Lollingdon

Sunny, 6°, light SSE.

Lollingdon: Unfortunately the flooded areas were frozen today, I could hear some Teal but not see them. Then one flew from a stream about 200m away so I guess they were in the stream.

2 Common Snipe, and several Gulls. The hedgerows were crawling with Fieldfare and Redwing, impossible to count but estimate 2-300 birds.

2 Chiffchaff, several Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Jay etc.

Cholsey Hill

Mainly cloudy, 3°, light NNW.

Marsh Harrier and c50 Golden Plover, Cholsey Hill.

2 Mistle Thrush in garden trees.

Bunk area

Mainly cloudy, 4°, breezy NNW.

A bit chilly and pretty quiet along the Bunk area today:

12 Shoveler, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, c50 Canada Geese on the viewable area of the gravel pit.

50+ Fieldfare, 30+ Redwing, a Goldcrest, Treecreeper and Chiffchaff with a large Tit flock, 2 Jay and a Grey Heron and 3 species of Gull.

I’ve seen more Goldcrest in the last 4 weeks locally than I usually see in a year or more!

A Raven and 2 Egyptian Geese yesterday. Per MA.

Lollingdon floods

Sunny, 7°, light NNE.

Lollingdon floods: 12 Teal, 9 Lapwing, 2 Common Snipe, 30+ Pied Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit, a Grey Wagtail, 50+ Black-headed Gull, 20+ Lesser Blackback Gull.

On the periphery: 2 Stonechat, several Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Little Egret and a Raven over.

Near Bullshole: Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

stock photos

Lollingdon

Sunny periods, 16°, light ENE.

Another fairly quiet one out at Lollingdon today:

3 Common Snipe and a Green Sandpiper on partially flooded fields, c20 Meadow Pipit, 5 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest and large flock of c400 birds, comprising Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: 3 Common Darter.

Butterflies: Holly Blue & Peacock. Per RB.

Bunk

Rain at first the cloudy, 15°, light SSE.

Bunk area very quiet today: a Chiffchaff, 3 Yellowhammer, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Jay, 25+ Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing, 4 Tufted Duck and 2 Mute Swan over.

Butterflies: a Red Admiral in garden.

Saturday 8th Nov: 

Grey Wagtail over garden, a Mistle Thrush in song nearby and a Goldcrest and Chiffchaff in garden. A Tawny Owl in meadow overnight.

Lollingdon

Sunny spells at first then clouding up with light rain, 14°, light SSE.

Lollingdon: pretty quiet today, 2 Chiffchaff, a single Goldcrest, 4 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting, 20+ Pied Wagtail, similar number of Meadow Pipit, a handful of Siskin, 20+ Chaffinch on the north side of the hill, c120 Fieldfare, 25+ Redwing and a Raven.

A Swift sp flew NNE over garden.

Dragonflies: 3 Common Darter, incl 2 in tandem during the sunny part of the day.

Bunk Line

Overcast, 16°, light SSE.

No sign of Brent Goose this morning. Per MP.

I later took a walk along the Bunk line: A single Stonechat present, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 33 Redwing, 36 Fieldfare, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Jay, a single Meadow Pipit and hundreds of Gulls.

Cholsey recording area

Lollingdon

Cloudy with a few light rain showers, 15°, breezy SSW.

A breezy walk out to Lollingdon:

3 Chiffchaff (1 in song), 4 Goldcrest, c120 Fieldfare, c75 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, an increase in Blackbird numbers, 200+ Starling, 50+ Meadow Pipit, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 5 Siskin, 2+ Redpoll, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and a Kingfisher.

A  male Merlin seen around the Hithercroft area. Per Connor Pimm.

Another near miss today. Mike Amphlett found a Brent Goose with a flock of Gulls just a few hundred meters outside the parish boundary in Moulsford. The species has not been recorded in Cholsey before, so worth keeping an eye out in case it joins the Goose flock on the Cholsey side.

Phone cam photo of Brent Goose (Dark-bellied form), breeds on Arctic coasts of central and western Siberia and winters in coastal western Europe. courtesy Mike Amphlett. Great find.

The Lees

Cloudy, 11°, light SSE.

The Lees:

4 Stonechat today and with 2 along the Bunk and 2 out at Lollingdon there are at least 8 Stonechat in Cholsey at the moment.

A Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest with a Tit flock, a small movement of Finches noted with, 10+ Siskin, a handful of Redpoll, 20+ Linnet, 30+ Goldfinch and 20+ Chaffinch, plus 20-30 birds unidentified.

20+ Skylark, 36 Meadow Pipit, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, a Kingfisher and several Fieldfare and Redwing and 7 Shoveler flew north east.

Tawny Owl calling from garden @ 21:35.

A wet one

Rain, 10°, light W.

Bunk area: No camera today due to rainy conditions.

Definitely 2, probably 6 Crossbill flew SSE over Green lane. First record since 2018.

2 Stonechat still present, Winter Thrush numbers still low with only 3 Fieldfare and 6 Redwing seen.

3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and up to a thousand Gulls loafing in fields on the periphery of the gravel workings. Quite distant but could make out mainly Lesser Blackback, with 60+ Black-headed and a handful of Herring Gull. Maybe something else but not noted.

TW noted several Siskin at Cholsey Marsh today.

Mammals: a Muntjac Deer and an Otter noted by Cholsey Marsh. Per TW.

Bunk

Sunny periods, 12°, fresh WNW.

A breezy day along the Bunk area: 2 Stonechat were of note, along with c40 Golden Plover high overhead heading in the Cholsey Hill direction.

A single Chiffchaff, a Grey Heron, numbers of Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull and a couple of Herring Gull loafing in fields.

A Black Redstart seen at Cholsey Meadows on Saturday 25th Oct by James Beaumont. Michael Pocock had a look for it but not relocated.

Lollingdon

Sunny periods, 11°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon, again pretty quiet: 2 Stonechat, 5 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, 3 Chiffchaff, 6 Yellowhammer, 22 Meadow Pipit, 2 Raven and a Common Snipe etc.

Bunk

Sunny then clouding over, 13°, light S.

Bunk area: 6 Little Grebe, 5 Shoveler and a single Lapwing at the gravel pit.

Pretty quiet generally, 2 Jay, 3 Yellowhammer, 2+ Siskin, 4 Redwing etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Brimstone and a Small White.

Lollingdon & Garden

Overcast, 14°, light E.

A walk out to Lollingdon:

6 Stonechat, 100+ Fieldfare, c30 Redwing, 10 Mistle Thrush, 7 Siskin, a single Chiffchaff, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 9 Yellowhammer, 2 Raven, a Peregrine, 60+ Stock Dove over and a flock of 200+ Black-headed Gull accompanied by a handful of larger Gulls flying high north east.

Late afternoon a Sparrowhawk took a Collared Dove in the garden. Started to pluck it but was disturbed, flew with the prey to a sheltered corner of the garden and spent the next hour consuming the Dove.

4 Little Grebe, 18 Tufted Duck and over 150 Lesser Blackback Gull in/on/around the pit next to the bunk on Friday afternoon. 3 Teal there a couple or so weeks back as well. Per MA.

Distant Fieldfare

Bunk area again

Overcast, 14°, light ENE.

Took a walk along the Bunk area to try and find the crest from yesterday but no luck.

Pretty quiet otherwise. Singles of Fieldfare, Chiffchaff and Raven, good numbers of Skylark appeared to be moving overhead, 10+ Pied Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit, a single Grey Wagtail, 2 Jay, 3 Yellowhammer etc.

Bunk area

Overcast, 12°, light NE.

Another gloomy day with this anticyclonic weather system overhead.

A Firecrest found in the SW corner of the gravel pit area but disappeared into a large garden nearby and not relocated.

8 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe and 30 Canada Geese on the pit that is partially visible.

Elsewhere along the Bunk area: 2 Goldcrest, 4 Chiffchaff, 5 Fieldfare, 16 Redwing, a Mistle Thrush, 2 Jay, 4 Raven, several Meadow Pipit, 10+ Pied Wagtail, a Little Owl, 2 Yellowhammer etc.

Peregrine

Overcast, 15°, light NNE.

Pretty quiet along Bunk today: Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, a single Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 8 Corn Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, 20+ Pied Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit and a Mistle Thrush etc.

The Peregrine was initially seen on prey but was eventually bullied off by several Red Kite. The bird has a green ring on her left leg and I suspect this is the same female bird that nested in Cholsey in 2024 and South Stoke this year.

Lollingdon

Overcast, 15°, light NNW.

Not a lot to show for 4 hours in the field out in the Lollingdon area.

4 Stonechat, 5 Chiffchaff, a handful of Meadow Pipit, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Yellowhammer and 2 Raven etc.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Cool & Quiet

Overcast, 13°, light WSW.

Bunk area rather quiet today: 2 Raven over, 2 Jay, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Yellowhammer, a single Lapwing dropped in to the gravel pit area and a single Meadow Pipit and Mistle Thrush.

A sizable Tit flock near the gravel pit area with an acrobatic Blue Tit.

The Lees

Mainly cloudy, 16°, light NNW.

The Lees:

5 Redwing, 150+ Meadow Pipit, 20+ Pied Wagtail, c50 Skylark, 50+ Linnet, 7 Siskin, 3 Redpoll, 1 Yellowhammer, 5 Reed Bunting, 14 Corn Bunting, 9 Chiffchaff, 2 Raven, a Grey Heron etc.

Mistle Thrush and Grey Wagtail in garden.

Mammal: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White.

A swarm of Harlequin Ladybird, 100’s.

Red Fox & Redwing

Cloudy, 15°, light SW.

A Fox in the garden this afternoon. Just managed to take a very hurried shot from the window before it disappeared across the garden.

Redwing heard over Church Road (first of the autumn). Per RB.