Warm Days

Sunny, 28°, light E.

A slightly cooler day than of late but still pretty warm but still not productive for any serious birding locally.

Rooks still raiding the bird feeders whilst the Mallards sit underneath waiting for seeds to drop.

A male Beautiful Demoiselle and a Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden and a male Stag Beetle nearby.

Courtesy Loren.

Insects on the rise

Mainly sunny, 17°, light SE.

River: no apparent change bird wise but 2 new Dragonflies and a Butterfly for the year.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak and Peacock.

AD.

photos courtesy Alan  

Insects on the up and birds steady

Sunny, 20°, light N.

Lollingdon and the River areas covered today with insect species beginning to proliferate, birds stable and no mammals etc.

River: Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Common Whitethroat etc.

Lollingdon: Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Lapwing, Mistle Thrush, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and 3 Yellow Wagtail etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle (10+ river & 1 Lollingdon Hill), Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Clubtailed Dragonfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser (1 in garden).

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

Paul & Alan.

“A couple of county rarities today with a Montagu’s Harrier on Otmoor and a Golden Oriole near Witney.”

A number of photos today

Corn Bunting

Red-eyed Damselfly courtesy Alan

Beautiful Demoiselle (m)

Clubtailed Dragonfly courtesy Alan

Azure Damselfly

2 Mistle Thrush

Lapwing

Yellow Wagtail ↕

Blue-tailed Damselfly courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Red-eyed Damselfly courtesy Alan

Demoiselles

 Both Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle found by Alan today.

Banded above and Beautiful below

Painted Ladies

Sunny intervals, 19°, light S.

Appear to have a small influx of Painted Lady butterflies. With 1 in the garden yesterday and another at Bow Bridge (per JD) and 3 today out at Lollingdon and Alan had at least 1 more along the river.

A Hairy Dragonfly out at Lollingdon today as well, first one I recall out there.

The hill was fairly quiet birdwise, the usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

Nearby a Great-spotted Woodpecker nest with young, a Little Owl, 3-4 Yellow Wagtail and a Lesser Whitethroat.

River/Marsh: A Lesser Whitethroat plus the regulars.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Club-tailed Dragonfly and Four-spotted Chaser.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Green-veined White, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Alan & Paul.

Painted Lady

Yellow Wagtail

Great-spotted Woodpecker (f) delivering food.

Azure Damselfly courtesy Alan

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Ditto

Cloudy at first then brighter, 15°, breezy SW.

Very little change along the Bunk line today. Plenty of Swift around and a good number of Swallow but no House Martin noted.

A couple of Black-headed Gull and the usual Warblers and Buntings in song. A flock of c40 Linnet and Goldfinch feeding on Dandelion seed heads.

The River/Marsh has settled down birdwise and has become somewhat static as it usually does at this time of year. A Lesser Whitethroat still in song.

Insectwise the area is waking up:

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle & Club-tailed Dragonfly.

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

Alan & Paul.

Beautiful Demoiselle ↕ courtesy Alan

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Common Clubtail courtesy Alan

Banana Cockroach courtesy Bill Nicholls

All about Insects

Sunny periods, 23°, light NNW.

Quite static birdwise at the moment. A Chiffchaff on Lollingdon hill on the move and a Little Owl nearby.

A Sparrowhawk carrying prey and being mobbed by several Swallow.  

Alan reporting very similar along the river area.

Mammals: Stoat, a family of 4 with the 2 adults hunting Rabbit. Brown Hare also noted. A Red Fox seen by Alan recently.

River Dragonflies: Blue-tailed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Emperor, Four-spot Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Emperor & 2 Common Darter.

River Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Moths: 3-4 Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden yesterday evening.

Insects: Roesel’s Bush Cricket.

Common Blue

Gatekeeper

Comma

The rest courtesy Alan

Emperor

Blackcap

Brown Hare

Red Fox

Roesel's Bush Cricket

Four-spot Chaser

LRP

Light cloud, 20°, light N.

Lollingdon again, still somewhat quiet birdwise, a few Swallow, House Martin and Swift overhead and the usual songsters present.

A Little Owl and Grey Heron also noted.

A Little Ringed Plover seen at the gravel pit by Alan. 2nd record this year and only the 4th in the last 10 years!

Also Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer and Emperor. The Emperor took a Meadow Brown butterfly out of the air and devoured it on the wing. All that was left were the wings of the butterfly that fluttered gently to the ground.

Mammals: Brown Hare.  

Alan: Common Blue Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Emperor & Four-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Alan: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Moths: Silver-Y.

Little Ringed Plover courtesy Alan

Little Owl

Grey Heron

Hornet Hoverfly

Beautiful Demoiselle

Red Admiral

Speckled Wood

June bows out

Cloudy, 18°, light N.

Bunk line today on a warm and cloudy day.

Birdwise was rather quiet this afternoon, just Blackcap and Yellowhammer in song.

A couple of Yellow Wagtail around and several Swift and Swallow feeding overhead and a flock of 10+ House Martin appeared to pass thru.

Alan out later in the day with a trek out to the Lees and back to the village via Lollingdon.

Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler and Chiffchaff etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle. Alans: Beautiful Demoiselle, Emperor & Four-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Marbled White, lots of Meadow Brown and a couple of Small Heath. Alans: Large Skipper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Speckled Wood & Meadow Brown.

Other Insects: Hornet Hoverfly & Meadow Grasshopper.

Marbled White on Scabious

Large Skipper on Vetch

Red Admiral

Peacock Caterpillar courtesy Alan

Beautiful Demoiselle courtesy Alan

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan

Meadow Grasshopper courtesy Alan

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Dryad's Saddle