Is it Spring yet?

Overcast, 14°, mod W.

Lollingdon Hill was somewhat quiet with just a small flock of Linnet and Goldfinch feeding on Dandelion seeds and several Skylark in song.

Nearby a male Common Redstart, heard calling and then flew off towards the Amwell Spring area.

The Lollingdon flood is now the mud, as it mainly dried up. Just 2 Lapwing in the vicinity.

On the walk out, a Common Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, 9 Chiffchaff, 4 Yellowhammer and 10 Fieldfare.

Geoff Wyatt had 2 Ringed Plover fly north over Ilges Lane repeatedly making alarm calls. A Sparrowhawk had just flown over heading north with Starlings mobbing and alarm calling.

A Swallow over Church Road c18:00 and Loren had one cross her path on Cholsey Hill a little earlier and a Raven heard “kronking” over home at 19:30.

Butterflies: very few on the wing, Brimstone, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Bunk

Mainly cloudy with few sunny spells, 11°, light SSW.

A walk along the Bunk trail to the Gravel pit.

7 Chiffchaff on walk with 3 in song, 1 in the garden 1 at CSW and another at the GP.

Gravel pit had a Little Ringed Plover, 8 Shoveler, 3 Gadwall, 4 Lapwing, c100 Lesser Blackback Gull, 10 Black-headed Gull and a Common Gull.

A Raven, Sparrowhawk and 2 Meadow Pipit over.

A Tawny Owl calling nearby, a Grey Heron, c20 Fieldfare and 2 Redwing and a singing Goldcrest and Blackcap.

Lollingdon floods

Sunny spells, 6°, light SSE.

Another walk out to the Lollingdon floods: c80 Lesser Blackback Gull, 9 Black-headed Gull and 2 Common Gull, a Little Egret, 3 Common Snipe and 67 Lapwing.

Several hundred Fieldfare and c50 Redwing, 2 Raven, a Chiffchaff and 2-3 Goldcrest etc.

Lollingdon

Sunny periods, 11°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon, again pretty quiet: 2 Stonechat, 5 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, 3 Chiffchaff, 6 Yellowhammer, 22 Meadow Pipit, 2 Raven and a Common Snipe etc.

Quiet start to October

Mainly cloudy, 17°, light SSW.

2 Stonechat out at Lollingdon, 3 Raven, Sparrowhawk, a Kingfisher, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 4 Yellowhammer, several Siskin, 9 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Peacock.

Bunk

Overcast, 15°, light E.

Bunk area: c15 Swallow and 50+ House Martin over. 14 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, 2 Yellowhammer, 7 Siskin, 14 Greenfinch, 2 Grey Wagtail, c20 Pied Wagtail, 6 Meadow Pipit, a Curlew over, 2 Raven, 2 Grey Heron, 6 Cormorant over, 2 Egyptian Geese, several Greylag and Canada Geese etc.

Tawny Owl in garden @ 21:10.  

Butterflies: 2 Red Admiral.

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.

Garden stuff

Sunny, 28°, light NNW.

I deemed it too hot to go walking today so spent some time just sat in the garden keeping an eye on a 180° section of sky.

Apart from the 6 House Martin still present feeding young I had the following overhead. A single Swallow, 11 Swift, 3 Raven, a Hobby, a Peregrine, a Kestrel, a Mallard, c100 Lesser Blackback Gull and several Red Kite and Buzzard.

A Common Whitethroat, Coal Tit, Goldcrest and Chiffchaff in the garden along with the usual visitors.

A Willow Warbler singing from a silver Birch on the Station Road allotments for the last few mornings. Per Richard James.

Dragonflies: A Southern Hawker and 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Stonechats

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light SSW.

Still c100 Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill today but Grey Plover not seen.

Pretty quiet along the Bunk today, 2 Raven, a Grey Wagtail, a Chiffchaff, a Cormorant over, 2 Siskin over, a Yellowhammer, 50+ Redwing, c100 Meadow Pipit, 8 Pied Wagtail and 20+ Skylark.

Had not long got back home when Alan messaged me to say he had found a Stonechat near the farm. So as its not too far I went out again and came across a male and female in the same area. Alan also found another out towards the Lees and 2 on the farm track south of the main-line railway but we think these were the 2 initially on the north side. 

1000+ Wood Pigeon noted in the area.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Small White.

AD & PC.

Male Stonechat courtesy Alan

Golden Plover courtesy Alan

Female Stonechat (at distance and into the sun)

The Hill

Cloudy with rain showers, 21°, light NNE.

A visit to Lollingdon today: 1 Common Redstart, 1 Willow Warbler, 5-6 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, c10 Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Yellowhammer, 3 Raven over and a few small flocks of Swallow and House Martin and 2 Swift.

Mammal: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: singles of Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: very few, Small White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Raven ↕

Bunk

Sunny, 29°, breezy SW.

Probably not the best time to go birding, early afternoon on a hot day but there you go.

Needless to say rather quiet along the Bunk area. Good numbers of Chiffchaff around and a couple of Blackcap.

A flock of 30+ Linnet near the Green Lane area and 2 Raven over.

A few small flocks of Swallow and House Martin appeared to be passing through and a trickle of Lesser Blackback Gull moving. Maybe looking for fields being ploughed.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: a single Banded Demoiselle, a few Azure and Common Blue Damsel and a single Migrant Hawker and 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: still very low numbers: 1 Brimstone, a few Large and Small White, 2 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue and several Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Holly Blue

A Cuckoo at last!

Sunshine, 20°, light NE.

At last. Alan has finally confirmed (2) Cuckoo in Cholsey! Had several reports of Cuckoo heard along the river but no specifics, so could have been up to a kilometre or more away.

Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Swallow, Swift, House Martin, Common Whitethroat and a Raven over.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Four Spotted Chaser, Hairy Dragonfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Painted Lady, Peacock & Small Heath.

AD.

A few new ones for the year

Mainly cloudy, 15°, breezy SE.

 
Bunk, Lollingdon and River areas covered. Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, 20+ Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 8+ Blackcap, Goldcrest, 6 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, a Bullfinch, 2-3 Corn Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer, a few Reed Bunting, Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, 6+ Lapwing, Water Rail, 2 Herring Gull and a Raven etc.

Lots of Buzzard in the air today with several displaying plus a Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Peregrine.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock.

AD & PC.

Common Whitethroat courtesy Alan

Small Tortoiseshell

Blackcap courtesy Alan

Corn Bunting courtesy Alan

Mistle Thrush

Showers & Sunshine

Showers and Sunshine, 15°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon, Bunk Line and River.

Our first Swallow of the year noted heading north over the Bunk line area.

Good numbers of Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Blackcap, a Wheatear, 2 Raven, 8 Lapwing, several Pied Wagtail, a handful of Siskin over, 6 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting and a Grey Heron.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: plenty of Peacock and a single Small Tortoiseshell.

AD & PC.

Raven

Wheatear

Grey Heron

Peacock

A break in the weather

Light to heavy rain showers, 10°, light to breezy SW.

My first time out this year as the weather has been rather inclement with several storms passing through. Waited in this morning for the weather to clear. Very muddy underfoot and a lot of flood areas around. Alan also out and we covered the Bunk line and the river areas.

A few species of note: 3 Goose Species, Teal, Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Grey Heron, Sparrowhawk, Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher, 30+ Pied Wagtail, 200+ Fieldfare, c50 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush (1 in song), Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Raven, 200+ Starling and 6 Yellowhammer.

63 species so far this year.

Sparrowhawk courtesy Alan

A Fieldfare with an eye condition. not sure what it is? Possibly Avian Pox. Photo courtesy Alan.

Boxing Day

Cloudy, 10°, light SE.

A short drive down to Portland Bill for breakfast then a bit of birding.

3 Fieldfare in-off, a Redwing and 2 Stonechat in the Crown Fields, 4-5 Raven, 2 Buzzard, several Rock Pipit, a Shelduck flew east and an Oystercatcher over the Obs.

On the sea, a steady flow of Guillemot back and forth, 20+ Gannet, a handful of Common Scoter and a Diver (pos Black-throated).

A Ringed Plover heard flying over Rodwell @ 19:00.

Thrushes everywhere

Sunny spells, 10°, light SSW.

Although still fairly quiet I managed a total of just under 60 species in 4.5 hours from the garden and out along the Bunk line today.

Many Fieldfare and Redwing (500+ birds), 100+ Starling, a couple of small Siskin flocks overhead, 43 Lapwing, a Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Raven, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, 3 Gull species, etc, etc.

Tony W found our first Bullfinch of the year yesterday near Bow Bridge. A bit concerning that no breeding sites found this year and yesterday’s bird was maybe a transient individual.

Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter.

One of the Starling flocks feeding near the Cattle

A few of the many Fieldfare

A little quiet

Mainly cloudy, 9°, breezy NW.

Both along Bunk Line today but at different times:

Little Egret, 2 Raven, good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing, c20 Meadow Pipit, c30 Pied Wagtail, 10 Yellowhammer, 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull, c50 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 1 Grey Heron, c70 Egyptian Geese and the same of Canada Geese.

Tony W saw the Geese flying from the river over Caps Lane and towards the Bunk Line area earlier.

Tony also had 4 Chiffchaff with a Tit flock at Bow Bridge.

Fieldfare (again)

Redwing & Fieldfare

Raven in the twilight

Bunk

Mainly cloudy with a few showers, 12°, breezy SW.

Bunk, per Alan:

A Dunlin in flooded field near Green Lane, 2 Little Egret (same field), Fieldfare, Redwing, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Raven, Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull.

Dunlin courtesy Alan

Raven courtesy Alan ↕

Grey Heron courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Little Egret courtesy Alan

A quiet start to November

A mixed bag today with cloudy skies, sunshine and showers, 12°, breezy SW.

Pretty quiet out at Lollingdon today. A mixed flock of c100 birds, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit on the flooded field. A scattering of Fieldfare, Redwing, Starling and Skylark, the odd Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting, a Grey Wagtail, and 2 Raven etc.

River area, per Alan: Mistle Thrush singing, Water Rail, Cetti’s Warbler, usual Geese, Meadow Pipit, Siskin over, Sparrowhawk, Fieldfare, Redwing, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail and Kingfisher.

Dragonflies: Common Darter still relatively abundant on suitable areas.

Pied Wagtail ↕