A dull day but lots of Birds

Overcast, 13°, light SE.

Good to get out after a few days of decorating. A rather dull day weather wise but loads of birds around.

Lollingdon, Cholsey Meadows, River and Bunk areas.

A number of fields have recently been tilled along the Bunk area and Cholsey Hill and it seems to have attracted large numbers of birds.

1000+ Gulls, mainly Lesser Blackback, plus Black-headed and Herring that could be positively ID’d.

1000+ Wood Pigeon, 1000+ Corvids, mainly Rook and Jackdaw with Carrion Crow, Magpie and 2 Raven and a 1000+ Starling.

A few scarcities noted, with a Brambling feeding with c20 Chaffinch and a very late Tree Pipit heard overhead flying with 3 Meadow Pipit in the Bunk area and a Sanderling on the Floods at Lollingdon. Todays Sanderling is a first record for Cholsey that takes us to 204 bird species for the parish.

c50 Pied Wagtail, 100+ Meadow Pipit, 25+ Skylark, 50+ Linnet, 7 Grey Heron, 6 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting, Water Rail, Common Snipe, 2 Shoveler, Teal (2 sites), Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk, good numbers of both Fieldfare and Redwing and a Grey Wagtail.

AD & PC.

Sanderling courtesy Alan

Pair of Shoveler courtesy Alan

Black-headed Gull

One of the Gull flocks

Pied Wagtail

Some of the Starling

High flying Sparrowhawk

October bows out as Fieldfares arrive

Misty at first, then clearing, 14°, light S.

Mist clearing by 14:00 but Lollingdon mainly shrouded earlier with little noted. Alan ventured out later with several hundred Gulls and c50 Lapwing present on flooded areas. A few Fieldfare and Redwing present.

Bunk area: A female Brambling along with Greenfinch and Chaffinch, many Redwing and 60+ Fieldfare, 2+ Raven, a Kingfisher, 4 Grey Heron, a Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Yellowhammer, numbers of Meadow Pipit, Skylark and the usual Gulls, etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter at both sites.

AD & PC.

Fieldfare

Fieldfare & Redwing

Long-tailed Tit

Grey Heron

Thames & Bunk

Overcast, 11°, light S.

Cholsey Meadows/River and Bunk line covered today.

Initially Alan along the river area, Cetti’s Warbler, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Stonechat and Meadow Pipit.

Then up to the gravel pit where a Little Grebe, 2 pair of Tufted Duck and a pair of Shovelor.

I covered the Bunk/Green Lane area. Large mixed flock of Fieldfare (c200), Redwing (c80) and c 100 Starling.

Another flock of Fieldfare and Redwing near Green Lane totalling a couple of hundred birds.

C120 Black-headed Gull at CSW and 80+ Lesser Blackback Gull towards the gravel pit and 2 Herring Gull between.

A small flock of 22 Skylark, 42 Lapwing, c 80 Linnet, 60+ Chaffinch and 2 Brambling, several Yellowhammer and 3 Reed Bunting.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Shovelor courtesy Alan

Reed Bunting courtesy Alan

Lucky find

Mainly sunny, 8°, light to breezy NW.

Highlight of the day was finding a 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull amongst a flock of c150 Black-headed Gull in a field out along the Bunk line this morning.

Took around 30 minutes to clinch the ID so I called Alan who was not that far away but we could not locate the bird again as they were fairly mobile with many flying off towards CSW.

I went back an hour or so later and there were no gulls left at all in the field.

Alan had earlier found 3 Brambling with a good number (70+) of Chaffinch in the area of a cover crop.

We both went back to check that area out and found 10+ Reed Bunting, several Yellowhammer, large numbers of Linnet plus a few Goldfinch and Greenfinch plus Brambling again.

Also logged: 2 Grey Heron, a Little Owl, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Skylark, Bullfinch, a single Teal, a couple of Mallard, 20’ish Lapwing overhead, 3 Lesser Blackback Gull and 2 Herring Gull plus good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing.

Mammals: Roe Deer.  

Did not get a photo so this will have to do 😬

Roe Deer 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 ↕

The Thames and The Bunk

Cloudy at first the sun breaking thru, 7°, light WSW.

Alan along the river today: 3 Stonechat, Little Grebe, Peregrine, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush in song and a couple of pairs of Buzzard thermalling.

I was out along the Bunk line area with 2 (m) Bullfinch, a few Yellowhammer and good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing feeding in fields.

A cover crop had a good finch flock present with c100 Linnet, 50’ish Chaffinch, 1 pos 2 Brambling, several Redpoll, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Reed Bunting.

Also several Pied Wagtail, 3 Mistle Thrush, a Grey Heron, a Herring Gull and 200+ Black-headed Gull.

Bullfinch

The Spider hunter, a Wren scouring the undergrowth

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Grey Heron

Moorhens in the garden

Bunk

Cloudy, 6°, light WNW.

Alan out along the Bunk line area: usual Redwing and Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Grey Wagtail, the regular Finch flock that included a single Brambling and up to 4 Goldcrest near the Church.

Goldcrest

Nuthatch

Stonechats & Finches

Foggy at first then sunny, 6°, light NNW.

The 2 Stonechat still wintering out at Lollingdon in separate locations. Plus a small number of Fieldfare and Redwing present on Lollingdon hill.

The Little Owl seen nearby taking in some early morning sunshine.

Several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit feeding in a flooded field.

Back closer to the village were a small flock of Redpoll in the treetops, a couple of Jay, 2 Mistle Thrush, and a Song Thrush in song and a Goldcrest with a Tit flock.

Alan along the river: Goldcrest, Nuthatch,c9 Siskin and another 20+ later, Water Rail, Chiffchaff, a Raven overhead, both Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush in song, Reed Bunting and Grey Wagtail plus the usual “Winter Thrushes”.

2 male Brambling and a Redpoll on feeders in a West End garden. Per Richard James.

And Nearby Tony Williams has been getting 3 Blackcap (1m & 2f) in his garden.

Stonechat

Siskin courtesy Alan

Brambling courtesy Richard James

Redpoll courtesy Richard James

Siskin courtesy Alan

Stonechat ↕

Thrushes

Sunny, 5°, light WNW,

A bright but chillier day than of late and a lot of birds about.

The 2 Stonechat still wintering out at Lollingdon with one on the hill and the other down near the paddock.

High numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing around feeding in various fields along with several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit.

Several Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush noted along with higher numbers of Blackbird and a Common Snipe flushed from a flooded field.

A Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming, a Grey Heron and several Yellowhammer also logged.

c30 Golden Plover and 6 Lapwing on Cholsey hill.

Alan out along the river with Kingfisher, 2 Little Grebe, a single Redpoll and several Siskin and a Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming.

A male Brambling feeding in a garden yesterday. Per Richard James.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Fieldfare & Redwing

Redwing (left), Mistle Thrush (centre) & Fieldfare (far right)

Stonechat

Stonechat ↕

Blue Tit

Little Grebe courtesy Alan

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Shiny Brittlegill

Back in the Field

Mainly cloudy, 11°, light S.

A hike out to Lollingdon Hill today proved fruitful, one field held a flock of Finch and Bunting that contained a male Brambling plus around 20 Chaffinch, a few Linnet and Goldfinch, 14 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting also a handful of Meadow Pipit and 3-4 Pied Wagtail in the same field.

The flock flew off but I managed to re-locate part of the flock but not the part with the Brambling.

A Stonechat on the periphery of the same field and a Little Egret nearby.

A Mistle Thrush in song and many Redwing and good numbers of Fieldfare plus a couple of Jay.

The hill was very quiet with just a couple of Buzzard and Red Kite overhead.

Alan out along the river: 14’ish Siskin, a Kingfisher, 2 Stonechat, 2 Water Rail, a Raven overhead, Jay, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, also the usual Fieldfare and Redwing.

Stonechat

Lollingdon & The Bunk

Mainly cloudy, 10°, light SSW.

Lollingdon hill was very busy this morning with 300+ Fieldfare, approx. 50 Redwing and 200+ Starling foraging on the hill and surrounding fields.

Nearby a single Chiffchaff, a couple of Siskin flew over, a few Jay calling and a singing Mistle Thrush. Plus a count of 15 Song Thrush and 40+ Skylark.

Alan’s persistence in checking the 50+ Chaffinch flock near the Bunk line paid off when he found a Brambling with them.

Also, Fieldfare, Redwing, a Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Jay and a Mistle Thrush in song,

Dragonflies: during a bout of sunshine, a single Common Darter flew by in the usual spot.574856.

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Jay courtesy Alan

Mistle Thrush

Lollingdon, Bunk line, Marsh & River

Mainly cloudy, 16°, light to breezy S.

Overlapping walks today with Alan out earlier along the Bunk line then the river and Cholsey Marsh then me out at Lollingdon the back out along the Bunk line.

Lollingdon was fairly quiet as it was a bit windy on the hill. A single Raven over and 3 Brambling flew north east with a small flock of Chaffinch and a few Redwing moving around.

8 Corn Bunting flew in and settled in a field mingling with a flock of Meadow Pipit. Usual Yellowhammer and Skylark present.

Bunk line early: Fieldfare, Redwing, Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Goldcrest, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

Marsh/River: Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk, Reed Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler, 20+ Mistle Thrush and a Stonechat,

Bunk line later: the Herring Gull had been joined by another adult and a 1st winter bird.

Very little in the hedgerows later, several Redwing, a Chiffchaff and a Kestrel nearby.

Dragonflies: 9 Common Darter, with some egg laying in a flooded field margin.

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Distant Kestrel

Rainy days

Mainly cloudy with a few light rain showers and sunny spell, 16°, light SW.

A fair time spent out along the Bunk line/Green lane today. Only 10 Fieldfare logged along with a few hundred Redwing and approx. 20 Song Thrush and 2 Mistle Thrush.

Also logged: 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Raven, 2 Grey Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Skylark. 250+ Starling, a Green Woodpecker, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Egyptian Geese, a Little Owl, several Jay, 16 Yellowhammer and a supporting cast of approx. 20 other species.

A definite increase in the number of Blackbird and Chaffinch seen.

A Brambling noted flying over Cholsey Marsh this morning, Per Paul Rainsden.

The Golden Plover flock still on Cholsey Hill.

Alan spent the morning checking out a Pectoral Sandpiper on Port Meadow. A rare vagrant from North America/ Asia. However managed to cover the river this afternoon.

Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Jay, Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese, Stonechat and Cetti’s Warbler.

1 pos 2 Nuthatch and Coal Tit amongst a sizable Tit flock visiting the garden this afternoon.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

A Chiffchaff chasing a fly and returning. ↕

Distant shot of a Redwing and 4 Fieldfare

A Pied Wagtail on a dung heap hunting for flies.

Grey Wagtail

Another Chiffchaff

We all know this one?

Pied Wagtail following cattle to see what insects may be disturbed

Redwing doing it's best not to be noticed