A bit quiet-ish

Sunny, 17°, fresh E.

Well, there was bugger all on the gravel pit today. a bulldozer was busy bulldozing the banks and obviously drove off any birds either on the water or anywhere nearby.

Elsewhere along the Bunk line: 5 Chiffchaff, 6 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, a Kingfisher flashed by and 5 Swallow and 8 House Martin over.

A Grasshopper Warbler has been heard regularly at Cholsey Marsh recently and a Cuckoo intermittently. (several observers).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Saturday snippets

Sunny, 14°, light NE.

A Mandarin Duck flew south along the Thames at Cholsey Marsh and a couple of Teal present. Per James Beaumont.

A Small Tortoiseshell and several Peacock present on the Station Road allotments.

Portland: Day 5.

Sunny spells and heavy showers, 15°, light to breezy N.

A bit of a slow day today with little to find. A brief sea watch produced 5 Manx Shearwater, 3 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Arctic Skua, 4 Common Scoter, a couple of Sandwich Tern and Common/Arctic Tern.

Overhead migration was a little thin, 5 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Grey Wagtail, 3 Tree Pipit, c50 Meadow Pipit and approx. 30 Swallow.

A Pied Flycatcher caught and ringed at the Obs, plus a Sedge Warbler seen, a Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff and 4 Willow Warbler.

An afternoon visit to Ferrybridge: a Little Egret, a Mediterranean Gull, 5-6 Knot, a Bar-tailed Godwit, c30 Dunlin, c30 Ringed Plover, a Sanderling and 5 Oystercatcher.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood.

Insects: Speckled Bush Cricket and Great Green Bush Cricket.

Several Blue-fin Tuna noted feeding offshore.

Sunrise

Pied Flycatcher

Small Tortoiseshell

Starling sheltering from the rain

A little livelier

Sunny periods, 20°, light W.

A slow start with little initially seen along the Bunk area today. Around 20 minutes in I started to note a passage of Hirundines and over the next few hours counted over 200 birds. Majority being Swallow and the rest House Martin.

Alan also noted a passage of Hirundine over Westfield Road plus a juv Peregrine Falcon.

A Whinchat also found and seen briefly before being spooked by a worker on the railway and I was unable to relocate the bird.

Alan relocated the Whinchat approx. 2 hours later.

Plus: 2 juv Hobby, 2 Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff, 5 Yellowhammer, a Raven, 300+ Starling etc.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large and Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and a Small Tortoiseshell in the garden.

Whinchat courtesy Alan

Yellowhammer

Hithercroft & Bunk

Sunshine and showers, 14°, breezy SW.

Hithercroft floods: Little Egret, 3 Shelduck over, Common Snipe, Herring Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, Chiffchaff - many singing, Reed Bunting and Lapwing.

Bunk area: 7 Chiffchaff, several in song, a Blackcap singing, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Siskin, a Sparrowhawk, 14 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, 50+ Starling, a Grey Wagtail, 8 Pied Wagtail, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 Lapwing, 1 Mute Swan, 32 Lesser Blackback Gull, 7 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Common Gull, etc.

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole, Wood Mouse & Brown Hare.

Amphibians: Smooth Newt (per Bill Nicholls, garden pond).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

AD, BN & PC.

Shelduck courtesy Alan

Sparrowhawk

Wood Mouse courtesy Bill Nicholls

Lollingdon & Butterflies (part 2)

Sunny spells with a few light showers, 21°, breezy WSW.

Fairly quiet out at Lollingdon still. A flock of at least 36 Mistle Thrush and the Lapwing still present.

11 Yellowhammer counted in song on the walk out, a couple of singing Corn Bunting plus Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap.

12 Swift drifted SW over the hill and 2 Swallow families comprising 11 birds also SW.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

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

The field to the right of the long tunnel from the Bullshole is loaded with Thistles and other flowering plants and was attracting 15 species of butterfly today.

Small Tortoiseshell has been quite scarce this year, so good to see at least 6 today.

Brimstone

Peacock

Comma

Small Tortoiseshell

Red Admiral

Bits & Pieces

Mainly sunny, 14°, light NNE.

Lollingdon, Bunk and River covered today. 2 Willow Warbler, 4-5 Blackcap, Reed Bunting, 3 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare, a Sparrowhawk, c 100 Lesser Blackback Gull, 5 Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Butterflies: several Brimstone and Peacock and a single Small Tortoiseshell.

A Butterfly day

Mainly sunny after a misty start, 14°, light E.

A quiet day on the hill today with just a few Meadow Pipit and several small flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing passing thru.

Nearby the Little Owl showing and a single Lapwing on the flood. Skylark were in good voice in most areas.

Alan had a similar day on Silly Bridge with a few Corn Bunting and Cholsey hill also fairly quiet with 3 Lapwing.

Mammals: Roe Deer and Brown Hare.

Butterflies: A Good day with many Brimstone on the wing plus a Peacock and a Small Tortoiseshell.

A mixed day

Mainly cloudy with lengthy sunny spells, 14°, light SSW.

A frustrating day! Whilst watching some Common Darter along a flooded margin of a field out at Lollingdon I heard a Woodlark call and a few seconds later call again.

Scanning the area where the call came from but could not see the bird and I spent the next hour searching for it. However no sign of it but I did flush a Common Snipe from the field.

I let both Alan and Tony know in case they go out that way soon.

Continuing on to the hill but it was somewhat quiet, a couple of Mistle Thrush and a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel present.

Back off the hill and another look for the lark. No luck but good numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing scattered about. Also 2 Chiffchaff, several Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Skylark and a Kingfisher and 20+ Yellowhammer nearby.

3 Raven near the Bullshole and several Siskin and a Goldcrest, Millennium Wood.

Alan and Tony out along the river: Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit and Fieldfare and Redwing.

30+ Golden Plover near Silly Bridge.

Mammals: Nathusius’s Pipistrelle recorded by Niall today near the Reading road proposed development site. He also has a few previous records from the site which may prove a case for conservation in the area rather than development!

Dragonflies: Common Darter, 5 pairs egg laying and a few individuals.

Butterflies: Brimstone (f), along the river and 2 Red Admiral and a Small Tortoiseshell, Lollingdon.

A few shots of the Common Darters.

Sparrowhawk

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Some of the hundred plus flock of Fieldfare.

Chiffchaff

A Spring like day

Sunshine, 12°, light W.

A Merlin seen today flying low over a stubble field at the top of Westfield road. Per Hugh Pope.

A walk out to Lollingdon today produced, 3 singing Chiffchaff (5 in total), a Little Egret, Little Owl, c20 Meadow Pipit and 2 Raven and a handful of Fieldfare.

20+ Yellowhammer still around the Little Lollingdon area, plus 5 Reed Bunting and a flock of c30 Linnet. Several Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting flycatching from the hedge top.

Bunk line, Little Owl, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Linnet, singing Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

Update: Calls from at least 2 Common Scoter passing overhead moving north east at 20:48.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.  

Several butterfly’s on the wing today with Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma.

Alan also had a Dark-edged Bee-fly.

Peacock on Holly-leaved Berberis

Comma courtesy Alan

Dark-edged Bee-fly courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff doing its best to hide

Watching me watching you. A smart Roe Buck

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting

Spring?

Sunshine, 11°, light SW.

What a lovely day out there today, and warm enough for butterflies to be on the wing.

Quite a few Chiffchaff in song today with 3 out at Lollingdon, 1 Whitehead Meadow, 1 near Church and another near the School. 3 more from Cholsey Marsh and the Barn Owl hunting. Per Alan.

At least 3 Raven present in the Lollingdon area and Kestrel and Sparrowhawk noted and a Little Owl heard calling.

A handful of Fieldfare on Lollingdon Hill and a small number of Meadow Pipit overhead and several Skylark in song.

Great-spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit and Nuthatch still visiting the garden along with the usual.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: 5+ Brimstone and the first Small Tortoiseshell on the wing.

 Chiffchaff

 Wren

 Mistle Thrush

Peregrine on Cholsey Hill yesterday (courtesy Alan Dawson)

My attempt to photo a flying Brimstone from approx 50 metres.

Butterflies

Sunny with some cloud, 14°, light SSW.

Some butterflies on the wing this week end with Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell. Per Alan Dawson.

Also a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee in the garden feeding on the Mahonia flowers.

Photos courtesy Alan Dawson

Quiet times

Foggy at first, 3°, then fog clearing with sunshine, 14°, light NNW.

The hill was rather quiet today with a handful of Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and 6 Corn Bunting present.

The Linnet flock is gradually growing in number with around 30 birds present. Also several Meadow Pipit and Skylark moving around.

A single Cormorant flew north overhead.

Off the hill there were a few Redwing and Fieldfare in nearby fields but no significant numbers as yet.

3 Chiffchaff represented the only summer migrants still present.

Still around 30 Yellowhammer around the stubble fields.

Dragonflies: 10+ Common Darter which included a pair egg laying.

Butterflies: 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 2 Red Admiral.

 Reed Bunting

 Chiffchaff (above & below)

Cormorant from yesterday drying out in the sun (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Common Darters egg laying in tandem

Signs of Spring

Overcast with occasional sunny spells, 8°, light N.

Still a bit chilly in the wind on the hill, however a single Small Tortoiseshell briefly during one of the sunny periods.

Approx. 50 Meadow Pipit flew north in several small flocks and 10 Corn Bunting back on the hill with at least 3 in song and 8 Yellowhammer and 20+ Pied Wagtail in the vicinity.

A flock of c200 Black-headed Gull and 7 Common Gull on one of the recently worked fields.

Around 500 Fieldfare, 100 Redwing and 400 Starling in scattered flocks around the hill.

At least 1 Nuthatch still visiting the garden and a pair of Blue Tit carrying nesting material to a nest box.

EastEnder reporting Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock in the garden along with 14 Slow-Worm today.

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"