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

A Stonechat day

Sunny intervals, 14°, breezy W.

7 Stonechat found today with 3 on Lollingdon Hill, 2 near the cattle field out at Lollingdon and 2 found by Alan, 1 by the gravel workings and another near Green lane.

A light movements of mainly House Martin and a couple of Swallow over the hill and 2 Kestrel in the area.

A lot of Meadow Pipit out at Lollingdon (100+) and 20+ Yellowhammer and 5 Reed Bunting and 30+ Skylark scattered around the fields.

6 Chiffchaff between the village and Lollingdon.

Yesterday from Tony Rayner: 3 Grass Snake, 45 Slow-Worm, several Wood Mice and Bank Vole. Plus a Brimstone, Small Copper and Common Blue butterflies.

Dragonflies: Several Common Darter.

Butterflies: a few Large and Small White.

Stonechat courtesy Alan

Stonechat

Brimstone courtesy Tony Rayner

Grass Snake & Slow-Worm courtesy Tony Rayner

Brown Hare courtesy Alan

Garden toys

Today in Tony’s Garden.

Nothing much on the bird front except for a lot of Canada Geese flying over.

Butterflies: in our meadow - Small White 2, Large White 1, Red Admiral 1, Small Copper 5.

Reptiles: Grass Snakes 6, Slow-worms 31.

Small mammals: Wood Mice found in 3 places. Bank Voles found in 3 or possibly 4 places.

I continue to find Fox toys in our meadow - must be from nearby gardens.

These are toys that a Fox has been bringing into Tony's garden.

Birds & Butterflies

Sunshine, 12°, moderate SE.

A Grey Wagtail flying around the garden this morning prior to my walk out to Lollingdon.

The Hill was relatively quiet, 2 Kestrel hunting, 10 Fieldfare and 4 Song Thrush feeding and a singing Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

More singing Chiffchaff around with numbers just getting into double figures now and Treecreeper singing in the Millennium Wood.

A Mistle Thrush in song and a Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming.

The warmer weather has brought out the insects with several Brimstone butterflies on the wing and 3 Peacock, 2 Small Tortoiseshell and a Comma.

A couple of Spotted Bee-fly also noted.

Tony Rayner recorded the first Small White of the year and a reptile count of 7 Grass Snake and 36 Slow Worm. And 3 Redwing in a neighbours Beech tree.

Alan was also out today on the other side of the village. Chiffchaff, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, pair of Treecreeper, a Peregrine, a female Sparrowhawk with prey and Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gulls.

Brimstone and Comma butterflies.

 Skylark (courtesy Alan)

 Black-headed Gull (courtesy Alan)

 Fieldfare

 Peacock

 Brimstone

 Lesser Blackback Gull (courtesy Alan)

Small White (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Spring? Maybe.

A sunny day, 12°, light to breezy SW.

A spring like day reflected in several butterflies seen on the wing.

The Bunk line/Green lane area pretty quiet today. A few small flocks of Fieldfare and Starling and a Kestrel present. Also a few Meadow Pipit.

2 Mistle Thrush collecting food near the Church, probably have young nearby.

Alan had more luck on Cholsey Marsh with a Cetti’s Warbler and Chiffchaff, several Reed Bunting, a Kingfisher and Water Rail, also Brimstone and Comma butterflies.

Tony Rayner recorded 4 Grass Snake, 13 Slow-Worm and a Field Vole and 3 Brimstone butterflies in his garden today.

Another Brimstone in the garden mid-afternoon.

Comma and Brimstone courtesy Alan Dawson.

Of Bats, Reptiles & More Housing

There is a new application for houses at Old Blackalls farm. P18/S4273/O)

The ecological survey with Bats undertaken on the Old Blackall's site for the applicant together with TR’s son’s monitoring here this year show very similar results.

It seems that we have a remarkable 8 species of bat, Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle, Noctule, Leisler's, Natterers, Barbastelle, Serotine and Brown Long Eared.

Bats enjoy a high degree of protection especially Barbastelle which is very rare and a UK Biodiversity Action Plan species.

There are few records of this species in Oxon & Berks.

Clearance of the site and housing estate light pollution are bound to threaten the continuing presence of these species in the area.

Also 

The Countryside Officer, Dominic Lamb, reports a medium population of Slow-worms and low numbers of Grass Snakes in the vicinity.

He also states “that these reptiles would need to be translocated off site - but that no receptor site has been identified”.

You wouldn't think from this that the area is arguably one of the top reptile sites in the county (if one ignores Adders and there are precious few of these now) One left at Bix!

From such an overgrown site we don't see how these reptiles can be gathered without huge clearance and given that half of them are probably on land adjoining Tony Rayner’s. The estimate of the populations are 150 Slow-worm and 20 Grass Snake not to mention the Common Lizard.

We wonder how far down on the political priorities is the environment!

Leisler's Bat (courtesy The Wildlife Trusts)

A bit of everything

Sunshine eventually after rain, 9°, light NNW.

At approx. 17:00 this evening I was out in the garden when I heard a Redstart calling. I looked over to the corner of the meadow and there was a male Redstart in the hedgerow about 10 metres from the garden.

I rushed upstairs to get the camera and back out to the garden and at that moment some people entered the meadow and the bird disappeared into a large garden nearby and never reappeared.

Info from The EastEnder.

Not a great deal to report, but we have had a Willow Warbler here since April 8th.
They usually only stay for one or two days with us - so a relative long-stayer!

Also our first Orange Tip was on April 14th - but only one so far.

Slow-Worm numbers mounting now - 98 counted two days ago.

Ran my first and only moth trap yesterday - a very slow start this year. 8 species including a Herald and an Engrailed and an early Mottled Pug (not supposed to be seen until May.)

Library photo

Butterflies & Worms

Sunny, 12°, light N.

My first butterflies of the year today - a Brimstone and a Small Tortoiseshell in the garden this afternoon. Also 4 Slow-worms under the sheets.

Along the Agatha Christie Trail today, two male Reed Buntings and crossing Green Lane on the way back to Wallingford Road - a couple of Roe Deer (per The EastEnder).

A roost near Westfield road found recently with at least 30 Chaffinch there last night and sometimes there are Corn Bunting, one two flocks about 20 in each dive in as well (per Ben Hobbs).

Photos courtesy "The EastEnder"

Eastender Reptiles

Some interesting reptile records for 2014:

“A few amazing numbers for our site in 2014:

Common Lizard

No of days when looked for and seen 97: Grand total of the 97 counts 707

Grass Snake

No of days when looked for and seen 80: Grand total of the 80 counts 426

Slow worm

No of days when looked for and seen 89: Grand total of the 89 counts 4,436

Highest daily count 124

2014 was our best year for reptiles since records began in 2000.”

“Recently while walking the circuit from Cholsey Church and beside the Bunk to Wallingford Road via Green Lane.

16 Linnets in Shepheards Garden; 10 Yellowhammers beside the next field by The Bunk; 140 Lesser Blackback Gulls overhead; and along Green Lane - 6 Mallard; 1 Common Snipe, 2 Grey Herons and 9 Teal.

Finally beside the Wallingford Road a Dog Fox just opposite the Caps Lane junction.”

The Eastender.

Back to normal service soon, have been in Yorkshire for several days and anxious to get the Cholsey year list off to a good start! Thanks to those who have emailed me with sightings recently.

Black Redstart

Sunny, 16º, light SSW.

November 1^st and an unusually mild day.

Fortunately the Black Redstart was still around and I managed a visit to the garden it was frequenting.

A very late Cowslip was in flower in the garden also several Bank Vole seen and a couple of Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis).

Both Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell seen sunning themselves.

Black Redstart

 Red Admiral

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Wacxap sp

 ?

Slow-Worm 

Green Lane

Green Lane.

Bullfinch (2+), Reed Bunting, Wren, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Red-legged Partridge (3), Buzzard, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove (16), Pheasant, Rook (lots) Chaffinch, Blackbird, Redwing (30), Fieldfare (50).

On Monday there was a female Great Tit that was ringed - the first ever time I have seen a ringed bird in the garden.

Also that day an adult male Slow-worm was found on a grass path - a very late record and hardly moving. It was put under a shelter so it might survive.

Thanks to Tony Rayner for the information.