Lollingdon

Sunny, 16°, light S.

Lollingdon flood fairly quiet today: a Little Egret and c50 Lapwing present. Nearby, a Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit, 2 Yellowhammer, a Jay and several Fieldfare and Redwing etc.

A Blackcap singing near the Bullshole.

Brian Wyatt found 5 Redpoll along the Bunk yesterday.

Butterflies: Mild weather has seen several Brimstone and Peacock. Both species also noted yesterday. Per MA.

Not holding out much hope for our local ground nesting birds this year. A lot of fields seem to be planted with Rye grass which is harvested roughly every 6 weeks, therefore not giving birds like Lapwing, Corn Bunting, Skylark, Yellow Wagtail etc no time to incubate eggs and fledge young.

Here & There

Sunshine, 12°, light S.

Lollingdon: 3 Ruff, 20 Lapwing, Common Gull, 15 Shoveler, c20 Teal and a Little Egret.

Wallingford Rd flood: c80 Teal and Chiffchaff and Blackcap in song nearby.

Bunk: 7 Chiffchaff (3 in song), c50 Fieldfare, c20 Redwing, Treecreeper, Grey Wagtail, 2 Grey Heron, 10 Tufted Duck and a Sparrowhawk. Plus the 2 Herring Gull on their usual perch.

Cholsey Hill: c30 Golden Plover.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone.

AD, GW & PC.  

Whilst Alan was out at Lollingdon photographing birds on the flood, a dog walker came along. Aware that Alan was photographing birds on the flood and proceeded to let their dog run into the flood and flush everything.

Inconsiderate? Thoughtless? Keep the dog under control for a time or let it run free? What do you think? I know what I think but it’s not for here!

Fortunately Alan did get a pic of the 3 Ruff together.

Cholsey Hill

Sunny spells, 16°, breezy SSE.

3 Stonechat to the south west of Cholsey Hill and another south of the Lees.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipit and Skylark in the area and hundreds of Wood Pigeon.

[There appears to have been a mass movement of Wood Pigeon lately with an estimated 150000+ seen moving off from Portland, Dorset, yesterday.]

c50 Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill and c50 Lapwing over. Alan also noted a Little Egret this morning.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone.

AD & PC.

Stonechat

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat courtesy Alan

Lapwing courtesy Alan

Roe Deer

Hithercroft & Bunk

Sunshine and showers, 14°, breezy SW.

Hithercroft floods: Little Egret, 3 Shelduck over, Common Snipe, Herring Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, Chiffchaff - many singing, Reed Bunting and Lapwing.

Bunk area: 7 Chiffchaff, several in song, a Blackcap singing, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Siskin, a Sparrowhawk, 14 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, 50+ Starling, a Grey Wagtail, 8 Pied Wagtail, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 Lapwing, 1 Mute Swan, 32 Lesser Blackback Gull, 7 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Common Gull, etc.

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole, Wood Mouse & Brown Hare.

Amphibians: Smooth Newt (per Bill Nicholls, garden pond).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

AD, BN & PC.

Shelduck courtesy Alan

Sparrowhawk

Wood Mouse courtesy Bill Nicholls

Sunshine for a change

Sunny, 10°, light S.

A fairly quiet couple of days. Alan found a Wheatear up near Silly Bridge yesterday but little else evident.

Today, Bunk line, Lollingdon and the River covered but again very little happening.

Most of the wintering Gulls have dispersed now and only a couple of Common Gull, a handful of Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull and a couple of Herring Gull noted today.

2 Lapwing still in the area and hoping that they may stay and breed as one seen in display flight over the weekend.

A concern is that we have not recorded Bullfinch in the parish this year. Usually 4 sites where we find them but nothing noted yet.

Other species noted: many Chiffchaff, a Raven, Treecreeper and Nuthatch.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone and Peacock.

Raven & Peacock courtesy Alan

March Hares & Butterflies

Bright at first then clouding over, 13°, fresh SW.

Much the same as yesterday covered.

4 Wheatear still present out at Lollingdon and Chiffchaff everywhere, obviously a big influx over the last few days.

2 Lapwing, Kingfisher, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Yellowhammer, several Redwing and Fieldfare plus the regulars.

Mammals: Brown Hare.  

Butterflies: several Brimstone, first ones of the year as far as we know.

Mad March Hares ↕

Brimstone courtesy Alan

Starling

Yellowhammer

Wheatear (f) courtesy Alan

Linnets ↕

Egrets & Dragons

Sunny spells and the odd rain shower, 13°, breezy SW.

Relatively quiet out at Lollingdon today. 100+ Fieldfare on the hill plus a few Redwing and Starling.

Nearby 2 Little Egret, 2 Raven overhead, a Chiffchaff, a flock of 20+ Meadow Pipit and several Pied Wagtail and Skylark.

A Sparrowhawk visiting the garden again.

Dragonflies: at least 3 Common Darter still on the wing.

Butterflies: a single Brimstone.

Little Egret

find the Common Darter

Wet & Windy

Wet and windy, 11°, light to moderate rain, breezy SE.

Not a lot seen today along the Bunk line area.

A Large flock of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling between the line and Cholsey Hill numbering around 500 birds.

The Little Owl seen in its usual haunt and the Green Sandpiper seen around the gravel pit but the only ducks present were 3 Mallard.

2 Herring Gull, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull and 100+ Black-headed Gull in the area.

Just a single Chiffchaff noted.

No butterflies seen today but several Brimstone and a Peacock seen yesterday by Alan.

A good colony of Lesser Celandine just coming into flower.

Last day of 2021 & a Butterfly

Rain at first then sunny, 15°, light SW.

Some balmy temperature for the end of the year and a butterfly seen on the wing.

Lollingdon hill was very quiet today, just a few Red Kite and Buzzard overhead and a single Raven flew north east.

A single Stonechat still nearby and 50+ Pied Wagtail and a similar number of Meadow Pipit frequenting a flooded field.

Also a Chiffchaff, several Jay and Yellowhammer, Mistle Thrush (in song), a few Fieldfare and Redwing and a Sparrowhawk.

Alan out along the river: Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail, 2 Stonechat, Kingfisher, Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, Treecreeper, Fieldfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush (in song), Song Thrush (in song), Reed Bunting, Barn Owl, Little Grebe and 12+ Siskin.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Butterflies: a single Brimstone on the wing.

A Brimstone on New Years Eve

Treecreeper courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Pied Wagtail

A mixed day

Mainly cloudy with lengthy sunny spells, 14°, light SSW.

A frustrating day! Whilst watching some Common Darter along a flooded margin of a field out at Lollingdon I heard a Woodlark call and a few seconds later call again.

Scanning the area where the call came from but could not see the bird and I spent the next hour searching for it. However no sign of it but I did flush a Common Snipe from the field.

I let both Alan and Tony know in case they go out that way soon.

Continuing on to the hill but it was somewhat quiet, a couple of Mistle Thrush and a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel present.

Back off the hill and another look for the lark. No luck but good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered about. Also 2 Chiffchaff, several Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Skylark and a Kingfisher and 20+ Yellowhammer nearby.

3 Raven near the Bullshole and several Siskin and a Goldcrest, Millennium Wood.

Alan and Tony out along the river: Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit and Fieldfare and Redwing.

30+ Golden Plover near Silly Bridge.

Mammals: Nathusius’s Pipistrelle recorded by Niall today near the Reading road proposed development site. He also has a few previous records from the site which may prove a case for conservation in the area rather than development!

Dragonflies: Common Darter, 5 pairs egg laying and a few individuals.

Butterflies: Brimstone (f), along the river and 2 Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell, Lollingdon.

A few shots of the Common Darters.

Sparrowhawk

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Some of the hundred plus flock of Fieldfare.

Chiffchaff

A Spring like day

Sunshine, 12°, light W.

A Merlin seen today flying low over a stubble field at the top of Westfield road. Per Hugh Pope.

A walk out to Lollingdon today produced, 3 singing Chiffchaff (5 in total), a Little Egret, Little Owl, c20 Meadow Pipit and 2 Raven and a handful of Fieldfare.

20+ Yellowhammer still around the Little Lollingdon area, plus 5 Reed Bunting and a flock of c30 Linnet. Several Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting flycatching from the hedge top.

Bunk line, Little Owl, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Linnet, singing Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

Update: Calls from at least 2 Common Scoter passing overhead moving north east at 20:48.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.  

Several butterfly’s on the wing today with Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma.

Alan also had a Dark-edged Bee-fly.

Peacock on Holly-leaved Berberis

Comma courtesy Alan

Dark-edged Bee-fly courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff doing its best to hide

Watching me watching you. A smart Roe Buck

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting