A good day for Butterflies

Cloudy with few sunny spells, 23°, fresh SE.

Bunk line walk.

Little Ringed Plover heard calling at gravel pit and Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow and Swift feeding overhead.

Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, and Garden Warbler.

A single Lapwing, Kestrel and 4 Yellowhammer and 3 Herring Gull and 5 Black-headed Gull at CSW.

“Hobby low over the garden this morning. Reed Warbler singing on the brook just off Church Rd just now, and 5 Mallard families there (currently 32 ducklings in total), with another nest in our garden due to hatch this week. Grey Wagtails on 2nd brood at Church Rd/brook bridge (first was successful). Nuthatch calling yesterday.

Goldcrest bred again alongside our garden – fledglings were noisy all last week. Loads of Chub and Minnow in the brook – there’s also been a big shoal of Minnow spawning at the Bullshole tunnel, with Chub hunting them. Otter scats in the garden and on the steps into the brook in the meadow.” Per Richard Broughton.

Mammals: Muntjac Deer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly and a Hairy Dragonfly.

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

Twin-lobed Deer Fly Chrysops relictus

Pretty quiet

Rain at first then brightening, 19°, fresh SW.

Still windy after a wet start and not much going on. A patchy sea-watch and a couple of brief walks but very little of note.

A Willow Warbler, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Wheatear, a Grey Wagtail over and 7 Swallow and 9 Sand Martin. A Barn Owl late evening and a Grey Heron.

Sea-watch: 4 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Fulmar, 2 Common Scoter and a few Kittiwake along with good numbers of Gannet.

Mammals: Common Pipistrelle.  

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

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

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

A poor day for some

Foggy at first then sunshine, 16°, light SW.

A sea watch was out of the question until after 09:00 as the fog had blown in overnight and made viewing conditions impossible. Even when it lifted there was very little noted other than a Red-throated Diver and 3-4 Whimbrel.

Elsewhere was just as poor although singles of Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Flycatcher was slightly uplifting and a supporting cast of 5 Swallow, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat and 2 Wheatear made for a very poor day list.

On the other hand, insects were abundant in the warm sunshine.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Wall Brown and Speckled Wood.

Moths: a couple from the traps: Blairs Mocha and Beautiful Marbled.

Still, we enjoyed the sunny weather.

Portland: Day 2

Sunny spells, 18°, fresh W.

The day dawned with limited expectations, the sea was relatively quiet and overhead passage was fairly low.

At around 07:00 we started to see a small passage of Shearwaters and then by 07:30 it really kicked off.

The following are rough totals: c700 Great Shearwater (all within 30 minutes), in excess of 500 Manx Shearwater, c15 Balearic Shearwater and 4 Sooty Shearwater.

Plus, 3 Great Skua, 8 Arctic Skua, c50 Sandwich Tern, c20 Common/Arctic Tern, 4 Mediterranean Gull, 200+ Gannet, c30 Kittiwake and c20 Auk sp.

The sea movement petered out towards midday so attention focussed on land birds.

A Marsh Harrier, 3 Raven, a Little Owl, a Short-eared Owl (in, off the sea), a couple of Oystercatcher, 14 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 15 Swallow, 2 House Martin, 5 Sand Martin, c40 Meadow Pipit, 1 Tree Pipit, 8 Wheatear, 3 Whinchat, 1 Stonechat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler and 1 Firecrest.

A small pod of Common Dolphin offshore and a couple of Blue-fin Tuna sightings.

Dragonflies: Emperor and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Sunrise

Firecrest

Convolvulus Hawk Moth

Marsh Harrier

Wheatear (above & below)

Raven

Little Owl

Painted Lady

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 24°, light SW.

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

Bunk & River

Sunny spells, 18°, light SSE.

Bunk line relatively quiet today apart from SSEN contractors chopping tops from trees and bushes under some power cables: Poor timing!

Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Swift, Swallow, House Martin and Sparrowhawk.

No change at the river re birds: Raven over, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Goldcrest, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Black-headed Gull, Sparrowhawk, Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Broad-bodied Chaser and Four-spot Chaser. A possible Downy Emerald seen but not re-located to confirm ID.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Peacock and Small Heath.

AD & PC.

Hairy Dragonfly courtesy Alan

Great-spotted Woodpecker

A couple of Swallow resting up

Painted Lady courtesy Alan

Common Blue courtesy Alan

River

Sunny periods, 22°, light S.

Alan along the river and 2 new for the year*: Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Kingfisher, Sedge Warbler, Nuthatch, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin and Swift.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, *Small Red eyed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor, Brown Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emerald Damselfly, Ruddy Darter and Common Darter.

Butterflies: *Essex Skipper, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Comma, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and Small Heath.

All pics courtesy Alan

Yellow Wagtail

Gatekeeper

Emerald Damselfly

Ruddy Darter

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Brimstone

Essex Skipper

RNP

Mainly sunny, 18°, light SSW.

A phone call from Tony Williams this morning alerting me to a Ring-necked Parakeet (Rose-ringed Parakeet) on the Station Road allotments.

An immature (?) bird was present and moving between gardens in Sandy Lane and the allotments.

I was in no hurry to see this bird so I didn’t turn up until around midday and ended up not seeing it. However, Alan was present and had managed a few photos and a video grab. It may well still be in the area as there is plenty of fruit around.

Fortunately a scarce species in Cholsey as they are noisy and competitive with native species.

Loren laughed at me when I said I would take a look, as when she lived in Surrey, she had hundreds flyover every day. Common as muck!

also a Jay present nearby.  

Butterflies: a well-worn Painted Lady found by Jane Dawson on the allotments.

Bunk Line again

Mainly sunny, 22°, light ENE.

Both along Bunk line again and still relatively quiet.

At least 1 Spotted Flycatcher present, good numbers of Chiffchaff and several Common Whitethroat and Blackcap present.

A good number of Linnet around plus a few Yellowhammer, also 2 Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk, a couple of Jay and a Grey Heron.

Again plenty of House Martin (c100) and Swallow (c50) from the Church end to the Winterbrook end.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth in both our gardens. It has been a good year for this migrant moth and the possibility of it colonising the UK if current climate conditions prevail over future years.

Spotted Flycatcher courtesy Alan

Southern Hawker courtesy Alan

Painted Ladies

Sunny intervals, 19°, light S.

Appear to have a small influx of Painted Lady butterflies. With 1 in the garden yesterday and another at Bow Bridge (per JD) and 3 today out at Lollingdon and Alan had at least 1 more along the river.

A Hairy Dragonfly out at Lollingdon today as well, first one I recall out there.

The hill was fairly quiet birdwise, the usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

Nearby a Great-spotted Woodpecker nest with young, a Little Owl, 3-4 Yellow Wagtail and a Lesser Whitethroat.

River/Marsh: A Lesser Whitethroat plus the regulars.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Club-tailed Dragonfly and Four-spotted Chaser.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Green-veined White, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Alan & Paul.

Painted Lady

Yellow Wagtail

Great-spotted Woodpecker (f) delivering food.

Azure Damselfly courtesy Alan

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Little Egret

Sunny intervals, 20°, light ENE.

2 Wheatear still out at Lollingdon, 2 Raven over along with a single Yellow Wagtail.

A couple of Chiffchaff and Blackcap were the only warblers noted today. And a Little Egret out between the railway and Little Lollingdon.

A Raven and a Yellow Wagtail over Silly Bridge and all the usual along Green Lane etc. Per Alan.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker (AD) & Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Brimstone, several Large White, 2 Small White,  Red Admiral (AD), Painted Lady (AD), several Speckled Wood & 2 Meadow Brown.

Little Egret

Wheatear