Quiet

Overcast, 8°, moderate E.

A walk out to Lollingdon today and very quiet.

The regular 2 Little Egret present, a Grey Heron, c60 Lapwing and a Sparrowhawk and the usual Fieldfare and Redwing.

3 Chiffchaff and 2 Goldcrest, Millennium Wood/Bullshole area and c50 Pied Wagtail on the football fields.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Muntjac Deer.

Bunk area

Sunny spells then clouding over, 10°, light SE.

Gravel pit only had a Little Grebe present and c70 Lapwing flushed by a Sparrowhawk.

Canada Goose and Greylag Goose heard only.

Bunk line area fairly quiet today: 6 Chiffchaff along the hedgerow by CSW.

A flock of c100 Linnet and approx. 20 of each Greenfinch and Chaffinch around a shelter belt and plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing about.

c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 8 Black-headed Gull in nearby fields.

A male Blackcap in garden again.

A Muntjac Deer in the garden yesterday.

Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy, 8°, light ESE.

A touch of the winter doldrums today with very little out at Lollingdon. The flood area was quite deserted.

2 Little Egret nearby and up to 8 Yellowhammer and 3 Meadow Pipit in the area, the usual Fieldfare and Redwing and c 40 Lapwing high in the distance.

3 Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff in the Millennium wood/Bullshole area.

3 White-fronted Geese with a large mixed flock of Canada and Greylag Geese in a field near Waterloo Close yesterday. Per Mike Amphlett. Seen again today by Michael Pocock.  The flock is quite mobile and often vacates the area to the other side of the Thames.

An anonymous comment on my blog "Just seen Black Redstart on the Highcroft new housing estate next to the new allotments. 10AM Jan 25 2025". That's off Calvin Thomas Way.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Cholsey Marsh

Overcast, 8°, light ESE.

A late afternoon visit to Cholsey Marsh to monitor the Corn Bunting roost saw just over 120 birds come in over a 30-minute period at dusk and 2 Meadow Pipit in the roost.

Also a Goose flock in a nearby field comprising of c150 birds, mainly Canada Geese plus 5 Egyptian Geese and a handful of Greylag Geese.

A Cormorant and a Peregrine overhead, a Tawny Owl heard nearby, both Mistle and Song Thrush in song, a Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming, 2-3 Water Rail, a Jay, a Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, a Chiffchaff and Goldcrest and several Fieldfare and Redwing.

A Firecrest found by Andy King in a Honey Lane garden on Sunday.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Lollingdon

Rain showers, 8°, breezy SE.

Lollingdon floods were pretty deserted today: Just 2 Little Egret present and 11 Lapwing over.

Up to 500 Starling and good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing roaming the fields nearby.

A Chiffchaff and Goldcrest at the Millennium Wood and 55 Pied Wagtail on the football field.

Snowdrop and Aconite  and the odd Daffodil in flower and an active Ladybird.

2 Little Egret taken on the phone camera from c250m.

Rain stopped play

Overcast then rain, 8°, light SE.

Went down to check the roost out on Cholsey Marsh but not long after arriving it started to rain consistently. Stayed for about an hour but then gave up.

Not a great deal noted, a Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming, 2 Cormorant, a Little Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Water Rail heard, several Fieldfare and Redwing and c80 Canada Geese in a nearby field.

Goshawk

Overcast with some light rain, 10°, light SSE.

Bird of the day has to be a female Goshawk that passed briefly through Cholsey airspace this afternoon, c14:00, flew from roughly Winterbrook area towards Carmel College when it was lost from view. Per Geoff Wyatt. 1st record since 1978.

5 Gadwall seen on a small flood in a field off Green Lane on Saturday. Per Richard Broughton.

Back to today and along the Bunk area: up to 5 Chiffchaff with a Tit flock at CSW.

2+ Yellowhammer, a Goldcrest, several Siskin, good numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling and 2 Egyptian Geese.

Gravel pit: a Little Grebe, 3 Tufted Duck, c10 Shoveler in flight and settling in to pits that are not viewable and c120 Canada Geese. Also up to 1000 Gull distantly, most too far for ID but some nearer birds noted. Lesser Blackback, Black-headed and Herring Gull.

Lollingdon floods

Sunny spells, 6°, light SSE.

Another walk out to the Lollingdon floods: c80 Lesser Blackback Gull, 9 Black-headed Gull and 2 Common Gull, a Little Egret, 3 Common Snipe and 67 Lapwing.

Several hundred Fieldfare and c50 Redwing, 2 Raven, a Chiffchaff and 2-3 Goldcrest etc.

Lollingdon

Overcast, 6°, Light SSE.

A walk out to the floods at Lollingdon:

2 Little Egret, 32 Lapwing, 2 Shoveler, 6 Teal and 8 Black-headed Gull with numerous other Gulls moving overhead.

A male Peregrine mobbing a Buzzard, numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered about and 16 Yellowhammer.

Mammals: 2 Muntjac Deer.

Fieldfare & Redwing

Overcast, 12°, light SSW.

Bunk area:

2 Little Grebe, 20 Shoveler and a Common Snipe at the gravel pit.

A mixed flock of c500 of mainly Fieldfare with a good number of Redwing spread along the Bunk, esp Green Lane.

3 Grey Heron, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Jay, a Little Owl, 3 Yellowhammer and 2 Chiffchaff at CSW.

Distantly over Cholsey Hill at dusk, c1000 Starling appeared to be flying NW.

Cholsey Marsh

Overcast, 3°, breezy NNW.

A late afternoon visit to Cholsey Marsh:

c 60 Corn Bunting coming to the roost this evening. About half of what I would expect but early days yet as they tend to peak in February.

30+ Siskin feeding on Alders along the river bank.

Good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Cormorant over, a Grey Heron, 2+ Water Rail, a single Canada Goose, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel,2 Jay, a Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and a Reed Bunting.

Some days don't workout as you thought!

Sunny, 5°, light W.

A day that didn’t go to plan. I started off walking along the Bunk line to take a look at the gravel pit, which unfortunately was frozen over. Hence, nothing on there.

Then I received a message to say there was a Black Redstart in Radnor Road, Wallingford that was showing and orange belly. Which potentially shows it as an “Eastern” Black Redstart, a very rare bird in the UK.

As I was on the edge of Wallingford, I thought I may as well continue and take a look.

I got there about 14:30 and found Roger Wyatt and Ian Lewington who were both searching but had no luck so far. Both Brian and Geoff Wyatt had just left.

Pete Davies and Tony Williams had seen the bird just a few metres from Pete’s place and put the message out.

Pete was still out searching and a couple of other birders had turned up.

Unfortunately no further sign was seen on the bird so we left shortly before 16:00. Thanks to Roger for giving me a lift back home.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

On my walk out along the Bunk I hadn’t come across much other than lots of Fieldfare and Redwing, c200 Black-headed Gull (some coming in to summer plumage) and a couple of Herring Gull but that was about it!

Lollingdon and The Lees

Sunny, 0°, light NNW.

Lollingdon and The Lees area:

9 Teal, and 8 Common Snipe all flushed from ditches as the flood was frozen over, 5+ Chiffchaff (4 out by the Lees and 1 Lollingdon), 2 Little Egret, a Grey Heron, 18 Lapwing, a Merlin flushed 20 Golden Plover from Cholsey Hill and they settled near the farm.

Plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered around, 5 Mistle Thrush and a flock of 20+ Meadow Pipit.

2 White-fronted Geese flew from the river to a field near the Waterloo. Per Roger Wyatt.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

White-fronted Goose courtesy Roger Wyatt

Bunk

Sunny, 2°, light NW.

Bunk area:

A Mute Swan, 12 Shoveler and 6 Little Grebe on the gravel pit and c40 Lapwing on the bank briefly before disappearing in to another pit that is not possible to view.

Lots of Winter Thrush around, c200 Fieldfare and 60+ Redwing plus a single Mistle Thrush.

A Little Owl heard calling and a Chiffchaff at CSW plus a few more, new for the year.

2026 starts here.

Sunny periods, 6°, light WNW.

Didn’t get out today so a garden watch was on the cards with 30 bird species noted not including 3 Grey Squirrel running around and a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee feeding on Japanese Mahonia flowers that are just coming in to bloom.

Birds noted were: Mallard, Red Kite, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, a male Blackcap, Wren, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Starling, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.

A Muntjac Deer calling at 23:00 nearby and a Tawny Owl at 01:00.