Goshawk

Overcast with some light rain, 10°, light SSE.

Bird of the day has to be a female Goshawk that passed briefly through Cholsey airspace this afternoon, c14:00, flew from roughly Winterbrook area towards Carmel College when it was lost from view. Per Geoff Wyatt. 1st record since 1978.

5 Gadwall seen on a small flood in a field off Green Lane on Saturday. Per Richard Broughton.

Back to today and along the Bunk area: up to 5 Chiffchaff with a Tit flock at CSW.

2+ Yellowhammer, a Goldcrest, several Siskin, good numbers of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling and 2 Egyptian Geese.

Gravel pit: a Little Grebe, 3 Tufted Duck, c10 Shoveler in flight and settling in to pits that are not viewable and c120 Canada Geese. Also up to 1000 Gull distantly, most too far for ID but some nearer birds noted. Lesser Blackback, Black-headed and Herring Gull.

Cholsey Marsh

Overcast, 3°, breezy NNW.

A late afternoon visit to Cholsey Marsh:

c 60 Corn Bunting coming to the roost this evening. About half of what I would expect but early days yet as they tend to peak in February.

30+ Siskin feeding on Alders along the river bank.

Good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing, 2 Cormorant over, a Grey Heron, 2+ Water Rail, a single Canada Goose, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel,2 Jay, a Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and a Reed Bunting.

Lollingdon

Cloudy with a few light rain showers, 15°, breezy SSW.

A breezy walk out to Lollingdon:

3 Chiffchaff (1 in song), 4 Goldcrest, c120 Fieldfare, c75 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, an increase in Blackbird numbers, 200+ Starling, 50+ Meadow Pipit, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 5 Siskin, 2+ Redpoll, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and a Kingfisher.

A  male Merlin seen around the Hithercroft area. Per Connor Pimm.

Another near miss today. Mike Amphlett found a Brent Goose with a flock of Gulls just a few hundred meters outside the parish boundary in Moulsford. The species has not been recorded in Cholsey before, so worth keeping an eye out in case it joins the Goose flock on the Cholsey side.

Phone cam photo of Brent Goose (Dark-bellied form), breeds on Arctic coasts of central and western Siberia and winters in coastal western Europe. courtesy Mike Amphlett. Great find.

The Lees

Cloudy, 11°, light SSE.

The Lees:

4 Stonechat today and with 2 along the Bunk and 2 out at Lollingdon there are at least 8 Stonechat in Cholsey at the moment.

A Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest with a Tit flock, a small movement of Finches noted with, 10+ Siskin, a handful of Redpoll, 20+ Linnet, 30+ Goldfinch and 20+ Chaffinch, plus 20-30 birds unidentified.

20+ Skylark, 36 Meadow Pipit, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, a Kingfisher and several Fieldfare and Redwing and 7 Shoveler flew north east.

Tawny Owl calling from garden @ 21:35.

A wet one

Rain, 10°, light W.

Bunk area: No camera today due to rainy conditions.

Definitely 2, probably 6 Crossbill flew SSE over Green lane. First record since 2018.

2 Stonechat still present, Winter Thrush numbers still low with only 3 Fieldfare and 6 Redwing seen.

3 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and up to a thousand Gulls loafing in fields on the periphery of the gravel workings. Quite distant but could make out mainly Lesser Blackback, with 60+ Black-headed and a handful of Herring Gull. Maybe something else but not noted.

TW noted several Siskin at Cholsey Marsh today.

Mammals: a Muntjac Deer and an Otter noted by Cholsey Marsh. Per TW.

Bunk

Sunny then clouding over, 13°, light S.

Bunk area: 6 Little Grebe, 5 Shoveler and a single Lapwing at the gravel pit.

Pretty quiet generally, 2 Jay, 3 Yellowhammer, 2+ Siskin, 4 Redwing etc.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Brimstone and a Small White.

Lollingdon & Garden

Overcast, 14°, light E.

A walk out to Lollingdon:

6 Stonechat, 100+ Fieldfare, c30 Redwing, 10 Mistle Thrush, 7 Siskin, a single Chiffchaff, 20+ Meadow Pipit, 9 Yellowhammer, 2 Raven, a Peregrine, 60+ Stock Dove over and a flock of 200+ Black-headed Gull accompanied by a handful of larger Gulls flying high north east.

Late afternoon a Sparrowhawk took a Collared Dove in the garden. Started to pluck it but was disturbed, flew with the prey to a sheltered corner of the garden and spent the next hour consuming the Dove.

4 Little Grebe, 18 Tufted Duck and over 150 Lesser Blackback Gull in/on/around the pit next to the bunk on Friday afternoon. 3 Teal there a couple or so weeks back as well. Per MA.

Distant Fieldfare

The Lees

Mainly cloudy, 16°, light NNW.

The Lees:

5 Redwing, 150+ Meadow Pipit, 20+ Pied Wagtail, c50 Skylark, 50+ Linnet, 7 Siskin, 3 Redpoll, 1 Yellowhammer, 5 Reed Bunting, 14 Corn Bunting, 9 Chiffchaff, 2 Raven, a Grey Heron etc.

Mistle Thrush and Grey Wagtail in garden.

Mammal: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White.

A swarm of Harlequin Ladybird, 100’s.

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.

Bunk

Sunny, 22°, light S.

A quiet time along the Bunk area. Hirundine passage was light with a lot of birds too high for naked eye and petered out around midday. Roughly 100 birds counted, a mix of Swallow and House Martin.

The first Siskin of the autumn with 5 overhead and a few Meadow Pipit passing through.

An increase in Skylark, Pied Wagtail and Black-headed Gull noted, 6 Chiffchaff and 2 Blackcap.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

A cold one

Mainly cloudy, -2°, light ENE.

A cold, crisp day.

Bunk and River area: Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Siskin (9 noted yesterday. Per Alan), Reed Bunting, 2 Grey Wagtail, good numbers of Redwing and a handful of Fieldfare, a couple of Song Thrush, 400+ Starling, Teal, Cormorant, c200 Black-headed Gull, a Common Gull, 5 Herring Gull and c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, plus a Barn Owl yesterday.

AD & PC.

Siskin pics courtesy Alan

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)

Grey Plover

Overcast, 18°, light SSE.

A pretty good day all round. Alan covered Bunk this morning and Cholsey Hill this afternoon and I covered Bunk this afternoon.

A Grey Plover (3rd Cholsey record) with c60 Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill was the highlight and a single Swallow over.

Bunk: c300 Redwing, 10 Fieldfare over, 4-500 Starling, and increase in both Song Thrush and Blackbird numbers, 5 Siskin, 7 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, several Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Pied Wagtail, a single Grey Wagtail and a Common Snipe.

2 Wigeon on flood near Wallingford Road this morning. Per Michael Pocock.

Dragonflies: several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Small White.

AD, MP & PC.

Grey Plover with Golden Plover. bottom right in above pic and bottom left in pic below. Courtesy Alan.

One of several Swallow

A distant Redwing

A swarm of insects near CSW.

Bunk & River

Overcast and showery, 15°, breezy NNE.

Relatively quiet along the Bunk area today: good numbers of Skylark and Meadow Pipit with 100+ of each, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 5 Swallow, a few Siskin heard overhead, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Jay, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Teal and a lot of Gulls with most moving in a northerly direction.

River: several Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Reed Bunting and Chiffchaff.

Dragonflies: A Southern Hawker and several Common Darter. River: Willow Emerald, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Whites and 2 Red Admiral.

AD & PC.

Cholsey

Cloudy with prolonged sunny spells, 15°, light SW.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River covered in the last 2 days.

Appears to have been a big influx of Chiffchaff over the last couple of days as they are all over. A Willow Warbler also heard singing today out at Lollingdon.

A few waders also turned up today with a Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and an Oystercatcher.

A Blackcap in song, 4 Siskin, 8 Lapwing, 3 Grey Heron, several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and a small flock of Redwing.

We’ve had a male Pheasant resident in the garden for approx. 2 months now. He hangs around under the feeders to pick up anything that drops to the ground and out muscles the Squirrels.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Peacock and Comma.

AD & PC.

Little Ringed Plover courtesy Alan

Little Ringed Plover

Siskin courtesy Alan

Egrets

Overcast, 13°, light S.

The day started with a Great White Egret found by Geoff Wyatt on the Thames flood by Nosworthy Way, Winterbrook bridge. When Michael Pocock arrived a little later it had been joined by a second. 3rd & 4th records for Cholsey.

Possibly a 3rd GWE seen on the flood in the horse field  near Caps lane later in the day. Per MA.

Bunk pretty quiet. Very few Thrushes with c20 Fieldfare and a handful of Redwing. 4 Yellowhammer, several Chiffchaff, 2 Mute Swan still on the flood and c50 Shoveler flying over and 2 Peregrine.

River: Water Rail, Little Egret, singing Mistle Thrush, Siskin and good numbers Of Fieldfare and Redwing. Per Alan.

A Ring-necked Parakeet over CSW yesterday and a Blackcap in song. Per Alan.

Mammals: Otter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Great White Egret courtesy Michael Pocock

Great White Egret courtesy Alan Dawson ↕

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Shoveler ↕