Waiting for Spring

Sunny, 18°, light ESE.

Not a lot about at Lollingdon today and spring not far away. A Raven on the hill sat on a distant fence post and then flew off overhead to the south west and 28 Lapwing on the flood.

On the walk, 8 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, 6 Redwing, a Little Owl, 2 Yellowhammer, a small flock of Siskin and a Grey Heron.

A quick look at the gravel pit on Monday: 2 Shelduck, a Gadwall, Chiffchaff and 16 Fieldfare nearby.

Butterflies: good numbers of Brimstone and Peacock.

Insects: Dark-edged Bee-fly.

A little cooler

Rain and Shine, 9°, breezy S.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River areas covered today and yesterday.

7 Wheatear, many Chiffchaff, 6-8 Yellowhammer, at least 12 Pied Wagtail, 8 Lapwing, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Blackcap in song yesterday.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: yesterday – Brimstone, Peacock & Comma.

Insects: yesterday – Dark-edged Bee Fly.

AD & PC.

Yellowhammer

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Wheatear (f) courtesy Alan

Dark-edged Bee Fly courtesy Alan

Yellowhammer

Comma courtesy Alan

Brown Hare courtesy Alan

A wet one

Light to heavy prolonged rain showers, 11°, fresh WSW.

Bunk line proved quite fruitful today with several migrants moving through. I was out a.m. and Alan p.m.

A single House Martin, 5+ Sand Martin, 2+ Swallow and singles of Greenshank and Shelduck all moving generally north in between the rain showers.

A single Willow Warbler and Blackcap, several Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, a single Black-headed Gull, 5 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Raven and Sparrowhawk also noted.

A few Yellowhammer back in their summer quarters and several Skylark in song .

From Alan yesterday: Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Nuthatch, Kingfisher, 2 Little Egret and 2 Raven.

Plus a Peacock and Brimstone butterfly and Dark-edged Bee-fly all yesterday.

Raven courtesy Alan

Willow Warbler

Dark-edged Bee-fly courtesy Alan

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Bee-Fly & Pasque flower

 A couple of pics of a Dark-edged Bee-fly from Alan today. And a Pasque flower from a nearby site. Pasque flower is now a rare plant in the UK and classed as vulnerable on the "Red Data List". Restricted to a few chalk and Limestone grasslands. 

It flowers around Easter and is known a the "Anemone of Passiontide"

A Spring like day

Sunshine, 12°, light W.

A Merlin seen today flying low over a stubble field at the top of Westfield road. Per Hugh Pope.

A walk out to Lollingdon today produced, 3 singing Chiffchaff (5 in total), a Little Egret, Little Owl, c20 Meadow Pipit and 2 Raven and a handful of Fieldfare.

20+ Yellowhammer still around the Little Lollingdon area, plus 5 Reed Bunting and a flock of c30 Linnet. Several Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting flycatching from the hedge top.

Bunk line, Little Owl, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Linnet, singing Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

Update: Calls from at least 2 Common Scoter passing overhead moving north east at 20:48.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.  

Several butterfly’s on the wing today with Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma.

Alan also had a Dark-edged Bee-fly.

Peacock on Holly-leaved Berberis

Comma courtesy Alan

Dark-edged Bee-fly courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff doing its best to hide

Watching me watching you. A smart Roe Buck

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting

The Birds & The Bee Flies.

Sunny. 10°, moderate breeze ENE.

A day to catch up with a bit of gardening and a nearby Chiffchaff singing regularly and seen foraging around the garden and a couple of Brimstone flew through.

Alan has been out and about with Bella this week end and managed to get some good shots of Birds and Insects.

 Spotted Bee-fly

Dark-edged Bee-fly

Bella

 Peacock

 Little Owl

 Nesting Red Kites

Wheatears

Spring has nearly sprung

Sunny, 15°, light S.

a beautiful sunny day and expecting more but not quite there yet.

A single Wheatear on the hill today and a singing Corn Bunting.

The Little Owl still loafing around out at Lollingdon but not easy to find.

An increase in the number of singing Chiffchaff with 12 noted between the village and Lollingdon Hill.

Not really that much else of note.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Reptiles: first Common Lizard of the year with 2 seen.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock. Plus Holly Blue & Small White (per TR).

Insects: 2 Black Oil Beetle and Dark-edged Bee-fly.

Dark-edged Bee-fly

Wheatear

Coal Tit