Fieldfare & Redwing

Overcast, 12°, light SSW.

Bunk area:

2 Little Grebe, 20 Shoveler and a Common Snipe at the gravel pit.

A mixed flock of c500 of mainly Fieldfare with a good number of Redwing spread along the Bunk, esp Green Lane.

3 Grey Heron, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Jay, a Little Owl, 3 Yellowhammer and 2 Chiffchaff at CSW.

Distantly over Cholsey Hill at dusk, c1000 Starling appeared to be flying NW.

Lollingdon and The Lees

Sunny, 0°, light NNW.

Lollingdon and The Lees area:

9 Teal, and 8 Common Snipe all flushed from ditches as the flood was frozen over, 5+ Chiffchaff (4 out by the Lees and 1 Lollingdon), 2 Little Egret, a Grey Heron, 18 Lapwing, a Merlin flushed 20 Golden Plover from Cholsey Hill and they settled near the farm.

Plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered around, 5 Mistle Thrush and a flock of 20+ Meadow Pipit.

2 White-fronted Geese flew from the river to a field near the Waterloo. Per Roger Wyatt.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

White-fronted Goose courtesy Roger Wyatt

2025 bows out

Sunny, 2°, light W.

The last walk of the year out to the Lees and Long Ditch:

Initially appeared very quiet but the longer you are out the more you see.

Up to 100 Skylark in total spread around and c50 Meadow Pipit. 2 Common Snipe along the Long Ditch and a Kingfisher noted nearby.

A fairly large Tit flock at the Lees with c20 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest and a Treecreeper plus the odd Blue and Great Tit.

A Raven over and a few Fieldfare and Redwing moving and to bow out the year a male Merlin flew towards Cholsey Hill from near the Church.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

And finally a thank you to all contributors of 2025 for various wildlife sightings.

Alan Dawson, Richard Broughton, Marta Maziarz, Tony Williams, Geoff Wyatt, Brian Wyatt, Roger Wyatt, Ian Lewington, Michael Pocock, Mike Amphlett, Andy King, Bill Nicholls, Paul Rainsden, Richard James and several other who’s names I have forgotten, apologies.

A European Beaver photographed by Janie Maclean on 7th May on the River Thames was certainly the most significant observation this year.

Lollingdon

Sunny, 10°, light S.

Lollingdon floods:

A Merlin flew in, fast and low and took what I believe was a Meadow Pipit from a small flock on the flooded area.

Not much on the flood other than 2 Common Snipe, a handful of Black-headed Gull, 20+ Pied Wagtail, the afore mentioned Meadow Pipit (c20) and a Grey Heron.

On the periphery, 2 Stonechat, a Chiffchaff, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay, many Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush - in song.

2 Little Egret flew east over the cattle field.

Lollingdon floods

Sunny, 7°, light NNE.

Lollingdon floods: 12 Teal, 9 Lapwing, 2 Common Snipe, 30+ Pied Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit, a Grey Wagtail, 50+ Black-headed Gull, 20+ Lesser Blackback Gull.

On the periphery: 2 Stonechat, several Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Little Egret and a Raven over.

Near Bullshole: Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

stock photos

Lollingdon

Sunny periods, 16°, light ENE.

Another fairly quiet one out at Lollingdon today:

3 Common Snipe and a Green Sandpiper on partially flooded fields, c20 Meadow Pipit, 5 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest and large flock of c400 birds, comprising Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: 3 Common Darter.

Butterflies: Holly Blue & Peacock. Per RB.

Grey Plover

Overcast, 18°, light SSE.

A pretty good day all round. Alan covered Bunk this morning and Cholsey Hill this afternoon and I covered Bunk this afternoon.

A Grey Plover (3rd Cholsey record) with c60 Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill was the highlight and a single Swallow over.

Bunk: c300 Redwing, 10 Fieldfare over, 4-500 Starling, and increase in both Song Thrush and Blackbird numbers, 5 Siskin, 7 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, several Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Pied Wagtail, a single Grey Wagtail and a Common Snipe.

2 Wigeon on flood near Wallingford Road this morning. Per Michael Pocock.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Small White.

AD, MP & PC.

Grey Plover with Golden Plover. bottom right in above pic and bottom left in pic below. Courtesy Alan.

One of several Swallow

A distant Redwing

A swarm of insects near CSW.

A day for Butterflies and a Dragon

Hazy sunshine, 19°, breezy SSW.

A visit to Lollingdon the Bunk and River today: Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Grey Wagtail, Common Snipe, Lapwing, Sparrowhawk, and 6+1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

20-30 Hirundines noted, mainly Swallow and Sand Martin and a single House Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

Comma

Large Red Damselfly courtesy Alan

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Dark-edged Bee Fly courtesy Alan

A chilly day

A sunny day, 2°, breezy NNE.

Bunk Line:

Most of the flooded areas were frozen over so nothing swimming. Though 3 Mute Swan were present on the dry edge and 200+ Gulls sat on the ice.

Overall 4-500 Black-headed Gull, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull and a single Herring Gull in the area.

A Chiffchaff at CSW, loads of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling, 30+ Blackbird and 9 Song Thrush. Up to 50 Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit and Skylark, 5 Yellowhammer, 1 or 2 Lapwing briefly and 8 Greylag Geese flew north over the Church and 2 Canada Geese east.

Alan has been searching for Waxwing in the county today after up to 60 were reported from Tesco car park Didcot yesterday morning but no luck. 2 were seen on and off near Port Meadow, Oxford.

On his travels he noted c50 Lapwing and 5 Common Snipe near Cholsey Hill.

Tony W has had both male and female Blackcap visiting garden.

Lapwing

Redwing

Lapwing courtesy Alan

Bunk & Long Ditch

Sunny with variable cloud cover, 15°, light SSE.

Alan covered the long ditch area this morning: Common Snipe, 3 Stonechat, Reed Bunting, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Lesser Blackback Gull.

We both covered the Bunk line at different times: 12 Shoveler overhead, 20+ Fieldfare, about the same of Redwing, 2 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, 2 Raven, 2 Grey Heron, 10 Siskin, a Grey Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit, 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 50+ Black-headed Gull, 5 Herring Gull and 2 Common Gull. Plus 2 Egyptian Geese flew south over Church Road.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Red Admiral.

All photos courtesy Alan

Blackcap

Meadow Pipit

Stonechat

Lesser Blackback Gull

Jackdaw

Little Egrets

A cloudy day, 15°, breezy ESE.

Alan took the long hike out by the lees and skirting Aston and back through Lollingdon. I just trekked out to Lollingdon and back.

When I walked out there was one Little Egret at Lollingdon but by the time Alan got there it had been joined by another two.

Between the Lees and Lollingdon, another? Little Egret, Kingfisher, Peregrine, Common Snipe, Reed Bunting, Redwing, Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

Lollingdon, 34 Yellowhammer noted with just over 20 leaving the hill and flying south, plus a Reed Bunting with them.

25+ Meadow Pipit, 60+ Skylark, 6 Pied Wagtail, 5 Fieldfare, 4 Song Thrush, 14 Blackbird, 2 Jay, a flyover Raven and a single Little Owl.

Bunk line later, 40+ Pied Wagtail, several Redwing and Fieldfare. Per Alan.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Little Egret

Bunk Line

Cloudy with the odd sunny spell, 10°, light E.

Bunk line: 50+ Fieldfare (2 flocks), 2 Redwing, 5 Mistle Thrush, 2+ Siskin over, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Pied Wagtail, 8 Meadow Pipit, 14 Skylark, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Jay, 2 Raven, 1 Common Snipe, 1 Jay, a Little Owl, 50 + Black-headed Gull, 23 Lesser Blackback Gull, etc.

Butterflies: 1 Red Admiral.

Dragonflies: Common Darter (Saturday).

8 Fieldfare, part of one of the flocks seen today

Black-headed Gull (above & below)

Grey Heron

Todays Red Admiral

Common Carder Bee

Speckled Bush Cricket

A good mix

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 17°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon, The Lees and Long Ditch:

Common Snipe at 2 (1 & 5) locations, 1 Wheatear, 2 Stonechat, 8 Reed Bunting, 2-3 Corn Bunting and 10+ Yellowhammer, several Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, 6 Chiffchaff, a Peregrine and 14 Lapwing.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: 2 Migrant Hawker and many Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

Arachnids: Garden Cross Spider.

P & A.

Garden Cross Spider

Stonechat courtesy Alan ↕

Pied Wagtail

Common Darter

Common Darter courtesy Alan

Red Admiral

Blue Tit

Grey Wagtail