Birds

The Ridgeway either side of the River Thames offers two contrasting bird habitats.  The open countryside to the south west  is home to Skylarks, Meadow pipits, Yellowhammers, Lapwings, Kestrels and Buzzards.   The arable fields either side of the route attract Partridge, Pheasant and Quail, and a few Lapwings nest in cereal fields.  Corn Buntings may be seen singing on the fences.

To the east are the well wooded Chiltern Hills with some of the finest high beech woodland in Britain.  These woods are home to Tits, Great-spotted Woodpeckers and Nuthatches.   Where the woods are bordered by open grassland, Green Woodpeckers may be found.  And Kites now breed at Aston Rowant.  The woodland edges offer a greater range of shrubs and attract similar birds as hedgerows and scrub.   Hedgerows are a prominent feature in parts along the whole length of The Ridgeway.  They are home to Blackbirds, Jays, Tits and Chiffchaffs, and in sparse hedges and scrub, Yellowhammers and Linnets.   In the denser bushes, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Willow Warbler move in.   In the tallest, thickest hedges more woodland species breed, including Blackcap, Blackbird and Dove.

MIGRATION - The open chalk escarpments of the Wessex Downs and the Chilterns form natural highways for migrating birds.  Wheatears stop on the fields and gallops to feed on their journeys to and from Africa.   In the scrub and hedgerows in late summer, Warblers, Flycatchers and Redstarts stop on their long journey south, especially on prominent south facing areas like Barbury Castle, White Horse Hill, Coombe Hill and Ivinghoe Beacon.   Autumn sees gatherings of Finches and Buntings (especially Linnets) along the length of The Ridgeway.  They feed on spilt grain from the harvest and other seeds.

IN WINTER the open downland can be bleak, but large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares arrive from their breeding areas in Scandinavia.  They come to feed on hedgerow berries.  The resident finches, particularly Linnets, Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings, flock together feeding along the field edges and roosting in the scrub.  The winter bird flocks and small mammals are a valuable food supply for birds of prey who have bred further north and spend the winter on the downs.   Merlins, Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls join the local Sparrowhawks and Kestrels each year.   In woodland in winter the seeds of the beech trees is a favourite food of Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Tits and in some years Bramblings.