Quiet

Sunny periods, 15°, light NNW.

Pretty quiet along the Bunk area today. A Green Sandpiper flew from the gravel pit area, a Bullfinch nearby, 4 Swallow over and 2 Yellowhammer and 5 Chiffchaff elsewhere.

Dragonflies: Southern and Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Insects: European Hornet.

Bunk

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 26°, light WSW.

Bunk area: fairly quiet, a Little Ringed Plover heard calling, 1-2 Bullfinch, 6 Yellowhammer, 5 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, several Blackcap, a Sparrowhawk and good numbers of Swallow, House Martin and Swift that appeared to be passing through.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle and Common Blue Damsel.

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

Sheltering from the rain

Still a bit Chilly

Overcast, 2°, light S.

Still a bit chilly but most of the iced areas have melted.  

Bunk: 21 Yellowhammer, Bullfinch, Grey Wagtail, Goldcrest, 15 Fieldfare, 8 Redwing, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Mistle Thrush, usual large flock of Starling, Kestrel, a Grey Heron, 200+ Black-headed Gull, c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull, etc.

Some of the 21 Yellowhammer

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Fieldfare

Mistle Thrush

Alan was off to Henley road gravel pit today to see a male and redhead Smew. A rare visitor to Cholsey, the last was December 2010.

A smattering of migrants

Sunny spells, 20°, breezy WSW.

Alan out at Lollingdon and Cholsey Downs today: 3 Spotted Flycatcher, Nuthatch, Bullfinch, Kingfisher, Stonechat and Whinchat etc.

I covered the Bunk area: 60+ Swallow, 20-30 House Martin, 5 Blackcap, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat, 10+ Chiffchaff, a Raven, 8 Pied Wagtail, 3 Yellowhammer, 40+ Linnet, 4 Mistle Thrush, etc.

Tawny Owl in garden @ 21:40.  

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Whinchat courtesy Alan.

Long-tailed Tit

A few new ones for the year

Mainly cloudy, 15°, breezy SE.

 
Bunk, Lollingdon and River areas covered. Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, 20+ Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 8+ Blackcap, Goldcrest, 6 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, a Bullfinch, 2-3 Corn Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer, a few Reed Bunting, Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, 6+ Lapwing, Water Rail, 2 Herring Gull and a Raven etc.

Lots of Buzzard in the air today with several displaying plus a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Peregrine.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock.

AD & PC.

Common Whitethroat courtesy Alan

Small Tortoiseshell

Blackcap courtesy Alan

Corn Bunting courtesy Alan

Mistle Thrush

Varied weather

Sunny at first then cloudy with rain, 15°, breezy S.

Lollingdon and Bunk covered in the last few days: 2-3 Wheatear, a Common Redstart, many Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 3 Fieldfare, a single Redwing, Bullfinch, Jay, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, 8+ Lapwing, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Lesser Blackback Gull.

1st Sedge Warbler of the year. Per Phil Dyson.  

Mammals: Brown Hare, Muntjac and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma.

AD & PC.

Muntjac Deer

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Sparrowhawk

Soggy underfoot

Hazy sunshine, 10°, light SW.

A nice 1stw m Bullfinch seen on Lollingdon Hill today, only the 2nd sighting of this species in Cholsey this year.

Again a lot of Fieldfare and Redwing in the area plus at least 6 Mistle Thrush. A scattering of Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Skylark plus a couple of Siskin over and 2 Raven.

2 Little Egret a couple of days ago near the flooded field.

Garden very busy this week with Coal, Long-tailed, Blue and Great Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Great-spotted Woodpecker all visiting.

Reed Bunting

Yellowhammer

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Thrushes everywhere

Sunny spells, 10°, light SSW.

Although still fairly quiet I managed a total of just under 60 species in 4.5 hours from the garden and out along the Bunk line today.

Many Fieldfare and Redwing (500+ birds), 100+ Starling, a couple of small Siskin flocks overhead, 43 Lapwing, a Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Raven, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, 3 Gull species, etc, etc.

Tony W found our first Bullfinch of the year yesterday near Bow Bridge. A bit concerning that no breeding sites found this year and yesterday’s bird was maybe a transient individual.

Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter.

One of the Starling flocks feeding near the Cattle

A few of the many Fieldfare

Buntings

Light cloud, 10°, light SE.

Another generally quiet day. Bunk line and Gravel pit area turned up c300 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Tufted Duck, Green Sandpiper and a Little Grebe.

The River/Marsh: Cetti’s Warbler, Stonechat, Reed Bunting, Fieldfare, Redwing and Yellowhammer.

Cholsey Hill: c45 Golden Plover, Skylark and Corn Bunting. Per Alan.

Lollingdon was somewhat quiet apart from large numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing in the treetops chattering away presumably preparing to move on.

2 Bullfinch on Lollingdon hill and the odd Skylark, Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Nearby a flock of 24 Corn Bunting flew west and several more Yellowhammer and a couple of Reed Bunting.

All 3 Bunting species heard in song today.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Reed Bunting

Corn Bunting courtesy Alan

Corn Bunting

Yellowhammer

Settled

Cloudy at first then brighter later, 8°, light W.

A rather quiet day for both Alan and me and still very settled. I took a walk out to Lollingdon but very little around. The usual Fieldfare and Redwing present and a moderate Bunting and Finch flock out in the flooded field along with a few Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit.

2 Bullfinch in the millennium wood were the only other notable sighting.

Alan had very much the same along the river, although he did find the years first Green Sandpiper at the gravel pit.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Not a Lot

Bright at first then cloudy, 10°, light SSW.

Not a lot going on out there today with both Alan and I along the Bunk line area. A few smallish flocks of Fieldfare and Starling plus a few Redwing chucked in feeding in some of the fields.

Bullfinch, Teal, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker and a flock of Chaffinch, Linnet, Greenfinch and Goldfinch, and a single Herring Gull but not a lot else noted.

Kestrel

Snowdrops

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

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

A little chilly

Sunny, 3°, light NW.

Fieldfare and Redwing appear to be everywhere around the village at the moment, feeding in fields and hedgerows along with more than average numbers of Blackbird and Song Thrush.

Bunk line/Green lane: apart from the above, 2 Grey Heron, several Yellowhammer and a Kestrel.

Whilst looking towards CSW I noticed all the Gulls flew up only to see a Peregrine Falcon cruise over and a few moments later a tight flock of Starling appeared and that was in response to a female Sparrowhawk flying overhead.

There were in excess of 200 Black-headed Gull, a handful of Lesser Blackback Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

A male Sparrowhawk seen hunting along Green lane later and a Little Owl heard calling.

The fields near Manor farm held 40+ Lapwing and 100+ Golden Plover. Per Alan and myself.

Alan also covered the river area with Kingfisher and Bullfinch of note plus all the usuals.

Another male Sparrowhawk visiting the garden late afternoon.

Plovers always distant

Golden Plover courtesy Alan 

Lapwing

Quiet day

Overcast, 12°, light W.

Bunk line/Green lane/Gravel pit today: a few hundred Redwing scattered around and approx. 100 Fieldfare.

34 Pied Wagtail in the cattle field (although the cattle had just been moved out), a Grey Wagtail, 2 Bullfinch, a Kestrel, Mistle Thrush, Jay, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Grey Heron, c150 Starling, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 120 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Sparrowhawk (m & f).

Alan along the river: Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, 2 Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting and 30+ Siskin.

Anyone seen a Great-crested Grebe along the river lately? No confirmed sightings since the spring!

Mammals: Stoat.

A Frosty start

Sunny intervals, 11°, light W. (a light frost first thing)

A pair of Stonechat present on Lollingdon hill today along with a small flock of Meadow Pipit several Yellowhammer and a flock of c50 Fieldfare flew over.

Nearby, a Little Egret, several Redwing, 2 Jay and a Chiffchaff.

2 Mistle Thrush near the Bullshole.

Alan along the river with c100 Lapwing over, a Little Grebe, Redwing, Fieldfare, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Kingfisher, Jay, Raven and Nuthatch.

Tony Williams had a flock of c30 Golden Plover near the Four Arches and a female Goosander flew upriver this morning.

Another Nuthatch around the garden and the Brook meadow.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Stonechat pair

Little Grebe courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit

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