Bunk

Sunny, 26°, light to breezy SW.

A bit samey birdwise along the Bunk area: Little Ringed Plover and several Lapwing at the gravel pit plus a few Gulls.

3 Sand Martin feeding overhead along with Several Swallow (a few young on the wing) and House Martin and c30 Swift.

Usual Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

A flock of c30 Starling at CSW.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and Hairy Dragonfly. A probable Norfolk Hawker near gravel pit briefly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Moths: Scarlet Tiger and Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

A good day for Butterflies

Cloudy with few sunny spells, 23°, fresh SE.

Bunk line walk.

Little Ringed Plover heard calling at gravel pit and Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow and Swift feeding overhead.

Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, and Garden Warbler.

A single Lapwing, Kestrel and 4 Yellowhammer and 3 Herring Gull and 5 Black-headed Gull at CSW.

“Hobby low over the garden this morning. Reed Warbler singing on the brook just off Church Rd just now, and 5 Mallard families there (currently 32 ducklings in total), with another nest in our garden due to hatch this week. Grey Wagtails on 2nd brood at Church Rd/brook bridge (first was successful). Nuthatch calling yesterday.

Goldcrest bred again alongside our garden – fledglings were noisy all last week. Loads of Chub and Minnow in the brook – there’s also been a big shoal of Minnow spawning at the Bullshole tunnel, with Chub hunting them. Otter scats in the garden and on the steps into the brook in the meadow.” Per Richard Broughton.

Mammals: Muntjac Deer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly and a Hairy Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Twin-lobed Deer Fly Chrysops relictus

The Lees and beyond

Sunny, 19°, light N.

The Lees and Long Ditch: not so much about birds today as plenty of insects on the wing.

Not a lot of bird species out there but, 5 Sedge Warbler 2+ Reed Warbler, 4 Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and a Peregrine.

Plus the odd Swallow, House Martin and Swift feeding overhead.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle in some number, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Hairy Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Large Red Damsel

Reed Bunting

Small Heath

22-spot Ladybird courtesy Loren

? courtesy Loren.

Common Blue courtesy Loren

Back to it

Mainly sunny,18°, light ENE.

Cholsey Marsh:

Loren and I visited the marsh today, busy with birdsong and lots of insects on the wing, especially Mayfly and Demoiselles.

Also run into Tony Williams and Ian Lewington.

Cuckoo seen earlier in the day, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Little Grebe, Black-headed Gull flew downstream, an Oystercatcher flew upstream, a Grey Heron, Swallow and House Martin. Plus 4 Swift over Church Road.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Hairy Dragonfly and Common Clubtail.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

IL, LC, PC & TW.

Clubtail Dragonfly courtesy Ian Lewington ↕

Banded Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle courtesy Ian Lewington

Brimstone

Unknown

Mayfly courtesy Loren

Cardinal Beetle ? courtesy Loren

Bunk & River

Sunny spells, 18°, light SSE.

Bunk line relatively quiet today apart from SSEN contractors chopping tops from trees and bushes under some power cables: Poor timing!

Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Swift, Swallow, House Martin and Sparrowhawk.

No change at the river re birds: Raven over, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Goldcrest, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Black-headed Gull, Sparrowhawk, Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Broad-bodied Chaser and Four-spot Chaser. A possible Downy Emerald seen but not re-located to confirm ID.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Peacock and Small Heath.

AD & PC.

Hairy Dragonfly courtesy Alan

Great-spotted Woodpecker

A couple of Swallow resting up

Painted Lady courtesy Alan

Common Blue courtesy Alan

Insects on the up and birds steady

Sunny, 20°, light N.

Lollingdon and the River areas covered today with insect species beginning to proliferate, birds stable and no mammals etc.

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

Lollingdon: Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Lapwing, Mistle Thrush, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and 3 Yellow Wagtail etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle (10+ river & 1 Lollingdon Hill), Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Clubtailed Dragonfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser (1 in garden).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Paul & Alan.

“A couple of county rarities today with a Montagu’s Harrier on Otmoor and a Golden Oriole near Witney.”

A number of photos today

Corn Bunting

Red-eyed Damselfly courtesy Alan

Beautiful Demoiselle (m)

Clubtailed Dragonfly courtesy Alan

Azure Damselfly

2 Mistle Thrush

Lapwing

Yellow Wagtail ↕

Blue-tailed Damselfly courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Red-eyed Damselfly courtesy Alan

A breezy day

Sunny but windy, 14°, fresh NW.

A cool and breezy day and insects keeping to sheltered areas.

Subsequently quite a few Swift, Swallow and House Martin seen feeding very low over the fields and in the lee of trees and hedgerows.

Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting seen/heard from the ditches out by the Lees and several Skylarks battling the wind to perform their song flight. Also several Yellow Wagtail and a Corn Bunting.

A Chiffchaff foraging in the garden this afternoon.

Mammals: A Muntjac Deer in Whitehead Meadow.

Dragonflies: Hairy Dragonfly found by Alan.

Butterflies: 1 Large White, several Small Tortoiseshell and a Speckled Wood. Tony R has recorded Small Skipper and Marbled White in his garden today.

Moths: Waved Black.

Pyramid and Bee Orchids now in flower near Bow. Per TR. And a Hybrid Common Spotted/Early Marsh Orchid? out near the Lees.

 Hairy Dragonfly (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Swallow

 Small Tortoiseshell

Waved Black (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Stay optimistic!

Mostly sunny, 19°, light SW.

I always go out with a certain amount of optimism hoping to find something unusual, especially at this time of year.

There have been rare and scarce birds turning up recently, especially at coastal sites and islands and to a lesser extent large bodies of water.

However here in middle earth we can boast no such species, in fact the walk out today was very quiet indeed.

The best I could muster was a singing Lesser Whitethroat out at Little Lollingdon and a Little Owl being mobbed by a couple of Blackbird.

The hill was very quiet with just the usual resident and summer visitors around.

There has been very little passage noted this spring as if we have been bypassed with birds getting directly to their breeding areas.

Still, ever hopeful that a rare or scarce one will turn up one day!

The Song Thrush is back in the garden and singing well and Nuthatch visiting more regular and a Coal Tit heard singing nearby.

Dragonflies: a single Broad-bodied Chaser flew past me near Cholsey brook and a Brown Hawker flew through the allotments on Station road and a Club-tailed Dragonfly, Hairy Dragonfly and Broad-bodied Chaser between Cholsey Marsh and Bow Bridge (per Alan).

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

Chiffchaff

 female Broad-bodied Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Newly emerged Mayfly (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Silver-ground Carpet (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Collared Dove