American Golden Plover at Otmoor

Last Saturday news "broke" of an American Golden Plover at Otmoor. I say "broke" because it was initially a very confused affair. Somone on a local Facebook group posted a photo of a Golden Plover species that they weren't sure was a Eurasion or an American. They reported that "multiple people" had seen it but no one was sure what it was. This was certainly news to the county's birding WhatsApp group and started off a rather confusing period of time where those nearby converged on the Wetlands Watch Hide, took some photos and tried to ID the bird. The trouble was that this was a first winter bird at a reasonable distance from the hide in bright hazy sunlight so initially the photos were less than conclusive. Eventually somone posted a decent phone-scoped photo during a time when the sun went behind a cloud and at last the photo was clear enough for everyone to be certain that it was an American Golden Plover. This kicked off a mass twitch with many of the county's finest converging on the hide that afternoon. 

Photo courtesy of Steve Sansom

I had been doing various household chores but with everyone else out of the house for the afternoon and with nothing else planned it seemed like a no brainer to go and take a look. Not that I "needed" Anerican Golden Plover (or AGP as it is often abbreviated to) for the county having already seen two previously, but as it was only the third county record (yes I've seen all the previous county records) it's a really good Oxon bird and definitely worth paying homage to. So I set off in the Gnome mobile, electing to park at Noke and walk in from the west giving the likelihood of the main carpark being rammed. It was a pleasant sunny afternoon and after a brisk walk while being serenaded by warblers, I arrived at the Wetlands Watch Hide to find surprisingly few people there but everyone looking relaxed with the bird on show and looking settled. A quick "for the tick" peep through someone's scope and I was able to relax and set up my own optics. There it was, my third AGP for Oxon in all its plovery glory, looking very much at home as it fed along the distant shoreline. I passed a very pleasant hour or so watching the AGP, trying to take some video footage and chatting to the various county birders as they came and went. It was very interesting to tune into its jizz: it's long attentuated rear really gave it a different feel from a Eurasian GP - it felt very different to watch.  

 

A record shot videograb of the bird above; below showing the diagnostic dark underwing

 

Some video footage courtesy of Jason Coppock

At one point quite soon after I arrived, SS who was sitting next to me spotted a White Stork circling in front of us. For more than five minutes we watched as it circled overhead, constantly being harried by Red Kites. At one point it looked like it wanted to land but the Kites kept buzzing it and eventually it drifted off to the east. This was probably the same bird that had been seen in the west of the county the previous day but was a very nice bonus bird to get. Photo analysis determined that it was ringed and had probably been released from a West Country release scheme.

The White Stork overhead courtesy of Gareth Cashburn

After I'd had my fill of the AGP I went for a little walk to take a look at the resident Glossy Ibis trio down by the first screen. Apparently they tend to commute between the first screen and the pools just on the other side of the path in the north east corner of Big Otmoor. Indeed I soon found them at this latter location feeding away busily and looking very much at home. Then it was time to amble back to the car and to head homewards for my usual celebratory cup of tea.

At this point I should wheel out some backstories about the history of this species within the county. Local birders will already know this but the story of how the first one was found is so extraordinary that it certainly bears repeating. Back in the day before AGP had been recorded in the county, our esteemed county recorder had told me to be on the lookout for this species in the large Golden Plover flocks that used to congregate on my local patch of Port Meadow back in the day. Sadly these days these flocks no longer grace the patch but at that time you could get several hundred easily in a flock. Back then I was inexperienced and fairly useless at bird ID ("what's changed?" I hear you ask!) but IL the county recorder patiently tried to explain what to look out for. My tiny brain was only able to take in the bare gist of it so basically I just tried to look for something that was "different". One day not long after this conversation back in October 2008, I indeed found a Golden Plover that looked "different" and stood out from the crowd. I phoned IL and told him I'd seen an unusual Plover so he thought he'd better come and take a look. I'd left by this time but a while later I got a call from him that he had indeed found an American Golden Plover in the flock. I hurried back down and was treated to great views of a juvenile bird in amongst the rather restless flock that kept flying up and resettling. After a short period of time the flock got spooked one time too often and flew off so only a handful of county birders managed to see it. Now, it turned out that the AGP wasn't anything like the "different" bird that I'd picked out. I had noticed one that was unusually pale whereas this bird was a classic dark juvenile with strong supercilium. So I'd completely got it wrong and had dragged the county recorder down to take a look on a wild goose chase only for him to find the real deal in amongst the flock. What are the chances of that happening? Needless to say after this I soon learned how to ID them properly.

Record shot of the 2008 American Golden Plover at the back courtesy of Nic Hallam

I did manage to redeem myself four years later. I had since made a habit of always scanning through the Golden Plover flock on the Port Meadow looking out for rarities. One evening at last light in November 2012 I was looking through a flock of only about 30 birds when at the back I found a genuine American Golden Plover. This time I knew exactly what to look for and was pretty certain of the ID. IL confirmed it from the video footage I'd taken but it was too late for anyone else to twitch it that day. The next morning the great and the good of the county were at Port Meadow at first light. By all accounts the Plover flock gave them the run-around. They all circled high for several hours without ever landing before finally settling mid morning with the AGP still in amongst them. It didn't stay that long though and quite a few county Big Listers managed to miss it for one reason or another.

2012 American Golden Plover courtesy of Jason Coppock

This year's bird did the decent thing and stayed three days, allowing just about everyone in the county who needed it to connect. It had been really nice to have one that was so comparatively easy to see. There was no big flocks to sift through, no being spooked and then having to refind it. Just one settled bird on its own, almost constantly on view (it did disappear for short periods of time but would always return). Come Tuesday morning it had gone on its way. What a nice bird to have seen!