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

Cholsey Hill

Mainly cloudy, 3°, light NNW.

Marsh Harrier and c50 Golden Plover, Cholsey Hill.

2 Mistle Thrush in garden trees.

Bunk

Sunny periods, 12°, fresh WNW.

A breezy day along the Bunk area: 2 Stonechat were of note, along with c40 Golden Plover high overhead heading in the Cholsey Hill direction.

A single Chiffchaff, a Grey Heron, numbers of Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull and a couple of Herring Gull loafing in fields.

A Black Redstart seen at Cholsey Meadows on Saturday 25th Oct by James Beaumont. Michael Pocock had a look for it but not relocated.

Here & There

Sunshine, 12°, light S.

Lollingdon: 3 Ruff, 20 Lapwing, Common Gull, 15 Shoveler, c20 Teal and a Little Egret.

Wallingford Rd flood: c80 Teal and Chiffchaff and Blackcap in song nearby.

Bunk: 7 Chiffchaff (3 in song), c50 Fieldfare, c20 Redwing, Treecreeper, Grey Wagtail, 2 Grey Heron, 10 Tufted Duck and a Sparrowhawk. Plus the 2 Herring Gull on their usual perch.

Cholsey Hill: c30 Golden Plover.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone.

AD, GW & PC.  

Whilst Alan was out at Lollingdon photographing birds on the flood, a dog walker came along. Aware that Alan was photographing birds on the flood and proceeded to let their dog run into the flood and flush everything.

Inconsiderate? Thoughtless? Keep the dog under control for a time or let it run free? What do you think? I know what I think but it’s not for here!

Fortunately Alan did get a pic of the 3 Ruff together.

Bunk, Lollingdon & Moreton floods

Overcast, 9°, light SSE.

Bunk: At least 3 Chiffchaff still, c100 Linnet, 100+ Fieldfare, 30+ Redwing, a Mistle Thrush, 200+ Starling, 40+ Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, Little Owl and 250+ Lapwing briefly settled then flew off towards the Moreton floods.

Lollingdon Floods: 11 Shoveler, c100 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull, c50 Black-headed Gull, 3 Common Gull and c150 Lapwing.

Moreton Floods: c350 Lapwing, c30 Golden Plover, 2 Shelduck, 2 Cormorant over and a Sparrowhawk.

AD & PC.

Common Gull courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Part of the Lapwing flock

Starlings

Chiffchaff

Grey days

Overcast, 4°, light NE.

Another dull day but a good number of Ducks on and around the floods.

Moreton Floods: c500 Lapwing, 4 Golden Plover, c45 Shoveler, c50 Teal, 6 Pintail, 2 Shelduck, 8 Wigeon, 2 Gadwall, several Reed Bunting.

A Barn Owl hunting near Caps Lane.  

Bunk: somewhat quieter, a Mute Swan over, a single Chiffchaff and c200 Starling, c100 Fieldfare and c50 Redwing of note.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

AD & PC.

Cholsey

Sunny spells, 4°, light SSE.

Alan out today along the Bunk, Lollingdon and a few other spots: Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, c700 Lapwing in 2 large flocks, c50 Golden Plover over, 3 Little Egret, 9 Teal, 6 Common Snipe, 2 Herring Gull, c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, c100 Black-headed Gull, 3 Chiffchaff , 2 Barn Owl, etc.

Moreton Floods

Overcast with light rain, 8°, light SE.

Moreton floods: Grey Plover still present, c500 Golden Plover, c300 Lapwing, 1 Dunlin, plus Fieldfare and Redwing.

AD.

Grey Plover with Golden Plover, courtesy Alan

Bunk & Moreton Floods

Cloudy with a few sunny spells later, 9°, light SSW.

Bunk area: 10+ Yellowhammer, c50 Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing, 2 Treecreeper, a Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, 50+ Chaffinch, Little Owl, 500+ Starling, c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, 50+ Black-headed Gull and 5 Herring Gull.

Moreton Floods: Grey Plover, c500 Golden Plover, Dunlin, Common Snipe and Stonechat.

Dragonflies: a single Common Darter.

AD & PC.

Grey Plover courtesy Alan

Yellowhammer ↕

Fieldfare, Redwing & Starling

Fieldfare

Grey Plover, with Golden Plover & Lapwing courtesy Alan

Grey Plover still around

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny periods, 12°, breezy NE.

South Morton Floods: Grey Plover still present with c300 Golden Plover, c200 Lapwing and 2 Dunlin.

Lollingdon Floods: Usual Teal present, c50 Gulls, mainly Lesser Blackback, a Single Common Gull and several Black-headed Gull, a few Mistle Thrush over and a Raven over.

AD.

Teal courtesy Alan

Grey Plover(s) still in area

Cloudy with occasional sunny spells, 12°, light NNE.

A disappointing day overall considering over 4 hours in the field.

A flock of 26 Fieldfare seen plus several more heard but not seen. Plenty of Redwing around, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Raven, 4 Jay, a Kingfisher, Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer etc.

Alan and Tony W were over at the Moreton floods (just outside the border): c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, a few Black-headed Gull, c30 Teal, c250 Golden Plover, 1, pos 2 Grey Plover and numbers of Meadow Pipit.

Lots of activity on garden feeders, with Blue, Great, Long-tailed and Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Goldfinch.

Butterflies: a single Red Admiral.

Grey Plover

Redwing

Another plant has rooted in this dead Teazel head, not seen this before.

Bunk & Cholsey Hill

Sunny intervals, 15°, light WSW.

A little quieter today: the Grey Plover with c100 Golden Plover still on Cholsey Hill.

Bunk: c20 Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, 3 Goose species, a Chiffchaff, c30 Redwing, several Meadow Pipit and Skylark and a Ring-necked Parakeet.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

A few of  the Shoveler this afternoon

A basking Common Darter in the late sunshine

Kestrel on the look out

Starlings preparing to fly to roost

Grey Plover relocated.

Overcast, 14°, light SSW.

Grey Plover still present on Cholsey Hill with 78 Golden Plover, plus 1 Swallow over.

Bunk: 4 (3&1) Swallow, 6 Grey Wagtail, c20 Pied Wagtail, c50 Meadow Pipit, c20 Skylark, a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Jay, Reed Bunting, plenty of Redwing and a Grey Heron.

Lollingdon: very quiet. Just 4 Lapwing and a Chiffchaff worth a mention.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

AD, MP & PC.

Grey Plover courtesy Alan ↕

Lapwing

Swallow

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.

Fog & Sunshine

Foggy, clearing by 13:00, 4°, very light SE.

Bunk area fairly quiet today apart from the hundreds of Fieldfare and Redwing present feeding on Hawthorn berries, plus a good number of Blackbird.

A few small flocks of Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Skylark scattered around.

Singles of Raven and Grey Wagtail.

Cholsey Hill area, c50 Golden Plover, c100 Lapwing, a Little Egret and several Meadow Pipit, Per Alan.

Robin

A trio of Collared Dove

A very vocal Rook

Jackdaw

Blackbird

Redshanks

Sunny spells, 4°, light NE.

Lollingdon was a bit of a washout today. Probably due to someone parked up in a pickup in the middle of the south side of the hill sporting a high-powered air rifle.

Taking the odd shot at a target he had place approx. 20m in front of the vehicle.

Subsequently there was not a single bird on the hill!

Nearby, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing and an increased number of Blackbird.

A single Grey Wagtail and Sparrowhawk noted.

Alan along the Bunk line/Cholsey Hill area: Golden Plover heard calling but not seen, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting.

Also a Redshank in the area on floods with 2 Common Snipe and 2 more Redshank nearby.

Redshank courtesy Alan ↕

Grey Wagtail

Mildish

Cloudy, 4°, light S.

Time for a change as milder weather arrives.

Alan out at Lollingdon and the “Long Ditch” areas. Little Egret, several Golden Plover still present and Lapwing still moving south.

Raven, Common Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Stonechat and Kingfisher.

Not much else noted as a bunch of clowns with shotguns killing things .

Photos courtesy Alan