November Rain.

Overcast, 6º, light NW, chilly!

Managed to get out today to blow some cobwebs away, very muddy and wet underfoot and quite a few fields with small to large areas flooded and the Thames is just above the level of July 2007 and has burst its banks but well short of 2003 levels.

The Thames path is under water virtually all the way from the Four Arches railway bridge to Wallingford.

A rather soggy walk out to Lollingdon, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing around plus several Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and fifty plus Blackbird, Redwing numbers on a par with Fieldfare today.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipit (100+) and Pied Wagtail (50+) around the flooded fields, several Common Snipe in the fields and a single Woodcock flushed from a ditch near Lollingdon.

A single Golden Plover flew north over Lollingdon hill and flew towards Cholsey hill where it probably joined the flock around the floods at South Stoke. The Linnet flock on Lollingdon hill numbering around eighty at the moment.

A lot of Gulls around the floods, Lesser Blackback Gull being in the majority with five hundred plus, two hundred plus Black-headed Gull and a single Herring Gull noted.

The fields between Aston Tirrold and the Lees were very quiet, a few Carrion Crow, Skylark and a single Buzzard.

A Sparrowhawk around Cholsey church and Fourteen Buzzard and ten Red Kite seen on the walk.

Cholsey marsh is mostly under water and not much seen there apart from several Mallard and a couple of Teal.

Twelve Roe Deer seen in total in various places.

The view from Cholsey hill towards South Stoke was bustling with Gulls and Plovers, no accurate counts as too distant but Lapwing and Golden Plover noted, probably up to three thousand birds in the area at max times with many Gulls augmenting the totals stopping off for a wash and brush up before flying to roost.

A rather large Hedgehog in the garden on Monday night cleaning up under the bird feeders and two Stock Dove feeding in the garden still.

Tony Williams had a Kingfisher by the moat at the Manor house in Lollingdon today.

Some pics of the local floods.

                                   Lollingdon

                                   Outskirts of Cholsey at Church road

                                   Cholsey Marsh

                                  Ferry road

                                  Thames path at Bow Bridge

                             The Thames is actually to the left of the hedge.

 

                                  View upstream from Wallingford Bridge.

                                   View downstream from Wallingford bridge

                                  The Boathouse pub/restaurant

                                        On a par with the July 2007 flood

       above/below view of the floods at South Moreton from Cholsey Hill