October out with a whimper

Cloudy, 16°, light SE.

A pretty quiet one today with both out along the Bunk line.

The usual Winter Thrushes of c100 Redwing and 20+ Fieldfare now regularly seen, plus a Sparrowhawk carrying prey, 2 Kestrel, 2 Grey Heron, a Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 20’ish Black-headed Gull.

The usual commoner Finches and a few Yellowhammer.

On the walk back I noticed a flock of Wood Pigeon and Gulls on Cholsey hill take to the air and managed to pick out a male Peregrine swooping thru. Didn’t take anything and continued flying towards Wittenham Clumps.

The Ring-necked Parakeet still present around the Station Road Allotments.

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Some of todays Fungi

Quietish

Sunny periods, 17°, breezy SW.

A fairly quiet hill today, the 2 Stonechat still present and a few BOP’s over. 2 Buzzard, 5 Red Kite, 2 Sparrowhawk and 2 Kestrel.

Nearby, a Chiffchaff, a few good-sized flocks of Linnet, Chaffinch and Goldfinch, numbers of Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Skylark and a flock of c30 Redwing and a handful of Fieldfare.

Alan along the river: 2 Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Kingfisher, Siskin, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Mistle Thrush and Nuthatch.

Dragonflies: 7 Common Darter, incl 2 pairs ovipositing plus Common Darter and Migrant Hawker along the river.

Butterflies: a single Speckled Wood Lollingdon and Peacock and Red Admiral along the river.

Common Darters ovipositing

Stonechat ↕

male Common Darter

RNP

Mainly sunny, 18°, light SSW.

A phone call from Tony Williams this morning alerting me to a Ring-necked Parakeet (Rose-ringed Parakeet) on the Station Road allotments.

An immature (?) bird was present and moving between gardens in Sandy Lane and the allotments.

I was in no hurry to see this bird so I didn’t turn up until around midday and ended up not seeing it. However, Alan was present and had managed a few photos and a video grab. It may well still be in the area as there is plenty of fruit around.

Fortunately a scarce species in Cholsey as they are noisy and competitive with native species.

Loren laughed at me when I said I would take a look, as when she lived in Surrey, she had hundreds flyover every day. Common as muck!

also a Jay present nearby.  

Butterflies: a well-worn Painted Lady found by Jane Dawson on the allotments.

Quiet and windy

A windy day with sunny spells, 15°. Breezy SSW.

A generally quiet time along the Bunk line today. A couple of Grey Heron and Kestrel, 2 Chiffchaff, a few Siskin flyovers, c100 Fieldfare, a handful of Redwing and c300 Gulls. The Gulls were mainly Lesser Blackback Gull with c20 Black-headed Gull. May have been another species present but too distant for ID.

Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden

Lollingdon

Cloudy with sunny periods and a few rain showers, 15°, breezy SW.

A busy hill and both of us out there at different times today, 4 Stonechat present hawking insects along the fence line and 500+ Fieldfare over. Most flying over heading south towards the downs and some stopped to feed on the Hawthorn berries.

A single, late House Martin flew south east and 2 Raven over.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, including a possible White Wagtail.

One Wagtail stood out for me as having no discernible black on the head or throat and was a pale looking bird compared to others in the flock.

The flock flew before I could get a photo.

Alan went later to the same site and photographed another bird which appears to be a possible White Wagtail also.

There are no documented records of White Wagtail in Cholsey as far as I am aware. Quite probably overlooked as they are a regular continental migrant thru the UK.

the so called British Pied Wagtail "yarrellii" is a sub-species of White Wagtail "alba".

Addition: Having since consulted with Ian Lewington it is probable that the pic below is a female Pied Wagtail as the plumage detail is not conclusive for a White Wagtail. Often a difficult species to id conclusively in autumn.

2+ Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, Little Owl, Little Egret, Grey Wagtail, 30+ Redwing, 2 Jay, 2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 14 Yellowhammer and a flock of c40 Linnet and 20+ Chaffinch.

Alan found a Mandarin Duck on the river on the 21st.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Clouded Yellow (22nd Oct, per Alan).

Fieldfares

Possible "White" Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba) courtesy Alan

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Raven

Mandarin Duck courtesy Alan

Solo

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

Alan out today along the river and Green lane. Plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing around now, plus Teal, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff, 2+ Redpoll and a Raven overhead.

All photos courtesy Alan

Teal

Common Buzzard

Redpoll

Fieldfare

VizMig

Sunny ’ish, 16°. Breezy ENE.

A lot of chatter on WhatsApp this morning regarding “VizMig” (visible migration) of mainly Thrushes and Finches in Oxfordshire and further afield. E.g. an estimated 350,000 Redwing over Westenschouwen in the Netherlands today.

Alan was already out and confirmed this. I couldn’t make it ‘til this afternoon and also noted movement of birds.

So both along the Bunk line at different times and Alan along the river later in the day.

Rough figures of 200+ Redwing, up to 100 Fieldfare, 100+ Starling, 5 Redpoll and a hint of Skylark all moving south to south west. Not a lot compared to some sites, but that’ll do.

Redwing and the odd Song Thrush heard passing overhead after dark this evening.  

At one point about 350 Gulls and Corvids all took to the air. They had been following a plough.

A look skyward produced a Peregrine that soared high over me and continued north. Eventually all the birds settled back down behind the plough.

A few Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Yellowhammer present, plus a single Grey Heron and Chiffchaff.

The river produced a few more Fieldfare over plus Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher.

As an observation not bird related. The local farm was cutting the hedge (or rather hacking it) along the Bunk line today (a bit early!) when I noticed the arm of the mechanism was caught on the overhead telephone wires. I tried to warn the driver but as he moved forward the line snapped and he has presumably cut some residents off from the telephone service.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Peregrine Falcon

Redpolls courtesy Alan

Foggy & Quiet

Foggy at first then sunny, 16°, light E.

Both out at Lollingdon today but at different times:

3 Redwing, 2 Chiffchaff, Little Owl and 2 Stonechat. Little else.

Mammals: Roe Deer & Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone & Meadow Brown.

Pretty quiet but another rarity

Another sunny day clouding over later, 16°, light SSE.

Another local rarity today with a flyover Woodlark on Church Road, calling frequently. Per Richard Broughton.

And a single flyover Swallow over the Station Road allotments this afternoon.

River area somewhat quiet. Chiffchaff and Cetti’s Warbler in song along the river plus a Kingfisher.

Bunk line area very quiet, just a few Chiffchaff present.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Peacock & Red Admiral.

A wet one

Overcast with frequent rain showers, 14°, light SW.

A wet walk out to Lollingdon hill this morning. A Little Egret in the Little Lollingdon area and 2 Stonechat still on the hill.

Higher numbers of Meadow Pipit around with c100 counted plus good numbers of Pied Wagtail.

2+ Redpoll, 14 Yellowhammer, a Little Owl calling and appears to be an influx of Chaffinch with 80+ seen.

5 Chiffchaff scattered about and 7 House Martin overhead and a single Swallow over Church Road late afternoon.

Alan along the river later in the day, Cetti’s Warbler (in song), Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and House Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer and Tony Williams saw an Otter on the river.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: a single Small White.

Roe Deer with young

Meadow Pipit

Stonechat

Dunnock

Stonechats + 1

Sunny at first then clouding over, 17°, light SSW.

Watching 3-4 Stonechat on Lollingdon hill this morning when they were joined by a 5th bird.

Initially I thought, another Stonechat but the chats were quite aggressive towards the newcomer which almost immediately flew off and landed on a gate around 30m from me.

As I got my bins on it, it decided to fly over me and flew down the track to a hedgerow. I managed to see enough of it to realise it was a Redstart. So I moved on down the track to look for it.

The bird was very flighty and kept moving down the hedge to where the hedge ended. I was noting the red tail and a dark plumage, too dark for a Common Redstart.

I stayed back about 50m from the area and the bird dropped out the hedge a couple of times onto the track. that’s when I got a couple of good views of it and confirmed it as a f/immature Black Redstart. Unfortunately too flighty for a photo.

I immediately phoned Alan who arrived around 15 minutes later but in that time the bird had disappeared and despite both of us searching the area from the hill to the north and the farm to the south, we were unable to relocate the bird.

This is quite a rare bird in the Cholsey area with the last record on 14th Nov 2014, coincidentally on Lollingdon Hill.

Alan went up the hill later in the day but still no sign, although the 4 Stonechat were still present.

Not a lot else around though I did see 2 Redwing on the north side of the hill. A few Chiffchaff, 8 Yellowhammer plus Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Pied Wagtail around in fair numbers.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: singles of Small White & Red Admiral.

Stonechats (2&3 & the Buzzard courtesy Alan)  

Expectations

Mainly sunny, 15°, light to breezy NNW.

After looking at some radar images last night of 000’s of birds leaving Northern Europe and heading for the UK, I expected I might come across a few Redwing or even Fieldfare today.

However I did not and Alan only saw one Redwing! Will have a listen after dark and see if I can hear them passing overhead as they are nocturnal migrants.

Presumably they have not reached this far south yet so it may take a few days for them to arrive. The birds on the move are mainly Thrushes, Robins, Finches etc leaving Scandinavia, Siberia etc for milder climes to spend the winter.

Anyway back to the reality: a Wheatear and 2 Stonechat present out at Lollingdon and one recently tilled field hosted 50+ Pied Wagtail, 30+ Skylark, numbers of Meadow Pipit, c100 Starling and 8 Grey Partridge.

Some flyover Siskin heard but not seen, 7 Chiffchaff, a Little Owl calling and a Goldcrest.

Alan covered the Bunk line area with the aforementioned Redwing noted, a Stonechat, several Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Lapwing and Chiffchaff.

Not really sure if Skylark numbers have increased recently or that they are more vocal, so noticing them more. I suspect a bit of both.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Small White & Red Admiral.

Wheatear ↕

Redwing courtesy Alan

Stonechats

Pied Wagtail

Sunshine

A sunny day, 16°, light to breezy S.

Alan managed to find 7 Stonechat in the vicinity of the “Long Ditch” today plus Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Grey Heron and a Peregrine.

Not so fortunate myself as the Bunk line area was somewhat quieter. 4 Chiffchaff, 5 Grey Heron, 3 Grey Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit and Skylark and a few Yellowhammer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White & Red Admiral.

Grey Heron

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Grey Heron courtesy Alan

Red Admiral

A little breezy

Windy with sunny spells, 18°, breezy SSW.

A breezy hill today with 6 House Martin feeding in the lea of Lollingdon hill and a Stonechat still present on the south side along with several Meadow Pipit and a Kestrel.

Several Chiffchaff also around plus a Goldcrest.

Dragonflies: a couple of Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Small White, 2 Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood.

Stonechat ↕