10 Years Gone

Overcast with light rain, 8°, light SW.

The blog is 10 years old today! 

Lollingdon was fairly active today with 2 Stonechat, c80 Meadow Pipit, and 10+ Pied Wagtail and fair numbers of Starling, Fieldfare and Redwing present.

A Little Egret still nearby and a Eurasian Wigeon present (a rare duck in Cholsey) until flushed by a low flying helicopter a Little Owl heard calling and 2 Raven flew west.

Alan found 2 more Stonechat along Westfield road and a Peregrine Falcon along the Bunk line.

Eurasian Wigeon

Little Egret

Mandarin Duck (Blewbury) courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Still Misty

Very foggy, 4°, very light NE.

Both out in a similar area today with the Bunk line/Green lane/Gravel pit and Caps lane area covered.

Not a lot to shout about and the usual stuff noted.

The fog/mist started to lift later in the day but very foggy initially.

Fieldfare & Redwing

Black-headed Gull

Green Woodpecker courtesy Alan

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Play Misty for me.

A misty day, 5°, very light N.

Is this a mist or a fog? Showing characteristics of both phenomena with visibility down to 100m in some places today and made birding a bit more challenging. I’m going for mist due to the temperature change!

1 Little Egret seen out at Lollingdon, maybe the other 2 are still nearby somewhere.

The pair of Stonechat still present around Lollingdon hill area and fairly mobile.

At least a couple of Corn Bunting and several Yellowhammer heard overhead and a Chiffchaff calling nearby and good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing around, 3 Song Thrush and a Kingfisher.

As well as a Mistle Thrush singing regularly in Whitehead meadow recently a Song Thrush has been in song at dawn and dusk for the last few days.

Redwing ↕

Egrets still present

 Overcast with early light rain, 10°, light NW. 

Alan had the best of it today with 3 Little Egret, 2 Stonechat and a Little Owl out at Lollingdon and another Stonechat at Cholsey meadows.

I made it out a little late along the Bunk line and it was pretty quiet. A lot of Redwing (100+) and c50 Fieldfare and 3 Herring Gull frequenting the area near CSW but little else.

A late Red Admiral butterfly noted by Tony Rayner yesterday.

All pics courtesy Alan.

Coal Tit at Bow

Egrets

Light cloud with a few sunny spells, 9°, light SSW.

3 Little Egret still out in the Lollingdon area and a Little Owl heard calling.

Several flocks of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling roaming the hedgerows and fields, several Song Thrush and a single Mistle Thrush.

A Mistle Thrush and a couple of Goldcrest at the church.

50+ Finches feeding amongst a cover crop but only Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Chaffinch noted.

Alan along the river today with Bullfinch and Coal Tit at Bow Bridge.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Bunk line & Lollingdon

Early mist followed by sunshine, 10°, light W.

Pretty quiet along the Bunk line/Green lane area today.

Lower numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing seen/heard and a Sparrowhawk attempted a strike at some Redwing but flew off empty handed.

A Grey Wagtail, a Chiffchaff and 4 Herring Gull were of note along with c50 Black-headed Gull and a Kestrel plus all the usual suspects.

3 Little Egret still present in the Lollingdon area and a couple of Little Owl. Per Alan.

A Barn Owl heard in Whitehead meadow @ 19:15.

All quietish!

Almost constant light rain, 9°, light SSW.

Apart from good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing a rather quiet time along the Bunk line/Green lane area today.

c100 Black-headed Gull, a single Herring Gull, a Green Woodpecker and a Chiffchaff was all of note.

Alan had a similar situation along the river with Nuthatch, Goldcrest and Siskin.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Garden visitors

Sunny, 8°, light NW.

A few images of garden visitors today. 

As well as Jackdaw and Magpie in the garden there were Carrion Crow, Rook and Jay in the meadow and a Raven flew over mid-afternoon. 6 Corvids in one day!

Getting Colder

Mainly cloudy with sunny spells and a rain shower, 14°, light SW.

Not a lot to report along the river today.

However a report of a Great Grey Shrike at Bow Bridge yesterday by another observer prompted a search all along the river (and yesterday by Alan) but no further sign was found of the bird unfortunately. This is a rare bird for Cholsey with only 4 records in the last 50 years the last being Cholsey Marsh in 2013.

Other species noted: 11 Cormorant, 3 Kingfisher, 2+ Nuthatch, a Little Grebe, several Egyptian Geese, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing, 3-4 Jay, a Chiffchaff and a Grey Heron.

Later in the day out at Lollingdon Alan found 3 Little Egret.

Little Grebe courtesy Alan

A couple of Moths from Tony Rayner's catch last night. A December Moth and a Scarce Umber.

Little Egret

Not a lot going on!

A few sunny spells, 11°, light SW.

Appeared rather quiet today along the Bunk line/Green lane area. Good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing though feeding on berries.

Approx. 200 Black-headed Gull spread around the fields and a couple of Lesser Blackback Gull and a single Herring Gull.

2 Bullfinch, several Yellowhammer and a single Chiffchaff along green lane.

3 Mistle Thrush in song at this end of the village.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Wren

Black-headed Gull

A Wet One

Light to moderate rain, 13°, light to breezy SSW.

A thoroughly wet day and a couple of pics of visitors to the garden.

Male Sparrowhawk & Male Great-spotted Woodpecker

Goosander

Sunny spells, 11°, light SW.

Another new species for the year found by Alan today in the form of a Goosander on the river.

Also several Siskin in the Alders and a Little Grebe on the river.

Unable to get out this week as I’m trying to shake of a nasty cold!

Goosander courtesy Alan

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Goldcrest

 Goldcrest, 1 of 2 by the church today. Per Alan Dawson.

A brighter day

Light cloud with a few sunny periods, 13°, light SSW.

Alan along the river again today and managed to see a Wigeon drop in on the river briefly before flying off again. The first record of this species in Cholsey this year.

Also a Little Grebe, Grey Wagtail and a flyover Raven.

Unable to get out today so just made do with what was around the garden.

A male Sparrowhawk swept thru on a couple of occasions but did not manage to take anything and a brief visit of a Jackdaw and a Mistle Thrush singing at the top of a tree in the garden.

Have not seen a Nuthatch in the garden since early spring so not sure what has become of them?

Butterflies: 2 male Brimstone. Per Alan.

Late Insects

Tony Rayner recorded a late Brimstone butterfly today and 9 species of moth in his trap, including 3 Feathered Thorn. 1 pictured below.

courtesy Tony Rayner

Grey Day

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 15°, light SE.

A rather drab day weather wise and a somewhat quiet day birdwise.

Not much change along the Bunk line area today, maybe more Fieldfare and Starling around.

Cettis’s Warbler, Grey Heron and several Siskin along Cholsey Marsh but again much the same as previous days. Per Alan.

Grey Heron in Brook Meadow

Grey Wagtail - Garden

Grey Heron - Cholsey Marsh courtesy Alan.

Murky

Overcast and a bit murky, 13°, very light SSE.

A little more activity along the Bunk line/Green lane area today with c400 Thrushes around. A good mix of both Fieldfare and Redwing and around 200 Starling in several flocks.

An increase in Pied Wagtail noted plus c20 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting and a Chiffchaff also seen.

20+ Siskin, Cholsey Marsh.Per Alan.

Pied Wagtail ↕

A nice day but rather quiet

A sunny day, 15°, light E.

An unseasonably mild day!

A relatively quiet time along the Bunk line/Green lane area today.

Good numbers of Redwing and a couple of small flocks of Fieldfare feeding on the Hawthorns.

c50 Meadow Pipit, a few Yellowhammer, Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Grey Heron and 2 Herring Gull and approx. 100 Black-headed Gull around CSW.

Mammals: Up to 4 Pipistrelle (presumably Common) along Bunk line this evening. Per Alan.

Redwing

Wren

Meadow Pipit ↕

Little Owl courtesy Alan Dawson

Out & About

Sunny spells after early mist, 10°, light E.

Alan probably had the better day today along the river with 20+ Siskin feeding in the Alders, a Cetti’s Warbler, 2-3 Chiffchaff, a Stonechat, Water Rail, Bullfinch and Goldcrest to name a few.

Lollingdon and the Bunk line/Green lane areas were relatively quiet, 2 Stonechat on Lollingdon Hill, 2 Corn Bunting, a few flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing, 20+ Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting and good numbers of Meadow Pipit, Skylark etc.

BL/GL fairly quiet with a single Chiffchaff and several Redwing and Fieldfare. Several small flocks of Starling moving thru and c80 Black-headed Gull around CSW.

2 other birders out along there today in the form of Mike Amphlett and Steve Foster who also saw 100+ Golden Plover over Cholsey Hill and a couple of Kestrel nearby.

All the other usual suspects noted.

Stonechat & Siskin pics courtesy Alan Dawson

A Finch day

Foggy at first then sunshine, 9°, light ENE.

Turned out to be a Finch day today I had a flyover Brambling with some Chaffinch along the Bunk line and Alan had 2 Redpoll and 4-6 Siskin along the river.

Also good numbers of Goldfinch, several Linnet and Greenfinch and 2 Bullfinch.

Little else along the Bunk line other than 2 Goldcrest, c100 Redwing, c20 Fieldfare and a single Chiffchaff and a flock of c30 Greylag Geese over in the fog.

Alan also saw/heard a Cetti’s Warbler, Sparrowhawk, 5 Common Snipe, a Water Rail, a Grey Wagtail and a Stonechat (Cholsey Meadows).

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: a Common Darter (Green lane).

Goldfinch

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan