Summer arrivals

Mainly cloudy, 10°, light S.

Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Common Whitethroat, Cholsey Marsh. Per Brian Wyatt.

Bunk area: on the walk out there were 10+ House Martin feeding high over CSW. On the way back the numbers had grown to 20+ House Martin, 5+ Swallow and several Sand Martin, this time feeding a lot lower over the beds.

The Gravel pit hosted a Mute Swan, 2 Shelduck, 4 Gadwall, 3 Oystercatcher and 30+ Lapwing, c12 House Martin, 5 Swallow and several Sand Martin.

2 Peregrine over. I think I’ve mentioned these before and I believe these 2 males to be the ones raised in South Stoke last year. I’ve seen them together on several occasions this year and they appear to hunt together. Maybe a successful survival strategy.

Elsewhere on the walk: 2 Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a couple of Jay etc.

Butterflies: just a couple of Brimstone and Peacock.

Mallard & Muntjac both in garden today

Cholsey

Sunny at first then mostly cloudy, 15°, light S.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River/Marsh:

6 Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, 4 Black-headed Gull, 20+ Swallow, 3+ House Martin, 14+ Sand Martin, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, many Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 5+ Blackcap, 2+ Common Whitethroat, 3 Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl.

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

AD & PC.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan ↕

Another day

Sunny, 16°, light N.

Usual areas covered again today:

Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, 8 Lapwing, 9 Tufted Duck, a Gadwall, 2 Little Grebe, 8+ Swallow, 2 Sand Martin, 1 House Martin, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, a single Redwing, Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler and a Sparrowhawk.

Mammals: unfortunately a dead Otter found by Alan along the river bank today.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

Common Sandpiper courtesy Alan

Lapwing courtesy Alan

A wet one

Mainly rain with minimal sunny spells, 15°, light S.

A trek along the Bunk area this afternoon in the rain and expectations were not high. Didn’t take the camera as rain and cameras do not mix well.

4 Swallow, 12 House Martin, 5 Chiffchaff, 100+ Meadow Pipit, several Skylark and Pied Wagtail, 3 Green Woodpecker, a Mistle Thrush and a Grey Heron etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Red Admiral.

Mistle Thrush (from my archive)

Autumnal

Sunny intervals, 16°, light S.

With the weather feeling quite autumnal today, TW found a male Common Redstart out at Lollingdon today, quite a late one.

Elsewhere, along the Bunk area: 30 Cormorant over, 2 Grey Wagtail, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 35 Meadow Pipit, c10 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, several Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin.

Butterflies: a single Small White.

Dragonflies: many Common Darter.

AD, PC & TW.

Meadow Pipit

Cormorant courtesy Alan

Greylag Geese and a single Canada Goose

Bunk & River

Overcast and showery, 15°, breezy NNE.

Relatively quiet along the Bunk area today: good numbers of Skylark and Meadow Pipit with 100+ of each, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 5 Swallow, a few Siskin heard overhead, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Jay, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Teal and a lot of Gulls with most moving in a northerly direction.

River: several Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Reed Bunting and Chiffchaff.

Dragonflies: A Southern Hawker and several Common Darter. River: Willow Emerald, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Whites and 2 Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Bunk

Mainly cloudy, 19°, breezy SW.

Pretty quiet along Bunk line today apart from a period mid-afternoon when Hirundines started passing through.

Over a period of just over an hour I counted 70+ Swallow (incl young birds), 20+ House Martin and 6 Sand Martin all moving purposefully in a southerly direction. This also included approx. 40 Swift.

Other than that it was somewhat quiet with bird song greatly diminished although usual regulars still visibly evident.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Common Blue Damselfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Comma, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Green-veined White

Swollen-thighed Beetle

Sunny but cool

Sunny periods, 11°, breezy NW.

Usual areas covered today: 4 Wheatear, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Willow Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler, several Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 10+ Swallow, 3 House Martin, 7 Sand Martin, a Bullfinch, 5 Yellowhammer, a Common Sandpiper, several Lapwing, 8 Lesser Blackback Gull, a Grey Heron, a Cormorant etc.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Red Admiral and Peacock.

AD & PC.

Photos courtesy Alan

Yellow Wagtail

Large Red Damsel

Wheatear

A blustery day

Rain at first then sunny, 10°, blustery SW.

Lollingdon and Bunk area:

3 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Wheatear, a Common Redstart, Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 10+ Swallow, c50 House Martin, 6 Lapwing, 3 Lesser Blackback Gull and a Sparrowhawk.

Whilst Alan was watching the Yellow Wagtails and Pied Wagtails, a Sparrowhawk appeared and went for one of the Yellow Wagtail. It missed but took a Pied Wagtail that was present.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

AD & PC.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan

A day for Butterflies and a Dragon

Hazy sunshine, 19°, breezy SSW.

A visit to Lollingdon the Bunk and River today: Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Grey Wagtail, Common Snipe, Lapwing, Sparrowhawk, and 6+1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

20-30 Hirundines noted, mainly Swallow and Sand Martin and a single House Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly.

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

AD & PC.

Comma

Large Red Damselfly courtesy Alan

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Dark-edged Bee Fly courtesy Alan

All quiet

Cloudy, brightening later, 17°, breezy NE.

3 House Martin have returned to Church Road today, seen entering their old nest site areas. Still no Swallow though, here’s hoping.

Lapwing still present out at Lollingdon and harassing any Corvid or BOP that passed overhead.

Apart from that, all quiet.

Same said for the river as Alan reported ‘no change’.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood.

A Wake of Red Kite

Common Buzzard

Reed Bunting courtesy Alan

Emperor courtesy Alan

Beautiful Demoiselle

Lapwing

Another wet one

Clear at first then rain, 11°, breezy SSW.

Both Alan and myself out along the Bunk line.  

Another rainy day concentrated Hirundines over the flooded areas with c50 Swallow plus several House Martin and Sand Martin.

A Redshank heard but not seen, 2 Willow Warbler in song plus 1-2 Blackcap and several Chiffchaff, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Willow Warbler, Blackcap & Wagtail courtesy Alan

April showers

April showers & a bit of thunder, 12°, breezy WNW.

Today's showers were conducive to concentrate Hirundines over flooded and sheltered areas with c300 birds in total. Predominantly Swallow with several House Martin and Sand Martin.

The majority seen by Alan along the Bunk line. As soon as the showers passed by so did the Hirundines.

Also along Bunk line, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit and Lapwing.

(several Swallow and House Martin also seen yesterday. Per AD & RB).

Water Rail on the marsh but otherwise fairly quiet.

Lollingdon was fairly quiet with just a couple of Blackcap in song plus the now established Chiffchaff, 2 Greylag Geese flew south east, Sparrowhawk and a Lapwing on the floods.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Stoat.

Butterflies: a single Peacock.

Blackcap

Pied Wagtail courtesy Alan

A wet one

Light to heavy prolonged rain showers, 11°, fresh WSW.

Bunk line proved quite fruitful today with several migrants moving through. I was out a.m. and Alan p.m.

A single House Martin, 5+ Sand Martin, 2+ Swallow and singles of Greenshank and Shelduck all moving generally north in between the rain showers.

A single Willow Warbler and Blackcap, several Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, a single Black-headed Gull, 5 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Raven and Sparrowhawk also noted.

A few Yellowhammer back in their summer quarters and several Skylark in song .

From Alan yesterday: Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Nuthatch, Kingfisher, 2 Little Egret and 2 Raven.

Plus a Peacock and Brimstone butterfly and Dark-edged Bee-fly all yesterday.

Raven courtesy Alan

Willow Warbler

Dark-edged Bee-fly courtesy Alan

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Lollingdon

Cloudy with sunny periods and a few rain showers, 15°, breezy SW.

A busy hill and both of us out there at different times today, 4 Stonechat present hawking insects along the fence line and 500+ Fieldfare over. Most flying over heading south towards the downs and some stopped to feed on the Hawthorn berries.

A single, late House Martin flew south east and 2 Raven over.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, including a possible White Wagtail.

One Wagtail stood out for me as having no discernible black on the head or throat and was a pale looking bird compared to others in the flock.

The flock flew before I could get a photo.

Alan went later to the same site and photographed another bird which appears to be a possible White Wagtail also.

There are no documented records of White Wagtail in Cholsey as far as I am aware. Quite probably overlooked as they are a regular continental migrant thru the UK.

the so called British Pied Wagtail "yarrellii" is a sub-species of White Wagtail "alba".

Addition: Having since consulted with Ian Lewington it is probable that the pic below is a female Pied Wagtail as the plumage detail is not conclusive for a White Wagtail. Often a difficult species to id conclusively in autumn.

2+ Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, Little Owl, Little Egret, Grey Wagtail, 30+ Redwing, 2 Jay, 2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 14 Yellowhammer and a flock of c40 Linnet and 20+ Chaffinch.

Alan found a Mandarin Duck on the river on the 21st.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Clouded Yellow (22nd Oct, per Alan).

Fieldfares

Possible "White" Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba) courtesy Alan

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Raven

Mandarin Duck courtesy Alan

A wet one

Overcast with frequent rain showers, 14°, light SW.

A wet walk out to Lollingdon hill this morning. A Little Egret in the Little Lollingdon area and 2 Stonechat still on the hill.

Higher numbers of Meadow Pipit around with c100 counted plus good numbers of Pied Wagtail.

2+ Redpoll, 14 Yellowhammer, a Little Owl calling and appears to be an influx of Chaffinch with 80+ seen.

5 Chiffchaff scattered about and 7 House Martin overhead and a single Swallow over Church Road late afternoon.

Alan along the river later in the day, Cetti’s Warbler (in song), Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and House Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer and Tony Williams saw an Otter on the river.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: a single Small White.

Roe Deer with young

Meadow Pipit

Stonechat

Dunnock

A little breezy

Windy with sunny spells, 18°, breezy SSW.

A breezy hill today with 6 House Martin feeding in the lea of Lollingdon hill and a Stonechat still present on the south side along with several Meadow Pipit and a Kestrel.

Several Chiffchaff also around plus a Goldcrest.

Dragonflies: a couple of Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Small White, 2 Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood.

Stonechat ↕