Uninspiring

Sunny intervals, 20°, light ENE.

A Bunk Line walk today that proved somewhat un.

Good numbers of Swift, Swallow and House Martin feeding overhead and the usual Warblers and Yellowhammer in song but fairly quiet overall.

Alan managed to find plenty of the larger insects with a couple of newbies for the year.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Emperor, Four-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Large Skipper, Small White, Small Copper, Small Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell & Peacock.

Moths: Mother Shipton & Garden Tiger.

Paul & Alan.

Common Whitethroat

Kestrel

Goldfinch courtesy Bill Nicholls

Large Skipper courtesy Alan

Brown Argus courtesy Alan

Bumblebee Hoverfly courtesy Alan.

Where have all the flowers gone?

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 21°, breezy WSW.

Rather quiet out at Lollingdon today with all the regulars present and a very similar experience for Alan along the river.

One thing that strikes me on my walks around the village and surrounding areas is the complete lack of wild flowers along field margins, hedgerows and road verges! 

This is why gardens are so important for pollinators as the local farms and local authorities do not appear to be onboard with this!

Apart from a lot of gardens there are only a few areas in Cholsey where wild flowers are encouraged to grow.  

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly & Four-spotted Chaser. Per Alan.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Small Blue, Speckled Wood & Small Heath.

Moths: Five-spot Burnet.

Speckled Wood ↕

Brimstone

Female & young Great-spotted Woodpecker

Red-eyed Damselfly & Banded Demoiselle courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Pyramidal Orchid courtesy Alan

Five-spot Burnet courtesy Alan

A little of everything

Sunshine, 24°, light SW.

Bunk line: First young Swallow seen on the wing today, the Lesser Whitethroat still singing Green lane and 2 Herring Gull and 2 Black-headed Gull feeding in the same field, a couple of Yellow Wagtail etc.

River: Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Kingfisher etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly & Emperor Dragonfly (nfy).

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper (yesterday), Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Small Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock & Small Heath.

One of the young Swallows

Dingy Skipper

Kestrel with prey courtesy Alan

White-legged Damselfly courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Adult Jackdaw in the garden

Young Jackdaw in the garden

Bunk Line & River Thames

Sunny periods with rain showers later, 15°, light WNW.

The Bunk line and river covered today with Alan finding some “first for the year” Dragonflies including Club-tailed and a good selection of Butterflies around today.

Firstly, Grundon’s in their wisdom (or not) are building an earth rampart around the gravel pit that blocks the pit from view! Why is this being done? And is there something they do not want us to see?

Bunk line: Relatively quiet, although a Lesser Whitethroat singing quite consistently along Green Lane and several Swift (6-8) overhead ranging over the village. Still negative for House Martin around Church road!

Several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 6 Yellowhammer, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 6-8 Swallow,

Cholsey Marsh and The Thames: All the usual present including Lesser Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler and Tawny Owl to name a few.

Mammals: Red Fox and Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly and Club-tailed Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary, Small Heath and Speckled Wood.

Whilst out walking this morning I was thinking I have not seen a Fox for a while. I had this feeling to turn around and when I did I saw this handsome creature looking right back at me. Law of Attraction at work?

Painted Lady

Goldfinch

Club-tailed Dragonfly

Field full of Buttercup

The Rampart

Lollingdon, Bow & The Marsh

Sunny with a few cloudy spells, 21°, light S.

A walk out to Lollingdon and back and rather quiet and similar to Mondays walk.

3 Corn Bunting and 2 Reed Bunting in song on Lollingdon Hill and a Kestrel hunting nearby and 2 Lesser Whitethroat in song.

Later in the day at Bow Bridge a Common Tern flew downstream and a Willow Warbler in full song also Cuckoo, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat etc. Per AD & PC.

Sparrowhawk paid a visit to the garden again today and missed out.

Richard was also active today with a Grey Wagtail family seen, plus 2 Common Tern, Cuckoo and Raven amongst other species.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle & Four-spotted Chaser. Per AD & PC.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary and Speckled Wood. Per AD & PC.

Chiffchaff in song, Church road

Four-spot Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Reed Bunting & Corn Bunting. Both in song.

 Pied Wagtail collecting food.

 Marsh Fritillary

White Ermine Moth (courtesy Alan Dawson)

News from a Neighbour

Some photos and information from Vicky Gilson from her garden in Aston Tirrold, one of our neighbouring villages.

Thank you.

 Great Tit nest (lined with moss and fur) with young in a planter

 Dingy Skipper ↕

 Dingy Skipper ↕

Box Bug (A species which is expanding its range northwards, having originally known only from Box Hill, Surrey.)

4-Arches to Bow Bridge

A clear sky, light frost, 2° and no wind.

An 04:30 start this morning for a “Dawn Chorus” along Cholsey Marsh. At that time of day the huge Moon (an almost full supermoon and called the Flower Moon) was just about to set as the Sun was rising almost in opposition.

The air was full of birdsong with Sedge Warbler and Blackbird appearing to dominate for volume.

55 species noted in 4 hours walking from the 4-Arches to Bow Bridge.

Most of the Warblers seen/heard with Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff.

The Cuckoo appeared several times and very close, very vocal but was very mobile and impossible to get a photo of!

A Mute Swan was being very aggressive towards both Canada Geese and Greylag Geese.

A few other species seen were An Oystercatcher (flew downriver then back upriver), Little Grebe, 2 Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel.

Swift, House Martin and Swallow also noted.

Too cold for any insects early this morning.

Approx. 11:00 a Spotted Flycatcher appeared in one of the garden Lime trees but was scared off by a gardener with a mower nearby and flew off into Whitehead Meadow. Second record of this species for the garden.

A Raven reported again near the Cholsey/Moulsford border. Per MA.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly,

Butterflies: Alan was out later in the day and has seen 6+ Marsh Fritillary with some egg laying happening and some Green Hairstreak butterflies, also Dingy Skipper and Small Blue. The latter 2 both new for the year.

The garden has produced several Brimstone, Orange Tip and Holly Blue.

Willow Warbler ↕

 Common Whitethroat in the early morning sun

Common Whitethroat

 Angry Swan

 Linnet

 Yellowhammer

 Marsh Fritillary (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Speckled Wood (courtesy Adrian Bennett)

Marsh Fritillary (courtesy Alan Dawson)