Bunk

Overcast with light cloud, 23°, breezy NNW.

Bunk area:

Marsh Harrier seen over Cholsey Hill, Gull numbers on the increase with c50 Black-headed Gull, c30 Lesser Blackback Gull and a couple of Herring Gull.

5 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, a Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, 1 pos 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Yellow Wagtail, 4 Mistle Thrush, 15 Swallow, 8 House Martin, 3 Sand Martin, 20+ Swift and a Sparrowhawk.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and a Brown Hawker.

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

Just a few bits

Sunny spells, 22°, light W.

Emperor Dragonfly, Painted Lady and 2 Scarlet Tiger on allotment.

Little Ringed Plover Bunk line area. Per BJW & AD.

Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker (yesterday) and a Ringlet (Weds). Per AD

Southern Hawker courtesy Alan

Stay optimistic!

Mostly sunny, 19°, light SW.

I always go out with a certain amount of optimism hoping to find something unusual, especially at this time of year.

There have been rare and scarce birds turning up recently, especially at coastal sites and islands and to a lesser extent large bodies of water.

However here in middle earth we can boast no such species, in fact the walk out today was very quiet indeed.

The best I could muster was a singing Lesser Whitethroat out at Little Lollingdon and a Little Owl being mobbed by a couple of Blackbird.

The hill was very quiet with just the usual resident and summer visitors around.

There has been very little passage noted this spring as if we have been bypassed with birds getting directly to their breeding areas.

Still, ever hopeful that a rare or scarce one will turn up one day!

The Song Thrush is back in the garden and singing well and Nuthatch visiting more regular and a Coal Tit heard singing nearby.

Dragonflies: a single Broad-bodied Chaser flew past me near Cholsey brook and a Brown Hawker flew through the allotments on Station road and a Club-tailed Dragonfly, Hairy Dragonfly and Broad-bodied Chaser between Cholsey Marsh and Bow Bridge (per Alan).

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

Chiffchaff

 female Broad-bodied Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Newly emerged Mayfly (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Silver-ground Carpet (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Collared Dove

Agatha Christie Trail

Sunny, 24°, light SSE.

A walk alongside the Bunk line along the Agatha Christie trail today.

At least 2 Sand Martin over Cholsey SF and 16 Black-headed Gull over also.

Whitethroats still prominent along with Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Yellowhammer and Linnet.

Swift, Swallow and House Martin overhead, a Sparrowhawk with prey, 3 Buzzard and the usual Red Kites.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damselfly, Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet. Also a 6-spot Burnet Moth.

A sample of 10 skippers on the Eastenders plot 6 Small Skipper and 4 Essex Skipper.

Sand Martin, Brown Hawker and Essex Skipper all new for the year.

 6-spot Burnet

Meadow Brown

Damsels, Dragons and Butterflies.

Sunny, 24º, light SW, giving way to light rain later and temp dropping to 16º.

Not too much bird activity today, Grasshopper Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat at Cholsey Marsh. 3 Kestrels around and a flyby Black-headed Gull and Cormorant.

A Kingfisher near Bow Bridge and 2 at Cholsey Marsh.

Dragons.

Around 5 Brown Hawkers, 2 Blue (southern) Hawkers, and quite a lot (c20) Common (Blue Damsel) Bluetails and around 12 Banded Demoiselles.

Butterflies.

2 Silver-washed Fritillaries again, plus Meadow Brown, Green-veined, Large and Small Whites, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Marbled White, Large Skipper, Gatekeeper, Comma and first Painted Lady of the year.

A colony of Pyramid Orchids found, around 30 plants present at this site.

The second House Martins nest at Marymead has fledged with at least 2 young flying.

Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest in the garden today along with the usual visitors and a Blackcap singing, Song Thrush and Great-spotted Woodpecker regularly visiting and a Moorhen briefly, 2 Mistle Thrush in the meadow.
A Red Kite came down in the garden this afternoon briefly, certainly put the Squirrels to flight.
A Kestrel settled on the bird feeding station this evening flushing everything.

                                   Common Bluetail

                                           

A view of the meadow from the garden, Cholsey Brook runs along the right hand side.