Very little happening

Sunny periods, 22°, light WSW.

Even quieter than Wednesday along the Bunk with only Yellowhammer still singing. More about the Insects today.

Alan found a Common Redstart this morning but not able to relocate it this afternoon.

Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff but little else of note.

Several Swift, Swallow and House Martin still hawking overhead Church road.  

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damsel, Azure Damsel, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Peacock, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Arachnids: Wasp Spider.

AD & PC.

Gatekeeper

Wasp Spider courtesy Alan

Common Buzzard

Bunk & Cholsey Meadows

Mainly cloudy with a few light rain showers, 22°, light SSW.

Fairly quiet along the Bunk: Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, a House Sparrow along Green Lane (unusual) and a Kestrel.

Dragonflies: most noted at Cholsey Meadows by Alan. Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damsel, Azure Damsel, Blue-tailed Damsel, Red-eyed Damsel, Small Red-eyed Damsel, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker, Emperor, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter and Black-tailed Skimmer. 

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Peacock, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

AD & PC.

Jackdaw

Ruddy Darter courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff

Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 23°, breezy SW.

Fairly quiet all round today.

Lollingdon: Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, 20+ Swift, several Swallow and House Martin and a Jay, etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle,

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

A couple of young Swallow. Were being fed by several adults.

Linnet

Moorhen, post bathing.

Peacock on the allotment, courtesy Loren.

Bunk

Mainly sunny, 20°, WSW.

Bunk: Per Alan. c250 mixed gulls, mainly Lesser Blackback Gull, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Common Redstart, Common Sandpiper and an Oystercatcher over, etc.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Common Blue Damsel, Azure Damsel and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Peacock and Comma.

Common Redstart

Bunk

Sunny, 28°, light SSW.

A vet quiet day bird wise along the Bunk. Singles of Cormorant, Raven and Hobby seen. Only songsters were Yellowhammer and Greenfinch. A few Chiffchaff noted, a single Common Whitethroat, 20+ Swift, 20+ Swallow and 11 House Martin, otherwise just the usual.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer and Common Darter.

Butterflies: still low numbers. 1 Small Skipper, 3 Brimstone, several Large White and Small White, 1 Red Admiral, 2 Speckled Wood, 7 Marbled White, 5 Gatekeeper, many Meadow Brown and 3 Ringlet.

Chiffchaff

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

River

Sunny, 28°, light SSW.

River area: Per Alan. Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and many Swift.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker, Four-spotted Chaser, Red-eyed Damsel and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Peacock, Ringlet and Gatekeeper.

Common Darter (m)

Reed Warbler

Southern Hawker

Black-tailed Skimmer

Random pics

Sunny, 27°, light SSW.

A few pics from recent times.

Roesel's Bush Cricket courtesy Alan. This is a long-winged form that normally constitutes less than 1% of the population. For various reasons this allows the species to populate new areas. 

Buff Tip, courtesy Andy King. The colouration of this moth resembles a broken Birch twig.

Black-headed Gull, adult and young, courtesy Alan.

Hedgehog courtesy Bill Nicholls gardencam.

Warming up.

Sunny periods, 22°, light SSW.

1, poss 2 Common Redstart on the hill. An adult male seen and heard and another seen very briefly but not conclusive.

A couple of Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Common Whitethroat present.

Nearby a Sedge Warbler still present, plus several more Yellowhammer (total of 12), a few Blackcap and Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff, etc.

A single Grey Heron, a couple of Jay heard in 2 locations and the odd Swallow and House Martin overhead.

Reptiles: a single Common Lizard scurried across a footpath in front of me.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Low numbers, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Ringlet.

Peregrines

Mainly cloudy, 20°, light SW.

Confirmation of a pair of Peregrine Falcon breeding successfully in Cholsey and raising a single youngster.

It has been a difficult breeding season for most birds this year with the variable weather conditions, so good luck to the family.

The female Peregrine sported a green leg ring with number 66 on. Alan did some detective work and found out that she was hatched in a nestbox on an apartment building (Sussex heights) in Brighton and ringed by Graham Roberts as a chick on the 23rd May 2014.

The only other positive sighting of her that we know of was near Streatley in May of 2018.

The family have not been seen for a few days now so have presumably moved on?

photos courtesy Alan

2014

2024 ↕

Pagham Harbour, West Sussex. 12th July

Cloudy with light rain, 18°, no wind.

Earlier in the week Loren said she would take me on a field trip but did not say where. So Friday morning we set off to………………. RSPB Pagham Harbour and the Church Norton area in West Sussex.

Unfortunately a rather gloomy day weather wise, however a few wader species evident.

Pagham Harbour and Ferry pool: 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Avocet, 2 Green Sandpiper, several Redshank and Curlew, 10+ Oystercatcher, a few Herring Gull, 50+ Black-headed Gull, 30+ Sandwich Tern, 2 Little Tern, 2 Cattle Egret, 12 Little Egret, 14 Grey Heron, several Cormorant, 20+ Shelduck and 4 Green Woodpecker in St Wilfrid’s cemetery,

4 species of Warbler-Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, 100+ Sand Martin in a single flock departing south, and the odd Swallow.

The only large insects noted were a few Meadow Brown and Large White and a single Gatekeeper.

Avocet with young

Black-tailed Godwit

Distant Cattle Egret

Little Egret

Shelduck

A few courtesy Loren ↕

Quietish

Sunny periods, 21°, breezy SW.

River area, per Alan: Yellow Wagtail, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, House Martin, Swallow and Kingfisher.

Approx. 50 Swift moving over Westfield rd.

Lollingdon area fairly quiet. Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting, Swallow, House Martin etc.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Southern Hawker, Common Darter, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Willow Emerald, Red-eyed Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle and Beautiful Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Comma, Speckled Wood and Small Skipper.

A series of Yellowhammer pics

 

A wet one

Cloudy and rainy, 17°, light SSE.

A couple of hours along the Bunk and proved rather quiet.

A Corn Bunting in song, several Yellowhammer, a Yellow Wagtail, good numbers of Chiffchaff, a few Blackcap and 1 Common Whitethroat. A Raven over a few Swallow and House Martin and a single Swift.

Alan out at Lollingdon: Corn Bunting, Raven over, Yellow Wagtail and c25 Swift over.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Common Blue and Azure Damselfly, Emperor and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Corn Bunting

Gatekeeper

Yellowhammer

Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy with rain showers, 20°, light to breezy WSW.

Arrived a bit later on the hill today but still had c140 Swift over. Again all moving roughly south west.

2 Corn Bunting, 7 Yellowhammer, 1 Reed Bunting, 5 Chiffchaff, 6 Common Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Bullfinch.

Back closer to the village, several Swallow and House Martin hawking overhead.

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle, Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker.

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

Yellow Wagtail

A couple of moths from Andy King. A Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (above) and a Swallow Prominent (below).

Bunk

Overcast, 17°, breezy SW.

Pretty quiet along the Bunk this afternoon. A few Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Yellowhammer still in song but little else.

Overhead, c60 Swift, 40+ Swallow, 20+ House Martin and 6 Sand Martin with most moving south.

Alan reported a similar movement of Hirundines and Swift out towards Lollingdon.

A Little Ringed Plover heard calling and a Kingfisher and 2 Jay seen plus the 2 regular Herring Gull.

Dragonflies: a Few Common Blue and Azure Damselfly on the wing in sheltered spots.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Ringlet and Meadow Brown.

Swift

Large Skipper

What's that coming over the Hill

A cloudy day, 18°, light WSW.

Arrived on Lollingdon hill around 11:30 and started to scan around. Looked pretty quiet apart from a couple of Corn Bunting in song, plus a Common Whitethroat and a couple of Yellowhammer and Chiffchaff calling.

Just before midday I noted several Swift passing over and drifting south west, shortly followed by another 50.

Over the next hour I counted just over 400 Swift over the hill area and they were still passing over when I left.

When I got off the hill I looked back and Swift were still passing through. I estimate in the region of 450-500 Swift passed in that hour and 30 minutes.

Other species noted: Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin etc.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle and an unidentified Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Ringlet and Meadow Brown.

Wren's Nest courtesy Bill Nicholls

Speckled Wood