Bunk

Sunny, 26°, light to breezy SW.

A bit samey birdwise along the Bunk area: Little Ringed Plover and several Lapwing at the gravel pit plus a few Gulls.

3 Sand Martin feeding overhead along with Several Swallow (a few young on the wing) and House Martin and c30 Swift.

Usual Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

A flock of c30 Starling at CSW.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and Hairy Dragonfly. A probable Norfolk Hawker near gravel pit briefly.

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

Moths: Scarlet Tiger and Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

Warm Days

Sunny, 28°, light E.

A slightly cooler day than of late but still pretty warm but still not productive for any serious birding locally.

Rooks still raiding the bird feeders whilst the Mallards sit underneath waiting for seeds to drop.

A male Beautiful Demoiselle and a Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden and a male Stag Beetle nearby.

Courtesy Loren.

All about Insects

Sunny periods, 23°, light NNW.

Quite static birdwise at the moment. A Chiffchaff on Lollingdon hill on the move and a Little Owl nearby.

A Sparrowhawk carrying prey and being mobbed by several Swallow.  

Alan reporting very similar along the river area.

Mammals: Stoat, a family of 4 with the 2 adults hunting Rabbit. Brown Hare also noted. A Red Fox seen by Alan recently.

River Dragonflies: Blue-tailed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Emperor, Four-spot Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Emperor & 2 Common Darter.

River Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Moths: 3-4 Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden yesterday evening.

Insects: Roesel’s Bush Cricket.

Common Blue

Gatekeeper

Comma

The rest courtesy Alan

Emperor

Blackcap

Brown Hare

Red Fox

Roesel's Bush Cricket

Four-spot Chaser

Quiet times

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 21°, light S.

A rather uneventful walk out to Lollingdon and back today. A Goldcrest singing along Cholsey brook and a flyover Yellow Wagtail at Little Lollingdon.

Nothing much changed.

Common Tern along the Thames today. Per Alan.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly (Alan).

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper (Alan), Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

Moths: Cinnabar, Scarlet Tiger (Alan), both these moths being noted frequently.

Insects: Stag Beetle (Alan), a lot of records in Cholsey this year. Good news, and a Hornet Mimic Hoverfly out at Lollingdon.

Common Tern (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Stag Beetle (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Brown Hare (again, running away)

 Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

 Large Skipper (courtesy Andrew McBirnie)

Scarlet Tiger (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Sunshiny day

Sunny, 24°, light WNW.

Somewhat quiet out there today, however a surprise of a Garden Warbler singing in the Bullshole area also nice to compare with a Blackcap singing nearby.

2 Little Owl out at Lollingdon getting a little agitated when a Buzzard settled in a tree nearby.

The Swallow family still in the area and actively feeding, just wonder if they will raise another brood?

Several Swift flocks moving around the area and again a few House Martin with them.

2 Green Woodpecker on the hill and roaming all over and up to 12 Yellowhammer in song on the walk out..

Still no Yellow Wagtail noted in the parish!

There are a new pair of Carrion Crow back in the vicinity, plus a youngster. They have not come into the garden yet (only the tree tops) but am sure they will consolidate a territory as the year progresses. They have already had an influence on the local Rook and Jackdaw population. They stay clear!

Mammals: Brown Hare and Short-tailed Vole.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Southern Hawker and Emperor.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady (3), Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Moths: Cinnabar Moth and Scarlet Tiger.

 Blackbird taking our Gooseberries

 2 Little Owl (at distance)

Carrion Crow

The Lees and beyond

Sunny spells, 19°, light W.

A walk out to the Lees and beyond today and a little warmer than of late.

The “long ditch” out beyond the Lees was dredged over the winter and subsequently all the growth in and around the ditch was either disrupted or destroyed.

There are no birds breeding along the ditch this year and it seems the Reed Buntings that bred along the ditch have moved out into the crop fields (5 singing males). A lot of the Bullrush, Reed and other plants that were in the ditch have been destroyed but some of the plants on the bank have survived. Any larvae or other life that was in the ditch has also been partially destroyed.

However nature has a way of coming back!

Several Dragonfly species seen along the ditch and a few small fish present (probably Stickleback) and a few Orchid species along the bank.

The “Reedy ditch” at the far end had 5 singing Sedge Warbler and 3 singing Reed Warbler (plus others present) present along with several Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

A family group of Swallow spent time feeding over the area (2 adults & 5 young) and a few Swift overhead and a distant Grey Heron.

From Alan: 2 Common Tern again on the river and Lesser Whitethroat. 

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, 4-spot Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly. Per Alan: Brown Hawker and White-legged Damselfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown. Per Alan: Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Marbled White, Small Copper and Large Skipper.

Moths: Cinnabar Moth and Scarlet Tiger. Per Alan: Burnet Companion.

Insects: Black and Yellow Long Horn Beetle. Per Alan.

Orchids: Pyramid Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Poss Marsh Orchid hybrid.

Reed Warbler

Emperor Dragonfly

Burnet Companion

 Common Spotted Orchid

 Scarlet Tiger

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Large Skipper

 4-spot Chaser

 Azure Damselfly

More rain!

Overcast then rain, 17°, light SW.

Pretty quiet out today. A quick check on the Spotted Flycatchers before making my way out to Lollingdon.

A few Swift feeding around the hill and 3 Mistle Thrush present.

Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting still singing well, other species not so frequent.

Little Owl and Grey Heron nearby and another Grey Heron in the meadow this afternoon.

Mammals: Stoat carrying small prey.

Butterflies: a few each of Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. Yesterday Marbled White, Large Skipper and Small Skipper (per Alan Dawson and Tony Rayner).

Moths: Cinnabar Moth, and a Garden Tiger recently (per Ed Munday).

Marbled White (Alan Dawson)

Scarlet Tiger (Ed Munday)

Grey Heron

A few bits from today

Another day in Wallingford for the Siege re-enactment (a few photos to follow).

A few more birds today: Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit, Goldcrest and Nuthatch in the Castle gardens of note, a Cormorant and a few Black-headed Gull and Lesser Blackback Gull following the line of the River Thames nearby.

Back to our own garden and a Sparrowhawk took a small bird in the garden this morning but did not manage to see what it was.

Also a Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden today.

Cuckoos and a Tiger.

Cloudy, 16º, breezy NE.

At least 1 young Cuckoo seen being fed by a Reed Warbler at Cholsey marsh today and possibly another youngster seen. (per Alan Dawson).

A Scarlet Tiger moth on Buddleia spotted today by my daughter in the garden but flew off before I got the camera.

Common Pipistrelle bats hunting around the garden most evening this week.

A few hours spent at the Wittfest this afternoon in Long Wittenham but not much seen...................Great-spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk noted.

               Cuckoo at Cholsey marsh (courtesy Roger Wyatt-archive pic)

Scarlet Tigers

13 Scarlet Tiger moths (some mating) in a Church Rd garden yesterday. Seems a good year for them;

Also a Whitethroat ringed today at Cholsey Marsh. 2 hrs ringing this morning produced a Grasshopper Warbler, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Chiffchaff and a Blackbird. Adults and juveniles were caught, none yet showing signs of moult.

The Sparrowhawks seem to be defending an area of the school nature reserve area.  They might have (re-)nested in the tall trees.

The Brook Moorhens still had 2 young on Sunday.

40 Starlings and c.100 Rooks and c.50 Jackdaws were at a roost at Causeway House.

Thanks to Richard for the above information and the first two photos.

Scarlet Tiger Moths appear to have done well this year. Reports from Hagbourne, Cholsey and Wallingford. I wonder if this is representative of the wider area?

I can hear a Tawny Owl calling whilst typing this and 2 Hedgehogs in the garden.

                                           Scarlet Tiger  © (RB)

                                   Whitethroat  © (RB)

                    Scarlet Tiger, found in Wallingford on Sunday in my daughters car and several seen in her garden.