Goosanders

Sunny, 14°, light E.

2 Goosander on the river today but disturbed by paddle boarders! Plus Blackcap and several Chiffchaff.

Lollingdon: Lapwing still present plus a Wheatear.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Goosanders courtesy Alan

Speckled Wood courtesy Alan

Lapwing courtesy Alan

Ducks and stuff

Cloudy, 7°, light NNW.

Both out at different times along the Bunk line area.

The Gravel pit had 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Shovelor Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Mallard and a Green Sandpiper, 2 Herring Gull, a handful of Black-headed Gull and Lesser Blackback Gull.

Worth keeping an eye on this area over the next few months for migrating Waders and Terns etc.

Elsewhere along the Bunk, a Chiffchaff, Little Owl, a Kestrel, 2 more Herring Gull plus good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing.

Distantly a field on Cholsey hill was being ploughed and had in excess of 500 birds present incl Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, Rook and Jackdaw and the odd Red Kite patrolling.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Tufted Duck (photos from previous encounters)  

Garden Birdwatch plus

Sunny, 7°, light SW.

RSPB’s garden birdwatch today. A little quieter than usual and nothing unexpected. Although a male Blackcap turned up to partner the female that has been visiting.

Around 40 birds of 15 species.

A Sparrowhawk also visited out of the hours birdwatch and a couple of Tawny Owl last night.

8 Shovelor and a single Teal along Green lane. Per Richard Broughton.  

A male Brambling reported from a garden. Per MA.

Down on the river today, the boat clubs were out and 15 cars unloading paddle boards down Ferry lane. A lot of disturbance!

There is 6.5 km between Benson lock and Cleeve lock making it good stretch for sculling crews.

Alan visited Day’s Lock yesterday and got some good pics of Goosander on the river.

And still 200+ Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill.

Blackcap

Goosander courtesy Alan ↕

A Frosty start

Sunny intervals, 11°, light W. (a light frost first thing)

A pair of Stonechat present on Lollingdon hill today along with a small flock of Meadow Pipit several Yellowhammer and a flock of c50 Fieldfare flew over.

Nearby, a Little Egret, several Redwing, 2 Jay and a Chiffchaff.

2 Mistle Thrush near the Bullshole.

Alan along the river with c100 Lapwing over, a Little Grebe, Redwing, Fieldfare, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Kingfisher, Jay, Raven and Nuthatch.

Tony Williams had a flock of c30 Golden Plover near the Four Arches and a female Goosander flew upriver this morning.

Another Nuthatch around the garden and the Brook meadow.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Stonechat pair

Little Grebe courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit

Goosander

Sunny spells, 11°, light SW.

Another new species for the year found by Alan today in the form of a Goosander on the river.

Also several Siskin in the Alders and a Little Grebe on the river.

Unable to get out this week as I’m trying to shake of a nasty cold!

Goosander courtesy Alan

Kingfisher courtesy Alan

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Lollingdon 8th Jan

Sunny, 10°, light SW, a lot of overnight rain and clearing around 11:00.

A first visit this year to the hill proved fruitful with a male Merlin flying through carrying prey.

A flock of c200 Fieldfare, a few Redwing, 50+ Starling and a single Mistle Thrush on the hill and a scan of the surrounding fields found a flock of 300+ Lapwing with good number of Gulls present.

12 Teal also noted on a flood in one of the fields.

A few Skylark, Meadow Pipit and the usual flock of Linnet present and a Grey Wagtail still around.

2 Jay still around the hill and a pair of Raven still in the area.

5 Goosander flying up the Thames (per RW).

A Barn Owl seen along Westfield road a few days ago (per Dave).

Goosander (courtesy Roger Wyatt)

Cold and Bleak

Overcast, 2º, light NNE, felt colder!

A cold and bleak evening at Cholsey marsh and a rather cold and dull day all round.

Dropped in to Little Wittenham/Day’s Lock this afternoon, the Shelduck still present on the far side of the scrape along with one hundred plus Lapwing, one hundred plus Starling, twenty odd Teal and several Gulls and Corvids and a large number of Wigeon (1000+) beyond near the gravel pit.

The pair of Goosander still on the river downstream of the bridge and just over sixty Mute Swan on a field between Little and Long Wittenham.

Back to Cholsey marsh later and twenty eight Corn Bunting roosting there this evening and a handful of Reed Bunting.

One hundred and sixty Redwing and twenty Fieldfare flew from Little Stoke area and settled in the trees on and around the marsh, presumably roosting there also. A Stock Dove singing (if you can call it that) on the Little Stoke side of the river.

A “redhead” Goosander flew low upriver and a Great Crested Grebe seen on the river and several Teal still present on the flooded part of the marsh. Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker both present and three to four Water Rail.

Just over a hundred Geese loafing in a field adjacent to the marsh, mainly Canada Geese but also a few “Greylag” types and our very own Snow Goose look-alike! Also twenty five Lapwing present.

The garden still very busy with eight Long-tailed Tit, two Stock Dove, two Mallard, two Blackcap, Great-spotted Woodpecker and two Song Thrush to name but a few visiting today.

Shelduck in the distance with a few Teal & Lapwing in front and Starlings behind.

"redhead" Goosander

Blackbird enjoying some apple

Great-spot again today.

Little Wittenham

Sunny, 8º, little wind.

The countryside slowly drying out you would think, Wittenham Wood was very soggy along the tracks. The Thames was within the banks but fast running at Day’s Lock and the scrape area was over 50% water.

Very little seen, the scrape held a hundred plus Black-headed Gull and a few Common Gull.

There was a large Tit flock in the area around the old Lock Keepers house and one possibly two Marsh Tit with the flock, a ♂ Sparrowhawk flew through and there were alarm calls all over maybe around forty birds in the flock, Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tit.
A few Siskin and Goldfinch flyovers and two Goosander (♂ & ♀) on the river.

Wittenham Wood was very quiet just the occasional Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming but very little else.