River

Sunny, 25°, light SW.

Alan covered the river area today: Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Tern, Cuckoo, Swallow, Swift and House Martin etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Emperor, Four-spotted Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Broad-bodied Chaser, Red-eyed Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Marbled White (very few), Meadow Brown (very few), Common Blue, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Blackcap

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Willow Emerald

Another sunny day, 24°, light S.

Fortunately the Willow Emerald Damselfly population at Cholsey Meadows survived the drastic clear-out of the ponds by contractors over the winter.

Alan found a couple today. First for the year.

Alan managed the Bunk line today as well as the Marsh and Meadows. Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow and Lesser Blackback Gull.

I went out to Lollingdon but with little success: 3 Blackcap and 14 Chiffchaff and that was about it.

Although a Redstart was calling from somewhere in the school playing field area, presumably the one seen near the church the other day. Possibly a second one there?

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: all sites, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, 1 Emerald Damselfly, 2 Willow Emerald Damselfly, Emperor, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Common Darter and Ruddy Darter.

Butterflies: all site, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Arachnids: 4 Wasp Spider.

all pics courtesy Alan.  

Willow Emerald

Emerald Damsel

Migrant Hawker

Small Red-eyed Damsel

Wasp Spider

River

Sunny periods, 22°, light S.

Alan along the river and 2 new for the year*: Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Kingfisher, Sedge Warbler, Nuthatch, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin and Swift.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, *Small Red eyed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor, Brown Hawker, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emerald Damselfly, Ruddy Darter and Common Darter.

Butterflies: *Essex Skipper, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Comma, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and Small Heath.

All pics courtesy Alan

Yellow Wagtail

Gatekeeper

Emerald Damselfly

Ruddy Darter

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Brimstone

Essex Skipper

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Small Red-eyed Damselfly at Cholsey Meadows courtesy Alan.

only known from a few sites in Oxfordshire.

 

Damsels & Dragons

It has been a good year for Dragonflies in the Cholsey area so far, with 3 new species and another 1 that was a rare visitor. We also have the latest Odonata year record for Oxfordshire with a Common Darter out at Lollingdon on 20th November 2014.

If you are a regular here you will have read of the 2 new species found in the last week. Actually 3 have been found recently all at the same site.

Willow Emerald Damselfly and Small Red-eyed Damselfly. The former found by Alan Dawson and the latter by Michael Pocock.

A Small Red Damselfly had been found in July of this year at the same site by Roger Wyatt.  

All 3 found at Cholsey Meadows which is a relatively new habitat.

Of the other 1, Beautiful Demoiselle has become a regular in the last 2 years with regular summer records at several locations.

With climate change upon us there are a few other species that could well turn up soon? These are Southern Migrant Hawker, Yellow-winged Darter and Red-veined Darter to name a few. All have been recorded in Oxfordshire before.

Cholsey is not blessed with water bodies, however we have the Thames and Cholsey Marsh plus a myriad of brooks and ditches crisscrossing the parish and a few large ponds, a spring and the new gravel pits. These are all good habitats for a selection of Dragons.

In the past we had a sizable marshy/boggy area out beyond the Lees but this was drained in the late 60’s. So we have lost that environment and some species of Dragons that once were there.

For Oxfordshire Dragonfly information please visit Stephen Burch’s excellent site: Oxfordshire Dragonflies

Small Red Damsel courtesy Roger Wyatt (dated July 2021)

Willow Emerald Damsel courtesy Michael Pocock

Small Red-eyed Damsel courtesy Michael Pocock

Beautiful Demoiselle

Willow Emerald courtesy Alan

Have had to do some re-editing of the recent dragonfly posts as there was some inaccurate information. Totally my fault.