What an amazing 'wild' place - especially after dark!?? Looming tower blocks in sight but a great variety of habitats and wouldn't mind betting a Shrike or two could show up here!
There's a Hoopoe in them thar Gorse bushes.....
At least it HAD been seen there until a couple of dudes decided they wanted a closer look? A very enjoyable couple of hours in the company of Dave Hutton and another Oxford birder followed, searching the entire site...... It took us the best part of an hour and on return to the Gorse, there it was in the distance!
We had circled the whole Marsh and the gorse provided cover as we returned to the starting point - the Hoopoe was busy feeding in the middle of the bushes.....
We just sat there and waited, eventually he worked his way back into view and ever closer, an amazing few minutes of 'now you see me'.....
And then, it was 'now you dont' time, as he flew up briefly into one of the nearby trees! He dropped over the other side of the copse and I decided to return to Shropshire to see if the Dotterel were still about? (They weren't but something almost as exciting was about to turn up for me at Wood Lane later....)
