Autumn Equinox

Sunny spells, 22°, breezy NW.

Pretty quiet generally. Lollingdon Hill particularly so with just 9 Yellowhammer and a couple of Chiffchaff present.

2 Stonechat near Little Lollingdon and in total 20+ Chiffchaff on walk.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 4 Clouded Yellow, Small White, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth near football pavilion.

Notes from the 21st Sep: Painted Lady in garden and a single House Martin over.

8 Pied Wagtail on roof with solar panels, Church rd.

c11000 large Gulls north east at dusk and a Noctule feeding overhead.

A Green Sandpiper over Wallingford rd. per MP.

Southern Green Shieldbug found by James Beaumont near the Station rd allotments.

Sat/Sun.

Saturday: Mainly cloudy, 22°, Breezy SW.

Cetti's Warbler singing on Wallingford Rd opposite the end of Green Lane (just inside gate into the sheep field). Per RB.

16:30 – 18:00 600+ House Martin and 5 Swallow south over Church road.

Sunday: Sunny, 19°, light SW.

Common Darter, Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady and Red Admiral on allotments.

Chiffchaff in garden.

Bunk etc.

Cloudy with light rain, 18°, breezy SW.

Thanks to the gravel pit staff who have cleared the vegetation and opened up the view onto the pit.

Not a lot going on though. 2 Cormorant, 2 Coot, 8 Tufted Duck, 5 Little Grebe and several hundred Geese.

Elsewhere: 4 Yellowhammer, 5 Chiffchaff, a single Blackcap, 2 Kestrel and c70 House Martin.

2 Firecrest found near the Millennium wood. Per Richard Broughton.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

The Lees

Sunny spells, 20°, breezy WSW.

Decided to check the area that Richard visited yesterday.

2 Stonechat still present at the back of the field along with 9 Corn Bunting a handful of Meadow Pipit, a couple of Chiffchaff, a few Linnet and 2 Kestrel.

As for the Butterflies there were at least 11 Clouded Yellow seen in one sweep of the field, possibly 20+ present in total. Plus 14 Common Blue, 2 Painted Lady and a Red Admiral.

Dragonflies: 3 Migrant Hawker and several Common Darter.

2 Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

Spot Fly, Stonechat & Clouded Yellow

" A staggering (for me) 13 Clouded Yellow, at least, in this and next field of agri-environment scheme legumes. Two Spotted Flycatcher and a pair of Stonechat too. @oxonbirder.bsky.social"

Per Richard Broughton

Bunk

Mainly cloudy, 23°, light SW.

Bunk:

Gravel pit is slowly shrinking as in-filling is taking place.

24 Tufted Duck, 6 Little Grebe, a Coot and 2 Egyptian Geese amongst others.

Elsewhere, both Chiffchaff and Blackcap in low double figures, a Hobby, 6 Yellow Wagtail, 32 House Martin and 26 Swallow.

Dragonflies: A Migrant Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 3 Clouded Yellow, several Small White and a Peacock, and Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Bunk: Cattle Egret

Mainly cloudy, 21°, light WNW.

Bunk area:

A Cattle Egret in cow field opposite school, the highlight of the day and just the 5th record plus 2 Yellow Wagtail present.

Gravel pit: 15 Lapwing, 6 Little Grebe, 4 Tufted Duck and a Coot. 500+ large Gulls seen high and most descended in to the GP area and lost from view.

Elsewhere: a Hobby, initially seen consuming a dragonfly, c20 Chiffchaff, 10+ Blackcap, 8 Swallow, 2 Yellowhammer, 2 Kestrel and a Grey Heron and c250 Starling in the vicinity of CSW.

A Kingfisher seen flying over the brook from the garden and 2 Tawny Owl calling near garden tonight.

Blackbird: I have hardly seen a Blackbird in the last 3 months. I’m guessing they have been affected by the Usutu virus which has a high mortality rate.

First detected in 2020 in the UK and is spreading. A Mosquito born pathogen which has expanded the mosquitos range north, driven by climate change.

Butterflies: a single Small White and the Hummingbird Hawkmoth in the garden.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy, 18°, light to breezy NW.

Lollingdon: Common Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher, 8+ Blackcap, a Garden Warbler, 6 Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, 5 Yellowhammer, 2 Kestrel and a Jay and my first local Bullfinch of the year.

A very light passage of c50 Swallow and a few House Martin.

A Blackcap, Nuthatch and Coal Tit in the garden.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: only ones seen on the wing today were Small White and a single Clouded Yellow.

 

A bit of VizMig and the Bunk

Mainly cloudy, 20°, breezy WSW.

VizMig 12:00 – 16:00, c200 Hirundines, a Tree Pipit and 4 Mistle Thrush over.

Passage fizzled out around 16:00. Then approx. another 50 Swallow around 18:00.

A brief walk later along Bunk produced a Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff, 4 Yellow Wagtail and 5 Yellowhammer.

Yesterday 6th Sep: Chiffchaff, Migrant Hawker, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Peacock and Common Blue in garden. Church Road Swallows appeared to have left.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: a few Whites, 2 Common Blue, 2 Peacock and a Red Admiral. Plus the Hummingbird Hawkmoth in the garden.

Cholsey

Cloudy, 22°, breezy SW

12:00 – 14:00, 6 Swift, 32 Swallow and 24 House Martin south over Church Road.

2 Swallow still feeding young, Church Road.

Chiffchaff, Migrant Hawker, Common Darter, Small White, Peacock, Red Admiral, 2 Painted Lady and Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

"A Whinchat on the long ditch just beyond the Lees this afternoon.

Lots of passage Yellow Wagtail are being attracted by the cattle along the Bunk/Church Rd lately. Numbers vary day by day, but have had up to 30 together over the past week, and there was about 30 Meadow Pipit with them for one morning only.

The female Reeves’s Pheasant still around. Per Richard Broughton."

There is a lot of Shooting on Cholsey Hill this evening. Presumably after the Canada Geese and no doubt that they will also shoot other species of Geese. Why?

Hirundines, Geese and a Whinchat

Cloudy with rain showers, 20°, breezy SSW.

A better day than expected, waited until the rain cleared and went out along the Bunk line.

Initially I could see rain a few kilometres to the east and west of me and Hirundines were passing overhead in some numbers. The birds appeared to be channelled through a gap in the rain. After around an hour the rain to the west cleared and the numbers dropped but overall, I estimate 600+ Hirundines passed through with both Swallow and House Martin in roughly equal numbers.

Walked out in the garden around 18:00 to be greeted by 30+ Swallow and a handful of House Martin passing overhead.

Approx. 250 Starling in and around CSW along with several Gull species.

I only made it to green lane and on the walk was a Whinchat, a Willow Warbler, 9 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Yellowhammer, a Grey Heron and a Kestrel and a Spotted Flycatcher by the church.

c120 Canada Geese flew from the gravel pit area towards Cholsey Hill. As Loren drove back home this evening she saw the Geese on Cholsey Hill and took some pics and a video. Probably around 200 Geese of 3 species.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Butterflies: a couple of Whites and singles of Clouded Yellow, Common Blue, Red Admiral and Painted Lady.

Getting cooler

Mostly cloudy, 22°, light SW.

Thankfully we have had some rain over the past week, still need more.

Not been out walking for a week or so due to tweaking my Achilles tendon and making it painful to walk.

Decided to put the Trailcam out to see what turns up in the garden.

Have been doing a spot of sky watching in the mid-evening and have been seeing good numbers of House Martin moving over and heading south. Today, 75+, yesterday 100+.

Have had a Painted Lady still visiting the garden but the Hummer has not been seen recently

A few video clips from the last few days of the garden trail cam.

Bunk

Mainly cloudy, 26°, light ESE.

Too much human activity at the gravel pit today. the Coot still present along with 3 species of Geese but little else.

A large Tit flock along Green Lane comprising 50+ birds including 12+ Chiffchaff and at least 2 Blackcap.

5 Yellowhammer, 20+ Swallow and a few House Martin.

A Merlin seen from Westfield Road and a Barn Owl, Halfpenny Lane. Per Mike Amphlett.  

Mammals: Stoat.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel, Emperor, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Clouded Yellow, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Peacock and Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden again.

Bunk & Gravel Pit

Mainly sunny, 23°, mod breeze E.

Not too much human activity at the gravel pit today.

A Green Sandpiper and a Common Sandpiper, 15 Lapwing, a Coot, Little Grebe, 2 Tufted Duck, 4 Egyptian Geese, 20+ Greylag Geese and c100 Canada Geese,

100+ large Gulls and a similar number of Black-headed Gull.

Elsewhere along the Bunk it was very quiet. A single Yellow Wagtail, a Swallow, Grey Heron, 2 Yellowhammer and 5 Chiffchaff.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Clouded Yellow, both Whites common, Common Blue and Meadow Brown.

Hard work

Mainly cloudy, 20°, light N.

Hard work finding stuff today on a 4 hour walk out to the Lees then around to Lollingdon.

Singles of Common Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtail, a couple of Blackcap, several Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer, good numbers of Swallow moving through (100+) and 20+ House Martin.

Green Sandpiper over the gravel pit. Per Brian Wyatt.  

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: 7 Clouded Yellow, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

A few oddities today, a Helmeted Guinea Fowl running across a field and a Falconer hunting Hares with a Red-tailed Hawk (didn't catch any).