Slightly better

Sunny spells, 20°, fresh WNW.

A slightly better day but passerine migration at a minimum.

4 Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, a Spotted Flycatcher, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 18 Swallow, 4 Sand Martin and a Sparrowhawk.

The sea was not much better, with singles of Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, 2 Common Tern, 6 Sandwich Tern, 8 Fulmar and 50+ Kittiwake etc.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

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

Moths: 3 Hawkmoths, same as yesterday.

Wind, Rain & Sun

Rain & Shine, 17°, strong WSW.

Squally rain showers and blustery winds put paid to any serious birding today but this is Portland and there were a few things noted.

A Pied Flycatcher appeared in one of the only two nets deployed today, ringed and released.

A Fircrest that was very elusive in the front garden, a Common Whitethroat nearby, a flyover Grey Wagtail and a few Willow Warbler was about it.

The sea fared no better with just a couple of Balearic Shearwater amongst the quantity of Gannet passing through.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White and Speckled Wood.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Convolvulus Hawkmoth, Striped Hawkmoth etc.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth courtesy Loren.

Common Darter

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Pied Flycatcher

Speckled Wood

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Cooler & Windier, with a few birds turning up

Sunny periods, 14°, breezy NE.

Another slow day with few migrants noted, windier and colder than of late.

The pick of an intermittent sea watch produced 20+ Manx Shearwater, a Great Northern Diver, an Arctic Skua and 7 Whimbrel.

Elsewhere: a Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Wheatear, Stonechat, c50 Swallow, 1 House Martin and a Swift.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Wall Brown.

Moths: A Striped Hawk Moth and a Sycamore.

Spotted Flycatcher

Striped Hawk Moth

Sycamore

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 11.

Sunny, 18°, breezy NE.

Managed a lay-in until 07:00 this morning as did not want to be too tired for the drive back home. We left for home around 12:30, so not a lot noted.

A brief intermittent sea watch with 15 Balearic Shearwater, 4 Teal and 4 Common Scoter.

A mass of Hirundines passed through with the bulk between 07:00 – 09:00.

An estimate of approx. 10,000 birds passed over the bill area with Swallow and House Martin in roughly equal numbers and possibly up to 50 Sand Martin.

Little Owl, 16 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Grey Wagtail, numbers of Meadow Pipit, 7 Chiffchaff, a Common Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher.

Butterflies: Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady and a possible Wall Brown.

Pied Flycatcher ↕

Little Owl

Sun Up

Last nights full Moon ↕

Portland: Day 10.

Sunny, 18°, light NE.

An on/off sea watch today and a little less walking.

5 Manx Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Arctic Skua, 100+ Kittiwake, 15 Knot, 3 Wigeon, 10+ Auk, many Gannet etc.

2 Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, 2 Sparrowhawk, a Short-eared Owl, a Little Owl, 300+ Swallow, 100+ House Martin, 30+ Sand Martin, 25 Yellow Wagtail, 12 Grey Wagtail, 19 “alba” Wagtail, c200 Meadow Pipit, 3 Tree Pipit, 20+ Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Whinchat, 3 Stonechat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 1 Pied Flycatcher, etc.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: fewer numbers of both Whites, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Many Blue-fin Tuna still feeding offshore.

Sunrise

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

Day 5: A little quieter

Mainly cloudy, 10°, Light N.

A little chilly still.

Sea-watch: an on-off sea-watch today, 2 Shelduck, 1 Arctic Skua, 2 Arctic Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 30+ Whimbrel and 10 Bar-tailed Godwit etc.

Land: a Brambling (f), 16 Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Blackcap, 30+ Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 2 House Martin and a high flying Hen Harrier in-off the sea.

A rather feisty Starling

Day 3: Improving

Mainly sunny, 12°, breezy NE.

A protracted sea-watch produced, 60+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Arctic Skua, 16 Common Scoter, 2 Sandwich Tern and a single Great Northern Diver.

The landward sightings became a little more diverse today with 5 Wheatear, a Stonechat, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 3 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Common Redstart, several Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Cuckoo, a Ring Ouzel, 40+ Swallow, 4 House Martin and a single Sand Martin.

Butterflies: a Small White, Green-veined White, Holly Blue and Peacock.

Pied Flycatcher (f)

Pied Fly still present

Sunny periods, 24°, light SW.

Just a quick visit along the Bunk line again today with both the Pied Flycatcher and Common Redstart still present. (seen by Alan & Michael earlier).

Also a good number of Swallow, House Martin and Yellow Wagtail present nearby.

Pied Flycatcher

Mainly cloudy, 21°, moderate SSE.

Pretty quiet on Lollingdon hill this morning with just a Common Redstart, a Kestrel and a few small flocks of Swallow moving thru when I got a call from Alan to say he had just found a Pied Flycatcher along the Bunk line.

Trekked all the way back and met Alan in the area where it was recently seen, only to find it had flown across the field to the hedgerow on the other side of the field. A quick scan picked it up just briefly before it disappeared again. After around 30 minutes Alan decided to check closer to CSW and I stayed put hoping it would turn up again.

After around 10 minutes Alan phoned to say he had just found a Common Redstart along the hedgerow. Shortly after that the Pied Flycatcher appeared back on its original area, so I waved Alan back and we managed to watch and photograph the bird for the next hour of so. Tony Williams also arrived on scene as it was his first for Cholsey and only the 3rd record in recent times for the parish.

Other birds present were loads of Swallow (20+), a few House Martin feeding over the cows and 10+ Yellow Wagtail, plus Jay, Grey Heron and Common Whitethroat.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Comma, Speckled Wood & Meadow Brown.

Pied Flycatcher courtesy Alan

Pied Flycatcher

                                    Pied Flycatcher

                                      Pied Flycatcher

                                     Pied Flycatcher

                                      Pied Flycatcher

Muntjac in garden

Pied Flycatcher courtesy Alan

Flycatchers

Mainly cloudy with the occasional sunny spell, 21°, breezy SW.

The hill was being blasted by a breezy south west wind today so I didn’t expect to find much. Just about the only birds was a single Mistle Thrush and 2 Kestrel.

c250 House Martin over the hill in 1.5 hours, including a flock of around 60 birds that were harried briefly by a Hobby. Unusually no Swallows just exclusively House Martins.

Down around the cow field was a different story and a nice surprise of a Pied Flycatcher.

I had been watching a few warblers when I noticed a Spotted Flycatcher low on one of the Oak trees in the cow field. Higher up in the tree I kept catching glimpses of another bird fly catching and very active. It took about 30 minutes before I got a good view and realised it was a Pied Flycatcher. I watched it for about 30 seconds before it flew out of sight. I then caught sight of it about 5 minutes later in the back of one of the Oaks only to disappear again. The Pied Fly tended to stay in the Oak canopy whereas the Spot Flys were fly catching from exposed perches.

Impossible to get a photo as I wanted to ID it first. I then phoned Tony W and Alan D who both arrived in around 30 minutes but unfortunately it was not seen again.

On what I saw I think the bird was a 1st winter!

Whilst watching the Flycatcher there were also other birds in the vicinity.

At least 3 Spotted Flycatcher (maybe more), 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 1 Common Whitethroat, 2-3 Willow Warbler and 10+ Chiffchaff.

Reptiles: 5 Common Lizard.

Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and 6 Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, 1 Small Copper and 5 Speckled Wood.

Spotted Flycatcher

Lesser Whitethroat

Spotted Flycatcher

 Common Lizard (above & below)

Small Copper

Rain then a few migrants

Heavy to light rain most of the morning becoming clearer but overcast, 16°, light NNW.

The sea was relatively quiet today, a steady stream of Gannet passing through with some feeding offshore, 40+ Manx Shearwater, 3 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Common Scoter, 6 Gadwall, 1 Cormorant and the odd Fulmar and Shag. Also 3 Oystercatcher and 3 Dunlin.

After the rain ceased a few land migrants and residents began to surface with 2 Raven, 1 Swift, 30+ Wheatear, 20+ Willow Warbler, a Grasshopper Warbler, a Blackcap, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit, 4 Common Redstart, a Black Redstart, 6 Stonechat, 3 Pied Flycatcher and 10+ Spotted Flycatcher.

Little Owls calling after dark.

1 possibly 2 Wryneck still present (not seen).

Butterflies: Few noted, Red Admiral and a few Large White.

Other insects were: Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Southern Oak Bush Cricket and a European Beewolf (Philanthus triangulum).