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Oxon Bird Pics: Spring/Summer 2026
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Black Tern, Standlake Pit 60, Oxon
31 August 2026
Nice to see this juv Black Tern that has been present for several
days now. Probably my first for this site.
It was not
however obliging for photos, never coming close and with its very
high speed erratic flight. This is an extreme crop!
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Snipe, Standlake Pit 60, Oxon
31 August 2026
At the opposite end of the scale to the Black Tern, this Snipe
suddenly appeared in front of the hide and spent sometime feeding
there.
Click to enlarge. |
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Long-tailed Shrike, Eastleach Downs, Oxon
28 July 2026
This ultra-rare visitor to Britain (only the third record)
eventually tempted me into a twitch, something I hardly ever do
these days.
My first visit was in the morning, in the
previous week, and wasn't very enjoyable. I saw the bird but it
was well into Gloucestershire and showed no signs of moving much.
Also there was a large number of other people around, so I
departed fairly soon.
Today I went back well into the
afternoon for a much better session with only a handful of others
around. This time the bird was nearly always in Oxon, and was more
mobile moving around a lot catching insects from the ground and
then flying up to perch in bushes, on wires etc.
Of the 3000+ photos I took, most were far too distant to be
worth processing. Just once, right at the end, the bird perched
briefly on a wall reasonably close, allowing this shot to be
taken.
Click to enlarge |
© All
pictures copyright Stephen Burch |
