Portland

Cloudy, 12°, light ENE.

Arrived at Portland bird obs around mid-afternoon and by the time we unpacked and got some shopping in there was not much time for birding.

After an evening meal went out for a walk in the crown field and obs quarry area.

Plenty of House Sparrow and Linnet but no migrants other than 3 Swallow and a Whimbrel.

Later, a pod of what we believe were Common Dolphin seen “bow riding” a ship moving out of Weymouth bay.

A few Manx Shearwater moving early evening and after dark several Little Owl heard calling and a Barn Owl call.

Lets see what tomorrow brings.

 

 

Saturday snippets

Sunny, 18°, light SSE.

3 Swift and several Swallow and House Martin over Church Road.

Several Swift have been seen over Cholsey Meadows since 23rd. Per James Beaumont.

Blackcap and Chiffchaff singing near garden.

"I am pretty sure I have seen a White-tailed Eagle over Cholsey Oxon today and yesterday 25th and 26th April 2026. Not far from shops in village centre." Per Jack Badstock via Birdguides.

Still a little quiet

 Sunny, 18°, light E.

Still pretty quiet along the Bunk and gravel pit with a lot of human activity at the pit.

A Little Ringed Plover noted along with 2 Egyptian Geese and a few Lapwing.

4 Common Whitethroat along the Bunk, several Chiffchaff and Blackcap, a Yellow Wagtail and a few Swallow and House Martin.

2 Swallow over garden & a Sparrowhawk over being mobbed by several House Martin.

 Yesterday, a Common Sandpiper on the gravel pit from Wallingford road. Per Michael Pocock.

Butterflies: very much the same.

A Canary and a few other bits

Sunny, 18°, light E.

2 Raven over Allotments and a Swallow over Cholsey Hill.

3 local House Martin back on Church Road.

A brown morph, female Cuckoo on Cholsey Marsh. Per Brian Wyatt.

A Canary (escapee) found and videoed by Richard James in his garden.

Videos courtesy Richard James

A bit quiet-ish

Sunny, 17°, fresh E.

Well, there was bugger all on the gravel pit today. a bulldozer was busy bulldozing the banks and obviously drove off any birds either on the water or anywhere nearby.

Elsewhere along the Bunk line: 5 Chiffchaff, 6 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, a Kingfisher flashed by and 5 Swallow and 8 House Martin over.

A Grasshopper Warbler has been heard regularly at Cholsey Marsh recently and a Cuckoo intermittently. (several observers).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Saturday snippets

Mainly sunny, 15°, light WNW.

Grasshopper Warbler, Cholsey Marsh. Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler and Cetti's Warbler. Per Phil Dyson. The GW also noted by an anonymous observer on Birdtrak on Thursday 16th.

Swallow over Westfield Road.

A bit quieter

Sunny periods, 17°, Breezy SSE.

A check on the gravel pit today: 12 Tufted Duck, a Little Ringed Plover, 6 Lapwing, I could hear Oystercatcher calling but not see them, overhead, 2 Swallow, 14 House Martin and 10 Sand Martin.

Nearby, 3 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff and 3 Yellowhammer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Bunk, Gravel pit and a Cuckoo

Sunny spells, 16°, light to breezy SSE.

Bunk and Gravel pit:

A Greenshank appeared briefly and called, only to fly and disappear into one of the pits with no view of it.

In fact most of the birds were doing this today as the viewable pit was being worked and very little on it.

A Mute Swan, 2 Shelduck, 2 Oystercatcher, a Common Sandpiper, 6 Lapwing, a Little Grebe, a Raven over and an ever-dwindling number of Gulls.

A Willow Warbler, 7 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 2 Common Whitethroat, 5 Swallow and 3 Yellowhammer.

Geoff Wyatt had a pair of Peregrine above Ilges Lane today repeatedly making the “ee-chup” call, a pair bonding call. They were circling and tangling frequently.

James Beaumont found our first Cuckoo of the year on Cholsey Marsh, towards the 4-Arches railway bridge, plus Reed Warbler, Swallow and Kingfisher.  

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Spring still giving

Cloudy, 12°, breezy S.

Bunk line and Gravel pit:

75+ Hirundines feeding low over CSW, mainly House Martin and a fair number of Swallow and a Yellow Wagtail present.

GP hosted 2 Shelduck, a Great-crested Grebe, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Oystercatcher, 8 Lapwing and 4 Tufted Duck. 3 House Martin, 2 Swallow and a Sand Martin feeding overhead.

Several Chiffchaff and Blackcap on walk.

On Sunday spent some time in the garden and had an unusual garden tick. An Oystercatcher flew over then 5 minutes later a Kingfisher (5th garden record) flew downstream over the brook.

Butterflies: a few Peacock and a Speckled Wood.

A lot of Hawthorn Fly (Bibio marci) around today.

Unidentified Duck sp found along footpath

Saturday snippets

Mainly cloudy, 10°, breezy SW.

A couple more summer arrivals, new for the year:

Lesser Whitethroat Bunk line. Per Brian Wyatt.

Yellow Wagtail Cholsey Hill. Per Richard Broughton.

A pair of Mallard on a neighbours pond.

Summer arrivals

Mainly cloudy, 10°, light S.

Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Common Whitethroat, Cholsey Marsh. Per Brian Wyatt.

Bunk area: on the walk out there were 10+ House Martin feeding high over CSW. On the way back the numbers had grown to 20+ House Martin, 5+ Swallow and several Sand Martin, this time feeding a lot lower over the beds.

The Gravel pit hosted a Mute Swan, 2 Shelduck, 4 Gadwall, 3 Oystercatcher and 30+ Lapwing, c12 House Martin, 5 Swallow and several Sand Martin.

2 Peregrine over. I think I’ve mentioned these before and I believe these 2 males to be the ones raised in South Stoke last year. I’ve seen them together on several occasions this year and they appear to hunt together. Maybe a successful survival strategy.

Elsewhere on the walk: 2 Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a couple of Jay etc.

Butterflies: just a couple of Brimstone and Peacock.

Mallard & Muntjac both in garden today

Is it Spring yet?

Overcast, 14°, mod W.

Lollingdon Hill was somewhat quiet with just a small flock of Linnet and Goldfinch feeding on Dandelion seeds and several Skylark in song.

Nearby a male Common Redstart, heard calling and then flew off towards the Amwell Spring area.

The Lollingdon flood is now the mud, as it mainly dried up. Just 2 Lapwing in the vicinity.

On the walk out, a Common Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, 9 Chiffchaff, 4 Yellowhammer and 10 Fieldfare.

Geoff Wyatt had 2 Ringed Plover fly north over Ilges Lane repeatedly making alarm calls. A Sparrowhawk had just flown over heading north with Starlings mobbing and alarm calling.

A Swallow over Church Road c18:00 and Loren had one cross her path on Cholsey Hill a little earlier and a Raven heard “kronking” over home at 19:30.

Butterflies: very few on the wing, Brimstone, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

A warm one

Sunny, 23°, light W.

A couple of hours well spent up by the gravel pit today:

3 Shelduck, an Egyptian Goose, 2 Gadwall, 2 pair of Mallard with 18 young between them, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Ringed Plover, a Dunlin, 7 Lapwing, a Peregrine and 2 Grey Heron over, a Sedge Warbler, a Swallow and 2 Sand Martin.

On the walk out: a Willow Warbler at CSW, a Common Whitethroat, Green Lane, 4 Blackcap and 5 Chiffchaff.

A single Fieldfare flying alongside the road on Cholsey Hill.  

Good to see Michael P at the pit today. yesterday he had 3 Wheatear on Lollingdon Hill, 6 Fieldfare nearby and a singing Cetti’s Warbler on Cholsey Marsh.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Birds & Butterflies

Sunny, 12°, light SSE.

4 Wheatear and 2 Raven, Lollingdon Hill. Per Tony Williams.

Holly Blue, Orange Tip and Brimstone in garden. The former 2 are new for the year.

Spring at Pagham Harbour

Sunny periods, 12°, breezy WSW.

A trip down to Pagham harbour NR today with Loren. one of my first out of county birding spots from many years ago.

A bit of a blustery day on the sea shore but some areas were very sheltered and quite warm.

Did not count any numbers, just noted some of the species seen.

Mute Swan, Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall, Great-crested Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Coot, Oystercatcher, Avocet, Ringed Plover, Gey Plover, Knot, Turnstone, Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, 5 Gull species, Sandwich Tern, Sand Martin, Swallow, Wheatear, Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting etc.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Thanks to Loren for the Dunnock pic and the Little Egret Vid and to Sian Chandler for the Turnstone pic, taken further along the coast in Hampshire.