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.

Pretty quiet!

Sunny periods, 18°, light ENE.

Not a lot to show from a 3 hour walk along the Bunk area today:

5 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, several Chiffchaff, c30 House Martin, several Swallow and Sand Martin, 6 Swift, 3 Yellowhammer, a single Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Mammals: several Moles found dead recently. Possibly as a result of the very dry conditions and not being able to find their prey underground?

Dragonflies: a single Azure Damsel.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

In memory of Alan

In memory of Alan

The Lees and beyond

Sunny, 19°, light N.

The Lees and Long Ditch: not so much about birds today as plenty of insects on the wing.

Not a lot of bird species out there but, 5 Sedge Warbler 2+ Reed Warbler, 4 Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and a Peregrine.

Plus the odd Swallow, House Martin and Swift feeding overhead.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle in some number, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Hairy Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Large Red Damsel

Reed Bunting

Small Heath

22-spot Ladybird courtesy Loren

? courtesy Loren.

Common Blue courtesy Loren

Bunk

Overcast, 14°, moderate NE.

The BBC weather app was way out today. It was indicating 20° and sunny spells. Clearly not the case as I didn’t see the sun at all whilst out and with the moderate breeze from the NE it felt even cooler than the actual 14°!

The Bunk area was relatively quiet with no Butterflies or Dragons on the wing.

Good numbers of Hirundines feeding along tree lines in the lee of the wind with 50+ Swallow, 50+ House Martin and a few Swift and Sand Martin.

2 Shelduck overhead and a Reed Warbler in song, plus, several Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 5 Common whitethroat and 4 Yellowhammer.

A Barn Owl courtesy Andy King. One of two found hunting last evening.

The storm that never came

Sunny at first then clouding up, 22°, light SE.

A threat of a thunder storm today but never materialised.  

Bunk area: 6 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, 12 Swallow, 6 House Martin, 6 Sand Martin, 8 Swift, 4 Yellowhammer, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, 1 Black-headed Gull, 3 Lesser Blackback Gull and a Hobby.

Cuckoo heard on Cholsey Marsh. Per MA.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle.

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

LC & PC.

Yellowhammer

Common Blue

Hawthorn Shield Bug courtesy Loren

Back to it

Mainly sunny,18°, light ENE.

Cholsey Marsh:

Loren and I visited the marsh today, busy with birdsong and lots of insects on the wing, especially Mayfly and Demoiselles.

Also run into Tony Williams and Ian Lewington.

Cuckoo seen earlier in the day, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Little Grebe, Black-headed Gull flew downstream, an Oystercatcher flew upstream, a Grey Heron, Swallow and House Martin. Plus 4 Swift over Church Road.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Hairy Dragonfly and Common Clubtail.

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

IL, LC, PC & TW.

Clubtail Dragonfly courtesy Ian Lewington ↕

Banded Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle courtesy Ian Lewington

Brimstone

Unknown

Mayfly courtesy Loren

Cardinal Beetle ? courtesy Loren

Andy's Wanderings

Andy King had a walk along the river early morning yesterday and was treated to a symphony of song from the warblers – Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat. The garden warbler was fabulous, and I stood listening to it and looking for it in an oak tree for 15 minutes without seeing it. Then I saw one on the other side of Ferry Lane and got some shots.

In all there were 30 species including Cuckoo and Water Rail (calls only), Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Skylark, Green Woodpecker along with the usuals.

Today: Andy did the walk from Lollingdon to the Lees and along the ditches and back along the track.

Linnet, Yellowhammer, both Lesser and Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Reed Bunting. About 15 Skylark in the fields either side of the long ditch, one Sedge Warbler as well, surprisingly no Sedge or Reed Warbler singing in the reedy ditch.

A couple of Swallow and House Martin over Church Road today but no Swift noted. PC.

Lots of photos from Andy, so thanks.

Cholsey catchup

Having just got back from a stay at Portland Bird Obs I’ve missed out on anything noted in Cholsey over the past week plus.

However 3 people have messaged or mailed me on several sightings plus one from FB:

Firstly a European Beaver photographed by Janie Maclean along the Thames. Where has it come from? Why is it there? A very unusual record!

Next, Michael Pocock found some Clubtail Dragonfly just emerging on 2nd May.

Paul Rainsden heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling from Cholsey Marsh on 5th May.

Lastly Andy King was out in Lollingdon yesterday, 6 or more Common Whitethroat, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Greenfinch, Swallow and Kestrel.

Beaver courtesy Janie Maclean

Clubtail courtesy Michael Pocock

Kestrel courtesy Andy King

Common Whitethroat courtesy Andy King

Portland 7th May

Sunny spells, 14°, light NE veering SE.

Our last day on Portland this spring. Very slow going this year as the weather was not conducive for visible migration.

Having said that, a change of scenery and birds was welcome, plus we got to meet some friends from previous visits which made for a good social atmosphere.

A phenomena seen today was a halo around the sun that had everyone looking and thanks to Loren for taking a few photos.

Anyway back to the birds etc: the day was broken up between packing and watching so sporadic sightings were in order: a Red-throated Diver and 2 Arctic Skua on the sea. 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, c50 Swallow and a Hobby all noted either in or from the garden.

A sun halo over the observatory ↕

Spotted Flycatcher

Penultimate day

Mainly sunny, 14°, Light NE veering E.

The weather has been against us on this trip, clear skies overnight and clear sunny days. Plus, the wind in either north or east does not bode well for VizMig here.

Anyway, no meaningful sea watch, 20+ Manx Shearwater, an Arctic Skua, a Great Northern Diver, a Whimbrel and 3 Sandwich Tern.

A female Marsh Harrier in-off the sea at 07:20, 25+ Swallow, 8 Swift, a Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Common Whitethroat, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat and Common Redstart.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Singing Wheatear, Portland

Sunny spells, 14°, moderate NE.

A cool north easterly put paid to any meaningful birding today. Sea watching was very sporadic as was the land and made for a rather short day list. Just trying to find sheltered spots from the cold winds. 

Several Manx Shearwater, 3 Whimbrel, an Oystercatcher, 2 Buzzard, a singing Wheatear, a Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Garden Warbler, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, c35 Swallow and 11 Swift.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Green-veined White, Wall Brown and Small Heath.

Wheatear

Cooler & Windier, with a few birds turning up

Sunny periods, 14°, breezy NE.

Another slow day with few migrants noted, windier and colder than of late.

The pick of an intermittent sea watch produced 20+ Manx Shearwater, a Great Northern Diver, an Arctic Skua and 7 Whimbrel.

Elsewhere: a Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Wheatear, Stonechat, c50 Swallow, 1 House Martin and a Swift.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Wall Brown.

Moths: A Striped Hawk Moth and a Sycamore.

Spotted Flycatcher

Striped Hawk Moth

Sycamore

Alan

Alan Dawson passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Wednesday April 23rd.

He was a friend and a birding colleague. He was very family orientated and had a great sense of humour, generally a nice bloke who got on with most people.

Together we covered Cholsey and were always in contact whenever out birding, which was frequent. He would often say to his wife, “just popping out for an hour” and get back 3 hours later. I’m sure most of you have been there.

Our paths would cross frequently when we discussed what we hoped would turn up and also solving the world’s problems. Whilst his family dog Bella, would sit patiently waiting for one of us to throw her the ball she always carried around with her.

Alan found 2 firsts for Cholsey recently, a Rock Pipit and a Sanderling, as well as other scarce species. Also, a 1st class Dragonfly finder with a good knowledge of Butterflies.

Alan took some great photos which he would always send to me along with his records.

A prolific contributor to the Cholsey Wildlife blog, Cholsey Wildlife Facebook page, and appreciated by many.

He will be missed greatly by his family, friends and Oxon birders… and I’ll miss you mate. Cheers!

Paul Chandler.

Alan's last image. A Grasshopper Warbler.

Numbers

Cloudy with sunny spells, humid, 16°, light NE.

Another slow day but a day of numbers.

All of this past week there has been 3-4 thousand Gulls feeding of the east side of the bill. Comprising up to 6 species. Feeding with them have been Gannet and Manx Shearwater. We are not sure what they are feeding on but they have been up and down the coast from the bill to approx. 1 Km along. Today there were approx. 200 Black-headed Gull and 100+ Manx Shearwater feeding in and around the flock.

Around 14:00 this afternoon the weather got very humid and out of nowhere, literally millions, and I mean millions of small flies started to appear moving from the south and flying north. Some of the guys at the Obs caught one and identified it as a Fever-fly (Dilophus febrilis). This movement continued for around 2 hours and the numbers began to peter out. I doubt these flies erupted at the bill, so maybe these flies originated on the continent and have crossed the Channell. Who knows?

Anyway, back to it: Birds today was. A Sedge Warbler, a Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Wheatear, a Whinchat, 5 Swallow, c10 House Martin, 2 Swift, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 3-4 Buzzard and a Peregrine.

On the sea watch: 2 Whimbrel, an Arctic Skua, Kittiwake, a Puffin, and good numbers of Gannet, Guillemot and Razorbill as well as all the above.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Wall Brown, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Moths of note: Puss Moth and Cinnabar.

Whinchat

Puss Moth & Cinnabar

A Small section of the Obs lighthouse covered in Fever-fly. the whole south facing area , 20m high was covered in this density of insects for over 2 hours.