A Frosty one!

Sunny and frosty, 2°-7° clouding up later, light SW.

A trek out to the Lees today with Loren, still heavy going underfoot.

5 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Stonechat and a single Great Blackback Gull with the Lesser Blackback Gull flock.

Both Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker heard along with a couple of Jay and a small flock of Linnet and the usual Fieldfare and Redwing noted.

Loren found the remains of a Rook. Maybe taken by a Peregrine?

Alan noted Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Siskin.

Also 4 Golden Plover near Silly Bridge yesterday. Per Michael Pocock.

Great-spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper and Blackcap in the garden today along with the regulars.

A couple of clusters of 7-spot Ladybird found.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Photo courtesy Loren

7-spot Ladybird courtesy Loren

Nuthatch courtesy Alan

Female Great-spotted Woodpecker

Male Blackcap

Redpolls

Cloudy, 6°, light W.

Michael Pocock has reported a Barn Owl at Cholsey Marsh last night and further upstream a major Corvid roost comprising a rough guess of 5000 birds seen distantly.

“The Rooks and Jackdaw come in once it was nearly dark and swirl like a murmuration of starlings”.

Alan found a small flock of 4-5 Lesser Redpoll on Cholsey Marsh today, first ones since November last year that we know of.

Water Rail and Barn Owl present.

Siskin

Mild and wet, 11°, breezy W.

The first Siskin of the winter on the feeders today.

A Sparrowhawk flew through the garden late afternoon and a Red Kite touched down briefly.

The male Blackcap still present and Nuthatch, Great-spotted and Green Woodpecker visiting the garden today.

A Merlin seen to fly through the EastEnder’s garden today and the Redpolls still present on the feeders.

The Lees

Sunny skies, 5°, light SSE.

A walk out to the farm land by the Lees today.

Relatively quiet, a Peregrine seen resting up on one of the pylons and around 20 Skylark and a small flock of Lesser Blackback Gull out on the partial floods in the fields.

A small flock of finches at the Lees of several Goldfinch, Siskin and at least one Lesser Redpoll and a Chiffchaff with a Tit flock.

Several Buzzard and Red Kite around and a flock of c30 Fieldfare and a couple of Redwing in trees by the railway bridge.

A Kingfisher seen flying along one of the brooks out by the Lees (per Phil & Mary).

A Hedgehog feeding in the garden last night.

A quiet marsh

Cloudy, 11°, fresh SW.

A visit to a rather quiet Cholsey Marsh this afternoon.

5 Siskin and at least 1 Lesser Redpoll noted, 30+ Fieldfare and a handful of Redwing.

2 Common Snipe noted by Bob Wyatt who was also present.

c200 Golden Plover flew south overhead and a few Cormorant over but very little else.

Nuthatch and Blackcap still visiting the garden and a Hedgehog feeding in the garden tonight.

Cold & quiet

Sunny with a heavy frost, 1°, light S.

A walk out to the Lees this afternoon, 20’ish Skylark, 30+ Linnet, 1 Common Snipe, 5 Teal flushed from a stream and a Peregrine resting up on one of the pylons and little else of note.

4 Siskin Caps Lane and up to 10 Lesser Redpoll in the EastEnders garden (per Tony Rayner).

Cholsey Marsh:

Cetti's Warbler, c20 Siskin, 5 Lesser Redpoll (per Brian Wyatt).

Bits & Pieces

Sunny, 4°, light NW.

2 Peregrine Falcon seen today between Lollingdon and the Lees and 2 Egyptian Geese flew along the Thames (per Tony Williams).

Also a Barn Owl hunting near the Bunk line today and 2 Egyptian Geese flew over (per Tony Rayner). And c9 Lesser Redpoll in the EastEnders garden.

A Sparrowhawk in the garden today and a Buzzard out in the meadow, also up to 6 Blackbird in the garden the last few days feeding on apples.

Meeting with BBOWT

Sunny at first then clouding over, 5°, light W.

A very positive meeting today with a BBOWT representative at Cholsey Marsh.

Mark Bradfield of BBOWT (community wildlife officer) met with Tony Rayner and myself at Cholsey Marsh this morning.

If all goes well BBOWT should be taking on the management of the reserve sometime this year with a lot of work to be done once that happens.

We discussed the value to local wildlife that the reserve holds from the roosting Corn Buntings in the winter to the various visitors that breed on the marsh during the summer months.

Also Reptiles, Amphibians, Dragonflies, Butterflies and other species that inhabit the marsh including the “British red data” species, Desmoulin’s Whorl Snail that has special conservation status.

One of the major aspects was to engage the local community in many aspects of the marsh and over the coming months it is hoped that we can develop and communicate this to local residents.

Just over 30 species noted this morning on or over the marsh.

Later in the morning a visit to the EastEnders garden where there were at least 7 Lesser Redpoll feeding and I managed to get a few pics through the kitchen window.

Our own garden is still very busy with 2 Nuthatch still visiting, also at least 2 Treecreeper regular.

Belated news of a Bittern flushed from Cholsey Marsh last year.

Also the first Blackcap of the winter in the village seen by Michael Pocock on Saturday.

Cold snap expected

Overcast with rain showers, 6°, light WNW.

A small flock of around 20 Golden Plover flew across Cholsey Hill and c300 Lapwing noted flying over the hill to a flooded area between Cholsey and N Stoke.

At least 4 Lesser Redpoll feeding in the EastEnders garden recently.

The mild winter continues (not for much longer?) with several spring flowers, flowering or about to in the garden!

Sparrowhawk visit and the Marsh

Cloudy with rain showers, 13°, light SSW.

A visit to Cholsey marsh for the roost today and counted in 72 Corn Bunting with the largest single flock of 30 that came in from the south.

Other species noted on the marsh were 2 Chiffchaff, 6 Goldcrest, 2 Redpoll, 8 Reed Bunting, 4 Bullfinch and 2 Sparrowhawk flew through.

2 Cormorant flew downstream and a Kingfisher present on the opposite bank, also 60+ Redwing and around the same number of Fieldfare.

A Sparrowhawk visited the garden this morning, scattering everything but just sat on top of the feeder station, had a good look around and then flew off.

Local Doldrums

Overcast, 13°, light ESE.

A very drab and dismal day with little change from yesterday weather wise and bird wise.

5 Redpoll seen briefly then flew off south, more Fieldfare around today with 250+ and a few more Redwing c20.

Around 20 Pied Wagtail and a single Meadow Pipit in with the sheep that have since moved fields.

A Sparrowhawk was the only other bird of note.

The Barn Owl seen again today (per BW) and having problems but appears to be surviving!

The Hill & the Marsh

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 12°, light ESE.

Lollingdon was rather quiet today with a couple of Goldcrest on the north side and very little to the south with approx. 150 Starling out with the sheep and a few Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail.

40+ Fieldfare and 5 Redwing also present.

A later visit to Cholsey Marsh had 42 Corn Bunting come in at the roost and 20+ Meadow Pipit roosting on the marsh also.

A Green Sandpiper was an unexpected addition for the year that flew downstream and a single Redpoll seen, 50 Redwing flew in to the trees on the marsh and a Kingfisher along the river.

Dragonflies: unidentified Hawker.

Butterflies: 4 Red Admiral.

Always Changing

Cloudy, few sunny spells, 11°, breezy N.

A chilly day with a brisk northerly blowing, temperature close to freezing overnight and quite a contrast to yesterday, always changing.

Most of yesterday’s birds appear to have moved on so back to normal, 2 Raven, 5 Redwing, 30 Starling and a single Lesser Redpoll over the hill.

Still a few Goldcrest around also several Blackbird, a Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush.

A handful of Pied Wagtail and 30+ Meadow Pipit.

A Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher (per TW) by the pond.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: 3 Whites and a Red Admiral still on the wing.

Yeah I know they could be anything but believe me they are Ravens

Getting Better

Overcast, 12°, light to breezy N.

A cooler day today and 5+ hours spent in the field on and around the hill and quite a contrast bird wise to yesterday with 2 new species for the year in Cholsey.

A phone call from Tony W this morning to say he had seen 20+ Redpoll out by the Lees, also several Reed Bunting, 5 Redwing, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Chiffchaff, several Goldcrest and an increase in Blackbird numbers.

Also seen over the week end, an Owl flushed alongside the Bunkline was either a Long-eared or Short-eared Owl (per GW).

Anyway back to Lollingdon today, 18 Grey Partridge, in excess of 200 Meadow Pipit, 70+ Pied Wagtail, 70+ Linnet, 23 Yellowhammer and 18 Corn Bunting on or around the hill. Flyovers were 63 Starling, 5 Siskin, 3 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Tree Sparrow and 2 Redwing.

5 Chiffchaff and 11 Goldcrest in total with several Tit flocks and a Little Owl heard calling. Also a Grey Wagtail still present in the area, plus 1 Sparrowhawk and several Buzzard and Red Kite.

Fieldfare and Ring Ouzel seen on Cholsey Downs yesterday and today (per RW & TW).

Butterflies: 1 Small White and 1 Red Admiral.

Shrike etc

All the snow appears to have gone now but a showery and windy day with some rain and hail.

The Great Grey Shrike still present today and seen well from Ferry rd, eight Lesser Redpoll in one of the bank side Alders and six Shovelor flew upstream.

A Barn Owl seen over the marsh yesterday evening.

Thank you to Paul Rainsden for the info.

As I am not out in Cholsey every day I would like to say a thank you to all the birders that have been emailing me information on the Shrike and other birds etc that have been seen, Cheers

Full moon from Wantage

The still elusive Shrike.

Overcast, 2º, light NE, slight rain/sleet/snow?

The Great Grey Shrike seen a few times briefly this afternoon on the “Stoke” side of the Thames by Roger and ranging down to the four arches but three of us on the Cholsey side did not see it.

Around two hundred Corn Bunting again roosting and on another part of the marsh twenty plus Reed Bunting and a few Meadow Pipit roosting.

A ♂ Merlin flew through at around 16:30 and almost took a small passerine but missed and a Kestrel hunting over the marsh.

Several Lesser Redpoll present again feeding on seed heads and a couple of Water Rail heard and a Great-spotted Woodpecker present.

Twenty plus Common Snipe Flew over heading east.

The garden was busy this morning with up to ten of each Redwing and Fieldfare, three Song Thrush, two Mistle Thrush and ten plus Blackbird did not see much else as I had to go out.

Lesser Redpoll

Fieldfare & Redwing in the garden

The Elusive Shrike

Overcast, light snow, 0°, little wind.

Walked down to Cholsey marsh at first light this morning (roads in village very icy) and spent 2 hours looking for the Shrike but unfortunately not found. However quite a lot going on including plenty of boat crews out sculling on the Thames (they must be as mad as me being out at that time of day and in poor weather).

Brian and Roger Wyatt were both searching the area on the “Stoke” side of the river for the Shrike but no luck with them also but around 50 Common Snipe in the field there.

However the Great Grey Shrike was seen at 13:45 in the same place as yesterday but not since, I guess it is ranging over a wide area and best looked for on the "Stoke" side of the river.

Anyway back to the marsh, around twenty Teal flushed off the river by the boats and a few on the marsh on the unfrozen areas, also twenty plus Common Snipe present. Two Grey Heron and three Cormorant flying upriver.

The Cetti’s Warbler seen briefly but again very active and calling also a Chiffchaff with a Tit flock that passed through, and a Great-spotted Woodpecker on the other side of the river “drumming”.

At least five Siskin seen and heard flying over and eventually seen feeding on the bank side Alders and up to five Lesser Redpoll feeding on seed heads from plants on the marsh and numbers of Meadow Pipit feeding on the frozen surface of part of the marsh, a couple of Bullfinch heard calling.

Several Corn Bunting still present on the marsh including one singing also several Reed Bunting present and feeding with the Meadow Pipits.

Both Kestrel and Sparrowhawk seen and a Nuthatch seen and heard in the trees along Ferry Rd.

The Eastender reports four Lesser Redpoll on nyger seed feeders in the garden for around a month now and a Reed Bunting present yesterday.

Cholsey Brook had a Cormorant, two Common Snipe, two Meadow Pipit, three Teal, four Mallard and ten Lapwing in an adjacent field.

Richard has seen a Ruff in a field next to the Bunk line along with a lot of Common Snipe and several Lapwing; presumably the Ruff is the one that was wintering on the South Moreton floods (dont often get Ruff in Cholsey a rarity for here).

Three more new birds for the year in Cholsey today, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch and Ruff.

The garden this morning very much the same as yesterday.

Lesser Redpolls

Snow and Rain.

Overcast, 1º, intermittent snow and rain, poor visibility, no wind.

The overnight snowfall (2cm) soon disappeared as the temperature crept above freezing and rain began to fall.

Got back home at lunch time to a busy garden again, the two Pheasants still present and a ♂ Blackcap as well as a ♀ today, another ♂ Blackcap seen in a garden in Wantage over the week end.

The Eastender still has several Lesser Redpoll feeding regularly in his garden.

                                   Blackcap

                                   Great Tit (ringed)

Unexpected garden visitors.

Cloudy, 4º, light NNW, cooler, back to winter next week with snow forecast.

A couple of unexpected visitors to the garden today, two cock Pheasants appeared early afternoon and stayed for the rest of the day and a Rabbit made a brief appearance. Pheasant has been seen in the adjacent meadow before but not in the garden and the Rabbit is a first; the Rabbit now makes twelve mammal species seen in or from the garden.

Other birds in the garden today were several Lesser Redpoll briefly, two Stock Dove, a Song Thrush and another brief visit from a ♀ Blackcap, ten plus Goldfinch and over a dozen Chaffinch and there were two Magpie present in the front garden.

An adult ♀ and a juvenile ♀ Muntjac Deer in the garden again this evening, the juv being about one third smaller and paler (esp on the nape and upper back) than the adult.

Some news from the South Moreton floods recently were of up to one hundred Common Snipe and a single Jack Snipe seen, a Ruff and a Dunlin also noted and again up to a thousand Lapwing and similar numbers for Golden Plover.

Also four Raven (two pairs) in what could have been a territorial dispute in Cholsey recently.

Thanks to Michael Pocock, Tony Williams and Geoff Wyatt for information.

                                  Pheasants

                                  Song Thrush

Finches and Blackcaps

Sunny at first then overcast and rain, 7º, light to moderate WSW.

Ventured out close to home this morning and saw more people than birds but that is the holiday season for you!

The garden was more productive though, several Lesser Redpoll turned up on the feeders with around a dozen Goldfinch and three Greenfinch and around fourteen Chaffinch feeding on the grass around the feeders, the odd Blackbird visiting and feeding on the sultanas along with a Song Thrush and a ♀ Blackcap that appeared today (possibly Richards as he lives just over the road).

Several Wood Pigeon, three or four Collared Dove and a Stock Dove on and off through the afternoon, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Treecreeper noted, regular Blue and Great Tit and one or two Coal Tit and several Long-tailed Tit all visiting and the usual Robin, Wren and up to three Dunnock present.

I have an update on some birds at South Moreton today from Michael Pocock, around one thousand Lapwing and up to one thousand six hundred Golden Plover and a count of twenty-three Common Snipe.

Also three Blackcap (2♀ & 1♂) feeding in a garden near Queens Road for the past two weeks, also nine Blue Tit today.

Thanks for the info Michael.

                                   Blackbird

                     A poor pic of one of the Redpolls, apologies!