The Lees

Sunny, 26°, light SW.

The Lees area: Another warm one. Several Sedge and Reed Warbler in brief song, a couple of Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Common Whitethroat, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer and a Corn Bunting. 2 Pied Wagtail taking food to a nest site and a single Yellow Wagtail and Grey Heron.

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle and Common Blue Damsel.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

A quiet start to July

Sunny periods, 23°, light SW.

Bunk area still pretty quiet birdwise: a Hobby heading north, a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a flock of Hirundines, several Yellowhammer and Common Whitethroat, 20+ Swallow, 10+ House Martin, 3-4 Sand Martin, 20+ Swift, good numbers of Linnet in what looked like family groups, 2 Herring Gull at the usual site and couple of young Green Woodpecker.

Mammals: A Grey Squirrel in the garden feasting on Gooseberries.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damsel, Azure Damsel and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Bunk

Sunny, 26°, breezy SSW.

Bunk area: still pretty quiet birdwise but lots of butterflies on the wing.

The usual Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Yellowhammer present. several Jay, a Grey Wagtail, several Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin.

Mammals: Red Fox and a Noctule over the garden after dark.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damsel and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Ladybird larvae feeding on Blackfly courtesy Bill Nicholls

Lollingdon

Sunny, 22°, breezy SW.

A walk out to Lollingdon today and pretty quiet bird wise. A Lesser Whitethroat in song near Little Lollingdon plus several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer on the walk.

The Hill was quiet apart from a flock of c200 Rook and Jackdaw, a single Kestrel and 2 Swift over.

30+ Swallow feeding over fields with a good amount of youngsters present.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle and a Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Ruby

Mainly sunny, 23°, breezy SW.

Out in the garden today with some interesting insects about.

I have a few ‘Bug Hotels’ out and are being used by some solitary Bees and I noticed a Ruby-tailed Wasp species ( a cuckoo wasp) prowling around the hotel. I’m assuming it’s Chrysis ignita rather than one of the rarer species. It just happens to be a parasite of solitary bees.

Also a bug I am unable to identify and a Large Skipper butterfly.

Ruby-tailed Wasp sp

One of the Bees sealing the hole

Large Skipper

Ladybird larvae

1 of 3 Bug Hotels being used

Back to Cholsey

Sunny periods, 20°, breezy W.

Back home after a week in Huddersfield, Yorkshire visiting Loren's family. Didn’t have much time for birding up north so nothing to report other than a singing Willow Warbler on the outskirts of Barnsley. Nothing unusual there but nice to hear.

Out along the Bunk area today with very little change. A Green Sandpiper flushed by RB on Friday from the bottom of his garden along Cholsey Brook.

Some young Swallow on the wing today, a few Sand and House Martin and the odd Swift over. Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff still singing and 2 Herring Gull in the usual area but little else of note.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle and Common Blue Damsel.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Moths: Scarlet Tiger in garden.

Quiet times

Sunny, 25°, breezy S.

Bunk area:

A bit samey out there today. a Lesser Whitethroat still singing well plus the several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer. 20+ House Martin and several Swallow, Sand Martin and Swift feeding overhead.

Mammals: Common Pipistrelle and Noctule after 21:30.  

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle and Common Blue Damsel.

Butterflies: numbers still low: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Others: Stag Beetle.

Lollingdon & Garden

Sunny, 24°, light SE.

Lollingdon: again very quiet, 6 singing Yellowhammer, several Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff and a Raven over was about all worth noting.

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole.  

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

Recently:

2 Muntjac Deer in garden regularly, up to 3 Hedgehog every night. Confirmed by Trail Cam.

Common and Soprano Pipistrelle recorded on several nights with Bat detector. A young Robin in garden and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker very frequent in garden and the Song Thrush still singing regularly and that is since mid-December last year.

Small Tortoiseshell

Large Skipper

A few Poppies in a sea of barley

All rather quiet

Sunny spells, 17°, breezy WSW.

Very much the same as Wednesday along the Bunk: Lesser Whitethroat still singing regularly. As are several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Yellowhammer etc. around the same number of Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and Swift noted but little else.

Dragonflies: several Common Blue Damsel and a 4-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Marbled White and Speckled Wood.

This tiny Beetle landed on the back of my hand but unable to positively ID it. 3-4mm long and all black. Any ideas welcome.

Thanks to John Lindley and 1 other for confirmation.

Plagiodera versicolora.

Bunk

Mainly cloudy with a few light rain showers, 17°, moderate WSW.

Bunk area:

Pretty quiet, a Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 7 Yellowhammer, a Yellow Wagtail, 30+ House Martin, 20+ Swallow, several Sand Martin and Swift, a Hobby, a Jay, 23 Lesser Blackback Gull and 2 Black-headed Gull.

Dragonflies: a handful of Common Blue Damsel.

Butterflies: Peacock, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Cholsey Marsh and the Lees.

Cloudy with frequent sunny spells, 19°, breezy W.

Cholsey Marsh and the Lees.

Cuckoo, Cetti’s Warbler, 7 Reed Warbler, c20 Sedge Warbler, 4 Garden Warbler, 6 Blackcap, 5 Common Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 7 Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Black-headed Gull etc. (some species noted at both sites).

Yesterday, a Peregrine and a Sparrowhawk over the garden, plus 36 other species noted in or from the garden.

Mammals: at least 2 Common Pipistrelle flying around the garden this evening.  

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle, Large Red Damsel, Azure Damsel, Common Blue Damsel and 4-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: still few on the wing, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Peacock and Meadow Brown.

Sedge and Reed Warbler

2-spot Ladybird

Buff Ermine ?

Common Blue Damsel

Chicken of the Woods

Reed Bunting

Frog

 This is what happens when you leave your outside door open.

Taken out and released in the garden.

Lollingdon, all quiet

Cloudy, 22°, light WSW.

A disappointing walk out to Lollingdon. Apart from 8 Common Whitethroat, 7 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff and 4 Yellowhammer in song there was very little else of note about.

Mammals: Brown Hare and in garden, Hedgehog, plus 2 Common Pipistrelle overhead.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: still few on the wing: 2 Brimstone, several Small White, 1 Green-veined White, 1 Orange Tip, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Speckled Wood and 3 Meadow Brown.

Not a lot

Mostly cloudy, 18°, breezy SW.

Bunk area: not a lot going on.

A good number of House Martin and Swallow feeding over the fields, plus a few Sand Martin and the odd Swift.

Several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer, 2 Lapwing, 2 Black-headed Gull and 8 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Dragonflies: Azure Damsel.

Butterflies: Small White, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light NE.

Lollingdon very quiet today:

6 Yellowhammer, 7 Blackcap, 5 Common Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Swallow, a Jay and a Corn Bunting etc.

A couple of fields out Lollingdon way have flooded over the last few winters and the crop has failed and allowed other plants to break through. The fields have then not been managed into the spring and cut in the autumn and have allowed at least 2 pair of Lapwing to breed. This year the “farmer” has cut the growth in the fields in the middle of the Lapwing breeding season. Subsequently, no Lapwing this year!

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle.

Butterflies: very few on the wing. Brimstone, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.