Birds & Butterflies

Sunny, 12°, light SSE.

4 Wheatear and 2 Raven, Lollingdon Hill. Per Tony Williams.

Holly Blue, Orange Tip and Brimstone in garden. The former 2 are new for the year.

Spring like?

Sunny then clouding up, 16°, breezy SSW.

Bunk: 2 Oystercatcher and a Common Sandpiper.

River: Swallow over, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, Peregrine, Corn Bunting and another Oystercatcher.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Holly Blue and Peacock.

AD, PD & PC.

Oystercatcher courtesy Alan

Common Sandpiper courtesy Alan

Holly Blue courtesy Phil Dyson

Orange Tip courtesy Alan

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

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

Weekend catchup

Cloudy yesterday but Sunny today, max 15°, light W.

"Quite a few" Sedge Warbler found on Cholsey Marsh this morning by Alan.

Cetti’s Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff in song, also present on the Marsh.

A single Siskin flew over the allotments yesterday.

A Short-eared Owl on Cholsey Downs on the 2nd. Per Alan.

A Smooth Newt found by Angie Regan in their garden yesterday and several Grass Snake and Slow-worm in Tony Rayner’s garden.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White (TR), Orange Tip (TR), Holly Blue (AD), Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Smooth Newt courtesy Angie Regan

Short-eared Owl courtesy Alan

Anticipating

Sunny spells, 11°, light WSW. 

The days becoming more spring like now and a Swallow in at Portland, Dorset and a few Sand Martin and Wheatear arriving along the south coast!

Back in Cholsey a light movement of Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail today with 30+ and 20+ respectively over Lollingdon Hill, 2 Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting on the hill but little else.

A couple of Little Owl calling and a Sparrowhawk through nearby and a small roaming flock of c50 Fieldfare and a single Redwing seen.

A single Raven flew north on the walk back and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming and a couple of vocal Green Woodpecker.

A Goldcrest, 2 Mistle Thrush and a Kestrel near the Church.

Fewer Gulls around now with the pig field flock halving to less than 1000 and no Gulls seen on the Church road flood this week.

Tony Rayner recorded the first Holly Blue butterfly of the year in his garden along with several more Brimstone. 

Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting and Bullfinch amongst others at Cholsey Marsh today. Per Alan Dawson.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

 Holly Blue (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Chiffchaff (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Bullfinch (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Reed Bunting (courtesy Alan Dawson)

A good mix!

Sunny, 21°, light NE.

A relatively quiet hill today. The first Yellow Wagtail of the year dropped in and a Mistle Thrush present. 3 singing Common Whitethroat vying for attention and a Lesser Whitethroat and Willow Warbler nearby.

2 Raven in the area for a time and then flew SW and c20 Fieldfare still around.

The "Tail-less" Red Kite over Station road allotments most of the afternoon.

Mammals: Stoat, Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma and Speckled Wood.

Most photos taken from a distance today.

Red Kite

Yellow Wagtail

 Stoat "running up that hill"

 Raven

Holly Blue

Harris Hawk

Another sunny day, 14°, light ENE.

A morning visit to Cholsey Marsh where I bumped in to an old friend, Brian Wyatt. I had already been along the marsh earlier and decided to walk it again.

When Brian arrived I had just seen a BOP being mobbed by another, the bird doing the mobbing was obviously a Red Kite and I initially thought the other was a Buzzard but it did not look quite right.

As the birds got closer I could see it was a Harris Hawk and it settled in a nearby tree and stayed for a few minutes.

Good to see it is still around and has been for at least 5 years now.

Other species on the marsh were: 6+ Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat, 10+ Sedge Warbler, 1 pos 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler and 6+ Chiffchaff, 6 Reed Bunting and 2 Jay,

2 Water Rail, a Siskin flew over, several Swallow, 2 Great Crested Grebe on the river also 2 Mute Swan and at least 1 Kingfisher evident.

Lollingdon: quiet again, 3 Bunting species present, 1 Willow Warbler, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff and the lone Fieldfare.

A late report of at least 1 Sand Martin with other Hirundines over Cholsey SF last week. Brian Wyatt.

Butterflies: a good day with 7 species: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and Speckled Wood.

Odds & Sods

Sunny spells, 22°, light SW.

Spotted Flycatcher still present in a private garden in the village.

Over the course of a few hours this afternoon approx. 200 Black-headed Gull flew west over the garden with some settling in the school playing fields before moving off again.

Having said yesterday that the Nuthatch may have moved on, it turned up in the garden this afternoon along with a Great-spotted Woodpecker.

At least 14 Swift overhead this afternoon, local breeding birds at this end of the village along with the usual Swallow and House Martin.

Common Tern reported along the Thames in Cholsey.

A dead adult Barn Owl was found by TW last week out at Lollingdon, it had been dead for a week or so but no obvious injury noted. Possibly had ingested poison from an affected rodent?

Dragonflies: a Southern Hawker briefly in the garden.

Butterflies: in garden, Large White, Small White, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Meadow Brown.

Holly Blue (archive pic)

They are still arriving

Sunny, 16°, breezy NE.

A surprise on the hill today with and unusual record of a Grasshopper Warbler, heard reeling from growth by the path then seen in flight briefly and disappear again in to thick growth. I assume it was a very recent arrival.

3 Wheatear on the hill today and a Green Woodpecker in the Hawthorns along the top, 2 Corn Bunting in song, 22 Swallow in total overhead.

Several Blackcap now seemingly resident, a single Willow Warbler, 2 Yellow Wagtail and 3 Yellowhammer present nearby and a Starling collecting food, presumably breeding closeby.

6 Buzzard in the air at one point and the usual posse of Red Kite present, also a Kestrel seen.

A Chiffchaff and a Treecreeper in the garden today of note.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Peacock, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood.