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

2025 bows out

Sunny, 2°, light W.

The last walk of the year out to the Lees and Long Ditch:

Initially appeared very quiet but the longer you are out the more you see.

Up to 100 Skylark in total spread around and c50 Meadow Pipit. 2 Common Snipe along the Long Ditch and a Kingfisher noted nearby.

A fairly large Tit flock at the Lees with c20 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest and a Treecreeper plus the odd Blue and Great Tit.

A Raven over and a few Fieldfare and Redwing moving and to bow out the year a male Merlin flew towards Cholsey Hill from near the Church.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

And finally a thank you to all contributors of 2025 for various wildlife sightings.

Alan Dawson, Richard Broughton, Marta Maziarz, Tony Williams, Geoff Wyatt, Brian Wyatt, Roger Wyatt, Ian Lewington, Michael Pocock, Mike Amphlett, Andy King, Bill Nicholls, Paul Rainsden, Richard James and several other who’s names I have forgotten, apologies.

A European Beaver photographed by Janie Maclean on 7th May on the River Thames was certainly the most significant observation this year.

Lollingdon

Sunny, 10°, light S.

Lollingdon floods:

A Merlin flew in, fast and low and took what I believe was a Meadow Pipit from a small flock on the flooded area.

Not much on the flood other than 2 Common Snipe, a handful of Black-headed Gull, 20+ Pied Wagtail, the afore mentioned Meadow Pipit (c20) and a Grey Heron.

On the periphery, 2 Stonechat, a Chiffchaff, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay, many Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush - in song.

2 Little Egret flew east over the cattle field.

Lollingdon

Cloudy with a few light rain showers, 15°, breezy SSW.

A breezy walk out to Lollingdon:

3 Chiffchaff (1 in song), 4 Goldcrest, c120 Fieldfare, c75 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, an increase in Blackbird numbers, 200+ Starling, 50+ Meadow Pipit, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 5 Siskin, 2+ Redpoll, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and a Kingfisher.

A  male Merlin seen around the Hithercroft area. Per Connor Pimm.

Another near miss today. Mike Amphlett found a Brent Goose with a flock of Gulls just a few hundred meters outside the parish boundary in Moulsford. The species has not been recorded in Cholsey before, so worth keeping an eye out in case it joins the Goose flock on the Cholsey side.

Phone cam photo of Brent Goose (Dark-bellied form), breeds on Arctic coasts of central and western Siberia and winters in coastal western Europe. courtesy Mike Amphlett. Great find.

Lollingdon & Bunk

Light rain at first then sunny spells, 15°, light SSE.

Lollingdon: Ruff still present, Oystercatcher, usual Teal, Shoveler and Lapwing and a Little Egret.

Bunk: a Merlin (f) flew through, Oystercatcher, 2 Stonechat, Sparrowhawk, 25+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 6 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 8 Tufted Duck, 60+ Lapwing, 100+ Starling, c80 Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing, a Grey Wagtail, 9 Pied Wagtail, 7 Chiffchaff and a Blackcap.

AD & PC.

Stonechat

Oystercatcher courtesy Alan

Ruff ↕ courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Starling

A wet one

All day rain, 8°, light to breezy WNW.

Merlin seen hunting Starlings over the village, pre roost. Plus a Sparrowhawk. Per Geoff Wyatt.

Grey days

Overcast, 6°, light S.

Another dull, grey day, with Lollingdon and the Lees area covered.

4 Stonechat (all, quite mobile), several Skylark flocks totalling 100+ birds, a Reed Bunting, a Bullfinch, 40 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare, a Common Snipe, c350 Lapwing, c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, c150 Black-headed Gull, 6 Shoveler, c30 Teal, 5 Grey Heron etc.

Tony W saw a female Merlin out Lollingdon way yesterday.

2 Blackcap, regular on a feeder in Cross Roads.  

Moreton floods: 2 Shelduck, c100 Lapwing, c5 Snipe and c200 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

AD & PC.

Roe Deer

Shelduck courtesy Alan

Unfortunately, always distant Stonechat

A Dismal day

Overcast with some light rain, 6°, light SE.

A dismal day and the birding wasn’t much better.

Plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing around along the Bunk area, a Sparrowhawk, a Chiffchaff and 3 Grey Wagtail of note.

Yesterday a male Merlin seen on Cholsey Hill. Per Geoff Wyatt.

Bunk & Lollingdon

Sunny periods and light showers, 17°, breezy S.

Lollingdon fairly quiet again. Alan found a Ringed Plover and 7 Lapwing on floods between Aston and Lollingdon along with c350 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Sparrowhawk, Meadow Pipit, several Chiffchaff, a Blackcap and Corn Bunting.

A female Merlin seen along the Bunk and flew off towards Cholsey Hill and in the process put up c80 Meadow Pipit and 20+ Skylark, plus 2 Swallow hawking over CSW.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. Painted Lady and Small Tortoiseshell. Per RJ.

AD, TW, RJ & PC.

Ringed Plover courtesy Alan ↕

A raucous Rook 

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.

Its stopped raining

Cloudy then brightening up, 7°, light NW.

Alan along the Bunk with 3 Chiffchaff at CSW, 6 Teal and a Cormorant on a flood.

Loads of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling on the fields plus a Little Egret.

Goldcrest, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Meadow Pipit, Little Owl, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk and Grey Wagtail.

I took a muddy and wet walk out to Lollingdon. A Chiffchaff at the Bullshole and 2 Raven over Little Lollingdon.

A female Merlin flew through spooking good numbers of Fieldfare and 50+ Redwing.

Several Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting and 5 Corn Bunting noted.

Mammals: 13 Roe Deer.

Nuthatch

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Chiffchaffs

Breezy and sunny, 13°, moderate WSW.

Good to see Roger and Sue along the Bunk line today and as bonus they found 2 Siberian Chiffchaff as well as several Common Chiffchaff. Also a Merlin seen in the area a couple of day prior. Cheers.

Alan also found several Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest along Green Lane.

A flock of Gulls loafing in one of the fields until dispersed by a low flying Buzzard consisted of Lesser Blackback, Herring and Black-headed.

A Little Egret seen on the flood by Bunk Bridge and a Goldcrest nearby plus a scattering of Winter Thrushes and Starling.

Siberian "Tristis" Chiffchaff courtesy Roger Wyatt

Common Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Goldcrest courtesy Alan

Little Egret

Herring Gull courtesy Alan

Yellow-legged Gull courtesy Alan (from a few days earlier)

"tail-less" Red Kite and other predators

Sunny spells, 11°, light SSE.

The local Starling murmuration’s are beginning to attract the attention of some predators.

This evening both Merlin and Sparrowhawk we noted attending and subsequently the Merlin left carrying a prey item. Per Geoff Wyatt.

As for the rest of the day, rather quiet elsewhere with the usual out at Lollingdon and the river.

The “tail-less” Red Kite seen again plus Treecreeper and Nuthatch.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Red Kite courtesy Alan.

  Richard Broughton has identified this Kite as a 1st winter bird, so it is not the one we have seen over the last few years. This bird also has no pygostyle, which makes it a very interesting condition to find in 2 separate birds?

Lollingdon

Sunny with rain later, 11°, breezy SW.

An area between Lollingdon and Aston covered today by both Alan and myself and quite a productive day.

A Redshank (1st of the year), 11 Lapwing, a Little Egret, a Water Rail, , 6 Stonechat, a Little Owl, 1 possibly 2 Raven, 12+ Pied Wagtail, several Meadow Pipit, good numbers of Skylark and several Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting.

A female Merlin landed on the flooded field briefly and started to drink but was eventually chased off by a couple of Gulls.

Good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing and an increase in Blackbird numbers, 2 Kestrel, several hundred Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull and c300 Starling.

Garden also busy late afternoon, with Sparrowhawk, Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, both Collared and Stock Dove and assorted Finch and Tit species.

Several Siskin yesterday, Caps Lane. Per Tony Rayner and also yesterday along Bunk: Raven over, several Redpoll, Grey Wagtail and Common Snipe. Per Alan.

Photos courtesy Alan.

Wet 'n Windy

Light showers and windy, 17°, breezy SW.

The bird of the day for me was a gorgeous male Merlin seen skimming low and fast over the fields along the Bunk line before towering high over the church. On its passage it put up a few Meadow Pipit and Skylark but presumably not hunting.

A single Swallow and 2 House Martin battling thru the wind and several Chiffchaff still around and a couple of Jay.

Alan was along the river area with several Swallow and House Martin, plus Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Goldcrest, Kingfisher and a Stonechat. Later along the Bunk line were 5 Grey Wagtail, 40’ish House Martin and several Swallow.

2 Siskin in a garden yesterday. Per Richard James.

Dragonflies: poss Migrant Hawker and a Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Peacock in a sheltered area of the garden.

Insects: 2 Hornet.

Alan and Paul.

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan