Quiet times

Sunny, 25°, breezy S.

Bunk area:

A bit samey out there today. a Lesser Whitethroat still singing well plus the several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer. 20+ House Martin and several Swallow, Sand Martin and Swift feeding overhead.

Mammals: Common Pipistrelle and Noctule after 21:30.  

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle and Common Blue Damsel.

Butterflies: numbers still low: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Others: Stag Beetle.

Lollingdon & Garden

Sunny, 24°, light SE.

Lollingdon: again very quiet, 6 singing Yellowhammer, several Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff and a Raven over was about all worth noting.

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole.  

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

Recently:

2 Muntjac Deer in garden regularly, up to 3 Hedgehog every night. Confirmed by Trail Cam.

Common and Soprano Pipistrelle recorded on several nights with Bat detector. A young Robin in garden and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker very frequent in garden and the Song Thrush still singing regularly and that is since mid-December last year.

Small Tortoiseshell

Large Skipper

A few Poppies in a sea of barley

All rather quiet

Sunny spells, 17°, breezy WSW.

Very much the same as Wednesday along the Bunk: Lesser Whitethroat still singing regularly. As are several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Yellowhammer etc. around the same number of Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and Swift noted but little else.

Dragonflies: several Common Blue Damsel and a 4-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Marbled White and Speckled Wood.

This tiny Beetle landed on the back of my hand but unable to positively ID it. 3-4mm long and all black. Any ideas welcome.

Thanks to John Lindley and 1 other for confirmation.

Plagiodera versicolora.

Bunk

Mainly cloudy with a few light rain showers, 17°, moderate WSW.

Bunk area:

Pretty quiet, a Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 7 Yellowhammer, a Yellow Wagtail, 30+ House Martin, 20+ Swallow, several Sand Martin and Swift, a Hobby, a Jay, 23 Lesser Blackback Gull and 2 Black-headed Gull.

Dragonflies: a handful of Common Blue Damsel.

Butterflies: Peacock, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Cholsey Marsh and the Lees.

Cloudy with frequent sunny spells, 19°, breezy W.

Cholsey Marsh and the Lees.

Cuckoo, Cetti’s Warbler, 7 Reed Warbler, c20 Sedge Warbler, 4 Garden Warbler, 6 Blackcap, 5 Common Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 7 Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Black-headed Gull etc. (some species noted at both sites).

Yesterday, a Peregrine and a Sparrowhawk over the garden, plus 36 other species noted in or from the garden.

Mammals: at least 2 Common Pipistrelle flying around the garden this evening.  

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle, Large Red Damsel, Azure Damsel, Common Blue Damsel and 4-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: still few on the wing, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Peacock and Meadow Brown.

Sedge and Reed Warbler

2-spot Ladybird

Buff Ermine ?

Common Blue Damsel

Chicken of the Woods

Reed Bunting

Frog

 This is what happens when you leave your outside door open.

Taken out and released in the garden.

Lollingdon, all quiet

Cloudy, 22°, light WSW.

A disappointing walk out to Lollingdon. Apart from 8 Common Whitethroat, 7 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff and 4 Yellowhammer in song there was very little else of note about.

Mammals: Brown Hare and in garden, Hedgehog, plus 2 Common Pipistrelle overhead.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: still few on the wing: 2 Brimstone, several Small White, 1 Green-veined White, 1 Orange Tip, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Speckled Wood and 3 Meadow Brown.

Not a lot

Mostly cloudy, 18°, breezy SW.

Bunk area: not a lot going on.

A good number of House Martin and Swallow feeding over the fields, plus a few Sand Martin and the odd Swift.

Several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer, 2 Lapwing, 2 Black-headed Gull and 8 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Dragonflies: Azure Damsel.

Butterflies: Small White, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light NE.

Lollingdon very quiet today:

6 Yellowhammer, 7 Blackcap, 5 Common Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Swallow, a Jay and a Corn Bunting etc.

A couple of fields out Lollingdon way have flooded over the last few winters and the crop has failed and allowed other plants to break through. The fields have then not been managed into the spring and cut in the autumn and have allowed at least 2 pair of Lapwing to breed. This year the “farmer” has cut the growth in the fields in the middle of the Lapwing breeding season. Subsequently, no Lapwing this year!

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle.

Butterflies: very few on the wing. Brimstone, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Pretty quiet!

Sunny periods, 18°, light ENE.

Not a lot to show from a 3 hour walk along the Bunk area today:

5 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, several Chiffchaff, c30 House Martin, several Swallow and Sand Martin, 6 Swift, 3 Yellowhammer, a single Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Mammals: several Moles found dead recently. Possibly as a result of the very dry conditions and not being able to find their prey underground?

Dragonflies: a single Azure Damsel.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

In memory of Alan

In memory of Alan

The Lees and beyond

Sunny, 19°, light N.

The Lees and Long Ditch: not so much about birds today as plenty of insects on the wing.

Not a lot of bird species out there but, 5 Sedge Warbler 2+ Reed Warbler, 4 Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and a Peregrine.

Plus the odd Swallow, House Martin and Swift feeding overhead.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle in some number, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Hairy Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Large Red Damsel

Reed Bunting

Small Heath

22-spot Ladybird courtesy Loren

? courtesy Loren.

Common Blue courtesy Loren

Bunk

Overcast, 14°, moderate NE.

The BBC weather app was way out today. It was indicating 20° and sunny spells. Clearly not the case as I didn’t see the sun at all whilst out and with the moderate breeze from the NE it felt even cooler than the actual 14°!

The Bunk area was relatively quiet with no Butterflies or Dragons on the wing.

Good numbers of Hirundines feeding along tree lines in the lee of the wind with 50+ Swallow, 50+ House Martin and a few Swift and Sand Martin.

2 Shelduck overhead and a Reed Warbler in song, plus, several Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 5 Common whitethroat and 4 Yellowhammer.

A Barn Owl courtesy Andy King. One of two found hunting last evening.

The storm that never came

Sunny at first then clouding up, 22°, light SE.

A threat of a thunder storm today but never materialised.  

Bunk area: 6 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, 12 Swallow, 6 House Martin, 6 Sand Martin, 8 Swift, 4 Yellowhammer, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, 1 Black-headed Gull, 3 Lesser Blackback Gull and a Hobby.

Cuckoo heard on Cholsey Marsh. Per MA.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

LC & PC.

Yellowhammer

Common Blue

Hawthorn Shield Bug courtesy Loren

Back to it

Mainly sunny,18°, light ENE.

Cholsey Marsh:

Loren and I visited the marsh today, busy with birdsong and lots of insects on the wing, especially Mayfly and Demoiselles.

Also run into Tony Williams and Ian Lewington.

Cuckoo seen earlier in the day, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Little Grebe, Black-headed Gull flew downstream, an Oystercatcher flew upstream, a Grey Heron, Swallow and House Martin. Plus 4 Swift over Church Road.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Hairy Dragonfly and Common Clubtail.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

IL, LC, PC & TW.

Clubtail Dragonfly courtesy Ian Lewington ↕

Banded Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle courtesy Ian Lewington

Brimstone

Unknown

Mayfly courtesy Loren

Cardinal Beetle ? courtesy Loren

Andy's Wanderings

Andy King had a walk along the river early morning yesterday and was treated to a symphony of song from the warblers – Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat. The garden warbler was fabulous, and I stood listening to it and looking for it in an oak tree for 15 minutes without seeing it. Then I saw one on the other side of Ferry Lane and got some shots.

In all there were 30 species including Cuckoo and Water Rail (calls only), Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Skylark, Green Woodpecker along with the usuals.

Today: Andy did the walk from Lollingdon to the Lees and along the ditches and back along the track.

Linnet, Yellowhammer, both Lesser and Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Reed Bunting. About 15 Skylark in the fields either side of the long ditch, one Sedge Warbler as well, surprisingly no Sedge or Reed Warbler singing in the reedy ditch.

A couple of Swallow and House Martin over Church Road today but no Swift noted. PC.

Lots of photos from Andy, so thanks.