Walberg Nature reserve (Oxfordshire) (1 Viewer)

We went up to Walberg yesterday, after an eventful journey. We managed to be in autopilot and ended up missing the junction to come off for Henley and then we drove round the entire reserve without finding the entrance! However, we did see a fantastic water rat at the service station as well as some very bold starlings and pied wagtails. The sight of red kites, buzzards and rooks whilst driving up the motorway was fantastic.

At the reserve we went into the hide with the feeders and had some beautiful views of siskin, nuthatch, loads of great/blue/marsh/willow(they may have been both but I'm no expert in determining the difference without them calling) tits, gold and chaffinch and two fat rats feeding under one of the feeders. We walked around the nature trail and saw a crossbill (my first), goldcrests, longtailed tits and pheasants. The constant sight of the red kites scouring the landscapes and swooping down seemed to be too much of a pull the eyes, especially when they seemed to be less than 10ft from your head, and reduced our efforts for the other woodland birds (which they seemed to be plenty singing around us). So we did not see any woodpeckers and tree creepers but we had heard both. Two types of deer where roaming around and we heard a roost of birds but we could not identify them. Every time we got close they moved and the branches stopped us from getting a clear view of them. We found plenty of owl pellets on the ground but, once again, didn’t see any. They seem to be a bit of a bogey group for me at present and I’m starting too think that they are either an elaborate hoax or are robotic, like in Blade Runner, and therefore only found in Rupert Murdoch‘s office. We managed to get a near perfect view of a male and female siskin a branch down from each other and facing the same direction. It was quite spectacular.

The only down side of the day was when we worked back to the car a rat was screaming in pain and dragging itself by the front paws across the dirt track. It had a massive slice mark around the mid back region and looked to have a broken back. It was a big blighter and I managed to get it out of immediate harms way. To be honest I was at a loss for what to actually do. It didn’t look like it would recover. What do you do in the circumstances? I had a 12 year old little girl with me who was starting, with her mother, to freak out a bit. My initial thoughts were that a raptor had had a go but the rat wasn’t going with out a fight. It was a realisation, which at times I am guilty of forgetting, that the beautiful red kites and buzzards we had come to see had probably done this and this is what nature is all about.

On a different note, if anyone has lost a blue walking stick I handed it in at the visitor centre.

I think I’ll be heading back up to the region and I would definitely recommend Walberg nature reserve to anyone and everyone.

Much appreciation for reading and to the people on the forum who added their advice to where to go.
I’m now off to order a British mammals book- does anyone have any suggestions? Is the Collins Complete British Wildlife book any good?

Cheers,
Paul

SPF,

Sounds like a you had a good day despite the issues of finding the entrance. This is a day trip i would like to do. What facilities are there and is it easy to get to.

Another good place to go which i have just been to for the first time, despite living 30 mins away, is Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve. This is part of the Kent Wildlife Trust. They have a small cafe open on the weekends but nowhere to sit indoors but some seats under cover. A Good visitor centre and they are doing some work to upgrade the facilities. I will be returning there soon.

SPF,

Do you mean Warburg NR, in Bix? I've been there several times in the last couple of years but I've never seen a Crossbill. There's usually a Nuthatch on the trees next to the car park. Lots of marsh tits by the feeders. A friend of mine said he heard a willow tit there, but I've never seen any.

There's a hide in front of a small pond, which is near eye level when inside the hide. Its a great place for photography. I've seen Siskins, Bullfinches, Goldcrests, Blackcaps, and 4 tit species all taking a bath there.

Baldingeagle- they are 3 small villages around the area; Bix, Middle
Assendon and Bix Bottom. The map on the link below does not have Bix Bottom labeled but follow the road for this village and you'll be there.

http://www.bbowt.org.uk/content.asp?did=23596

There is a visitor centre with toilets and a list of what has been seen recently on a whiteboard and loads of leaflets for the other reserves in the area, 2 hides, a picnic area and plenty of trails. I was really impressed with the place.
I'll have a look at the Sevenoaks Nature Reserve, cheers for the info.

Helios- Yeah, it was the NR near Bix. The Nuthatch was flying from the trees near the car park to the hide with the feeder. The second hide, you mentioned, was were we saw the male and female siskin. They was also a red wing rummaging around there. We saw the crossbill on the Nature walk. When you follow the trail, you walk through several fields surrounded by woodland and there is a bit where you take a left-hander down the path and enter dense woodland, with mainly very tall evergreen trees. We saw at least 4 goldcrest on the tops and a crossbill feeding. It took some time to get a clear view and nearly a crick in our necks but for the view of it feeding was worth it, we even saw the bill silhouetted. We were looking for the firecrest which was listed on the notice board and we were trying to see if it was amongst the goldcrests. We saw over 30 birds in total but I am sure you’d see more if you stop looking up at the red kites.

I hope this helps

Paul