A wet one

Cloudy and rainy, 17°, light SSE.

A couple of hours along the Bunk and proved rather quiet.

A Corn Bunting in song, several Yellowhammer, a Yellow Wagtail, good numbers of Chiffchaff, a few Blackcap and 1 Common Whitethroat. A Raven over a few Swallow and House Martin and a single Swift.

Alan out at Lollingdon: Corn Bunting, Raven over, Yellow Wagtail and c25 Swift over.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Common Blue and Azure Damselfly, Emperor and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Corn Bunting

Gatekeeper

Yellowhammer

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 21°, breezy W.

A cooler day than of late thankfully and a less tiring walk out to Lollingdon and back.

Little change with the usual Yellowhammer, Reed and Corn Bunting, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff all regular.

A Lapwing heard but no visual.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Southern Hawker and Black-tailed Skimmer.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Comma, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper (foy), Ringlet and Speckled Wood.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Comma

Greenfinch

Speckled Wood

Yellowhammer

Butterflies

Sunny periods, 20°, light W.

Still rather quiet bird wise. A single Black-headed Gull and a Herring Gull noted and a flock of c50 Swallow feeding over and around CSW.

The most frequent songster today was Yellowhammer with only occasional Blackcap and Common Whitethroat noted.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Loren's allotment yesterday: Southern Hawker, 2 Common Blue Damselfly and a Silver-washed Fritillary. + Large White, Large Skipper & Meadow Brown.

Small Skipper

Gatekeeper courtesy Alan

Yellowhammers in full song ↕

Brown Hare courtesy Alan

Marbled White

Comma

Small Tortoiseshell

Bunk Line & Thames

Few sunny spells plus a few light rain showers, 20°, breezy SSW.

Bunk line this afternoon: 20+ House Martin and approx. 12 Swallow feeding over and around CSW. Also a couple of Swift present.

A dozen or so Yellowhammer with several singing, plus Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.

A young Cormorant flew north-west and a Little Owl calling.

Alan on his patch with: Common Tern, Kingfisher, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch etc.

Alan Dragonflies: White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Emperor.

Alan Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Comma, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Butterflies: the area dominated by good numbers of Meadow Brown and Marbled White today. Also: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Alan Insects: Yellow Longhorn Beetle, Brassy Longhorn Moth (new for Cholsey).

Insects: Yellow Longhorn Beetle.

Small Skipper

Comma

Common Blue

Red Admiral

Yellowhammer

Greenfinch courtesy Alan

Yellow Longhorn Beetle courtesy Alan

Brassy Longhorn Moth courtesy Alan

Yellow Longhorn Beetle

Robber Fly & Demoiselle

Didn’t get out today but Alan did and found another Beautiful Demoiselle. The species being found increasingly in Cholsey now since spreading from the Upper Thames area. Wonder what is driving that?

Also yesterday he found what we believe to be a Kite-tailed Robber Fly? Not sure if this insect has been recorded in Cholsey before? Six Robber Flies species are found in Britain and are all voracious predators of other insects. The only other one we have recorded is the larger Hornet Robber Fly which is seen locally in most summers.

Also the first Gatekeeper butterfly of the year. Per Alan Dawson & Tom Pittaway.

Photos courtesy Alan.

Hornet Robber Fly from last year.

Invertebrates again

Mainly sunny, 21°, light NE.

Not a lot going on out there birdwise today. Another day for mainly insects.

Yellowhammers still in good voice and small flocks of Swift, Swallow and a few House Martin moving through.

The Little Owls still notable and all the usual present.

Mammals: Roe Deer and Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Southern Hawker and Emperor.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady (5), Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Moths: Scarlet Tiger.

Back on the Hill

Sunny, 22°, light SSW.

Back to the hill today and all is fairly quiet in the warm and sunny weather.

The usual Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer present.

4 Blackcap in song vying with each other on the north side of the hill and a couple of Whitethroat and Chiffchaff still singing.

A Jay also seen nearby, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Lesser Whitethroat heard again.

Nuthatch in the garden again this morning.

Dragonflies: 3 Emperor Dragonfly, several Azure Damselflies.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown.