The Lees

Sunny spells, 27°, light SSW.

The Lees: another quiet one. A few Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting along the Long Ditch. Nearby Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Yellowhammer etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Southern Hawker, Emperor and an unidentified Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

A few pics from the week end

 All pics courtesy Alan

Broad-bodied Chaser (f)

Broad-bodied Chaser imm male

Bee Orchid

Blue Emperor

Cuckoo

Quiet times locally

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light N.

Have not got out much this week but Alan has been out most days.

Little change birdwise as most if not all our summer visitors are in now.

A few Gulls still hanging around with 2 Herring Gull, up to 10 Black-headed Gull and the odd Lesser Blackback Gull.

Alan added a few new insects for the year, Common Blue Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Broad-bodied Chaser and Blue Emperor.

All Dragons courtesy Alan Dawson  

A little of everything

Sunshine, 24°, light SW.

Bunk line: First young Swallow seen on the wing today, the Lesser Whitethroat still singing Green lane and 2 Herring Gull and 2 Black-headed Gull feeding in the same field, a couple of Yellow Wagtail etc.

River: Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Kingfisher etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly & Emperor Dragonfly (nfy).

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper (yesterday), Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Small Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock & Small Heath.

One of the young Swallows

Dingy Skipper

Kestrel with prey courtesy Alan

White-legged Damselfly courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Adult Jackdaw in the garden

Young Jackdaw in the garden

Dragons

Sunny, 31°, light ESE.

A warm day out there and in some parts the hottest day of the year so far.

The Lees:

Both Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler still giving a brief song every now and again. Also Several Reed Bunting, a couple of Yellowhammer, a single Corn Bunting, 2-3 Yellow Wagtail and a Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Most of the birds were keeping to shaded areas today and even a lot of insects were keeping out of the full sun.

Interesting to watch 2 species of dragonfly in the same territory with little or no interaction. A length of ditch had 4 Emperors and 4+ Chasers hunting/holding territory and they seemed to tolerate each other’s presence. Maybe they have different feeding strategies?

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser and freshly emerged Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

 Freshly emerged Common Darter

 Four-spot Chaser ↕

Azure Damselfly

Another sunshiny day

Another sunshiny day, 24°, light E.

Lollingdon hill relatively quiet today albeit a light passage of Swift and House Martin.

A mixed flock of c50 Swift and House Martin drifted over heading north at around 10:30 and then a thin trickle of Swift and a few House Martin over the next hour numbering around another 100 birds.

All the usual suspects present.

A pair of House Sparrow nesting in bushes and away from any buildings on the route out to Lollingdon. A little unusual?

Farmers are cutting fields for hay at the moment and I wonder how many Skylark and Corn Bunting nests get destroyed along with anything else living there?

Are Swallows and House Martins having a hard time of it at the moment as there is very little mud around for them to collect for their nest building process?

Dragonflies: a female Emperor hunting on Lollingdon Hill and a male Emperor hunting over a bean field just south of the railway.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Speckled Wood.

Moths: A couple of Cinnabar Moths.

Large Skipper

A female Emperor dragonfly hunting on the hill this morning. Could not get a photo with the long lens as flight too erratic. Tried phone camera and did not capture her either but to my surprise caught her shadow!

Meadow Grasshopper (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Just liked the pattern of the bark on this Downy Birch.

White Storks and the rest

Wall to wall sunshine, 25°, light S.

The first thing to start with is that 2 White Stork were seen drifting SW over Cholsey this morning at 09:45. Seen by a Benson birder who was at Cholsey Meadows.

There has been a White Stork seen earlier in the year around the Day’s Lock/Dorchester/Wittenham area. So it may be that one teamed up with another as some of the Storks from the Sussex release scheme have been wandering quite widely.

There is a lot of chatter on Wallingford Piper on FB regarding Storks being seen all over. Some of the reports refer to Egrets and Herons that are being misidentified as Storks. Although some reports are accurate.

Anyway back to feet on the ground in Cholsey as I was on a walk out to Lollingdon today and Alan was along the river and Cholsey Marsh.

A singing Sedge Warbler along Cholsey Brook at the millennium field,  a singing Willow Warbler on Lollingdon Hill and this evening Richard Broughton had a Reed Warbler singing by the Church road bridge over the brook. were unexpected and may actually be new arrivals.

House Martins heard calling over Lollingdon Hill but initially not seen. It was not until I scanned overhead with binoculars that I saw them flying very high in a southerly direction and at least 20 birds.

Also a single adult Lesser Blackback Gull overhead and a Yellow Wagtail.

A Lesser Whitethroat heard singing near Amwell Spring and all the usual suspects noted.

A Sparrowhawk seen thermalling over the village mid-afternoon and being mobbed by Swallows and House Martins. And a Mistle Thrush singing away near the Church.

Mammals: Roe Deer and Brown Hare.

Butterflies: again, very few. I wonder if last week’s cold weather had any effect on butterflies and insects in general? A single Brimstone and Orange Tip, a few unidentified Whites, 1 Common Blue and 1 Holly Blue.

Alans tally down by the river was:

Birds: Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Swift, Swallow, Corn Bunting and Grey Wagtail.

Dragonflies: Red-eyed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Blue Emperor , Four-spot Chaser and Broad-bodied Chaser. 

Butterflies: Marsh Fritillary, Common Blue and Peacock.

 Left: White Stork, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret & Little Egret.

Right: Grey Heron & Little Egret.

All have been seen in Oxfordshire in recent months.

 Brown Hare

 Sorry, a Corn Bunting again 😀

A pair of Stock Dove.

Dragons

A few pics of Dragonflies at Cholsey Meadows yesterday & today.

All photos by Alan Dawson.

 4-spot Chaser

 Black-tailed Skimmer

Emperor egg laying

The Lees and beyond

Sunny spells, 19°, light W.

A walk out to the Lees and beyond today and a little warmer than of late.

The “long ditch” out beyond the Lees was dredged over the winter and subsequently all the growth in and around the ditch was either disrupted or destroyed.

There are no birds breeding along the ditch this year and it seems the Reed Buntings that bred along the ditch have moved out into the crop fields (5 singing males). A lot of the Bullrush, Reed and other plants that were in the ditch have been destroyed but some of the plants on the bank have survived. Any larvae or other life that was in the ditch has also been partially destroyed.

However nature has a way of coming back!

Several Dragonfly species seen along the ditch and a few small fish present (probably Stickleback) and a few Orchid species along the bank.

The “Reedy ditch” at the far end had 5 singing Sedge Warbler and 3 singing Reed Warbler (plus others present) present along with several Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

A family group of Swallow spent time feeding over the area (2 adults & 5 young) and a few Swift overhead and a distant Grey Heron.

From Alan: 2 Common Tern again on the river and Lesser Whitethroat. 

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, 4-spot Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly. Per Alan: Brown Hawker and White-legged Damselfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown. Per Alan: Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Marbled White, Small Copper and Large Skipper.

Moths: Cinnabar Moth and Scarlet Tiger. Per Alan: Burnet Companion.

Insects: Black and Yellow Long Horn Beetle. Per Alan.

Orchids: Pyramid Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Poss Marsh Orchid hybrid.

Reed Warbler

Emperor Dragonfly

Burnet Companion

 Common Spotted Orchid

 Scarlet Tiger

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Large Skipper

 4-spot Chaser

 Azure Damselfly

Dragons and Butter

Sunny, 22°, light SW.

Little of note other than the usual, bird wise, 2 Stock Dove on the hill and 9 Swift drifted north.

A young Crow turned up in the meadow today along with the 2 adult birds!

More about the insects today!

Dragonflies: 2 mating Emperors again plus another male, 2 4-spot Chasers and several of each Common Blue and Azure Damselflies on the pond. In addition a Southern Hawker on the north side of the hill.

Butterflies: fewer around today, Large White, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown.

Southern Hawker

Meadow Brown

Same but different

Sunny, 21°, light SW.

Much the same as yesterday on the hill, a Grey Wagtail seen down by the pond and a Raven and then a Hobby flew overhead (should have hung about Andy :)).

The Nuthatch in the garden a few times this morning and a couple of Goldcrest.

Cuckoo heard on Cholsey Marsh this afternoon (per HW).

At least 2 Hedgehog frequenting the garden recently.

Dragonflies: Blue Emperor and some blue damsels, probably Azure Damselfly. (Unable to get close).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell.

A Common Spotted Orchid has flowered in the garden again this year.

The Hill and the Garden

Mainly cloudy with some sunny spells, 18°, light NE.

Fairly quiet on the hill, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff still in song and a couple of young Robins present. An unexpected Cuckoo that flew in settled on a distant fence post for a short time and then flew in to the trees and not seen again, possibly an adult bird on its way back south?

A Nuthatch appeared in the garden this evening (2nd record) and hung around for about 20 minutes before moving off and a family group of 6 Wrens spent the afternoon in the garden, also a young Robin present and a Great-spotted Woodpecker on the feeders.

Mammals: Brown Hare, Grey Squirrel.

Amphibians: a dead Common Frog on the north side of the hill.

Dragonflies: a Blue Emperor patrolling the pond.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Common Blue.

Nuthatch

Cuckoo

Young Wren

Brown Hare