Another wet one

Sunshine and showers, 17°, fresh SW.

Along the Bunk Line this afternoon and fortunately missed most of the rain with a thunder storm passing a few kilometres to the east, then another passing closer but to the west.

A Wheatear, 2 Yellow Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, 3 Meadow Pipit, 16 Chiffchaff (incl 2 in garden), 2 Blackcap, a single Common Whitethroat, 2 Yellowhammer, 26 Swallow, 30 House Martin, a single Sand Martin, 3 Raven etc.

Dragonflies: A Common Blue Damsel and a Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: few: Large and Small White, 6 Red Admiral, a Speckled Wood and a Meadow Brown.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

A wet one

Variable cloud and heavy showers, 16°, light to moderate S.

A trip out to Lollingdon and birding in between the rain showers.

Managed to cover most of the hill area: a Spotted Flycatcher, a Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Yellow Wagtail overhead, 2 Wheatear, 2 Stonechat, a Whinchat, Raven etc and c50 Swallow and 6 House Martin over.

A few Geese flying over the garden early evening, 20+ Canada, 20+ Greylag and at least 1 Egyptian Goose.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

A warm one

Sunny, 27°, fresh SSE.

Fairly quiet out today. singles of Common Redstart, Whinchat and Wheatear out at Lollingdon and 3 Swallow over. Nearby, 3 Blackcap, 2 Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff and a Tit flock with Coal Tit and Nuthatch present.

50+ House Martin and a Yellow Wagtail over Church Road.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: very few. Several Whites, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

A regular garden visitor

Portland Night Heron

Sunny spells, 15°, light W.

The sea-watch was interrupted by the arrival of a Black-crowned Night Heron that came in off the sea and perched up on the pulpit rock at Portland Bill. Most people at the Obs left immediately and shot down to the bill but by the time I had put my boots on etc the message came through that the bird had flown. Luckily for me it was relocated on the East Cliffs below the Obs, so managed to catch up with it. It remained until about 17:30 when it was seen to fly off high east.

Apart from that the day was pretty slow with few other birds noted.

Another good bird was a Northern (Greenland) Wheatear, confirmed by biometrics, that was caught, ringed and released along with several other Wheatear seen.

A flock of 20+ Sanderling flew past, an Arctic Skua, Great-crested Grebe, and several Manx Shearwater.

Land wise: 3 Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 3 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Stonechat, 2 Swift and c15 Swallow.

Dragonflies and Butterflies were the same as the past 2 days.

Night Heron 

"Greenland" Wheatear

Knot Grass

Cholsey

Sunny at first then mostly cloudy, 15°, light S.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River/Marsh:

6 Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, 4 Black-headed Gull, 20+ Swallow, 3+ House Martin, 14+ Sand Martin, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, many Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 5+ Blackcap, 2+ Common Whitethroat, 3 Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan ↕

Wheatears

Cloudy with occasional sunshine, 13°, fresh S.

Lollingdon, Marsh and Bunk areas:

3 Wheatear, 2 Common Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, Reed Warbler, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, 5 Yellowhammer, 6 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 4 Lapwing,  Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, and 2 Little Ringed Plover.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

AD & PC.

Wheatear

Wheatear courtesy Alan ↕

Brown Hare

More sunshine

Sunshiny day, 17°, light ENE.

Lollingdon, River and Bunk areas: Another sunny day but we need some rain.

Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Mistle Thrush, Swallow, Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Lapwing, 8 Tufted Duck, a Teal and a Little Egret on Church road flood again.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

AD, MM, PC & RB.

Kestrel

Roe Deer

Wren

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Peacock courtesy Alan

A bit of a mix

Sunny, 16°, breezy ENE.

Lollingdon, River and Bunk:

Wheatear, 2 Swallow, a Green Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover, Little Egret, 16 Shoveler, 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Teal, 2 Little Grebe, a Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, 4 Common Gull, 2 Cetti’s Warbler and 2 Redwing.

AD & PC.

Spring on its way

Sunshine, 16°, light E.

Lollingdon, Bunk and Marsh:

Our first Wheatear of the year out at Lollingdon today, plus 2 Corn Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting, a couple of Meadow Pipit, c20 Fieldfare, 6 Teal and c20 Lapwing.

3 Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail and Reed Bunting on the Marsh.

Bunk: 21 Lapwing, 4 Shoveler, 8 Tufted Duck, 2 Teal, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Jay, 6 Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron, Little Egret and a Little Owl.

Chiffchaff, everywhere.

A Swallow, 2 Gadwall and 2 Oystercatcher over the weekend.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White and Peacock.

AD, PC & TW.

Portland: Day 6.

Sunny, 16°, light WNW.

Skipped a sea watch today as little appeared to be happening so concentrated more on the land.

Quite a good selection with a couple of reasonable figures.

Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit over, 1 Whimbrel, 100+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 White Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, 8 Stonechat, a Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 17 Chiffchaff, 200+ Swallow, c40 House Martin and 26 Sand Martin.

Mammals: Red Fox & Grey Seal.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Small Blue, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood & Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Good numbers of Blue-fin Tuna offshore.

Sunrise

Wheatear mid jump

Wheatear

Linnet

Stonechat (above & below)

Angle Shade Moth landed on my binoculars, Was not aware until I saw a fuzzy shape through them.

Lollingdon

Sunny, 18°, light WNW.

Lollingdon: Lots of Hirundines moving through, c60 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Wheatear, 2 Grey Wagtail, many Pied Wagtail, many Meadow Pipit, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, and Kingfisher.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral, Comma and Painted Lady.

Per Alan Dawson.

Wheatear

Yellow Wagtail

Singing in the rain

Heavy rain and Thunder, 17°, breezy NE.

Little noted today due to the inclement weather.

Both Swallow and House Martin passage noted during drier spells but not a lot else in the air.

Alan found a Wheatear along the Bunk area this morning.

A few Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a single Common Whitethroat this afternoon. One Chiffchaff in full song during the rain.

Also Sparrowhawk, Yellowhammer etc.

Negative for Dragonflies and Butterflies.

Juv Yellowhammer courtesy Alan

Box Moth (dark form) courtesy Alan

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 24°, light SW.

Lollingdon, 3 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat & a Painted Lady. Per Alan.

Bunk & Lollingdon.

Sunny spells, 13°, breezy S.

Lollingdon: Wheatear, Swallow.

Bunk: Little Egret on flood opposite school, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Gadwall.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly.

Butterflies: Green-veined White.

Sightings and photos courtesy Alan.

Day 2: Slow start

Sunny, 13°, light to breezy NE.

A bitty sea watch and a good day’s birding. Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, a couple of Manx Shearwater, 2 Canada Geese, a Fulmar plus usual Auk species, Shag and Gannet.

On land: 2 Common Redstart, a Black Redstart, 3 Wheatear, a Whinchat, a Stonechat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, several Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, 20+ Swallow, 2 Little Owl, 3+ Raven and a Whimbrel.

Butterflies: Small White, Holly Blue and Red Admiral.

Lesser Whitethroat

Stonechat

2 Little Owl

2 of a flock of 18 Carrion Crow

Angle Shades

Bunk & Lollingdon

Sunny spells and showers,13°, breezy NW.

Bunk: Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Treecreeper, 2 Common Sandpiper, Swallow, Common Whitethroat and Little Egret.

Lollingdon: 4 Wheatear, Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

photos courtesy Alan

Little Egret

Oystercatcher

Sunny but cool

Sunny periods, 11°, breezy NW.

Usual areas covered today: 4 Wheatear, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Willow Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler, several Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 10+ Swallow, 3 House Martin, 7 Sand Martin, a Bullfinch, 5 Yellowhammer, a Common Sandpiper, several Lapwing, 8 Lesser Blackback Gull, a Grey Heron, a Cormorant etc.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Red Admiral and Peacock.

AD & PC.

Photos courtesy Alan

Yellow Wagtail

Large Red Damsel

Wheatear

A blustery day

Rain at first then sunny, 10°, blustery SW.

Lollingdon and Bunk area:

3 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Wheatear, a Common Redstart, Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 10+ Swallow, c50 House Martin, 6 Lapwing, 3 Lesser Blackback Gull and a Sparrowhawk.

Whilst Alan was watching the Yellow Wagtails and Pied Wagtails, a Sparrowhawk appeared and went for one of the Yellow Wagtail. It missed but took a Pied Wagtail that was present.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

AD & PC.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan