Lollingdon

Mostly sunny, 22°, light SW.

Not a lot happening today: Common Redstart still present out at Lollingdon, present for 3 weeks now. Several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and several Swallow and House Martin over but little else.

6 Swift over garden late evening.  

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Emperor and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Moths: Jersey Tiger.

Other: Hornet Robber Fly.

A few migrants moving

A sunshiny day, 28°, light E.

Both along Bunk line in the morning/early afternoon. 3 Yellow Wagtail, a Redstart, a Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff, and Blackcap and 2 Common Whitethroat.

A steady flow of Swallow passing thru plus a few House Martin. At least 2 Raven, 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull, several Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Alan also covered Bunk line and River later.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Emperor, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Insects: Hornet Robberfly.

Photos courtesy Alan  

Raven

Migrant Hawker

Willow Emerald

Chiffchaff ↕

Hornet Robberfly

More Redstarts

Sunny periods, 18°, breezy WNW.

Bunk line, 11:30 onwards: initially a light but steady trickle of Swallow and House Martin moving thru.

Then at Green Lane it started livening up with 2 Redstart, 3 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Treecreeper with a Tit flock and a Jay.

Also a Green Woodpecker being pursued by a Sparrowhawk but it managed to evade it.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Gatekeeper & Meadow Brown.

Insects: Hornet Robberfly.

Redstart

Green Woodpecker that evaded the Sparrowhawk

Another of the Redstart

Hornet Robberfly

A Redstart and some Insects

Mainly sunny, 23°, Light SSW.

A Redstart in Cholsey Church yard this morning. Initially heard only but still present and seen 3 hours later in same area. Alan arrived later but bird still very elusive and more often than not located by call. Last heard calling near the small wood near school. A Sparrowhawk, Common Whitethroat in same area and several Swallow overhead.

Very quiet on the hill this morning with just a couple of Yellowhammer, a Blackcap and several Chiffchaff noted.

Nearby 200+ Gulls and Corvids in recently tilled field.

Alan covered the Bunk line and Cholsey Meadows: Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Sparrowhawk, Swallow and House Martin.

6 Swift, Bunk line on Saturday. Per Michael Pocock.

Dragonflies: all areas, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor, Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Ruddy Darter and Common Darter.

Butterflies: all areas, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Moths: Garden, Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Mottled Beauty and White-line Dart.

Insects: Lollingdon, 2 Hornet Robber Fly, C Meadows, Speckled Bush Cricket.

Hornet Robber Fly

Speckled Bush Cricket courtesy Alan

Southern Hawker (male above, female below) courtesy Alan

Buzzard

Rooks and Jackdaws, plus the odd Gull catching a thermal

Common Darters mating courtesy Alan

Common Darter

Ruddy Darter

Sunny spells, 19°, light to breezy S.

Another good one from Alan today with a Ruddy Darter Dragonfly. A common dragonfly that is often overlooked. And the Willow Emerald Damsels seen again.

Also Chiffchaff and a flyby Kingfisher.

Alan along the Bunk line earlier, again fairly quiet, 10-15 Yellow Wagtail, 9+ Chiffchaff plus the usual.

A fairly quiet but pleasant walk out to Lollingdon and back today.

A couple of Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff around Lollingdon, plus a Little Owl and a Sparrowhawk.

A good day for thermals as numbers of Lesser Blackback Gull, Red Kite and Buzzard spiralling over the hill.

Another steady flow of Hirundines moving south, up to 80 birds with 90% Swallow and the rest House Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald Damselfly, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker, Common Darter & Ruddy Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Comma & Speckled Wood.

Moths: a few notable ones from Tony Rayner recently: Gypsy Moth, Clifdon Nonpariel, Jersey Tiger & Lime Hawk Moth. Also a Hornet Robberfly.

Ruddy Darter pics courtesy Alan.  

Comma

Little Owl

Birds, Butterflies & Dragons

Mainly sunny, 20°, light W.

10K walk today out to the Lees and around to Lollingdon Hill and back to the village.

Again good numbers of Yellow Wagtail between the Church and out beyond the Lees, plus Common Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting and Reed Bunting.

Several Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler along the “Reedy Ditch”, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Linnet.

5 Raven (2ad & 3 yng) on Lollingdon Hill, eventually spiralling up and moving North.

Usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Common Whitethroat present.

Alan was down along the river with the regular Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting etc and a long time no see Bullfinch.

River Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor, Four-spot Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer all around a flooded field area.

River Butterflies: Large Skipper, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Marbled White & Meadow Brown.

Butterflies: apart for plenty of Meadow Brown, 2 Painted Lady, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Speckled Wood and 2 Small Heath.

Insects: Hornet Robber Fly.

A lot of photos today!

Yellow Wagtails

Meadow Brown ↕

Marbled White courtesy Alan

Large Skipper courtesy Alan

Knot Grass ? courtesy Alan

Comma courtesy Alan

Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan

Goldfinch feeding on Thistle 😊

Painted Lady

Black-tailed Skimmer

Song Thrush

Bunk Line

Sunny spells, 17°, breezy WNW.

A walk along the Bunk line this morning with one of the Diesel locos on the line and a few workers maintaining and checking the rails.

Could not find the Redstart so carried on along to Green lane and very little there. 1 Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaff so was not expecting much.

On the way back the train and workers had moved back to near Green lane and I just happened to catch a movement in a hedgerow to the north of CSW.

A scan along the hedge found 3 Spotted Flycatcher and a/the Common Redstart about 100m away. All still present when I left.

Further down 2 Common Whitethroat seen, a flyover Yellow Wagtail and Sparrowhawk and that was about it!

Alan had a flyover Peregrine Falcon in the afternoon and the Redstart back where it was on the 2 previous days.

A Coal Tit and Treecreeper in the garden this afternoon.

Butterflies: just a few Whites for me: Alan, Large White, Red Admiral, Peacock and Small Heath.

A few records from Tony Rayner with a Small Copper butterfly, an Orange Swift moth and a Hornet Robberfly recorded.

Common Redstart & Spotted Flycatcher

 Blood Vein (courtesy Alan)

 Orange Swift (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Small Copper (courtesy Tony Rayner)

After the Rain & Before the Storm

A Sunshiny day, 23°, fresh SSW.

A little breezy on the hill today and not much there. A Common Redstart still present and now in the Hawthorns at the top and 3 Yellowhammer still present.

4 Kestrel hunting on the hill and the usual Buzzards and Red Kites and a single Yellow Wagtail overhead.

A single Spotted Flycatcher in the cattle field along with a Common Whitethroat and several Chiffchaff.

Another reasonable passage of Swallow again today with c80 flying south in total.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: My first Clouded Yellow of the year, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Insects: Hornet Robberfly out near Little Lollingdon and Tony Rayner found 2 in his meadow today.

 Mystery bird 😃

Spotted Flycatcher

 Hornet Robberfly

Speckled Wood

 Kestrels ↕

Buzzard

Kestrel