Lollingdon

Mainly cloudy, 8°, light ESE.

A touch of the winter doldrums today with very little out at Lollingdon. The flood area was quite deserted.

2 Little Egret nearby and up to 8 Yellowhammer and 3 Meadow Pipit in the area, the usual Fieldfare and Redwing and c 40 Lapwing high in the distance.

3 Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff in the Millennium wood/Bullshole area.

3 White-fronted Geese with a large mixed flock of Canada and Greylag Geese in a field near Waterloo Close yesterday. Per Mike Amphlett. Seen again today by Michael Pocock.  The flock is quite mobile and often vacates the area to the other side of the Thames.

An anonymous comment on my blog "Just seen Black Redstart on the Highcroft new housing estate next to the new allotments. 10AM Jan 25 2025". That's off Calvin Thomas Way.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Lollingdon and The Lees

Sunny, 0°, light NNW.

Lollingdon and The Lees area:

9 Teal, and 8 Common Snipe all flushed from ditches as the flood was frozen over, 5+ Chiffchaff (4 out by the Lees and 1 Lollingdon), 2 Little Egret, a Grey Heron, 18 Lapwing, a Merlin flushed 20 Golden Plover from Cholsey Hill and they settled near the farm.

Plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered around, 5 Mistle Thrush and a flock of 20+ Meadow Pipit.

2 White-fronted Geese flew from the river to a field near the Waterloo. Per Roger Wyatt.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

White-fronted Goose courtesy Roger Wyatt

Bunk

Sunny, 2°, light NW.

Bunk area:

A Mute Swan, 12 Shoveler and 6 Little Grebe on the gravel pit and c40 Lapwing on the bank briefly before disappearing in to another pit that is not possible to view.

Lots of Winter Thrush around, c200 Fieldfare and 60+ Redwing plus a single Mistle Thrush.

A Little Owl heard calling and a Chiffchaff at CSW plus a few more, new for the year.

Bunk & Gravel pit

Cloudy with some light rain, 9°, light S.

Quiet along Bunk today:

Gravel pit: 8 Shoveler, 2 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 39 Lapwing, 20+ Canada Geese and just 3 Gulls.

60+ Fieldfare, 50+ Redwing and a single Chiffchaff nearby.

Lollingdon floods

Sunny, 7°, light NNE.

Lollingdon floods: 12 Teal, 9 Lapwing, 2 Common Snipe, 30+ Pied Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit, a Grey Wagtail, 50+ Black-headed Gull, 20+ Lesser Blackback Gull.

On the periphery: 2 Stonechat, several Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Little Egret and a Raven over.

Near Bullshole: Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

stock photos

Grey days

Overcast, 4°, light NE.

Another dull day but a good number of Ducks on and around the floods.

Moreton Floods: c500 Lapwing, 4 Golden Plover, c45 Shoveler, c50 Teal, 6 Pintail, 2 Shelduck, 8 Wigeon, 2 Gadwall, several Reed Bunting.

A Barn Owl hunting near Caps Lane.  

Bunk: somewhat quieter, a Mute Swan over, a single Chiffchaff and c200 Starling, c100 Fieldfare and c50 Redwing of note.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

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Cholsey

Sunny spells, 4°, light SSE.

Alan out today along the Bunk, Lollingdon and a few other spots: Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, c700 Lapwing in 2 large flocks, c50 Golden Plover over, 3 Little Egret, 9 Teal, 6 Common Snipe, 2 Herring Gull, c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, c100 Black-headed Gull, 3 Chiffchaff , 2 Barn Owl, etc.

The Floods

Overcast, 7°, light ENE.

Lollingdon floods: c500 Lapwing, c100 Black-headed Gull and a handful of distant large Gulls, 20+ Pied Wagtail and a Little Egret.

Nearby, 3 Corn Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, the usual Fieldfare and Redwing and 4-5 Redpoll near the Bullshole.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Bunk & Lollingdon

Overcast, 8°, light SSW.

Bunk area very disappointing today with very little around. Apart from plenty of Starling, Corvids and Gulls, just c50 of each Fieldfare and Redwing, a single Yellowhammer and the lone Egyptian Goose.

Alan had better luck on the Lollingdon floods: c600 Lapwing, c250 Lesser Blackback Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 2 Common Gull, c80 Black-headed Gull, a Little Egret and c30 Teal.

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Common Gull with Lesser Blackback Gulls courtesy Alan

Egyptian Goose

Grey Plover still around

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny periods, 12°, breezy NE.

South Morton Floods: Grey Plover still present with c300 Golden Plover, c200 Lapwing and 2 Dunlin.

Lollingdon Floods: Usual Teal present, c50 Gulls, mainly Lesser Blackback, a Single Common Gull and several Black-headed Gull, a few Mistle Thrush over and a Raven over.

AD.

Teal courtesy Alan

Lollingdon Flood

Mainly sunny, 11°, light N.

Time spent watching the flood area and surroundings out at Lollingdon. A lot of comings and goings but a good number of birds present. Alan covered this afternoon.

Approx. 200 Lesser Blackback Gull, 100+ Black-headed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 2 Common Gull, c50 Teal, 2 Dunlin, 57 Lapwing, a Common Snipe and a couple of Pied Wagtail.

Nearby, a few Redwing and Fieldfare, 1 possibly 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Yellowhammer and several Meadow Pipit.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Red Admiral.

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October bows out as Fieldfares arrive

Misty at first, then clearing, 14°, light S.

Mist clearing by 14:00 but Lollingdon mainly shrouded earlier with little noted. Alan ventured out later with several hundred Gulls and c50 Lapwing present on flooded areas. A few Fieldfare and Redwing present.

Bunk area: A female Brambling along with Greenfinch and Chaffinch, many Redwing and 60+ Fieldfare, 2+ Raven, a Kingfisher, 4 Grey Heron, a Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Yellowhammer, numbers of Meadow Pipit, Skylark and the usual Gulls, etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter at both sites.

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Fieldfare

Fieldfare & Redwing

Long-tailed Tit

Grey Heron

Cholsey Hill

Sunny spells, 16°, breezy SSE.

3 Stonechat to the south west of Cholsey Hill and another south of the Lees.

Good numbers of Meadow Pipit and Skylark in the area and hundreds of Wood Pigeon.

[There appears to have been a mass movement of Wood Pigeon lately with an estimated 150000+ seen moving off from Portland, Dorset, yesterday.]

c50 Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill and c50 Lapwing over. Alan also noted a Little Egret this morning.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone.

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Stonechat

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat courtesy Alan

Lapwing courtesy Alan

Roe Deer

Grey Plover relocated.

Overcast, 14°, light SSW.

Grey Plover still present on Cholsey Hill with 78 Golden Plover, plus 1 Swallow over.

Bunk: 4 (3&1) Swallow, 6 Grey Wagtail, c20 Pied Wagtail, c50 Meadow Pipit, c20 Skylark, a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Jay, Reed Bunting, plenty of Redwing and a Grey Heron.

Lollingdon: very quiet. Just 4 Lapwing and a Chiffchaff worth a mention.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

AD, MP & PC.

Grey Plover courtesy Alan ↕

Lapwing

Swallow

More rain

Mostly cloudy, rain later, 15°, light SSE.

Lollingdon very quiet today, some extensive flooding in fields but little present. A few Lesser Blackback Gull, a single Herring Gull and 6 Lapwing over.

6 Chiffchaff noted but no other migrants.

On the other hand, Alan had better luck in the Bunk area. 200+ Meadow Pipit, several Yellow Wagtail, a Stonechat, c50 Swallow/House Martin, Raven, 3 Grey Heron, several Teal, 100+ Mallard, c80 Lesser Blackback Gull etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Meadow Pipit courtesy Alan

May ends on a quiet note

Cloudy day, 14°, breezy N.

A fairly quiet day and a little cooler.

Good news with 2 well grown young Lapwing noted. Second year running that Lapwing has bred locally and hopefully a few more young to be noted.

The River, Bunk and Lollingdon all pretty static at the moment and very few insects on the wing today.

2 Little Egret noted by Alan and c30 House Martin feeding over CSW.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Brown Hare

Teneral Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan. earlier in week

Large Skipper (yesterday) courtesy Alan

White-legged Damselfly (yesterday) courtesy Alan

Weather

Rain, Sunshine and Cloudy, 12°, moderate SSW.

c50 Teal plus Wigeon and Shoveler on the flooded field along the Wallingford Road this morning.

Good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing along the Bunk, c500 birds in total. A Chiffchaff near CSW and 6 Yellowhammer, 2 Greylag and 2 Egyptian Geese over Green Lane.

Good numbers of Lesser Blackback, 2 Herring Gull and c 40 Black-headed Gull around the floods and 2 Mute Swan.

c200 Lapwing over Cholsey Hill heading towards the Moreton floods.

An Oystercatcher flying around the floods on Wednesday. Per Alan.

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Yellowhammer ↕

A regular garden visitor

A few from the Week End

Overcast, 5°, light NE.

Alan located a male Blackcap yesterday.

Male Merlin hunting low over the fields, whipped across the road at Farm Hill (Cholsey Hill) this afternoon. Per Geoff Wyatt.

5 Shelduck distantly from the bottom of Cholsey hill on the north Moreton floods with a large flock of Lapwing, constantly spooked at dusk (but too far to see what was spooking them). Per Michael Pocock.

Nothing too exciting

An overcast day, dull, 6°, light NE.

A little milder and flood waters receding. Both out in the Bunk line area today.

3 Mute Swan still on the flood along with the usual Gulls plus c50 Pied Wagtail. 4 Shoveler, 10 Tufted Duck and c50 Canada Geese noted.

Several hundred Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling present in the area plus Chiffchaff, c7 Siskin, 5 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting, 3 Raven and a single Lapwing.

Forgot to mention, yesterday Alan found a Stonechat out at Lollingdon.

Pied Wagtail on ice

2 of the 3 Mute Swan, a pair with the male on the right

some of the many Fieldfare present

Reed Bunting