Ivy Bees

A recent arrival in the UK first noted in 2001 and is spreading north. They emerge later in the year than most Bees to co-inside with the flowering of Ivy which is their pollinator plant.

A nice series of pics by Bill Nicholls.

All quiet

Sunny, 22°, light SW.

Well, it doesn’t feel like October yet and a pretty poor show along the Bunk and gravel pit.

4 Coot, 2 Tufted Duck, a Grey Wagtail and 10 Little Grebe at the gravel pit and elsewhere, a Grey Heron, 2 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and 8+ Chiffchaff.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Small White and 2 Red Admiral.

A Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

Not a lot

Sunny periods, 20°, breezy SSW.

Lollingdon and The Lees: pretty quiet all round except for one busy patch out by the Lees.

6 Stonechat out near the Lees, 2 Reed Bunting and a Grey Heron and 10+ Chiffchaff and 8 Skylark on walk.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: A Migrant Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 4 Clouded Yellow, Lollingdon and 10+ in the usual field near the Lees plus 6 Common Blue and 1 Red Admiral and a couple of Small White.

1st Oct: Chiffchaff, Common Darter, Common Blue & Red Admiral in garden and a Skylark, Jay, 2 Greylag & Buzzard over.

September bows out

Sunny periods, 22°, breezy SSW.

A pretty disappointing slog up to the gravel pit.

4 Lapwing, 10 Little Grebe, 12 Tufted Duck, 4 Coot and a Grey Wagtail.

Elsewhere very quiet, 2 Yellowhammer and 6 Chiffchaff.

c30 House Martin over Station Road allotments: per LC.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Small White and a Red Admiral.

The Lees, Long ditch and Cholsey Hill

Sunny spells at first the clouding up, 22°, ESE.

The Lees, Long ditch and Cholsey Hill:

A Wheatear by the barns near the Lees and 2 Stonechat along the long ditch. Plus, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, 5 Chiffchaff, a Kestrel and c200 Gulls loafing in the fields.

A Merlin on Cholsey Hill spooking lots of small birds, c30 Skylark, 40+ Linnet, 6+ Corn Bunting and 50+ Meadow Pipit.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: A Migrant Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: Up to 20 Clouded Yellow in the usual field. On the way back the cloud cover had increased and the temperature had dropped by 4° and not a single one seen. Also several Small White, 10+ Common Blue and 4 Speckled Wood.

Saturday: Grey Wagtail visiting and Common Darter egg laying in a pond, Per Richard James and Clouded Yellow & Small Tortoiseshell on Station Road allotments.

2 Chiffchaff bathing in garden.

Bunk & Gravel pit

Sunny periods, 22°, light SSW.

Gravel pit was busy with machinery working but some activity on the water with, 6 Little Grebe, 4 Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Coot and 5 Lapwing.

c500 Gulls appeared to be flushed from a pit further away and 3 Grey Heron.

Nearby, a single Firecrest, a Willow Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff, 5 Yellowhammer, 2 Meadow Pipit, a Hobby and 3 Kestrel.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: singles of Clouded Yellow, Small White, Red Admiral and Peacock.

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.

c1100 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.