Lollingdon, Bunk line, Marsh & River

Mainly cloudy, 16°, light to breezy S.

Overlapping walks today with Alan out earlier along the Bunk line then the river and Cholsey Marsh then me out at Lollingdon the back out along the Bunk line.

Lollingdon was fairly quiet as it was a bit windy on the hill. A single Raven over and 3 Brambling flew north east with a small flock of Chaffinch and a few Redwing moving around.

8 Corn Bunting flew in and settled in a field mingling with a flock of Meadow Pipit. Usual Yellowhammer and Skylark present.

Bunk line early: Fieldfare, Redwing, Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Goldcrest, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

Marsh/River: Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk, Reed Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler, 20+ Mistle Thrush and a Stonechat,

Bunk line later: the Herring Gull had been joined by another adult and a 1st winter bird.

Very little in the hedgerows later, several Redwing, a Chiffchaff and a Kestrel nearby.

Dragonflies: 9 Common Darter, with some egg laying in a flooded field margin.

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Distant Kestrel

Windy

A cloudy and windy day, 16°, breezy SSW.

A different day along the Bunk line today in the windy conditions With both me and Alan along there,

Very little overhead movement with most birds feeding in the lee of hedges or in cover.

A few more Fieldfare around but the bulk of them do not appear to have arrived in the area yet. Good numbers of Redwing still around.

A Herring Gull feeding with the Corvids and a Grey Heron stalking a field.

A couple of Chiffchaff along Green lane and the Golden Plover flock still on Cholsey hill and also seen in the air from the Bunk.

Negative for any large insects today.

Long-tailed Tit

Yellowhammer

Green Woodpecker courtesy Alan

Herring Gull

Rainy days

Mainly cloudy with a few light rain showers and sunny spell, 16°, light SW.

A fair time spent out along the Bunk line/Green lane today. Only 10 Fieldfare logged along with a few hundred Redwing and approx. 20 Song Thrush and 2 Mistle Thrush.

Also logged: 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Raven, 2 Grey Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Skylark. 250+ Starling, a Green Woodpecker, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Egyptian Geese, a Little Owl, several Jay, 16 Yellowhammer and a supporting cast of approx. 20 other species.

A definite increase in the number of Blackbird and Chaffinch seen.

A Brambling noted flying over Cholsey Marsh this morning, Per Paul Rainsden.

The Golden Plover flock still on Cholsey Hill.

Alan spent the morning checking out a Pectoral Sandpiper on Port Meadow. A rare vagrant from North America/ Asia. However managed to cover the river this afternoon.

Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Jay, Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese, Stonechat and Cetti’s Warbler.

1 pos 2 Nuthatch and Coal Tit amongst a sizable Tit flock visiting the garden this afternoon.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

A Chiffchaff chasing a fly and returning. ↕

Distant shot of a Redwing and 4 Fieldfare

A Pied Wagtail on a dung heap hunting for flies.

Grey Wagtail

Another Chiffchaff

We all know this one?

Pied Wagtail following cattle to see what insects may be disturbed

Redwing doing it's best not to be noticed

First Fieldfares and late Common Darters

Sunny, 14°, light WSW.

Alan managed to find our first Fieldfare of the autumn along the Bunk line today along with Redwing, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Kingfisher, Jay, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Raven.

Golden Plover flock still on Cholsey Hill.

Lollingdon was a lot quieter, a pair of Stonechat, 20+ Yellowhammer and a scattering of Skylark and Meadow Pipit and Jay and a Sparrowhawk.

A good number of Redwing flying south west approx. 200.

A report of a late Swift sp over Wallingford today.  

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter (5). 

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Common Darter ↕

Golden Plover ↕ courtesy Alan

Golden Plovers

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 13°, breezy NW.

Approx. 100 Golden Plover present on Cholsey Hill found by Alan. Nearby a few Redwing, a Chiffchaff, a few Yellowhammer and Jay and 2 Raven over.

Pretty quiet out there today, 2 Stonechat still present on Lollingdon Hill but little else. Several Redwing (20’ish) and Blackbird (20’ish) working the hedgerow in the cattle field and several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit around. And quite a few Skylark overhead moving about the fields.

A sight not seen very often in this area. On the way back one of the fields had 6 Corvid species present: 2 Raven, 3 Carrion Crow, 14 Rook, 5 Jackdaw, 3 Magpie and 3 Jay.

A Little Egret flew across the brook meadow and 2 Treecreeper in garden mid- afternoon.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Golden Plover & Pied Wagtail pics courtesy Alan.

Cooler

A sunny but colder day, 10°, light to breezy NW.

3 of us out today with Tony W out at Lollingdon: 2 Stonechat, several Mistle Thrush and Redwing. Also a flock of c30 Golden Plover (1st of the autumn) that flew over West End towards Cholsey Hill.

Alan out at the gravel pit, Cholsey Hill and the farm area: several Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit and Skylark, then, several Jay, a couple of Chiffchaff (incl 1 in song), a Herring Gull, Stonechat, Little Owl and a Raven.

Alan back out on Cholsey Hill this afternoon and found a flock of approx. 100 Golden Plover.

Also Mike Amphlett reported 15-20 Golden Plover over the Waterloo Close area today.

I covered the Bunk line and Green lane: a Stonechat, several Redwing, a Herring Gull and 3 Lesser Blackback Gull with a flock of 40’ish Black-headed Gull, several Jay, a couple of Chiffchaff and a Grey Heron. Several Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Yellowhammer.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Dunnock

Grey Heron checking out a Magpie

Stonechat

Long-tailed Tit

Wet 'n' Windy

Wet ’n’ windy, 16°, breezy SW.

Lollingdon Hill very quiet today with a brisk south westerly blowing across it. Several Jay on the sheltered side and a single Chiffchaff.

A single Redwing seen out in the cattle field and 2 Stonechat nearby. A Little Egret flew towards Little Lollingdon then seen again distantly along the brook.

Usual Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Yellowhammer and Pied Wagtail present feeding in the fields.

Alan covered the Marsh/River and Bunk with Kingfisher, Stonechat and the usual Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

Dragonflies: 3 Common Darter.

Jay

Stonechat ↕

Little Egret

Long-tailed Tit

Another Merlin turns up

Early sunny spells then overcast, 20°, breezy SSW.

A mild but very breezy day.

Alan along the Bunk a.m. and myself p.m.

Alan scooped the bird of the day with a Merlin initially sat on a post then flew low and fast over the field by the gravel pit. The second one this autumn after one on the 14th.

Also 4 Raven over, a Kingfisher, a few Redwing, Little Owl, Jay, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Skylark.

Later Alan along Westfield road with another Raven, a Peregrine and more Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: singles of Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock and 2 Red Admiral.

Raven courtesy Alan

Shaggy Inkcap

If you look close, there is a swarm of possibly thousands of insects close to the tree top. looked a bit like smoke from a distance.

Jays & Stonechats

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 16°, light S.

Lollingdon, 2 Stonechat still present on the hill and approx. 20 Mistle Thrush but mobile and 30+ Redwing.

A single Chiffchaff, several Jay, 30’ish Skylark and several Meadow Pipit.

A Little Owl nearby and 2 more Stonechat and a Tawny Owl at Little Lollingdon.

Alan along Cholsey Marsh/River this morning. Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Stonechat and 2 Raven over and several more Jay.

Bunk line this afternoon. Redwing and Stonechat.

A Jay in the garden late afternoon. Both Jay and Stonechat have been very frequent in the area this month.

Mammals: a Stoat hunting a Rabbit and a couple of distant Roe Deer.

Jay

Stonechat

Contrast

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light NE.

After yesterday’s busy time today was in stark contrast with very little going on!

Both out along the Bunk, no more than 20 Redwing logged plus 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Stonechat and 4 Raven performing an aerial display in the distance.

A Reed Bunting, several Yellowhammer and Meadow Pipit and a few Pied Wagtail.

Alan waiting by the fish & chip van and saw a Sparrowhawk go over plus 4 Mistle Thrush.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Stonechat, Chiffchaff & a Robin.

Busy Day

Mainly cloudy with a little sunshine, 16°, light WSW.

A busy day out there today with me out at Lollingdon and Alan along the Bunk.

The highlight of the day for me was a female Merlin. Alerted by the panicky calls of a couple of Jay, she skimmed over a hedge in the cattle field and flew low across the field, skimmed the next hedge, scattering Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove and Thrushes before disappearing to the west of the hill.

Almost 4 hours spent on and around the hill with, up to 6 Stonechat present, 4 Raven over, several small flocks of Starling, 2 Chiffchaff, 12 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush dropped in, a Kestrel, 40+ Redwing, a singing Corn Bunting, 4 Jay (they are everywhere at the moment) and a Tawny Owl calling. The fields below the hill had 40+ Pied Wagtail, 60’ish Meadow Pipit and 30+ Skylark. 6 Red Kite feeding on carrion and 2 more Raven, 5 Carrion Crow and 6 Magpie present.

On the way back, more Redwing and Song Thrush, a Sparrowhawk and 20+ Yellowhammer.

Alan’s time along the Bunk produced Redwing, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Jay, 2 Stonechat, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Little Owl, a flock of 14 Magpie (Don’t think the rhyme goes that high) and Goldcrest.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral and Comma.

Stonechats ↕

Redwing courtesy Alan