Hazy sunshine, high cloud, 21°, light ESE.
Firstly a
Cuckoo heard late yesterday from Cholsey Marsh area. Per MA.
Lollingdon was a little busier today with 4 singing
Lesser Whitethroat and the pair of
Swallow have returned. A week later than their neighbours in the village.
A
Swallow seen collecting mud from a puddle in Church road this afternoon.
Other species noted singing today were, 8
Chiffchaff, 9
Blackcap, 6
Common Whitethroat, 6
Yellowhammer, 1
Reed Bunting, 5
Corn Bunting, a
Treecreeper and a few other resident species.
Also seen:
Raven,
Little Owl, 2
Yellow Wagtail and 2
Jay.
A
Garden Warbler,
Cetti’s Warbler and both
Reed and
Sedge Warbler at Cholsey Marsh. Per TW.
"The
fledged Rook from the Church road Rookery on the 15
th might be the earliest ever recorded in
Britain. Back calculating a minimum 49 days for laying, incubating &
nestling periods, the lay date would have been around 25
th Feb. The
earliest lay date in the BTO database, downloadable from BTO Bird Trends pages,
is 18
th March. Rooks are hard to monitor, so the BTO data might not
completely rigorous, but those are the dates, and a 3 week difference is pretty
massive, so whatever the exact dates, the Cholsey Rooks are exceptionally early
this year, and likely some of the earliest ever in Britain." Dr Richard Broughton
Mammals: Roe Deer.
Reps: 4
Common Lizard.
Butterflies: Brimstone,
Orange Tip,
Green-veined White,
Holly Blue,
Small Tortoiseshell,
Peacock,
Speckled Wood and a possible Small Copper.
Moths: TR caught a
Lime Hawk Moth, a month earlier than any previous date in Cholsey.
Yellowhammer
Lime Hawk Moth
Song Thrush bathing in the garden