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.

Bunk

Sunny, 20°, light WSW.

Bunk: 22 Pied Wagtail and 18 Lapwing (first of the autumn). Per Brian Wyatt.

4 Chiffchaff, a Common Whitethroat and Blackcap, 2 Yellowhammer and a single Meadow Pipit. Other than that, pretty quiet.

A Tawny Owl in garden at dusk and approx. 500 large Gulls flew NNE over Garden.

Mammals: 2 Common Pipistrelle hunting garden at dusk.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Quiet start to October

Mainly cloudy, 17°, light SSW.

2 Stonechat out at Lollingdon, 3 Raven, Sparrowhawk, a Kingfisher, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 4 Yellowhammer, several Siskin, 9 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Peacock.

A quiet Bunk area

Sunny at first the cloudy, 17°, light N.

Hard work today in finding anything of note and a contrast to last Friday.

11 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Raven, a Grey Heron and a flock of c120 Linnet etc.

Chiffchaff, Nuthatch and Coal Tit in garden.

Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Brimstone, several Large White and Small White, 5 Red Admiral, 1 Peacock and 2 Speckled Wood.

Bunk

Overcast, 15°, light E.

Bunk area: c15 Swallow and 50+ House Martin over. 14 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, 2 Yellowhammer, 7 Siskin, 14 Greenfinch, 2 Grey Wagtail, c20 Pied Wagtail, 6 Meadow Pipit, a Curlew over, 2 Raven, 2 Grey Heron, 6 Cormorant over, 2 Egyptian Geese, several Greylag and Canada Geese etc.

Tawny Owl in garden @ 21:10.  

Butterflies: 2 Red Admiral.

Lollingdon

Sunny periods, 17°, light ENE.

A walk out to Lollingdon and back.

30+ Meadow Pipit in a weedy field, 4 Stonechat nearby,7 Mistle Thrush, 17 Chiffchaff, 24 Swallow and 32 House Martin over, a Grey Wagtail and 16 Grey Partridge.

Several Siskin over Church Road. Per RB.  

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: numerous Whites, several Red Admiral and Speckled Wood and a single Gatekeeper.

VizMig

Mainly cloudy, 17°, light NE.

A couple of bouts of VizMig from the garden:

15:00-15:30, 15 Swallow and 6 House Martin.

17:45- 18:15, 18 Swallow, 38 House Martin, 1 Sand Martin & 14 unidentified Hirundines.

Local movement, 2 Canada Geese and 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull.

Archive Pic

Quiet

Sunny periods, 15°, light NNW.

Pretty quiet along the Bunk area today. A Green Sandpiper flew from the gravel pit area, a Bullfinch nearby, 4 Swallow over and 2 Yellowhammer and 5 Chiffchaff elsewhere.

Dragonflies: Southern and Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Insects: European Hornet.