Big Otmoor, 3 Closes, 221 Flood, 152 Greenaways)
Ruff 3 (Greenaways)
Jack snipe 1 (Malt Pit)
Snipe 54 (1 Malt Pit, 1 Big Otmoor, 52 Greenaways)
Although they've not been seen for a couple of days the whooper swans picked up earlier in the week may well still be around on one of the flooded fields. Merlin, ravens, stonechats and the wintering hen harrier have all been seen this week too. Talking of hen harriers, Otmoor is an amazing place to see birds of prey with the ever-present red kites, buzzards and sparrowhawks being joined at various times of year by peregrine, hobby, marsh harrier, merlin and hen harrier. We even had an osprey fly over during the autumn.
The RSPB does a lot of important work to help protect and provide suitable habitats for birds of prey. If you'd like to find out more about this aspect of our work it's well worth looking at this website http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/birdsofprey/index.aspx