Varied weather

Sunny at first then cloudy with rain, 15°, breezy S.

Lollingdon and Bunk covered in the last few days: 2-3 Wheatear, a Common Redstart, many Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 3 Fieldfare, a single Redwing, Bullfinch, Jay, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, 8+ Lapwing, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Lesser Blackback Gull.

1st Sedge Warbler of the year. Per Phil Dyson.  

Mammals: Brown Hare, Muntjac and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma.

AD & PC.

Muntjac Deer

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Sparrowhawk

May Day

Sunshine, showers, 16°, light NW.

Lollingdon: 2 (f) Wheatear, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, several Common Whitethroat and Blackcap, Mandarin Duck, 3 Lapwing, 1 Black-headed Gull, 4 Yellow Wagtail, a handful of Swallow and a (f) Common Redstart close to the Bullshole.

3 Swift, 2 House Martin and 5 Swallow over Church Road.

River: Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell & Peacock.

Insects: Dotted Bee-fly.

Paul & Alan.

Wheatear

Common Whitethroat

Yellow Wagtail

Treecreeper courtesy Alan

Green-veined White courtesy Alan

Small Tortoiseshell courtesy Alan

First Dragon of the year

Mainly sunny, 18°, light ESE.

The first Dragonfly of the year found by Alan today, a *Large Red Damselfly along the River. Birdwise: Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler & Water Rail.

Common Sandpiper at the gravel pit still. Per Paul Rainsden.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, *Green-veined White, Orange Tip, *Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma & Speckled Wood.

Large Red Damselfly courtesy Alan

Dragons & Butterflies

Sunny, 18°, light E.

Another sunny day with quite a lot of butterflies on the wing.

A Lesser Whitethroat heard singing on the north side of Cholsey Hill and several Swift, Swallow and House Martin over Church road today.

Alan Dawson has been out along the Thames today and found most of the Dragons and Butterflies along with, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Kingfisher, Buzzard, Kestrel, Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Kingfisher and a single Common Tern along with the rest.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak, Small Copper, Brown Argus, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

All todays photos courtesy Alan Dawson.

 Four-spot Chaser

 Brown Argus

 Dingy Skipper

 Small Copper

Swallow

If found please return Spring!

Sunny spells, 8°, light WNW.

Another day of contrasting weather, warm in sheltered spots and a lot cooler in exposed areas.

Lollingdon was fairly quiet and basically no change, at least 1 Fieldfare still present.

Cholsey Marsh however was sheltered and quite pleasant to walk around.

Sedge Warbler and Common Whitethroat frequent, a few Blackcap and Chiffchaff and 2 Lesser Whitethroat and a Reed Warbler and a  Cetti’s Warbler present.

At least 2 Kingfisher along the river, a Grey Heron on the river bank, a Cormorant flew upstream and a pair of Great Crested Grebe on the river.

Several Swallow feeding over the river and 6 House Martin feeding over the marsh before flying off north.

Butterflies: a few hardy souls about today, 1 Orange Tip, several Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Peacock and a Green-veined White.

 Chiffchaff

 Common Whitethroat (above & below)

Green-veined White (distant)

Slowly arriving

Sunny, 16°, light SE.

A fair old walk out to the Lees and Lollingdon skirting Aston Tirrold today with lots of butterflies evident.

Another Wheatear on Lollingdon Hill and a Swallow flew over also a Blackcap singing nearby was probably a newly arrived migrant and plenty of Chiffchaff around with at least 14 singing also 1 in the garden this evening.

A few Yellowhammer around and 3 Reed Bunting out by the Lees.

Butterflies: Peacock, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell very common, in addition an Orange Tip and a couple of Green-veined White noted.

First Bee Fly of the spring noted.

A Muntjac Deer also seen.