Summer arrivals

Mainly cloudy, 10°, light S.

Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Common Whitethroat, Cholsey Marsh. Per Brian Wyatt.

Bunk area: on the walk out there were 10+ House Martin feeding high over CSW. On the way back the numbers had grown to 20+ House Martin, 5+ Swallow and several Sand Martin, this time feeding a lot lower over the beds.

The Gravel pit hosted a Mute Swan, 2 Shelduck, 4 Gadwall, 3 Oystercatcher and 30+ Lapwing, c12 House Martin, 5 Swallow and several Sand Martin.

2 Peregrine over. I think I’ve mentioned these before and I believe these 2 males to be the ones raised in South Stoke last year. I’ve seen them together on several occasions this year and they appear to hunt together. Maybe a successful survival strategy.

Elsewhere on the walk: 2 Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a couple of Jay etc.

Butterflies: just a couple of Brimstone and Peacock.

Mallard & Muntjac both in garden today

A warm one

Sunny, 23°, light W.

A couple of hours well spent up by the gravel pit today:

3 Shelduck, an Egyptian Goose, 2 Gadwall, 2 pair of Mallard with 18 young between them, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Ringed Plover, a Dunlin, 7 Lapwing, a Peregrine and 2 Grey Heron over, a Sedge Warbler, a Swallow and 2 Sand Martin.

On the walk out: a Willow Warbler at CSW, a Common Whitethroat, Green Lane, 4 Blackcap and 5 Chiffchaff.

A single Fieldfare flying alongside the road on Cholsey Hill.  

Good to see Michael P at the pit today. yesterday he had 3 Wheatear on Lollingdon Hill, 6 Fieldfare nearby and a singing Cetti’s Warbler on Cholsey Marsh.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Day 4: Rain stopped play

Cloudy then rain, 8°, light NNE.

Day started reasonably well then rain stopped play around 13:00.

Sea-watch: 67 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Knot, 2 Arctic Skua, 9 Whimbrel, 10 Common Scoter, 3 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, numbers of Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet and several Sandwich Tern and Oystercatcher.

Land: Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Common Redstart, Cuckoo, Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin.

Razorbill

Swallow

Guillemot

Great Blackback Gull

Guillemot and a Razorbill

Oystercatcher

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

Varied weather

Sunny at first then cloudy with rain, 15°, breezy S.

Lollingdon and Bunk covered in the last few days: 2-3 Wheatear, a Common Redstart, many Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 3 Fieldfare, a single Redwing, Bullfinch, Jay, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, 8+ Lapwing, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Lesser Blackback Gull.

1st Sedge Warbler of the year. Per Phil Dyson.  

Mammals: Brown Hare, Muntjac and Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma.

AD & PC.

Muntjac Deer

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Sparrowhawk

Sedge Warblers on the Marsh

Cloudy with some rain, 13°, light SW.

River, Sedge Warbler, Oystercatcher, Blackcap, Reed Bunting & Chiffchaff. Per Alan.

First Sedge & Yellow Wag

 A couple of firsts for the year today found by Alan.

Sedge Warbler on Cholsey Marsh and a Yellow Wagtail out at Lollingdon.

And a nice shot of a Fox wandering off.

A trickle

A few light showers and sunny spells, 16°, light SSW.

Alan out today and covered a fair bit of the parish.

The marsh produced our first Sedge Warbler of the year plus Blackcap, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff and Water Rail.

Male and female Blackcap along the Bunk line, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Tufted Duck on the Gravel pit.

Several Corn Bunting along Westfield Road then later 2 Swallow feeding over the Gravel pit plus a Little Owl nearby

A Muntjac Deer visited the garden again.

Muntjac Deer

Corn Bunting courtesy Alan

Reed & Sedge

A Sunny day, 18°, light SSW.

A trek out to the Lees and beyond today and Alan covering Bow Bridge to the 4-Arches.

6+ Sedge Warbler and at least 3 Reed Warbler along the “Reedy ditch”. A small colony of “Acro” Warblers doing well in the area.

A good number of Reed Bunting between the Church and the outskirts of Aston and a few Yellowhammer, 4-5 pair of Yellow Wagtail and a single Corn Bunting also noted. And a Hobby soaring over Church road on return.

All the regular suspects along the river.

Mammals: Roe Deer & Muntjac Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly (both sites) & Azure Damselfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Painted Lady (both sites), Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary, Speckled Wood & Small Heath.

Sedge Warbler

Reed Warbler (not a good pic)

Yellow Wagtail

Sedge Warbler courtesy Alan

Yellowhammer courtesy Alan

Weekend catchup

Cloudy yesterday but Sunny today, max 15°, light W.

"Quite a few" Sedge Warbler found on Cholsey Marsh this morning by Alan.

Cetti’s Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff in song, also present on the Marsh.

A single Siskin flew over the allotments yesterday.

A Short-eared Owl on Cholsey Downs on the 2nd. Per Alan.

A Smooth Newt found by Angie Regan in their garden yesterday and several Grass Snake and Slow-worm in Tony Rayner’s garden.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White (TR), Orange Tip (TR), Holly Blue (AD), Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Smooth Newt courtesy Angie Regan

Short-eared Owl courtesy Alan

Unexpected

Sunny, 20°, light N.

An unexpected find of a Grasshopper Warbler reeling in a field of sweet corn this morning just south of the Lees.

The bird then moved into a cereal crop reeled a few more times before becoming quite distant.

A couple of Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler and a Chiffchaff along the “Long ditch”, and several Reed Bunting.

Between the Lees and Manor Farm there were several Yellow Wagtail, a Corn Bunting still in song and 2 Blackcap.

Also picked up the 3 Kestrel from yesterday so still in the general area.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Emperor, Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Reed Bunting ↕

Chiffchaff

Sedge Warbler (courtesy Alan)

Yellow Wagtails

Another cloudy day with a few sunny spells, 21°, light NW.

A walk out to the Lees and beyond today and a lot of butterflies active during the sunny periods.

Up to 6 Yellow Wagtail seen along with a single Corn Bunting, 6-8 Reed Bunting, 5 Yellowhammer, 3 Sedge Warbler and a Reed Warbler. Also Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Jay.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Emperor and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large White, Small White, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

First 3 are Yellow Wagtail, 4th a Common Darter.

South West

Cloudy with a few sunny periods, 20°, light ESE.

A walk out towards Aston Tirrold via the Lees today.

Several Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler seen with food along the “Reedy Ditch” and the occasional snatch of song heard.

Several Reed Bunting along the “Long Ditch” and nearby and a couple of Blackcap, a Chiffchaff and a Nuthatch at the Lees.

2-3 Yellow Wagtail, a couple of Yellowhammer and a Corn Bunting between the Lees and Manor Farm.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly. Emperor Dragonfly and Four-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell (50+), Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown.

A few Hoverflies around today including a Pellucid Hoverfly and a possible Ant-hill Hoverfly.

And if you have passed thru the Bull’s Hole you may have noticed the Hart’s Tongue Fern growing on a wall.

Sedge Warbler

 Hart's Tongue Fern

 2 butterflies (Large Skipper & Meadow Brown)

 Buff-tailed Bumblebee on Knapweed

 Pellucid Hoverfly

Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

 Young Swallows on the wing (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Reed Bunting

 Small Tortoiseshell

Beautiful Demoiselle