Lollingdon and The Lees

Sunny, 0°, light NNW.

Lollingdon and The Lees area:

9 Teal, and 8 Common Snipe all flushed from ditches as the flood was frozen over, 5+ Chiffchaff (4 out by the Lees and 1 Lollingdon), 2 Little Egret, a Grey Heron, 18 Lapwing, a Merlin flushed 20 Golden Plover from Cholsey Hill and they settled near the farm.

Plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered around, 5 Mistle Thrush and a flock of 20+ Meadow Pipit.

2 White-fronted Geese flew from the river to a field near the Waterloo. Per Roger Wyatt.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

White-fronted Goose courtesy Roger Wyatt

Bunk

Sunny, 2°, light NW.

Bunk area:

A Mute Swan, 12 Shoveler and 6 Little Grebe on the gravel pit and c40 Lapwing on the bank briefly before disappearing in to another pit that is not possible to view.

Lots of Winter Thrush around, c200 Fieldfare and 60+ Redwing plus a single Mistle Thrush.

A Little Owl heard calling and a Chiffchaff at CSW plus a few more, new for the year.

2026 starts here.

Sunny periods, 6°, light WNW.

Didn’t get out today so a garden watch was on the cards with 30 bird species noted not including 3 Grey Squirrel running around and a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee feeding on Japanese Mahonia flowers that are just coming in to bloom.

Birds noted were: Mallard, Red Kite, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, a male Blackcap, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Starling, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.

A Muntjac Deer calling at 23:00 nearby and a Tawny Owl at 01:00.

2025 bows out

Sunny, 2°, light W.

The last walk of the year out to the Lees and Long Ditch:

Initially appeared very quiet but the longer you are out the more you see.

Up to 100 Skylark in total spread around and c50 Meadow Pipit. 2 Common Snipe along the Long Ditch and a Kingfisher noted nearby.

A fairly large Tit flock at the Lees with c20 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest and a Treecreeper plus the odd Blue and Great Tit.

A Raven over and a few Fieldfare and Redwing moving and to bow out the year a male Merlin flew towards Cholsey Hill from near the Church.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

And finally a thank you to all contributors of 2025 for various wildlife sightings.

Alan Dawson, Richard Broughton, Marta Maziarz, Tony Williams, Geoff Wyatt, Brian Wyatt, Roger Wyatt, Ian Lewington, Michael Pocock, Mike Amphlett, Andy King, Bill Nicholls, Paul Rainsden, Richard James and several other who’s names I have forgotten, apologies.

A European Beaver photographed by Janie Maclean on 7th May on the River Thames was certainly the most significant observation this year.

Bunk

Overcast, 5°, light NE.

Bunk area:

8 Shoveler, 2 Tufted Duck and 4 Little Grebe on the gravel pit.

Lots of Winter Thrush around with 250-300 Fieldfare, 100+ Redwing and c200 Starling roaming hedgerows and fields and a flock of 80+ Lapwing flew south.

A Brambling with a small flock of Chaffinch along Green Lane, 2 Goldcrest and a Sparrowhawk and 2 Shoveler and 3 Grey Heron on the flood opposite the lane.

A Chiffchaff at CSW and another in the school wood.

A Great White Egret flew north (5th record) and a Little Egret near Cholsey Brook by CSW.

Approx. 100 Black-headed Gull at CSW and 2 Herring Gull and 23 Lesser Blackback Gull nearby.

A Blackcap, West End area yesterday. Per RB & MM.

Merry Christmas

 

From Cholsey Wildlife.

Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy, 11°, light SSE.

Not a great deal on the floods out at Lollingdon today. 135 Lesser Blackback Gull and a single Herring Gull that disappeared after being flushed by a Buzzard.

On the walk out, 2 Goldcrest and 2 Chiffchaff in the Millennium wood and another Chiffchaff out at Lollingdon. A handful of Meadow Pipit, c20 Redwing and a few Fieldfare, a single Mistle Thrush, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 4 Grey Heron and a Little Egret.

This Starling was in song for c20 minutes before joining a small flock passing by.

Bunk & Gravel pit again

Sunny, 9°, light SSW.

Gravel pit fairly quiet with the limited view, just 4 Little Grebe noted and c100 Gulls around. a single Chiffchaff nearby.

c200 Fieldfare and c100 Redwing along Green Lane and 3 Grey Heron and a Little Egret on the flood opposite the lane and another Grey Heron closer to the village.

2 Jay, 2 Sparrowhawk and a single Meadow Pipit.

The limited view we have of the gravel pit

Bunk & Gravel pit

Cloudy with some light rain, 9°, light S.

Quiet along Bunk today:

Gravel pit: 8 Shoveler, 2 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 39 Lapwing, 20+ Canada Geese and just 3 Gulls.

60+ Fieldfare, 50+ Redwing and a single Chiffchaff nearby.

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 12°, light S.

Pretty dire out at Lollingdon, nothing on the floods and very little elsewhere of note.

A few Fieldfare and Redwing, a Song Thrush singing, a hand full of Skylark and a Chiffchaff.

Another Chiffchaff in the Millennium wood and that was about it!

Bunk

Bright at first then clouding up, 10°, light S.

Pretty quiet overall along the Bunk area:

Gravel pit: c100 Lapwing, c500 Gull of 3 species and 16 Shoveler.

2 Chiffchaff at CSW along with c60 Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

40+ Fieldfare and 20+ Redwing, Green Lane and 2 Grey Heron in adjacent fields.

Lollingdon

Mainly sunny, 12°, breezy SW.

A disappointing walk out to the floods at Lollingdon. Just 3 Grey Heron around and a few Gulls.

Nearby, Fieldfare and Redwing still frequent and both Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush in song.

c20 Golden Plover, Cholsey Hill, yesterday. Per Geoff Wyatt.

Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl in garden yesterday.

Bunk & Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy with rain late afternoon, 8°, breezy SSE.

A Woodcock found by Brian Wyatt today along the Bunk line area. First for this year.

10 Lapwing on the floods out at Lollingdon, the usual Fieldfare and Redwing, a few Meadow Pipit, 2 Stonechat and a Yellowhammer.

A flock of approx. 500 Corvid nearby and a Chiffchaff in the Millennium Wood.

Lollingdon

Sunny, 10°, light S.

Lollingdon floods:

A Merlin flew in, fast and low and took what I believe was a Meadow Pipit from a small flock on the flooded area.

Not much on the flood other than 2 Common Snipe, a handful of Black-headed Gull, 20+ Pied Wagtail, the afore mentioned Meadow Pipit (c20) and a Grey Heron.

On the periphery, 2 Stonechat, a Chiffchaff, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay, many Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush - in song.

2 Little Egret flew east over the cattle field.

Muntjac family

Sunny periods and showers, 9°, light SSE.

A family (3) of Muntjac visited the garden today.