Bunk

Cloudy with light showers, 14°, brisk W.

Another reasonable passage of Hirundines along the Bunk area today. 200+ birds with House Martin just edging Swallow and c20 Sand Martin.

Plus 4 Shoveler overhead, several Canada and Greylag Geese moving, a Sparrowhawk causing panic amongst a Tit flock, 3 Green Woodpecker, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 9 Meadow Pipit, 8 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and the usual Gulls.

A flock of c100 Meadow Pipit and c30 Skylark on Cholsey Hill this afternoon.

2 Tawny Owl regular in and near garden after dark and both Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch regular visitors to feeders.

Dragonflies: 2 Southern Hawker and a Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Large White, several Small White and a Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Rain and Shine

Rain clearing, then sunny spells, 13°, breezy NNW.

Still a good passage of Hirundines passing through over the Bunk area, with c250 Swallow, 80+ House Martin and 60+ Sand Martin.

200+ Lesser Blackback Gull and a few Black-headed Gull loafing in fields, a Sparrowhawk, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 10+ Chiffchaff (incl 1 in song) and a Stonechat. Plus a Peregrine along Westfield Road.

The sun made a show around 14:00 and a few insects appeared.

Dragonflies: a single Common Blue Damselfly, a Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

A few of the Swallow hawking over flooded fields

The Stonechat (above PC, below AD)

Lesser Blackback Gull

Speckled Wood

Still b****y raining

Showery, 17°, light SSW.

Stonechat still present along Bunk Line and a Common Whitethroat. Per Alan:

More rain

Mostly cloudy, rain later, 15°, light SSE.

Lollingdon very quiet today, some extensive flooding in fields but little present. A few Lesser Blackback Gull, a single Herring Gull and 6 Lapwing over.

6 Chiffchaff noted but no other migrants.

On the other hand, Alan had better luck in the Bunk area. 200+ Meadow Pipit, several Yellow Wagtail, a Stonechat, c50 Swallow/House Martin, Raven, 3 Grey Heron, several Teal, 100+ Mallard, c80 Lesser Blackback Gull etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit courtesy Alan

Hirundines still on the move

Mainly cloudy, 15°, light SW.

Alan out along the Bunk area this morning and I grabbed a couple of hours this afternoon.

c350 Hirundines passing through today and roughly 50/50 Swallow and House Martin.

8 Teal, several Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Green Woodpecker, a Kingfisher, 250+ Lesser Blackback Gull, c60 Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Raven, a Jay, several Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Blackcap and several Chiffchaff.

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Grey Heron with a Swallow passing

Green Woodpecker

Some of the Lesser Blackback Gulls present in the area

A wet one

Light to heavy rain all day, 14°, light SW.

A thoroughly wet day with a lot of minor flooding.

Large numbers of Hirundines on the move today in the Bunk area, predominately Swallow with good numbers of House Martin.

Between Alan and myself I estimate up to 1500 birds with large numbers feeding low over fields and over CSW and the gravel pit area.

Also good numbers of Meadow Pipit (60+), Pied Wagtail (c50), and Yellow Wagtail (c20) and a single Grey Wagtail.

Several hundred Lesser Blackback Gull on Cholsey Hill plus a few Black-headed Gull.

Also, 6 Shovelor, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Jay, Grey Heron and 8 Chiffchaff.

Leucistic Black-headed Gull courtesy Alan

Shaggy Inkcap

Cholsey

Overcast and sunny spells initially then thundery later, 20°, blustery ENE. Variable weather!

Bunk, per Alan: Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail, high numbers of each. Raven over, Skylark, Swallow and Chiffchaff singing.

Approx. 20 Hirundines (Swallow and at least 2 House Martin) over Church Road, moving north ahead of the thunder storm early afternoon. Per PC.

Cattle Egret seen again along Bunk area yesterday. Per Michael Pocock.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter (garden).

Portland: Day 11.

Sunny, 18°, breezy NE.

Managed a lay-in until 07:00 this morning as did not want to be too tired for the drive back home. We left for home around 12:30, so not a lot noted.

A brief intermittent sea watch with 15 Balearic Shearwater, 4 Teal and 4 Common Scoter.

A mass of Hirundines passed through with the bulk between 07:00 – 09:00.

An estimate of approx. 10,000 birds passed over the bill area with Swallow and House Martin in roughly equal numbers and possibly up to 50 Sand Martin.

Little Owl, 16 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Grey Wagtail, numbers of Meadow Pipit, 7 Chiffchaff, a Common Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher.

Butterflies: Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady and a possible Wall Brown.

Pied Flycatcher ↕

Little Owl

Sun Up

Last nights full Moon ↕

Marsh Harrier

Sunny, 22°, light to breezy NE.

Marsh Harrier over Lollingdon Hill flying north west. Per Alan Dawson.

Portland: Day 10.

Sunny, 18°, light NE.

An on/off sea watch today and a little less walking.

5 Manx Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Arctic Skua, 100+ Kittiwake, 15 Knot, 3 Wigeon, 10+ Auk, many Gannet etc.

2 Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, 2 Sparrowhawk, a Short-eared Owl, a Little Owl, 300+ Swallow, 100+ House Martin, 30+ Sand Martin, 25 Yellow Wagtail, 12 Grey Wagtail, 19 “alba” Wagtail, c200 Meadow Pipit, 3 Tree Pipit, 20+ Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Whinchat, 3 Stonechat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 1 Pied Flycatcher, etc.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: fewer numbers of both Whites, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Many Blue-fin Tuna still feeding offshore.

Sunrise

Cattle Egret

Sunny, 18°, light NE.

Alan found Cholsey’s 4th Cattle Egret along the Bunk area today, plus Stonechat, Common Sandpiper, several Meadow Pipit and Yellow Wagtail, Chiffchaff, Swallow, House Martin and Raven over.

Dragonflies: Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker and Willow Emerald.

Butterflies: Red Admiral, Comma, Common Blue, Painted Lady and Small Heath.

Cattle Egret

Portland: Day 9.

A cloudy start then clearing, 18°, light SW.

A cloudy and damp start to the day looked very promising but it soon fizzled out to be followed by glorious sunshine for the rest of the day which made for hard work in finding birds.

However, an improvement on the last few days.

The long staying Marsh Harrier, a Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Little Owl, 8 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Grey Wagtail, 60+ Meadow Pipit, 6 Tree Pipit, 2 Skylark, c35 Swallow, 5 House Martin, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Whinchat, 5 Stonechat, a Sedge Warbler, a Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, c25 Chiffchaff, a Pied Flycatcher and a Spotted Flycatcher.

A brief look at the sea when someone called: 3 Common Scoter but no prolonged sea watch.

Approx. 17:00 we noticed hundreds of Gull feeding high in the air just off the east cliffs. Flying Ants were the prey and swarming in 1000’s. Most of the Gulls noted were Mediterranean Gull (150+).

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large and Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

A couple of interesting Moths: Gold Spot and Beautiful Gothic.

Plus, a Sexton Beetle and a Black Slip Wasp.

All captive insects safely released.

some photos courtesy Loren.

Pied Flycatcher

Chiffchaff

Raven

Starlings on the lighthouse

Little Owl

Beautiful Gothic

Black Slip Wasp

Portland: Day 8.

Sunny then clouding over, 18°, light NW.

A quiet day by any standards. Didn’t do a sea watch as did not hear any decent calls from the guys watching and land was pretty hard work with migrants few and far between.

Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Little Owl, another Cattle Egret in, off the sea, 3 Raven, 22 Swallow, 1 House Martin, 4 Grey Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 “White” Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Stonechat, 3 Whinchat, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Blackcap, 9 Chiffchaff and 1 Willow Warbler.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Small Blue, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Blue-fin Tuna.

Sunrise

Whinchat

Robin

Portland: Day 7.

Sunny, 18°, light SW.

A very protracted sea watch today and hard work on the land.

1 Arctic Skua and 9 Common Scoter.

A Cattle Egret in, off the sea, a Marsh Harrier, Little Owl, 64 Swallow, 4 House Martin, 2 Sand Martin, 8 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Grey Wagtail, 100+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Tree Pipit, 2 Wheatear, 3 Whinchat, 12 Stonechat, 12 Chiffchaff and a single Willow Warbler.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue?, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Sunrise

Painted Lady

Whinchat (above & below)

Stonechat

Portland Bill

Portland: Day 6.

Sunny, 16°, light WNW.

Skipped a sea watch today as little appeared to be happening so concentrated more on the land.

Quite a good selection with a couple of reasonable figures.

Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit over, 1 Whimbrel, 100+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 White Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, 8 Stonechat, a Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 17 Chiffchaff, 200+ Swallow, c40 House Martin and 26 Sand Martin.

Mammals: Red Fox & Grey Seal.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Small Blue, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood & Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Good numbers of Blue-fin Tuna offshore.

Sunrise

Wheatear mid jump

Wheatear

Linnet

Stonechat (above & below)

Angle Shade Moth landed on my binoculars, Was not aware until I saw a fuzzy shape through them.