Portland: Day 9.

A cloudy start then clearing, 18°, light SW.

A cloudy and damp start to the day looked very promising but it soon fizzled out to be followed by glorious sunshine for the rest of the day which made for hard work in finding birds.

However, an improvement on the last few days.

The long staying Marsh Harrier, a Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Little Owl, 8 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Grey Wagtail, 60+ Meadow Pipit, 6 Tree Pipit, 2 Skylark, c35 Swallow, 5 House Martin, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Whinchat, 5 Stonechat, a Sedge Warbler, a Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, c25 Chiffchaff, a Pied Flycatcher and a Spotted Flycatcher.

A brief look at the sea when someone called: 3 Common Scoter but no prolonged sea watch.

Approx. 17:00 we noticed hundreds of Gull feeding high in the air just off the east cliffs. Flying Ants were the prey and swarming in 1000’s. Most of the Gulls noted were Mediterranean Gull (150+).

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large and Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

A couple of interesting Moths: Gold Spot and Beautiful Gothic.

Plus, a Sexton Beetle and a Black Slip Wasp.

All captive insects safely released.

some photos courtesy Loren.

Pied Flycatcher

Chiffchaff

Raven

Starlings on the lighthouse

Little Owl

Beautiful Gothic

Black Slip Wasp

Christmas Eve

Overcast, 12°, breezy WSW.

A very dull (weather wise) day around Portland Harbour: a selection species seen today were, 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1-2 Black-necked Grebe, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Cormorant, 16 Brent Geese, 3 Oystercatcher, c40 Mediterranean Gull, several Black-headed Gull, 3-4 Great Blackback Gull etc.

Poor photography today

Lucky find

Mainly sunny, 8°, light to breezy NW.

Highlight of the day was finding a 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull amongst a flock of c150 Black-headed Gull in a field out along the Bunk line this morning.

Took around 30 minutes to clinch the ID so I called Alan who was not that far away but we could not locate the bird again as they were fairly mobile with many flying off towards CSW.

I went back an hour or so later and there were no gulls left at all in the field.

Alan had earlier found 3 Brambling with a good number (70+) of Chaffinch in the area of a cover crop.

We both went back to check that area out and found 10+ Reed Bunting, several Yellowhammer, large numbers of Linnet plus a few Goldfinch and Greenfinch plus Brambling again.

Also logged: 2 Grey Heron, a Little Owl, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Skylark, Bullfinch, a single Teal, a couple of Mallard, 20’ish Lapwing overhead, 3 Lesser Blackback Gull and 2 Herring Gull plus good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing.

Mammals: Roe Deer.  

Did not get a photo so this will have to do 😬

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Med Gull & Stonechats

Cloudy with some sunshine later, 2°, light ESE.

A second for Cholsey today found by Richard Broughton on the flood in the field by Church road.

A 1stw Mediterranean Gull, it was in the company of Black-headed Gulls but flew off south before it could be photographed.

The only other record of Med Gull was a 2ndw in March 2013 out near Lollingdon found by Roger Wyatt.

Also a pair of Stonechat along the Bunk line near the Church.

Med Gull is a little larger than Black-headed Gull with a shorter but stouter bill and broader wings.

A Barn Owl seen hunting along the Bunk line yesterday. Per Brian Wyatt.

Not a great deal else seen today by either Alan or myself.

The pair of Stonechat still present on Lollingdon Hill roaming widely and 250+ flock of Fieldfare and Redwing out with the sheep.

A Raven heard calling to the south of the hill but not seen. The usual Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipit and Linnet flocks out near Little Lollingdon.

Alan saw the Barn Owl again late afternoon hunting near the gravel pit.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Med Gull

Sunny spells, 6º, light N, getting milder

Roger Wyatt found a 2^nd winter Mediterranean Gull in the gull flock on the pig fields on the other side of the A417 near Lollingdon Hill (south-west of the hill).

First confirmed record for Cholsey.

By the time I got there the gull flock had dissapeared, so a quick look on Lollingdon hill produced a Chiffchaff and a singing Song Thrush.