A new Oxfordshire Big Day record – and set by bike!

Good weather to find migrating birds inland, is not good weather. The wind must swing around to the compass’s cooler side, ideally the east or north-east. The clouds need to roll in and frequent showers help ground birds that would otherwise pass high overhead, undetected. Good weather for cycling is rather different. Light winds, moderate to warm temperatures and dry roads are the cyclist’s dream. So, if you want to find lots of good birds by bike in Oxfordshire, you need to be prepared to brave the elements. Or see nothing.

I am very experienced at seeing nothing. I did Big Days in 2017 and 2018 that saw glorious, hot sunny days with blue skies, but with precious few birds. We crawled to a total of 104 species in 2017 and 106 species in 2018.

Ben Sheldon, Thomas Miller and I first discussed doing an Oxfordshire Big Day early in 2023. This Big Day would be different. We would not use a car, but would rather see how many species of bird we could record in Oxfordshire, just using our bikes. Unfortunately, I was unavailable at a family wedding on the best date that they could both make in late April 2023. Ben and Thomas spent a full day in the field and saw an incredible 112 species as a team, all by bike. This was only just short of the all-time record of 117 species, set by Wayne Paes, Tom Wickens and Manoj Noir on 9^th May 2021. We were sure that the record could be broken by a team using just bikes, providing the weather cooperated. We agreed to set aside the weekend of April 27^th and 28^th for our 2024 Big Day attempt and would make a decision on which day to use based on the weather forecast.

The forecast leading up to the weekend changed on a daily basis. Like most of the spring of 2024, it would be cool to cold. The winds were forecast to swing around to the north-east on Friday evening. Cloud cover was guaranteed. And there would be rain. How much rain was forecast seemed to vary between the different weather forecasts. All agreed there that would some light rain at first on Saturday, but that Sunday morning would be dominated by a heavy band of rain. We agreed Saturday looked best and made plans for a Big Day on Saturday 27^th April. Then on Friday night, the forecast changed, predicting a very wet end of the day, as well as the beginning. We gritted our teeth and decided to stick with Saturday. Sunday looked even worse.

I opened my front door at 04:15am on Saturday morning. The petrichor was strong in my nostrils, and it was beginning to drizzle. I could smell the rain. I cycled down to The Plain roundabout, at the bottom of the High Street in Oxford, and met up with Ben and Thomas. At just after 4:30am we began the hour-long ride out to the Chilterns. The rain caught us before we had left Oxford. By the time we passed Stadhampton, some 10km/6 miles from Oxford, we all had soaking wet feet. I had hoped that the moment that I became soaked through would happen much later in the day than this. By the time we began the long hill up past Watlington and onto the Chiltern escarpment, we were all drenched and the temperature was only just above freezing.

Watlington Hill is a well-known climb amongst local cyclists. The first section is quite steep and favours the stronger, lighter riders. Everyone goes up it at their own pace. Thomas led the way, being a strong cyclist and a good climber, I followed next, followed by Ben, laden with a rucksack containing a small scope. There is always a nice feeling of satisfaction on completing the climb. Thomas and I waited at the top and Ben cycled up towards us, but with some horrifying news. Halfway up the hill, a Long-eared Owl had flown across the road in front of him. Climbing Watlington Hill in the pitch dark and freezing rain is painful enough. To miss what could be the bird of the day, and so early in our Big Day attempt, was excruciating. As all three of us had not seen the owl, we could not count it in our team total. Things went from bad to worse, as our first stop, for a scarce local breeding bird, was a failure and we did not see or hear it. Things then went from worse to downright dangerous. On top of the Chiltern escarpment, the cold north-easterly wind was strong, chilling our wet bodies to the bone. I have never felt so cold and so wet on a bike.

We cycled to Cowlease Wood to get some woodland species at dawn, but by the time we arrived, Thomas was going hypothermic. He was shaking like a leaf and was unable to use his hands to change from cycling to walking shoes. Ben had an emergency down jacket in his backpack and gave it to Thomas to try to raise his body temperature. Hypothermia commonly causes impaired cognitive function. I could tell that Thomas was beginning to lose it, because a short while later he said that he thought he had heard a Redpoll flight call.

We began birding, whilst I tried to keep the thoughts of hypothermia from my mind. I tried to use eBird to record the species that we saw, but I could not feel or use my fingers. Birding was also made difficult by the sheer number of Firecrests singing. This species has dramatically increased in the county over the last twenty years. It was hard to hear anything behind the curtain of constant Firecrest song. Then Ben said “Redpoll!” Was he going hypothermic too? I tried to blank out the high-pitched screaming from the Firecrests and there, in a rare quiet moment, was a classic Redpoll trill. A singing male Lesser Redpoll, and even better, a flyover Siskin too. Two species that we had not anticipated recording in late April. Singing Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch and Treecreeper also added three species onto our list that can be tricky on Big Days. As it turned out, we found at least 10 Lesser Redpolls in the woods, including several singing males.

We cycled back to our scarce local breeder, who finally showed itself and then we began the ride to the Oxon Downs in the south of the county. The rain had stopped, the cycling warmed us up and we were seeing birds. What could possibly go wrong?

Despite smashing into a submerged pothole and puncturing my front tyre, our visit to the Downs was productive. There are not many pairs of Stonechat or Meadow Pipit breeding in the county and a Tree Pipit was a real quality bonus, as was a Wheatear and a flyover Cuckoo. However, our misses here balanced out the positives. Despite much scanning of an appropriate area, we could not pick out a Stone Curlew and we did not see Grey Partridge either. We met up with Tom Wickens, who had provided us with much invaluable information beforehand, was doing his own personal Big Day by bike and was carrying his own ‘scope. Incredibly, he was braving the sub-zero windchill and regular rain showers in shorts:

From the Downs we headed back into the flatlands and visited Appleford Gravel Pits. Open water brought a rapid increase in our trip list with a few Swifts and all the hirundines present, plus Little Grebe and our only Grey Wagtail of the day. A flooded field between Didcot and Abingdon looked superb and produced our first waders of the day: 3 Little Ringed Plovers, a Green Sandpiper and a first-summer Ringed Plover, expertly picked out by Ben and Thomas. A fine male Yellow Wagtail took us to #84 species, just after midday.

Then there was the second-longest ride of the day, to Farmoor Reservoir, where news had reached us of Little Gull and Arctic Tern passage. Sure enough, both species were on F1, three fabulous summer-plumaged adult Little Gulls and at least 2 Arctic Terns, both great species to pick up on a Big Day:

The café at Farmoor provided much-needed hot food and coffee, before we walked over to the Pinkhill hide and the River Thames. 4 Common Sandpipers were on the bank of F1 and 2 Snow Geese flew over, a feral surprise. There were no Kingfishers visible from the hide, but one was calling and briefly glimpsed on the Thames, our only Kingfisher of the day. A singing Garden Warbler at Pinkhilll was species #93, as we left Farmoor for Wytham Woods. Could we get to Otmoor with 100 species already seen? If so, we knew we would be on course for a great day total.

Despite it being after 2pm we had not seen or heard a Green Woodpecker, so it was a relief to hear one yaffling at Wytham, where Marsh Tit and Little Egret were also added.

We skirted around the north part of Port Meadow, but failed to pick up any Cattle Egrets, despite some being present all week. We met Adam Hartley at the Port Meadow floods, in a very efficient five-minute stop where we added 2 Great White Egrets, Shelduck and our only 2 Dunlin of the day.

2 Ring-necked Parakeets in Marston Meadows became species #100, as we began the cycle ride out to our final destination: Otmoor. We were on target.

We started on the Oddington side, scanning the flood field for waders, ducks and gulls. I had become aware that it was very reassuring to have one of the country’s leading gull identification experts with you on a Big Day. If there was anything slightly white-headed or immature in the gull department, we just pointed Thomas Miller at it and waited for an identification to come out. So, I was completely shocked when, as he scanned the Otmoor floods, he declared “What sort of gull is that?!” I was flabbergasted. It must be NEW TO SCIENCE! Further examination revealed a first-summer Black-headed Gull, half a mile away, with the sun behind it and mostly hidden in vegetation. These amateurs, eh?

The flood field was very productive. Wigeon and Pintail were new ducks; Grey Plover, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank were new waders. An unringed Eurasian Crane was present and there was a Barn Owl perched in a hedge.  

By 7pm we were on the Otmoor bridleway, having seen 108 species, more than either of my car-based Big Days. We were now trying to get as many species on the list before a heavy band of rain moved in and dampened down bird activity. We saw the Otmoor Barnacle Goose, finally connected with a calling Bullfinch, before a Peregrine became species#111.  We walked up to the screens and added Pochard, a booming Bittern and a Marsh Harrier. It took a while, but eventually we heard a squealing Water Rail and at least 2 Grasshopper Warblers began reeling in the carpark field.

As the light went and the rain started we were on 116 species, including two species of feral geese (Snow and Barnacle) and an unringed Eurasian Crane. We had not heard or seen a Snipe yet, so walked back towards the Wetlands Watch hide. Eventually, in little light, we heard a Snipe singing, and then one drumming too. This species took us level with the 2021 record total of 117 species. Then a superb end-of-day magical moment was provided by Thomas finding a Short-eared Owl quartering The Closes. Species #118 for the day, the most species seen in a day in Oxfordshire and all recorded by bike and on foot!

Could we go further? In total darkness and pouring rain, the day ended as it had begun. We cycled back into Oxford in the rain. We gave the Lye Valley Tawny Owls a few minutes to call, but it was always a long-shot in the heavy rain. We finished, tired but very happy after 142km/92 miles cycled and some 16km/10 miles walked, on 118 species. With Ben’s Long-eared Owl flypast and Tom Wickens hearing a Tawny Owl on the way home, 120 species were recorded in Oxfordshire on 27^th April 2024 by just the four of us, using only bikes.

For comparison, a combined across-county effort by birders in neighbouring Buckinghamshire on the same day, produced 124 species, only four more species than our small group of bike-powered birders in Oxfordshire. We did not see Cattle Egret, Red-crested Pochard, Stone Curlew, Grey Partridge, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Redstart or Whinchat in our total, so there is still scope for the record to be extended. If the record is broken again, those involved may have to endure similar weather. May they suffer less than we did!

Many thanks to everyone who helped us out with information and scouting, both before and during the Big Day, and the support from the local birding community. Ben has helpfully provided the list for the day:

(Well spotted, Linnet does appear twice on this list! One of the entries should read “Jackdaw”, so the overall total is not affected)