Farmoor Little Auk

I posted a while ago about what birds I might drop everything for. Each afternoon I have a one hour window off so if I can fit a twitch into that time slot then I'll do so. Certainly for the Roseate Terns at Farmoor this year I made a mad dash to see them and just managed it within that time window. However, when a Little Auk was "reported on the Thames" early afternoon and then firmed up just after 2pm by JD it was a "drop everything" situation. There have been no twitchable Little Auks in the county this century: with just a couple of records of wrecked birds that have been picked up in the county only the most senior of county birders might possibly have had this species on their list. However, could I do this within one hour? Google was saying 16 minutes from my door to the parking spot in Farmoor village. Then it was an 800m dash to the lock. Time to check out my fitness levels! 

Within 10 minutes of the bird being confirmed I had messaged my boss to say that I was taking my walk now and was out the door and headed to Farmoor. I parked up just as TM arrived and we both got tooled up quickly. I opted to leave my scope in the car and not to wear a coat so as not to overheat, then it was a combination of running and walking (sadly I'm not as fit as I hoped and couldn't run the whole way) along the track until we could see the river and the dozen or so birders standing near the lock. This spurred us on to make the final dash along the river bank where to our relief the bird was immediately on show on the far side in front of a boat. 

 

Usually I would spend some time enjoying the bird, photographing or videoing it and then chatting with the other birders but in this instance I didn't have time so I took a few record shots and a bit of video and said a few brief words with the some of the others. This was only my second ever sighting of a Little Auk with my first being a few seconds viewing of one on the sea in someone else's scope at Whitburn in Co. Durham a few years ago. Accordingly, I should have been revelling in the close up views. However, whilst the bird was reasonably lively it seemed to swimming around aimlessly in lots of directions without diving at all or trying to feed, and seemed a bit panicky and lost (as indeed it was). My heart went out to the poor thing - it's the sad reality that an inland Little Auk is usually very much on borrowed time and this waif looked all too out of place. However, I didn't really have time to savour all this at the time and within 10 minutes of arriving I was off again, heading back at a brisk walking pace to the car. As I went I passed various county birders coming in the opposite direction, all in a hurry to connect with this mega blocker. I was soon back at the car and after carefully negotiating the maze of birders' cars, parked everywhere along the road, I made it back into Oxford and back home exactly one hour after I left. Success!

Some shaky video footage I took whilst I was briefly there 

To my amazement, the bird was reported as still present the next morning, allowing some straggler birders to get to see it. Feeling more and more sorry for the bird, I broached the subject of a rescue attempt and this was where the power of WhatsApp kicked in with useful contributions from various people. The lock keeper's contact details were obtained and Ollie Padget, a sea-bird research expert and registered ringer set off to see what could be done. We all followed proceedings on WhatsApp with bated breath before the bird was finally captured.

Ollie with the bird in hand

Some video footage taken by Peter Alfrey (c)

Ollie, a Port Meadow regular, happens to live close to me and I got to take another peak at the bird when he brought it back. After some consultation with some of his learned colleagues in the sea bird reasearch department it was decided that the best thing was for it to be taken back to the sea as quickly as possible and released at dusk (to avoid being immediately predated by gulls). It was examined carefully in the hand where it was discovered to have a reasonable amount of body fat on it which meant that it would hopefully have enough strength to get through the time it would take to be released.

Awaiting transportation back to the coast

That afternoon it was taken by Conor Mackenzie down to Somerset where it was released in a tidal tributory of the Severn. Hopefully it will now actually stand a chance of making it back to the sea - it's certainly got a better chance than being on the Thames at Farmoor! So top teamwork by Team Oxon Birders resulted in a much more hopeful outcome for this lovely little bird and I could enjoy the warm glow of the fall of a massive blocker with a clear conscience.