Mostly sunny, 19°, light SW.
I always go out with a certain amount of optimism hoping to find something unusual, especially at this time of year.
There have been rare and scarce birds turning up recently, especially at coastal sites and islands and to a lesser extent large bodies of water.
However here in middle earth we can boast no such species, in fact the walk out today was very quiet indeed.
The best I could muster was a singing
Lesser Whitethroat out at Little Lollingdon and a
Little Owl being mobbed by a couple of
Blackbird.
The hill was very quiet with just the usual resident and summer visitors around.
There has been very little passage noted this spring as if we have been bypassed with birds getting directly to their breeding areas.
Still, ever hopeful that a rare or scarce one will turn up one day!
The
Song Thrush is back in the garden and singing well and
Nuthatch visiting more regular and a
Coal Tit heard singing nearby.
Dragonflies: a single
Broad-bodied Chaser flew past me near Cholsey brook and a
Brown Hawker flew through the allotments on Station road and a
Club-tailed Dragonfly,
Hairy Dragonfly and
Broad-bodied Chaser between Cholsey Marsh and Bow Bridge (per Alan).
Butterflies: Brimstone,
Green-veined White,
Orange Tip,
Small Copper,
Brown Argus,
Common Blue,
Holly Blue,
Red Admiral,
Small Tortoiseshell,
Peacock and
Speckled Wood.
Chiffchaff
female Broad-bodied Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)
Newly emerged Mayfly (courtesy Alan Dawson)
Silver-ground Carpet (courtesy Alan Dawson)
Collared Dove
