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.

Bunk & River

Sunny spells, 15°, light WNW.

Bunk and River: A cooler day with a reasonable selection of birds, very few butterflies on the wing and a relatively poor showing of other insects.

Singles of Black-headed Gull and Lesser Blackback Gull, Kingfisher, Little Owl, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four-spotted Chaser.

Butterflies: did not see any myself but Alan found Brown Argus and Meadow Brown.

AD & PC.

Spotted Flycatcher courtesy Alan

WTF has someone done to Green lane? Very recent as foliage still green and dumped in ditch. Hedge cut and foliage gone. So very irresponsible!!!!!!!!!

adult Jackdaw above and youngster below.

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

Dragons & Butterflies Pt II

 Some of the insects captured yesterday by Alan.

Brown Argus

Small Heath

Azure Damselfly

Common Blue Damselfly

Four-spot Chaser

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

Lollingdon, Bow & The Marsh

Sunny with a few cloudy spells, 21°, light S.

A walk out to Lollingdon and back and rather quiet and similar to Mondays walk.

3 Corn Bunting and 2 Reed Bunting in song on Lollingdon Hill and a Kestrel hunting nearby and 2 Lesser Whitethroat in song.

Later in the day at Bow Bridge a Common Tern flew downstream and a Willow Warbler in full song also Cuckoo, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat etc. Per AD & PC.

Sparrowhawk paid a visit to the garden again today and missed out.

Richard was also active today with a Grey Wagtail family seen, plus 2 Common Tern, Cuckoo and Raven amongst other species.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle & Four-spotted Chaser. Per AD & PC.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary and Speckled Wood. Per AD & PC.

Chiffchaff in song, Church road

Four-spot Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Reed Bunting & Corn Bunting. Both in song.

 Pied Wagtail collecting food.

 Marsh Fritillary

White Ermine Moth (courtesy Alan Dawson)

A Butterfly day

Another sunny day, 24°, light E.

A walk alongside the Bunk line from Church road to the bypass.

Butterflies were the order of the day with literally hundreds of Meadow Brown on the wing today. They were everywhere.

Another 8 Painted Lady seen with some looking very tatty after a presumably long flight and ageing.

Best one of the day was a single Silver-washed Fritillary seen flying around a large garden before disappearing from view.

Good numbers of Marbled White all along the route.

Other species noted were: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Brimstone (1), Brown Argus (3), Common Blue (8), Red Admiral (6), Small Tortoiseshell (c20), Comma (3), Speckled Wood (2), Ringlet (12) and Small Heath (2).

Some thistles were in flower on the edge of a bean field and these held the majority of Painted Lady, Small Tort and Marbled White.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle (M&F), Large Red Damselfly and Southern Hawker.

Moths: Cinnabar Moth.

A few birds noted were, 3 Yellowhammer, a single Reed Bunting and 2 Common Whitethroat.

Surprisingly I found 2 Pyramid Orchid growing in one of the conservation strips by the side of one of the fields. Sadly almost devoid of any other flowers.

Maybe farmers should be encouraged to plant wild flowers on these strips?

On the down side there were very few Bees noted…..just a handful!

Painted Lady

 Large Skipper

 Ringlet

 Large Skipper

 Painted Lady

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Small Heath

 Meadow Brown & Marbled White

Comma

Banded Demoiselle (M)

Dragons & Butterflies

Sunny, 18°, light E.

Another sunny day with quite a lot of butterflies on the wing.

A Lesser Whitethroat heard singing on the north side of Cholsey Hill and several Swift, Swallow and House Martin over Church road today.

Alan Dawson has been out along the Thames today and found most of the Dragons and Butterflies along with, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Kingfisher, Buzzard, Kestrel, Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Kingfisher and a single Common Tern along with the rest.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak, Small Copper, Brown Argus, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

All todays photos courtesy Alan Dawson.

 Four-spot Chaser

 Brown Argus

 Dingy Skipper

 Small Copper

Swallow