Grey Plover

Overcast, 18°, light SSE.

A pretty good day all round. Alan covered Bunk this morning and Cholsey Hill this afternoon and I covered Bunk this afternoon.

A Grey Plover (3rd Cholsey record) with c60 Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill was the highlight and a single Swallow over.

Bunk: c300 Redwing, 10 Fieldfare over, 4-500 Starling, and increase in both Song Thrush and Blackbird numbers, 5 Siskin, 7 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, several Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Pied Wagtail, a single Grey Wagtail and a Common Snipe.

2 Wigeon on flood near Wallingford Road this morning. Per Michael Pocock.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Small White.

AD, MP & PC.

Grey Plover with Golden Plover. bottom right in above pic and bottom left in pic below. Courtesy Alan.

One of several Swallow

A distant Redwing

A swarm of insects near CSW.

Redwings arrive as Swallows leave

Sunny spells and a few showers, 14°, light WNW.

Alan finally found our first Redwing of this winter period with 9 along Green Lane, presumably feeding on Hawthorn berries. As Redwing are coming in Swallow are in the process of leaving and approx 20 passed over moving south. Also a Blackcap still present.

Redwing (from my archive)

Sunshiny Day

A sunny day, 12°, light S.

Another quietish day along the Bunk: 3 Swallow, a single Chiffchaff and Blackcap, a Coot (first of the year) , Kingfisher, 2 Raven, c80 Meadow Pipit, 10+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, several Skylark and 3 Goose species.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Large White, 2 Small White and 5 Red Admiral.

Long-tailed Tit

Egyptian Goose

Common Darter

Gone quiet

Cloudy with some sunny intervals, 10°, light NW.

A quiet afternoon along the Bunk area today, 12+ Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and several Meadow Pipit.

Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese present in the usual spot but little else around.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: a few Whites, a Red Admiral and a Comma.

AD & PC.

Yellow Field Cap

Aurora put on a brief show tonight

A Grey Day

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 15°, light NNW.

Flooded field Lollingdon this morning, c50 Lapwing and c400 Lesser Blackback Gull. Per Alan.

Bunk area this afternoon, 8 Swallow, 5 Chiffchaff, a male Blackcap (in song), c80 Meadow Pipit, c30 Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, c20 Skylark, 3 Mute Swan, 10 Egyptian Geese, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 3 Grey Heron, c400 Starling, c300 Lesser Blackback Gull and 20+ Black-headed Gull.

Dragonflies: 1 Migrant Hawker and 2 Common Darter.

The back end of 2 Egyptian Geese

Starling

A wet one

Mainly rain with minimal sunny spells, 15°, light S.

A trek along the Bunk area this afternoon in the rain and expectations were not high. Didn’t take the camera as rain and cameras do not mix well.

4 Swallow, 12 House Martin, 5 Chiffchaff, 100+ Meadow Pipit, several Skylark and Pied Wagtail, 3 Green Woodpecker, a Mistle Thrush and a Grey Heron etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Red Admiral.

Mistle Thrush (from my archive)

Bunk & Lollingdon

Sunny periods and light showers, 17°, breezy S.

Lollingdon fairly quiet again. Alan found a Ringed Plover and 7 Lapwing on floods between Aston and Lollingdon along with c350 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Sparrowhawk, Meadow Pipit, several Chiffchaff, a Blackcap and Corn Bunting.

A female Merlin seen along the Bunk and flew off towards Cholsey Hill and in the process put up c80 Meadow Pipit and 20+ Skylark, plus 2 Swallow hawking over CSW.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. Painted Lady and Small Tortoiseshell. Per RJ.

AD, TW, RJ & PC.

Ringed Plover courtesy Alan ↕

A raucous Rook 

Autumnal

Sunny intervals, 16°, light S.

With the weather feeling quite autumnal today, TW found a male Common Redstart out at Lollingdon today, quite a late one.

Elsewhere, along the Bunk area: 30 Cormorant over, 2 Grey Wagtail, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 35 Meadow Pipit, c10 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, several Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin.

Butterflies: a single Small White.

Dragonflies: many Common Darter.

AD, PC & TW.

Meadow Pipit

Cormorant courtesy Alan

Greylag Geese and a single Canada Goose

Bunk & Lollingdon

Mainly sunny, 16°, light ENE.

Lollingdon, very quiet today. Just a Kingfisher, a few Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest worth noting.

The Bunk area also a bit quieter. A Stonechat, 6 Swallow over, up to 8 Chiffchaff, several Meadow Pipit and Skylark etc.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Brimstone, several Large and Small White, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

Stonechat

Common Darter

Bunk & River

Overcast and showery, 15°, breezy NNE.

Relatively quiet along the Bunk area today: good numbers of Skylark and Meadow Pipit with 100+ of each, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 5 Swallow, a few Siskin heard overhead, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Jay, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Teal and a lot of Gulls with most moving in a northerly direction.

River: several Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Reed Bunting and Chiffchaff.

Dragonflies: A Southern Hawker and several Common Darter. River: Willow Emerald, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Whites and 2 Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Bunk

Cloudy with light showers, 14°, brisk W.

Another reasonable passage of Hirundines along the Bunk area today. 200+ birds with House Martin just edging Swallow and c20 Sand Martin.

Plus 4 Shoveler overhead, several Canada and Greylag Geese moving, a Sparrowhawk causing panic amongst a Tit flock, 3 Green Woodpecker, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 9 Meadow Pipit, 8 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and the usual Gulls.

A flock of c100 Meadow Pipit and c30 Skylark on Cholsey Hill this afternoon.

2 Tawny Owl regular in and near garden after dark and both Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch regular visitors to feeders.

Dragonflies: 2 Southern Hawker and a Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Large White, several Small White and a Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Rain and Shine

Rain clearing, then sunny spells, 13°, breezy NNW.

Still a good passage of Hirundines passing through over the Bunk area, with c250 Swallow, 80+ House Martin and 60+ Sand Martin.

200+ Lesser Blackback Gull and a few Black-headed Gull loafing in fields, a Sparrowhawk, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 10+ Chiffchaff (incl 1 in song) and a Stonechat. Plus a Peregrine along Westfield Road.

The sun made a show around 14:00 and a few insects appeared.

Dragonflies: a single Common Blue Damselfly, a Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

A few of the Swallow hawking over flooded fields

The Stonechat (above PC, below AD)

Lesser Blackback Gull

Speckled Wood

Still b****y raining

Showery, 17°, light SSW.

Stonechat still present along Bunk Line and a Common Whitethroat. Per Alan:

More rain

Mostly cloudy, rain later, 15°, light SSE.

Lollingdon very quiet today, some extensive flooding in fields but little present. A few Lesser Blackback Gull, a single Herring Gull and 6 Lapwing over.

6 Chiffchaff noted but no other migrants.

On the other hand, Alan had better luck in the Bunk area. 200+ Meadow Pipit, several Yellow Wagtail, a Stonechat, c50 Swallow/House Martin, Raven, 3 Grey Heron, several Teal, 100+ Mallard, c80 Lesser Blackback Gull etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit courtesy Alan

Hirundines still on the move

Mainly cloudy, 15°, light SW.

Alan out along the Bunk area this morning and I grabbed a couple of hours this afternoon.

c350 Hirundines passing through today and roughly 50/50 Swallow and House Martin.

8 Teal, several Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Green Woodpecker, a Kingfisher, 250+ Lesser Blackback Gull, c60 Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Raven, a Jay, several Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Blackcap and several Chiffchaff.

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Grey Heron with a Swallow passing

Green Woodpecker

Some of the Lesser Blackback Gulls present in the area