Bunk area

Sunny spells then clouding over, 10°, light SE.

Gravel pit only had a Little Grebe present and c70 Lapwing flushed by a Sparrowhawk.

Canada Goose and Greylag Goose heard only.

Bunk line area fairly quiet today: 6 Chiffchaff along the hedgerow by CSW.

A flock of c100 Linnet and approx. 20 of each Greenfinch and Chaffinch around a shelter belt and plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing about.

c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 8 Black-headed Gull in nearby fields.

A male Blackcap in garden again.

A Muntjac Deer in the garden yesterday.

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.

Bunk & Long Ditch

Sunshine after the rain, 5°, breezy WSW.

Bunk area: 22+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, Chiffchaff, Treecreeper,20+ Fieldfare, 8 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 4-500 Starling, a large flock of c500 Corvids, 150+ Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, very few Lesser Blackback Gull, a Coot, 2 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 5 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Grebe, etc.

Long Ditch: Great White Egret over, Common Snipe, Kingfisher and Reed Bunting. And a Blackcap (m) in Alan’s Garden.

1st Snowdrops noted.  

AD & PC.

Gadwall (archive pic)

A grey day

Overcast, 7°, light SW.

A grey old day with both Lollingdon and Bunk area covered: Little Egret, c400 Lapwing, 200+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 2-3 Common Gull, c50 Black-headed Gull, Common Snipe, 2 Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 50+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellowhammer, several Corn Bunting, c100 Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing and a Ring-necked Parakeet.

TW has a male Blackcap regularly in his garden and a female Sparrowhawk visiting frequently.

2 Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden today along with all the other visitors.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Common Gull courtesy Alan

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Black-headed Gull (winter plumage)

Distant Little Egret

Pied Wagtail

Redwings arrive as Swallows leave

Sunny spells and a few showers, 14°, light WNW.

Alan finally found our first Redwing of this winter period with 9 along Green Lane, presumably feeding on Hawthorn berries. As Redwing are coming in Swallow are in the process of leaving and approx 20 passed over moving south. Also a Blackcap still present.

Redwing (from my archive)

Sunshiny Day

A sunny day, 12°, light S.

Another quietish day along the Bunk: 3 Swallow, a single Chiffchaff and Blackcap, a Coot (first of the year) , Kingfisher, 2 Raven, c80 Meadow Pipit, 10+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, several Skylark and 3 Goose species.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Large White, 2 Small White and 5 Red Admiral.

Long-tailed Tit

Egyptian Goose

Common Darter

Gone quiet

Cloudy with some sunny intervals, 10°, light NW.

A quiet afternoon along the Bunk area today, 12+ Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and several Meadow Pipit.

Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese present in the usual spot but little else around.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: a few Whites, a Red Admiral and a Comma.

AD & PC.

Yellow Field Cap

Aurora put on a brief show tonight

A Grey Day

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 15°, light NNW.

Flooded field Lollingdon this morning, c50 Lapwing and c400 Lesser Blackback Gull. Per Alan.

Bunk area this afternoon, 8 Swallow, 5 Chiffchaff, a male Blackcap (in song), c80 Meadow Pipit, c30 Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, c20 Skylark, 3 Mute Swan, 10 Egyptian Geese, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 3 Grey Heron, c400 Starling, c300 Lesser Blackback Gull and 20+ Black-headed Gull.

Dragonflies: 1 Migrant Hawker and 2 Common Darter.

The back end of 2 Egyptian Geese

Starling

Lollingdon & Garden

Cloudy with a few showers, 7°, light SW.

A very damp walk out to Lollingdon today: 12 Lapwing, 2 Raven, 2 Jay, 8 Yellowhammer with a few in song, single Reed Bunting, several Skylark, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit.

Good numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling roaming and several small flocks of Linnet and Goldfinch.

Blackcap, 2 Nuthatch and Sparrowhawk in the garden, a Raven overhead and 2 Tawny Owl last night.

Green Sandpiper still present in the Bunk line area yesterday. Per Alan.  

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: a single Red Admiral.

A few from the Week End

Overcast, 5°, light NE.

Alan located a male Blackcap yesterday.

Male Merlin hunting low over the fields, whipped across the road at Farm Hill (Cholsey Hill) this afternoon. Per Geoff Wyatt.

5 Shelduck distantly from the bottom of Cholsey hill on the north Moreton floods with a large flock of Lapwing, constantly spooked at dusk (but too far to see what was spooking them). Per Michael Pocock.

A chilly day

A sunny day, 2°, breezy NNE.

Bunk Line:

Most of the flooded areas were frozen over so nothing swimming. Though 3 Mute Swan were present on the dry edge and 200+ Gulls sat on the ice.

Overall 4-500 Black-headed Gull, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull and a single Herring Gull in the area.

A Chiffchaff at CSW, loads of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling, 30+ Blackbird and 9 Song Thrush. Up to 50 Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit and Skylark, 5 Yellowhammer, 1 or 2 Lapwing briefly and 8 Greylag Geese flew north over the Church and 2 Canada Geese east.

Alan has been searching for Waxwing in the county today after up to 60 were reported from Tesco car park Didcot yesterday morning but no luck. 2 were seen on and off near Port Meadow, Oxford.

On his travels he noted c50 Lapwing and 5 Common Snipe near Cholsey Hill.

Tony W has had both male and female Blackcap visiting garden.

Lapwing

Redwing

Lapwing courtesy Alan

A bit samey

Few sunny spells, 11°, light WNW.

Lollingdon Hill was very quiet, just a few Yellowhammer and Fieldfare present. Nearby was a lot busier with good numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling. A Blackcap and Goldcrest mixed in with a Tit flock, c 50 Linnet and a scattering of Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail etc.

Alan reported that the river area was very quiet and some Siskin over Church Road. Per RB.

Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Red Admiral.

Goldcrest

Bunk

Mainly cloudy with a few showers, 12°, breezy SW.

Bunk, per Alan:

A Dunlin in flooded field near Green Lane, 2 Little Egret (same field), Fieldfare, Redwing, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Raven, Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull.

Dunlin courtesy Alan

Raven courtesy Alan ↕

Grey Heron courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Sunshine & Rain

Rain then sun then rain again, 14°, light SSW.

A rather uneventful walk out to Lollingdon and back. The hill was quiet other than 250+ Starling chattering away on some nearby telegraph wires and the calls of 12 Red Kite and 3 Buzzard soaring over the hill.

Have been hearing a lot of Siskin moving through lately and today was no exception with at least 3 small flocks passing overhead.

Just 5 Fieldfare noted plus, 52 Redwing, 10 Yellowhammer, 1 Chiffchaff, 12 Meadow Pipit, 6 Pied Wagtail, 2 Jay and a single Raven etc.

River, per Alan: Cetti’s Warbler, Blackcap, 2 Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail and Water Rail.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Small White and 7 Red Admiral.

Goldcrest courtesy Alan

Nuthatch

Blackbird

Cold & Quiet

Sunny, 3°, light N.

A very quiet day out at Lollingdon with very little noted. Alan had more luck along the Bunk and River with a Lapwing, Kingfisher, Nuthatch, Reed Bunting and Goldcrest.

Tony W along the Caps Lane area with 25+ Siskin and 50+ Skylark and a female Blackcap in his garden.

Mammals: Roe Deer, Muntjac Deer & Brown Hare.

photos courtesy Alan

Brrrrr

Sunny, 3°, light NW.

Quite settled out at the moment the only influx noted is of Common Snipe with around 10 seen in the last few days scattered around flooded areas.

Bunk line fairly quiet with a Chiffchaff at CSW and a couple of Grey Heron prowling the fields and a Sparrowhawk and 2 Kestrel hunting. 2 Herring Gull present and a scattering of Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull.

Alan out along the “Long Ditch” with a couple of Stonechat, a Peregrine, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Corn Bunting, and the usual Gulls.

“Winter Thrushes” scattered throughout the whole area.

Tony Williams has reported 2 female Blackcap visiting his garden so some of our wintering Blackcaps appear to be in.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Corn Bunting courtesy Alan

Robin

Grey Heron

Peregrine courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit courtesy Alan

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Garden Birdwatch plus

Sunny, 7°, light SW.

RSPB’s garden birdwatch today. A little quieter than usual and nothing unexpected. Although a male Blackcap turned up to partner the female that has been visiting.

Around 40 birds of 15 species.

A Sparrowhawk also visited out of the hours birdwatch and a couple of Tawny Owl last night.

8 Shovelor and a single Teal along Green lane. Per Richard Broughton.  

A male Brambling reported from a garden. Per MA.

Down on the river today, the boat clubs were out and 15 cars unloading paddle boards down Ferry lane. A lot of disturbance!

There is 6.5 km between Benson lock and Cleeve lock making it good stretch for sculling crews.

Alan visited Day’s Lock yesterday and got some good pics of Goosander on the river.

And still 200+ Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill.

Blackcap

Goosander courtesy Alan ↕