Lollingdon floods

Sunny spells, 6°, light SSE.

Another walk out to the Lollingdon floods: c80 Lesser Blackback Gull, 9 Black-headed Gull and 2 Common Gull, a Little Egret, 3 Common Snipe and 67 Lapwing.

Several hundred Fieldfare and c50 Redwing, 2 Raven, a Chiffchaff and 2-3 Goldcrest etc.

Floods still prevalent

Sunny spells, 3°, light SE.

Nice to see the sun today but still a bit on the chilly side.

Long Ditch: 3 Common Snipe, 2 Stonechat, many Skylark in good voice, Reed Bunting, Peregrine Falcon over and c30 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Lollingdon: c30 Teal, 14 Shoveler, 2 Common Gull, 20+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 100+ Black-headed Gull, 100+ Lapwing and a handful of Fieldfare and Redwing.

Moreton Floods: Chiffchaff, c600 Lapwing, 1 Pintail, c50 Teal, 2 Shelduck, 25 Shoveler, 1 Gadwall, 9 Wigeon and 2 Cormorant over.

A Chiffchaff in the garden late afternoon and Alan has a regular Blackcap visiting his garden.

AD & PC.

Shelduck

Lapwings approaching the flood with a small flock of Starling flying point. As the Lapwing flock landed, one of the Starling attempted to land with them. It took around 15 seconds of hovering before it realised the water was too deep for it and eventually flew of to join the others that landed in a nearby tree.

A grey day

Overcast, 7°, light SW.

A grey old day with both Lollingdon and Bunk area covered: Little Egret, c400 Lapwing, 200+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 2-3 Common Gull, c50 Black-headed Gull, Common Snipe, 2 Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 50+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellowhammer, several Corn Bunting, c100 Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing and a Ring-necked Parakeet.

TW has a male Blackcap regularly in his garden and a female Sparrowhawk visiting frequently.

2 Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden today along with all the other visitors.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Common Gull courtesy Alan

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Black-headed Gull (winter plumage)

Distant Little Egret

Pied Wagtail

Bunk & Lollingdon

Overcast, 8°, light SSW.

Bunk area very disappointing today with very little around. Apart from plenty of Starling, Corvids and Gulls, just c50 of each Fieldfare and Redwing, a single Yellowhammer and the lone Egyptian Goose.

Alan had better luck on the Lollingdon floods: c600 Lapwing, c250 Lesser Blackback Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 2 Common Gull, c80 Black-headed Gull, a Little Egret and c30 Teal.

AD & PC.

Common Gull with Lesser Blackback Gulls courtesy Alan

Egyptian Goose

Sunny but colder.

Sunny spells, 11°, light N.

The floods out at Lollingdon proved to be quite active today for Alan, with c400 Lesser Blackback Gull, c30 Black-headed Gull, a couple of Herring Gull and 4 Common Gull.

Plus, 100+ Teal, 15 Egyptian Geese, c70 Lapwing, several Common Snipe, a Kingfisher, a Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Redwing and Fieldfare.

And Coal Tit and Goldcrest, Cholsey Meadows.

I, on the other hand took a walk along the Bunk area, with very little noted, a single Yellowhammer, a handful of Redwing, a Grey Heron, a Greylag Goose and a single Shoveler overhead.

Tawny Owl calling near Church road, just after dark.

Dragonflies: good numbers of Common Darter, Lollingdon and Cholsey Meadows.

Common Darter courtesy Alan

A not so common, Common Gull, courtesy Alan

Greenfinch

Greylag Goose

Teal courtesy Alan

Quiet start to November

Overcast, 13°, light N.

Grey Plover still present on the Moreton floods and a Common Snipe, Cholsey Hill. Per Alan.

Bunk, rather quiet. Plenty of Redwing and a handful of Fieldfare.

Approx., 300 Gulls loafing in a field, mainly Lesser Blackback Gull, c20 Black-headed Gull, 6 Herring Gull and a single Common Gull.

Nearby, 500+ Starling, a Grey Heron, 2 Yellowhammer and a Chiffchaff of note.

AD & PC.

First Butterfly of the year

Sunny, 8°, light SW.

Both out along Bunk today with Alan on the early shift and me on the late shift.

1-2 Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, 4 Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, 4 Common Gull, 2 Herring Gull, several Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gull, 4 Mute Swan, 2 Raven, a Grey Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail and c100 Fieldfare and Redwing.

Alan also saw 2 Little Owl in the Hithercroft area.

Butterflies: a single Red Admiral (first of the year) sunning itself on the track ballast on the railway.

AD & PC.

Robin

Fieldfare

Common Gull courtesy Alan ↕

Wet 'n' Windy

Cloudy and windy and rain, 12°, breezy SW.

Alan along the Bunk: Common Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, a Common Gull, Herring Gull, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Lapwing, 2 Golden Plover, 2 Mute Swan still in the same field.

Mammals: Stoat.

Photos courtesy Alan.

Common Gull

Herring Gull

Floods

Sunny spells, 9°, light WNW.

Well, very quiet out at Lollingdon today. One saving grace was the flooded field and peripheral field margins that were fairly active.

With 90 minutes of watching the area it produced 2 Lapwing, a Grey Heron, 63 Black-headed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 2 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Common Gull and a Great Blackback Gull.

In areas closeby were several Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Skylark with several flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing moving thru the area, plus a Kestrel hunting nearby.

Alan out later along the Bunk: Lesser Blackback Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Fieldfare, Redwing, Skylark, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Lesser Blackback & Greater Blackback Gull

Common Gull courtesy Alan

Lapwing

Moorhen, a now daily visitor to the garden with up to 3 present

Still a bit chilly

Misty, 3°, light WSW.

The river and Bunk line covered today by both Alan and myself. Still relatively quiet.

2 Chiffchaff on the Marsh and a Stonechat nearby.

Plenty of Gulls around with 200+ Black-headed Gull. Several Herring and Lesser Blackback Gull and a Common Gull.

A single Lapwing and a scattering of Fieldfare and Redwing plus 5 Song Thrush and 2 Jay.

3 Moorhen, a Pheasant and a Carrion Crow in the garden plus the regular visitors.

As you were

Sunny, 5°, light NW.

As you were out there today, very quiet. Both out along the Bunk line and very little noted.

Approx. 150 Black-headed Gull. 4 Herring Gull, 1 Common Gull and 1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Several smallish flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing, a Grey Heron, a Kestrel and c50 Lapwing flew south.

That was about it!

Herring Gull & Black-headed Gulls

Herring Gull

Getting colder

Sunny, 4°, light WNW.

Alan out along the Bunk line today with numbers of Gulls present. Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull and Herring Gull. Plus a Raven overhead and several Fieldfare and Redwing and a Grey Wagtail.

A Barn Owl seen at the weekend (Per Loren) on Cholsey Hill plus c 20 Lapwing (per Alan).

Reptiles: unfortunately Alan found a dead Grass Snake.

Common Gull courtesy Alan

Grass Snake courtesy Alan

Barn Owl courtesy Loren

Quiet start to the new year

Sunny, 7°, light SW.

A quiet start to the year with a walk out to Lollingdon. Very wet out with a lot of flood water on the fields.

It would be nice to see this area between the village and Lollingdon revert back to the marshy area it once was.

Anyway, a Little Egret seen out with the cattle and a Raven and Peregrine overhead were notable birds today along with a Chiffchaff at the Bullshole.

A few large flocks around with 100+ Pied Wagtail spread over 3 fields and upwards of 600 “Winter Thrushes” noted with 400+ Fieldfare and 200’ish Redwing in the area, also a few Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush.

c50 Meadow Pipit, several Skylark, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and 5 Corn Bunting.  

Plus several large gull flocks, however too distant to sort out most of them but at least Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gull present and a single Herring Gull noted.

Alan out along the river, the usual Geese, 2 Kingfisher, Little Owl, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk, Yellowhammer and 2 Nuthatch.

Around 50+ species noted today.

Alan found a Common Gull yesterday along the Bunk line yesterday and 9 Shoveler overhead.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Keep a lookout for Hare coursers around the village, especially out Lollingdon way. Some were spotted yesterday but disappeared quickly after they were rumbled.

Little Egret

Common Gull with Black-headed Gulls courtesy Alan

Fieldfare courtesy Alan

Redwing

Pied Wagtail

Bunk Line

Sunny spells, 10°, moderate SW.

A walk out along the Bunk line this morning and still very static.

A couple of Common Gull with a smallish Gull flock loafing near CSW and a largish flock of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling feeding in one of the cattle fields.

A handful of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Yellowhammer and a single Grey Wagtail plus 4 Pied Wagtail.

A regular roosting flock of c250 Starling in the village and a couple of Redpoll along Greenlane recently and Cormorant and Kingfisher along the Thames. Per Alan.

A Fieldfare using a pouncing method to acquire prey.

forgive the photo quality as shooting into the sun.

Kingfisher & Cormorant courtesy Alan

Not a lot

Mainly cloudy, 7°, light NNE.

Another quiet day. The floods out at Lollingdon held a moderate gull flock with the usual Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gulls plus singles of Herring Gull and Common Gull.

A Sparrowhawk, Raven and 8 Corn Bunting over were the only other notable birds.

Alan visited the river and again relatively quiet. 2 Chiffchaff, Kingfisher, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk and other regulars.

Out & About

Sunny spells, 23°, breezy SW.

Both Alan and myself out today around and about the parish.

c100 Canada Geese flew from the west and continued towards the river, 4 Egyptian Geese, a Little Grebe, a flyby Greenshank, 2 Common Sandpiper, a Common Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 20+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 50+ Black-headed Gull, 2 Grey Heron, 3-4 Tufted Duck, Sparrowhawk, Little Owl, 100+ House Martin, 60+ Swallow, 2 Sand Martin, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, 4 Wheatear, 5 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail plus the regulars.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damselfly, Southern Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: very low numbers, Large White, Small White. Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Paul & Alan.

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Southern Hawker

Frozen

Mainly cloudy, -2°, moderate E.

Alan doing the Marsh again today with 3 Stonechat, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Kingfisher and the Teal arriving a little later, possibly had been somewhere on the river as the Marsh is frozen over.

Loren and I took a mid-afternoon walk out to the Lees. Initially 2 Raven flew overhead and the area between Aston and the Lees held around a 1000 Gulls. With some loafing in the fields and some following a plough.

Most were quite distant with the majority being Lesser Blackback Gull but managed to find 2 Herring Gull, 3 Common Gull, 8 Black-headed Gull and a single adult Yellow-legged Gull. There may well have been others out there but too distant for an ID.

Very little else in the area. A small flock of Fieldfare at the Lees and Loren found a Stonechat on the walk back between the railway and Manor Farm.

If you look hard enough you can see some of the Gulls, Courtesy Loren ↕

Stonechat, courtesy Alan

Song Thrush in the garden ↕