More Waders

Mainly sunny, 16°, light S.

Lollingdon threw up another wader today with Alan finding a Curlew out on the flood. 2 Little Ringed Plover, a Common Snipe present and a flyover Redshank.

Several singing Chiffchaff nearby.

Bunk area: 6-8 Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, 40+ Fieldfare, 20+ Redwing, 38 Lapwing, an Oystercatcher, 5 Gadwall, 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, a Little Owl and the usual Gulls.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone.

AD & PC.

Curlew courtesy Alan

Yellowhammer

Red Kite collecting nest material

A quiet one

Light rain a.m., then overcast, 10°, light NNE.

Feels like a change in the weather has put the mockers on things.

Lollingdon fairly quiet, a Redshank of note and the usuals.

Bunk line very quiet, c6 Chiffchaff, 3 Redwing, Grey Wagtail, 24 Lapwing, 12 Tufted Duck, very few Gulls.

AD & PC.

One of several Green Woodpecker seen.

A Buzzard perching up on the Herring Gulls favourite perch that didn't go down too well with the Gulls.

Ruff times

Sunny then clouding up, 13°, light SSE.

Lollingdon: Alan out earlier and the 3 Ruff back on the Lollingdon flood. They are ranging from Lollingdon to the floods out towards Aston. 2 Redshank over, Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Lapwing, Little Egret, Goldcrest and Treecreeper.

I checked out the hill later but relatively quiet, a flock of Fieldfare and Starling with the sheep plus a few Pied Wagtail and Skylark. After, I went down to the flood. c60 Lapwing, 21 Shoveler, 6 Teal and a little later the 3 Ruff turned up.

As it was sunny I thought I’d go back to the Bunk area and at least 5 Chiffchaff present, feeding along the hedgerow at the south west corner of CSW. A Common Snipe over and a Blackcap.

Ruff & Chiffchaff

Waders

A sunny day, 10°, light NE.

A bit of a “Wader fest” on Lollingdon floods today. not often that we have had waders turn up in Cholsey but today found by Alan: 3 Redshank, 3 Ruff ( 2nd record), a Dunlin and a Ringed Plover along with c200 Lapwing, c10 Shoveler, 6 Teal, c100 Black-headed Gull and c50 Lesser Blackback Gull.

2 Raven, 2 Yellowhammer and a Blackcap in song.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

AD, MM, PC & RB.

Ruff courtesy Alan

Ruff (1st record) and Lapwing, January 2013, courtesy Richard Broughton

Out on the floods

Hazy sunshine, 9°, light WSW.

Lollingdon floods and the Long Ditch area covered today: 5 Stonechat (3m & 2f), 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Mistle Thrush, good numbers of both Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Kingfisher, 40+ Skylark, several Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail, a Common Snipe, c400 Lapwing, c250 Black-headed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 1 Common Gull and 400+ Lesser Blackback Gull.

A Redshank heard yesterday by Alan from the flooded area.

First 3 pics, all Lapwing, 4th, 2 Mistle Thrush.

Redshanks

Sunny spells, 4°, light NE.

Lollingdon was a bit of a washout today. Probably due to someone parked up in a pickup in the middle of the south side of the hill sporting a high-powered air rifle.

Taking the odd shot at a target he had place approx. 20m in front of the vehicle.

Subsequently there was not a single bird on the hill!

Nearby, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing and an increased number of Blackbird.

A single Grey Wagtail and Sparrowhawk noted.

Alan along the Bunk line/Cholsey Hill area: Golden Plover heard calling but not seen, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting.

Also a Redshank in the area on floods with 2 Common Snipe and 2 more Redshank nearby.

Redshank courtesy Alan ↕

Grey Wagtail

Another wet one

Clear at first then rain, 11°, breezy SSW.

Both Alan and myself out along the Bunk line.  

Another rainy day concentrated Hirundines over the flooded areas with c50 Swallow plus several House Martin and Sand Martin.

A Redshank heard but not seen, 2 Willow Warbler in song plus 1-2 Blackcap and several Chiffchaff, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Willow Warbler, Blackcap & Wagtail courtesy Alan

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.

Don’t hold your breath but spring may be here.

Sunny, 10º, light N, still chilly out of the sun.

A couple of hours on Lollingdon hill produced at least one surprise of a Redshank that flew over calling. Where did that come from?

Five Wheatear (3♂, 2♀) present feeding on the hill with one of the ♀’s there flycatching (flycatcher style) quite frequently.

A single Fieldfare on the hill feeding with a small flock of seven Starling, three Meadow Pipit and a flock of twenty plus Starling flew west.

Two Yellowhammer and two Corn Bunting also present in the hedgerow and two Chiffchaff seen, one in either hedgerow (east and west).

A Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly both noted.

Great-spotted Woodpecker and Blackcap still visiting garden.