Insects plus

Sunny intervals, 20°, light SSW.

Lollingdon and the River covered today: Little Owl, Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Swallow, House Martin and Swift.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Butterflies: Small White, Common Blue, Small Blue, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Moths: A good day for day-flying moths with several Silver-Y, Cinnabar and Mother Shipton.

Paul & Alan.

Mother Shipton

Emperor courtesy Alan

Silver-Y

Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan

Four-spot Chaser courtesy Alan

Meadow Brown

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

After the Rain

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 14°, mod W.

First day for a time without rain and a walk out along the Bunk line and Green lane though fairly quiet.

A Lesser Whitethroat still present and singing well and a Sedge Warbler still but not in song and a Kingfisher.

Also Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

A Yellow Wagtail overhead plus 20+ Swift and c6 Swallow and an adult Herring Gull.

Alan out yesterday dodging the showers and also out today along the river.

All the usual present.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly. Per Alan.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Marsh Fritillary, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Small Heath and Meadow Brown.

Red Fox

Little Owl courtesy Alan

Silver Y Moth courtesy Alan

Female and Male Reed Bunting carrying food courtesy Alan

August ends with a whimper

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 15°, light E. 

After all the turbulent weather of the last few weeks August goes out with a whimper.

A walk along the Bunk line/ Green lane today and Alan out by the Lees area.

Some good flocks of Hirundines moving thru today with one mixed flock of Swallow and House Martin numbering 100+ birds (c250 in total) and movement ceased around midday.

A Willow Warbler in brief song along Green lane and 3 Blackcap, a Common Whitethroat and several Chiffchaff and 4-5 Green Woodpecker of note.

Quite a few Yellow Wagtail still around (10+) and 6 Pied Wagtail.

Alan managed a Peregrine Falcon and Sparrowhawk out by the Lees.

Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: several “Whites” and 1 Red Admiral.

Moths: a Silver-Y.

Yellow Wagtail pics courtesy Alan Dawson.

Chiffchaff

Red Admiral

A little of everything

Another sunny day, 28°, light SSW.

June is generally a quiet month out at Lollingdon. Our resident birds and summer visitors are busy rearing young and any mammals are difficult to locate in the high crops.

Insects appear in numbers this time of year but as it is farmland and not managed environmentally the diversity is not there unfortunately.

Anyhow, 2 Kestrel were hunting the hill today and 2 Raven flew south east over the hill and a few Swift Feeding over the area and a Hobby seen flying towards Aston.

The adult Black-headed Gull still around and foraging in the Millennium field area most mornings.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Emperor Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Moths: Silver-Y and Cinnabar. And a Five-spot Burnet in a Cholsey garden. Per Alan Baker. 

 Yellowhammer

 Banded Demoiselle

 Corn Bunting

 Small White

Meadow Brown

Also a new moth for Cholsey recorded recently. A Hornet Clearwing. Have requested permission to post a photo on Cholsey Wildlife and credit the finder but no response as yet and apparently the county recorder for moths in Berks, Bucks and Oxon is interested in this record as it is a scarce species.

The photo is of one from last July in Wallingford. Courtesy Alan Dawson.

And another new moth, a Yarrow Plume caught by Tony Rayner last week and following on from one in Aston Tirrold before that. Per VG.