Singing in the rain

Heavy rain and Thunder, 17°, breezy NE.

Little noted today due to the inclement weather.

Both Swallow and House Martin passage noted during drier spells but not a lot else in the air.

Alan found a Wheatear along the Bunk area this morning.

A few Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a single Common Whitethroat this afternoon. One Chiffchaff in full song during the rain.

Also Sparrowhawk, Yellowhammer etc.

Negative for Dragonflies and Butterflies.

Juv Yellowhammer courtesy Alan

Box Moth (dark form) courtesy Alan

Out & About

Cloudy with a few light showers, 21°, light S.

Little to speak of out at Lollingdon today other than a Kingfisher and both Swallow and House Martin moving through.

Bunk area: Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff, a Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtail and approx. 200 Gulls along with many Corvids and 14 Red Kite following a plough and up to 80 Swallow moving through.

Silly Bridge area: Yellow Wagtail, c60 Swallow, a Swift and 2 Raven overhead.

Butterflies: numbers of Small White, the occasional Large White,2 Red Admiral and singles of Peacock, Comma and Small Heath.

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Wren

Common Buzzard

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 24°, light SW.

Lollingdon, 3 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat & a Painted Lady. Per Alan.

A little livelier

Sunny periods, 20°, light W.

A slow start with little initially seen along the Bunk area today. Around 20 minutes in I started to note a passage of Hirundines and over the next few hours counted over 200 birds. Majority being Swallow and the rest House Martin.

Alan also noted a passage of Hirundine over Westfield Road plus a juv Peregrine Falcon.

A Whinchat also found and seen briefly before being spooked by a worker on the railway and I was unable to relocate the bird.

Alan relocated the Whinchat approx. 2 hours later.

Plus: 2 juv Hobby, 2 Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff, 5 Yellowhammer, a Raven, 300+ Starling etc.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large and Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and a Small Tortoiseshell in the garden.

Whinchat courtesy Alan

Yellowhammer

Still pretty quiet

Sunny periods, 25°, light SSW.

Still pretty quiet out there with visits to both Lollingdon and Bunk areas today.

Common Redstart, 3 Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff, Yellow Wagtail, 1, pos 2 Hobby, 2 Raven, a Common Sandpiper and the odd Swallow.

Both Swallow and House Martin still visiting nest sites in Church Road.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large and Small White, Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

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Common Sandpiper courtesy Alan

Common Blue

Nuthatch

Marsh Harrier

Sunny spells, 24°, light SW.

Richard Broughton was lucky enough to find a female Marsh Harrier over the Bunk/Green Lane area today.

150+ Linnet, Willow Warbler and 30+ Yellow Wagtail overhead.  

Also had 2 Hobby over Church Road yesterday.

Photo taken on phone so not the greatest quality but there you go.

A smattering of migrants

Sunny spells, 20°, breezy WSW.

Alan out at Lollingdon and Cholsey Downs today: 3 Spotted Flycatcher, Nuthatch, Bullfinch, Kingfisher, Stonechat and Whinchat etc.

I covered the Bunk area: 60+ Swallow, 20-30 House Martin, 5 Blackcap, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat, 10+ Chiffchaff, a Raven, 8 Pied Wagtail, 3 Yellowhammer, 40+ Linnet, 4 Mistle Thrush, etc.

Tawny Owl in garden @ 21:40.  

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Whinchat courtesy Alan.

Long-tailed Tit

A couple of Redstart

Overcast, 20°, breezy SW.

Lollingdon & Bunk: A female type Common Redstart on the hill this morning and Alan found a male on there this afternoon.

A good numbers of Swallow moving through with 50+ in one flock and several more in smaller groups.

Richard Broughton had 3 Spotted Flycatcher out at Lollingdon earlier but not relocated later plus 5 Swift over the Lees early evening..

Elsewhere, 30+ Swallow, a few House Martin, 3 Blackcap, 2 Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff, a single Yellow Wagtail and a Little Owl.

Dragonflies: a single Common Darter and Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: several Large and Small White, a Red Admiral, several Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Redstart ↕. female type above and male below. Male courtesy Alan

Swallow ↕

Red Admiral

All quiet except for Tigers

Cloudy, 20°, light SW.

Very quiet out at Lollingdon and the Bunk today.

A few Hirundine flocks moving through of both Swallow and House Martin. The only other migrants noted were c12 Chiffchaff and 2 Common Whitethroat. Other than that, all quiet.

Chiffchaff and Red Kite in the garden.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: a handful of Large and Small White, 4 Speckled Wood and 2 Meadow Brown.

Moths: Loren found a colony of Ruby Tiger moths on her allotment. At least 10 individuals seen and appear to have metamorphosed in one of the cold frames with some still in the pupa cycle.

Lollingdon

Sunny, 22°, light SSE.

Almost identical observations out at Lollingdon today compared with Wednesday.

A single Common Redstart and Willow Warbler, 4 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, several Chiffchaff, a Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 House Martin and a single Swallow, plus a flyover Raven.

Dragonflies: A Migrant Hawker, 2 Southern Hawker and 6+ Common Darter.

Butterflies: again vey poor abundance. A section of Buddleia that would usually hold around 2 dozen butterflies this time of year had just 4. Overall, the majority being seen today were Small White with a few Large White, several Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper, 2 Holly Blue and a single worn Comma.

Other than the Buddleia and some Bramble in flower there was a complete lack of any other flowering plants.

Common Darter

The Hill

Cloudy with rain showers, 21°, light NNE.

A visit to Lollingdon today: 1 Common Redstart, 1 Willow Warbler, 5-6 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, c10 Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, 3 Raven over and a few small flocks of Swallow and House Martin and 2 Swift.

Mammal: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: singles of Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: very few, Small White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Raven ↕

River

Sunny, 29°, breezy SW.

Alan went out at a more sensible time of day.

Yellow Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff and most of the usual suspects present.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Migrant Hawker, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter, Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damsel, Azure Damsel, Small Red-eyed Damsel, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker and Willow Emerald.

Butterflies: Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Brown Argus, Common Blue and Peacock.

Arachnids: Wasp Spider.

Brown Hawker

Willow Emerald

Wasp Spider

Bunk

Sunny, 29°, breezy SW.

Probably not the best time to go birding, early afternoon on a hot day but there you go.

Needless to say rather quiet along the Bunk area. Good numbers of Chiffchaff around and a couple of Blackcap.

A flock of 30+ Linnet near the Green Lane area and 2 Raven over.

A few small flocks of Swallow and House Martin appeared to be passing through and a trickle of Lesser Blackback Gull moving. Maybe looking for fields being ploughed.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: a single Banded Demoiselle, a few Azure and Common Blue Damsel and a single Migrant Hawker and 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: still very low numbers: 1 Brimstone, a few Large and Small White, 2 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue and several Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Holly Blue

Quiet all round

Sunny spells, 22°, breezy SSW.

Lollingdon, again very quiet. 50+ Swift and several Swallow and House Martin moving south west overhead and that was about all.

Bunk area also very quiet apart from a couple of Yellow Wagtail.

River was a little livelier later in the day: 4 juvenile Lesser Blackback Gull on the river, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Blackcap, Swallow and House Martin.

Late evening, Church road, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull south, and the Swallow family still roosting and House Martin visiting nests still.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Migrant Hawker, Four-spotted Chaser, Azure Damsel, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damsel and White-legged Damsel.

Butterflies: Peacock, Red Admiral, Common Blue, Comma, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, and Gatekeeper.

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White-legged Damsel courtesy Alan

Young Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Banded Demoiselle courtesy Alan

Comma courtesy Alan

A few Dragons

 Photos courtesy Alan

Migrant Hawker

Black-tailed Skimmer