The winds of Change

Mainly sunny, 20°, light WSW.

Finally, the wind and rain abated and produced a pleasant day for birding.

A morning’s sea-watch: 5 Arctic Skua, 50+ Kittiwake, a Yellow-legged Gull, 60+ Manx Shearwater, 100+ Balearic Shearwater, 60+ “Commic” Tern, 4 Arctic Tern, 2 Common Scoter, a Ringed Plover, a Curlew, a Whimbrel, numerous Gannet and several Oystercatcher.

VizMig and an afternoons walk: Barn Owl, Little Owl, 20+ Grey Wagtail, 30+ Yellow Wagtail, 3 Tree Pipit, 3 Meadow Pipit, a Pied Flycatcher, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a Common Whitethroat, a Sedge Warbler, 2 Whinchat, 3 Stonechat, 31 Wheatear, 4 Raven, a Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, a Common Snipe, 110+ Swallow, 30+ Sand Martin, 12 House Martin and 2 Swift.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Clouded Yellow, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Wall Brown, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Moths: Convolvulus Hawkmoth and Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Sun rise at the Obs

"Greenland" Wheatear courtesy Mark Cutts

 

Bunk

Sunny spells, 22°, light WNW.

Bunk area still fairly quiet, 40 Swallow and 14 House Martin through, 12 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 9 Yellowhammer, 50+ Linnet, a Hobby, a Peregrine (m) and a Grey Heron etc.

2 Yellow Wagtail over garden yesterday and a Raven.

Mammals: A Weasel along Green Lane.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Clouded Yellow, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

2 European Hornet caught and released from indoors yesterday.

Clouded Yellow & Wasp Spider

Cloudy, 26°, light WSW.

Bunk: Not a great deal today, Kingfisher and Lesser Whitethroat of note and just c20 Swallow, 1 Swift and 5 Chiffchaff.

Others had more luck with a Wasp Spider found by Phil Dyson at the Church and 2 Clouded Yellow Butterfly found by Richard B near the Lees.

Courtesy Richard Broughton

Courtesy Phil Dyson

Lollingdon

Cloudy with sunny periods and a few rain showers, 15°, breezy SW.

A busy hill and both of us out there at different times today, 4 Stonechat present hawking insects along the fence line and 500+ Fieldfare over. Most flying over heading south towards the downs and some stopped to feed on the Hawthorn berries.

A single, late House Martin flew south east and 2 Raven over.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, including a possible White Wagtail.

One Wagtail stood out for me as having no discernible black on the head or throat and was a pale looking bird compared to others in the flock.

The flock flew before I could get a photo.

Alan went later to the same site and photographed another bird which appears to be a possible White Wagtail also.

There are no documented records of White Wagtail in Cholsey as far as I am aware. Quite probably overlooked as they are a regular continental migrant thru the UK.

the so called British Pied Wagtail "yarrellii" is a sub-species of White Wagtail "alba".

Addition: Having since consulted with Ian Lewington it is probable that the pic below is a female Pied Wagtail as the plumage detail is not conclusive for a White Wagtail. Often a difficult species to id conclusively in autumn.

2+ Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, Little Owl, Little Egret, Grey Wagtail, 30+ Redwing, 2 Jay, 2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 14 Yellowhammer and a flock of c40 Linnet and 20+ Chaffinch.

Alan found a Mandarin Duck on the river on the 21st.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Clouded Yellow (22nd Oct, per Alan).

Fieldfares

Possible "White" Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba) courtesy Alan

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Raven

Mandarin Duck courtesy Alan

Gone quiet

Mainly sunny, 25°, light SSW.

A rather quiet day all round with Lollingdon and Bunk line covered.

Very few migrants noted, a few Swallow and House Martin, several Chiffchaff and Yellow Wagtail and a single Common Whitethroat.

The regular Yellowhammer and Linnet ever present and the odd Kestrel.

Appears to be an increase in Buzzard numbers recently.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, a Clouded Yellow, 2 Common Blue, a Peacock and a few Speckled Wood.

Paul & Alan.

Kestrel courtesy Alan

Willow Emerald courtesy Alan

Common Buzzard

Respect

Overcast with almost constant rain showers, 17°, light S.

A somewhat damp day for a change but not a lot around.

Both Alan and I out along the Bunk line, Alan early and myself later.

Good numbers of Hirundines, c100+ Swallow, 50+ House Martin and 2-3 Sand Martin.

Church road House Martins still present around nesting sites.

A Kestrel, 3 Grey Heron, Little Owl, several Chiffchaff, a Common Whitethroat, several Yellowhammer, 2 Jay.

Negative for large insects until early evening when the rain cleared and the sun appeared. Just Large White, Small White and Common Darter.

Alan found another Clouded Yellow earlier in the week.

Getting Warmer

Sunny, 36°, light SSE.

A day for not going out as it was too hot. Annoying as I used to deal with hot weather well years ago. I’ve been in the Middle East and other parts of the world in 40+° and coped okay. But with a dodgy ticker these days I have to be careful.

I spent most of the day in my home office (or as my wife calls it “My Man Cave”) with a fan blowing cool air, plenty of water and peering out the window.

The water features in the garden proved very busy throughout the day as there were birds continually bathing or drinking from them.

25 species of bird seen in or around the garden and 8 species of Butterfly and a single Dragonfly. A Brown Hawker.

Alan out earlier this morning with a Green Sandpiper seen flying downstream along the river and another Clouded Yellow butterfly, apart from that very much the same.

Clouded Yellow courtesy Alan

Greenfinch & Great Tit

Wood Pigeon sunbathing

Great-spotted Woodpecker

A Warm one

A sunny day, 26°, light NW.

A warm sunny day with fair numbers of Dragonflies & Butterflies on the wing.

Lollingdon and the River/Marsh covered today. Bird wise: Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Little Owl, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Emperor, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large Skipper, Clouded Yellow (first of the year), Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Paul & Alan.

Clouded Yellow courtesy Alan

Gatekeeper

Common Blue

Scarlet Tigers courtesy Alan

Spot Flys & Insects

Mainly sunny, 21°, light SE.

Not about the birds today although Alan did find at least 2 Spotted Flycatcher along the Bunk line. The first of the autumn!

Lollingdon, the Bunk line and the river were relatively quiet birdwise today.

Lollingdon hill had a few Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff but that was about it.

Alan had the usual along the river.

Sparrowhawk and Nuthatch still regular daily visitors to the garden.

The sunny weather had certainly brought out the butterflies with 5 Painted Lady between Church road and Lollingdon hill.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Clouded Yellow (first of the year yesterday per Alan), Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, & Meadow Brown.

Insects: Alan found Lesser Hornet Hoverfly yesterday. A new species for Cholsey or has it been found before?

A plethora of photos today.

Brimstone (not sure whether it is just arriving or leaving).

Spotted Flycatcher courtesy Alan

Lesser Hornet Hoverfly courtesy Alan

Painted Lady

Large Skipper

Common Darter (f)

Brimstone

Painted Lady (underwing)

Peacock

Red Admiral

Comma

Painted Lady courtesy Alan

Holly Blue courtesy Alan

Sedge Warbler courtesy Alan

Spotted Flycatcher courtesy Alan

Another Thrush day

Brightening up after a cloudy start, 15°, light SSE.

A walk out to Lollingdon today, 4 Egyptian Geese flew over out at Little Lollingdon heading south east.

2 Stonechat on the hill today and a lot of Fieldfare moving, 4-500 birds seen and just a handful of Redwing.

4 Raven headed south (2 and 2), 2 Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel over.

Nearby, a single Chiffchaff, 3 Mistle Thrush, 4 Song Thrush, a Goldcrest and another Sparrowhawk.

2 Mistle Thrush near the Church.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter. 2 pairs seen in tandem with one pair egg laying.

Butterflies: a Clouded Yellow, a single Large White and 3 Small White, all on the hill. A Peacock and another Clouded Yellow. Per Tony Rayner.

Mistle Thrush ↕

Stonechat ↕

Clouded Yellow & Spot Fly

Sunny, 18°, light N.

Another quiet one out there today. Very little on the hill with just a couple of Chiffchaff and a Blackcap present.

A Cormorant flew east overhead and a couple of Kestrel present.

A few other bits and pieces seen off the hill were a Kingfisher, several Yellowhammer, a Corn Bunting and a Reed Bunting.

A light passage of Hirundines, c60 birds in total. Mainly Swallow but also a few House Martin and a light passage of Meadow Pipit and Skylark overhead.

A Spotted Flycatcher and a Blackcap along the Bunk line. Per Alan.

Dragonflies: several Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: a Clouded Yellow graced the hill for a short time. Several Large and Small White, a Common Blue and a few Speckled Wood.

A few record shots of the Clouded Yellow

Spotted Flycatcher (courtesy Alan)

Not much happening

Cloudy with the odd sunny spell, 19°, light WSW. 

Just got rid of Ellen and now Francis is on its way!

2 Common Redstart on the hill today (m & f) and a Willow Warbler along the same hedgerow. Unfortunately always distant!

A single Kestrel hunting on the hill, a Yellow Wagtail overhead and a flock of 9 Magpie and a few family groups of Swallow over.

Nearby another Common Redstart in the cattle field, several Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and a Common Whitethroat.

A Raven seen near the 4-Arches. Per MA.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: another Clouded Yellow and a few Whites.

 Common Redstart

Common Darter