Wednesday 31 October 2018

Thrushes dominant

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 12°, light SE.

Not a great deal of variety around today! Plenty of “Winter Thrushes” around with in excess of 200 Fieldfare and 50+ Redwing scattered around Lollingdon.

A single Kestrel on the hill, 2 Yellowhammer and a single Reed Bunting and the usual Skylark and Meadow Pipit out in the fields and a single Raven over.

A single Herring Gull mixed in with the Gull flock out on recently worked fields and a few more Pied Wagtail around.

22 Goldfinch on the garden feeders yesterday. The biggest count yet!

Butterflies: a single Large White and 2 Red Admiral seen that were flying quite strongly south west.

Fieldfare (above & below)

Redwing

Monday 29 October 2018

Chilly end to October

Sunny, 8°, light NNE.

A bit chillier than of late and the 2 Stonechat still present on the hill along with a Green Woodpecker.

Elsewhere plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing, c50 Starling and a single Siskin flew over.

Several Jay, Pied Wagtail and a single Grey Wagtail present out at Lollingdon.

Unfortunately not a lot else of note.

Redwing (courtesy Alan Dawson)
Grey Wagtail
 Wren
Pied Wagtail

Saturday 27 October 2018

Sleepy Hollow again

Following on from the "Headless Kite" we now have a "Headless Kestrel"
courtesy Alan Dawson

Halloween

We have the "Tailless" Red Kite around Cholsey and now the "Headless" Red Kite 😊. This Kite settled briefly on a tree in the garden and Loren was the first to react but it took off before we could get any decent shots. Halloween and Sleepy Hollow spring to mind πŸ’€ .

Red Kite (courtesy Loren Chaplin)
Skylark (courtesy Alan Dawson)
Stonechat (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Thursday 25 October 2018

Inside looking out

Light cloud, 12°, light NW.

The 2 Stonechat still present on the hill today and some movement of Thrushes and Starling with approx. 300 Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing, 200+ Starling and a single Mistle Thrush.

Several Goldcrest seen around the hill and a single Chiffchaff present.

A mixed flock of Buntings also present with a mix of Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Corn Bunting. Approx. 40 birds in total.

Another flock of Yellowhammer out on the stubble fields of roughly 20 birds.

2 Herring Gull loafing on a recently worked field out at Little Lollingdon with c100 Lesser Blackback Gull and c150 Black-headed Gull.

Dragonflies: 1 Common Darter.

Wren, spider hunting.
 Fieldfare
 Reed Bunting
 Stonechat (above & below)

Peacock (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Tuesday 23 October 2018

Stonechats again

Cloudy with a few bright spells, 14°, breezy WNW,

2 Stonechat still present on the hill today and a flock of approx. 50 Fieldfare, 3 Redwing and 20 Starling.

2 Raven flew south east after spending a couple of minutes mobbing a Buzzard.

A Kingfisher present around a nearby pond.

A Wheatear on Cholsey Hill yesterday (22/10). Per Brian Wyatt.

The “Tailess” Red Kite still being seen regularly over the village with at least 4 different sightings.

Dragonflies: 4 Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Comma. Per Alan Dawson.

Stonechat
 Fieldfare (above & below)

 Stonechat (above & below)

 Comma (courtesy Alan Dawson)
Common Darter

Sunday 21 October 2018

Otmoor

Sunny, 14°, light WNW.

A visit to Otmoor this afternoon, initially struck by the lack of wet areas presumably as a result of the dry summer and subsequently a lack of birds!

2 Marsh Harrier seen quartering the reed beds and the odd Red Kite and Buzzard overhead.

Very few duck species seen, Mallard, Teal and Wigeon were the only ones noted and a few Common Snipe were the only waders.

Everything was quite distant so a lot of cropping on the photos.

A Cetti’s Warbler heard and quite a few Starling coming in presumably to roost but did not stay ‘til too late.

first 4 photos courtesy Loren.

 No Duck
2 Duck
A few Duck
 Common Darter
 Wigeon & Common Snipe
 Marsh Harrier (above & below)

Saturday 20 October 2018

Lapwings

The first flock of Lapwings of the autumn arrive in Cholsey with up to 300 birds present today.

Photos courtesy Alan Dawson.




Friday 19 October 2018

Quiet times

Foggy at first, 3°, then fog clearing with sunshine, 14°, light NNW.

The hill was rather quiet today with a handful of Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and 6 Corn Bunting present.

The Linnet flock is gradually growing in number with around 30 birds present. Also several Meadow Pipit and Skylark moving around.

A single Cormorant flew north overhead.

Off the hill there were a few Redwing and Fieldfare in nearby fields but no significant numbers as yet.

3 Chiffchaff represented the only summer migrants still present.

Still around 30 Yellowhammer around the stubble fields.

Dragonflies: 10+ Common Darter which included a pair egg laying.

Butterflies: 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 2 Red Admiral.

 Reed Bunting
 Chiffchaff (above & below)

Cormorant from yesterday drying out in the sun (courtesy Alan Dawson)
 Common Darters egg laying in tandem

Wednesday 17 October 2018

Stonechats

Cloudy, 14°, light SW.

A brief visit today due to a late start and not much difference from yesterday’s visit.

2 Stonechat still present on the hill and flighty, a handful of Fieldfare and Redwing on the hill and a small flock of 15 Starling over the hill (the first I’ve seen in a few months). Up to 12 Corn Bunting present and a few Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting.

3 Siskin overhead and a single Chiffchaff seen.

A pair of Jay in the garden this afternoon.

Dragonflies: 1 Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Peacock.





Tuesday 16 October 2018

Thrushes moving

A hazy day with low cloud cover, 18°, light SW.

2 Stonechat on the hill this morning but only briefly before moving off. A Sparrowhawk, several Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting and 8 Corn Bunting.

A handful of Fieldfare and Redwing present nearby and most have appeared to have moved on. However still more to come. An increase in the number of Blackbird and to a lesser extent Song Thrush noted.

4 Chiffchaff noted and a few Siskin overhead.

2 Nuthatch making frequent forays into the garden recently.

Dragonflies: 1 Common Darter.

 Nuthatch


Shaggy Inkcap