The morning spent out in Lollingdon and the west of the
village, and then back home for lunch and after that the river and Cholsey
marsh p.m.
A good day with seventy-one bird species seen in just less
than seven hours birding.
Still soggy underfoot and a lot of minor flooding in the
fields and Cholsey marsh still submerged and the Thames a few hundred metres
wider than usual!
Approximately four hours initially out on the farmland, a
couple of Jay seen in the millennium
wood, two Stonechat still present in
the area, a Teal, several Common Snipe, small flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover around and four Grey
Partridge. Also flocks of Fieldfare,
Redwing, and plenty of Gulls, Lesser Blackback, Black-headed and a few Common
Gull.
Back home for lunch and a ♀
Blackcap appeared in the garden and
three Lesser Redpoll on the feeders
with the Goldfinch (the camera was
in the car at this point!); by the time I had retrieved the camera the Blackcap
and Redpoll had gone unfortunately. So had to be content with a few shots of
some Finches and the Stock Dove that
was present. A Grey Wagtail put in a
brief appearance in the garden before flying off along Cholsey Brook and a Treecreeper present again.
Sat at the computer a little later looking in to the garden
when suddenly everything flew from the garden and a male Sparrowhawk landed on a feeder tray, and he was not after the
sultanas! The only bird that did not fly off was the Carrion Crow that continued to feed in the garden.
After lunch (14:45) I went down to Cholsey marsh and just
after 15:00 a ringtail Hen Harrier
flew across the north end of the marsh crossed the river and headed towards
South Stoke and a few minutes later a ♀
Sparrowhawk flew through putting
everything in to a panic but she did not stop.
A few Siskin
feeding in the bank side Alders with a small flock of Goldfinch, the Alders are currently in nearly a metre of water and
I was unable to get within a hundred metres of the riverbank. The Cetti’s Warbler still present, seen
initially close to ferry road then heard several times as it moved off to the
south of the marsh.
Four Egyptian Geese
flew upstream calling and several Canada
and Greylag Geese seen on the
floods near the four Arches railway bridge.
Over one hundred Corn
Bunting roosted this evening on the marsh, twenty plus Reed Bunting also and a couple of Yellowhammer possibly roosted there, at least three Water Rail heard again calling at dusk,
and another couple of Jay heard over
the river at Little Stoke.
Full list of species today - Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada
Goose, Egyptian Goose, Mallard, Teal, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge,
Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Red Kite, Hen Harrier,
Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Golden Plover,
Lapwing, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull,
Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Tawny Owl, Green
Woodpecker, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Grey
Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Stonechat, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush,
Fieldfare, Blackbird, Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler, Goldcrest, Wren, Great Tit,
Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook,
Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll,
Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Corn
Bunting.
Sparrowhawk
Roe Deer
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