Last day of 2021 & a Butterfly

Rain at first then sunny, 15°, light SW.

Some balmy temperature for the end of the year and a butterfly seen on the wing.

Lollingdon hill was very quiet today, just a few Red Kite and Buzzard overhead and a single Raven flew north east.

A single Stonechat still nearby and 50+ Pied Wagtail and a similar number of Meadow Pipit frequenting a flooded field.

Also a Chiffchaff, several Jay and Yellowhammer, Mistle Thrush (in song), a few Fieldfare and Redwing and a Sparrowhawk.

Alan out along the river: Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail, 2 Stonechat, Kingfisher, Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, Treecreeper, Fieldfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush (in song), Song Thrush (in song), Reed Bunting, Barn Owl, Little Grebe and 12+ Siskin.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Butterflies: a single Brimstone on the wing.

A Brimstone on New Years Eve

Treecreeper courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Pied Wagtail

No change

Overcast, 15°, breezy SW.

A very mild day for the end of December and a walk along the Bunk line area for both Alan and myself.

As of late, somewhat quiet. Several hundred Fieldfare and Redwing feeding in fields and the usual small flock of Yellowhammer present.

100+ Lesser Blackback Gull and several Black-headed Gull loafing in and around the Gravel pit area and a Little Grebe on the flooded pit and a Kestrel nearby.

Apart from that very little happening.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Kestrel ↕

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Lesser Blackback Gull

Redwing

Quiet few days

Wet’ n’ Windy, 14°, breezy WSW.

Alan out a few times recently with today along the Bunk and probably the best day.

Little Owl, up to 400 strong flock of both Fieldfare and Redwing and a similar amount of Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull plus a couple of Herring Gull nearby.

Also Kestrel, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Goldcrest and Meadow Pipit.

A Kingfisher and Little Grebe along the river.

Lazy Days

Mainly rainy, 10°, light to breezy SW-SE.

A mainly wet Christmas period and just relaxing rather than out birding although I probably need the exercise!

The garden has been very busy over the period with almost constant attention by Tit flocks with Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Great Tit plus Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Treecreeper, Magpie, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon and the odd sweeping visit by a Sparrowhawk,

Out in the meadow there has been the odd visits by Fieldfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Jay, Moorhen, Buzzard, Red Kite, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Black-headed Gull.

And after dark the Tawny Owls have been regular and heard calling in and around the garden.

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas from Cholsey Wildlife

Still Settled

Overcast, 9°, light SSW.

Another quiet one along the Bunk line today, a Peregrine drifting over put approx. 100 Black-headed Gull and a large flock of Fieldfare and Redwing up that were either loafing or feeding in fields.

2 Herring Gull and a handful of Lesser Blackback Gull plus the usual small flock of Yellowhammer present.

8 Lapwing in a field near Manor farm.

The garden very busy this afternoon with constant coming and going of Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tit plus 2 Coal Tit, 1-2 Nuthatch and a Treecreeper.

Alan along the river with little else of note other than a Little Grebe.

A mix of Starling, Fieldfare & Redwing

Nuthatch doing its best to hide

A Quiet Solstice

Overcast, 6°, light ESE.

One of the quietist days I’ve had out at Lollingdon. Lots of thrushes out there but little else of note.

Alan covered the River and Bunk, 2 Stonechat, Kingfisher, a singing Song Thrush but very quiet generally.

Song Thrush

A Dull Day

Overcast, 6°, light ENE.

Alan out along the Lees area this morning and somewhat quiet, 2 Peregrine on the pylons plus Skylark, Meadow Pipit, a Grey Wagtail and good numbers of Pied Wagtail. Usual mix of Gulls with Black-headed, Lesser Blackback and Herring.

Also the leucistic Carrion Crow present.

I went out along the Bunk line mid-afternoon and again rather quiet, a Sparrowhawk hunting along Green lane and numbers of Fieldfare feeding in surrounding fields along with smaller numbers of Redwing.

The usual mix of Finches and Buntings, 200+ Black-headed Gull and a couple of Herring Gull.

On Saturday Alan was along the Bunk and had c80 Teal fly over along with 50+ Lapwing and Bullfinch along Green lane.

And 2 Stonechat still present Cholsey Meadows/Marsh area.

Mammals: Roe Deer and Brown Hare.

Peregrine Falcon & Leucistic Carrion Crow courtesy Alan.

Lollingdon & the Thames

Mainly cloudy, 9°, light NE.

Little change out at Lollingdon, both Stonechat still present at different locations.

Plenty of Fieldfare around with a lot of mobile flocks totalling c500 birds and just a handful of Redwing but quite a few more Redwing closer to the village.

Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush both in song again plus the regular flock of Yellowhammer and Finches.

Alan along the river with Cetti’s Warbler and Water Rail, Kingfisher, 2 Raven overhead, several Meadow Pipit, the usual Fieldfare and Redwing and 2 Stonechat.

Stonechat (Lollingdon)

 Stonechat courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Fieldfare

A Mild One

Overcast, 12°, light WSW.

A mild day by any standards for mid-December with both Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush in song.

Both Stonechat still present with 1 on Lollingdon Hill and another near the cattle field.

Lollingdon Hill was quiet with a single Raven hassling some Black-headed Gull plus 6 Red Kite and 2 Buzzard overhead. And plenty of “Winter Thrush” in the area,

The Bunk line area still held plenty of Gull with an estimated 500 of the usual mix. Also “Winter Thrush” in good numbers plus Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Jay, Yellowhammer. Per Alan.

Alan took a trip to Farmoor Reservoir this morning to see a juvenile Great Northern Diver. (pics below)

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Stonechat ↕

Great Northern Diver ↕ courtesy Alan

The Bunk & The Thames

Cloudy with the occasional sunny spell, 12°, light SW.

Bunk line relatively quiet today as far as diversity goes. Around 500 gulls present between CSW and the Gravel pit. Mainly Lesser Blackback Gull, with 100+ Black-headed Gull, at least 2 Great Blackback Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Loads of Fieldfare present but not so many Redwing. The usual Yellowhammer present (12+), 2 Grey Heron, a Kingfisher and a Chiffchaff.

At one point I heard a wader call that sounded very much like a Grey Plover but was unable to locate the bird.

Alan on his usual route along the river with Siskin, Stonechat, Treecreeper, Reed Bunting, singing Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Water Rail, Kingfisher and the usual “Winter Thrushes” and Meadow Pipit.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Yellowhammer

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Siskin ↕ courtesy Alan: note, the one above is ringed

2 Grey Heron ↕

Some of the many Gulls present

Roe Deer

Back in the Field

Mainly cloudy, 11°, light S.

A hike out to Lollingdon Hill today proved fruitful, one field held a flock of Finch and Bunting that contained a male Brambling plus around 20 Chaffinch, a few Linnet and Goldfinch, 14 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting also a handful of Meadow Pipit and 3-4 Pied Wagtail in the same field.

The flock flew off but I managed to re-locate part of the flock but not the part with the Brambling.

A Stonechat on the periphery of the same field and a Little Egret nearby.

A Mistle Thrush in song and many Redwing and good numbers of Fieldfare plus a couple of Jay.

The hill was very quiet with just a couple of Buzzard and Red Kite overhead.

Alan out along the river: 14’ish Siskin, a Kingfisher, 2 Stonechat, 2 Water Rail, a Raven overhead, Jay, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, also the usual Fieldfare and Redwing.

Stonechat

Catch up

A mix of weather this week with both sun and rain and a few breezy spells and not mild.

I have not been out since Monday but Alan has been out and about along the River/Bunk/Lees etc.

As usual for this time of year Fieldfare and Redwing all over plus several Mistle Thrush, Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk, Little Egret overhead, Bullfinch, 2 Herring Gull, Stonechat, Raven overhead, Goldcrest, Lapwing (possibly 2 flocks totalling 100+), Golden Plover, Peregrine, Meadow Pipit and all the regulars.

And a Barn Owl today.

All photos courtesy Alan