Lollingdon

Sunny, 22°, breezy SW.

A walk out to Lollingdon today and pretty quiet bird wise. A Lesser Whitethroat in song near Little Lollingdon plus several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer on the walk.

The Hill was quiet apart from a flock of c200 Rook and Jackdaw, a single Kestrel and 2 Swift over.

30+ Swallow feeding over fields with a good amount of youngsters present.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle and a Southern Hawker.

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

Just a few bits

Sunny spells, 22°, light W.

Emperor Dragonfly, Painted Lady and 2 Scarlet Tiger on allotment.

Little Ringed Plover Bunk line area. Per BJW & AD.

Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker (yesterday) and a Ringlet (Weds). Per AD

Southern Hawker courtesy Alan

River & Meadows

Mainly sunny, 15°, light SSW.

River/Meadows. Per Alan.

Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, Usual Geese, Pied Wagtail, Redwing and Fieldfare.

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

Butterflies: Small White and Red Admiral.

Reed Bunting courtesy Alan

Willow Emerald

Lollingdon & Thames

Mainly sunny, 25°, light NNW.

Pretty quiet bird wise out at Lollingdon today. The Lapwing appear to have departed other than that all the usual present.

Alan had very much the same along the river.

A day all round for insects. Plenty of Marbled White and Meadow Brown on the wing and a few Common Blue on the hill.

Also Large and Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Ringlet and Comma noted.

Alan found about 4 Emerald Damselfly and a female Ruddy Darter.

And the first Southern Hawker for the year out at Lollingdon.

Spent about an hour on the allotment this afternoon with up to 20 Swift screeching around overhead plus the odd House Martin and Swallow.

There was also a male Black-tailed Skimmer hunting on the allotment plus several Common Blue and Azure Damselfly and a Cinnabar Moth.

Full list from Alan: Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Kingfisher, Skylark and Reed Bunting etc.

Dragons: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Ruddy Darter, Common Darter, Four-spotted Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Red-eyed Damselfly and Emerald Damselfly.

Butterflies: Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Comma and Red Admiral.

Young Blackbird bathing ↕

Emerald Damsel courtesy Alan ↕

Large Skipper

Ruddy Darter (imm m) courtesy Alan

Southern Hawker

Speckled Wood

Roebuck Encounter

Mainly sunny, 19°, light SW.

A pleasant walk out along the Bunk Line today. Birdlife still very static and very little song being heard.

A few Swift overhead and a couple of Kestrel present.

Butterflies and Dragonflies more apparent in particular areas that have not been sprayed or cut and even then, mainly grassland species as there are very few wild flowers around.

Why is the field on the other side of the road opposite the Church being sprayed or even cut? It seems just for so called cosmetic purposes!

Mammals: an encounter with the Roebuck again.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Comma, a Silver-washed Fritillary (found by Tony Pittaway yesterday), 1 Speckled Wood, many Marbled White, and Meadow Brown, good numbers of Ringlet & 3 Small Heath.

A little samey

Sunny with variable cloud, 21°, light SW.

A bit samey out at Lollingdon today, all the usual’s present including 2 singing Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff a bit more vocal today.

Alan with a similar situation, Chiffchaff more vocal, plus Cetti’s Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Treecreeper, Kingfisher etc. plus a few Dragons etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure & Large Red Damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Broad-bodied Chaser (river) & a Southern Hawker (Lollingdon).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Spindle Ermine caterpillar?

Broad-bodied Chaser

Three

Three pics from the week end courtesy Alan Dawson.

Common Swift

 Southern Hawker

Beautiful Demoiselle (f)

A quiet one

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 19°, breezy SW.

A little breezy today with butterflies etc sticking to sheltered spots. A shorter than average walk today along the bunk line/Green lane area.

Apart from good numbers of Swallow and House Martin and the odd Swift and a couple of Sand Martin, not a lot else going on.

Usual species present.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Peacock, Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

 Southern Hawker

 Peacock (underwing)

Essex Skipper

Red Admiral

 Common Whitethroat

Some insects from the week end.

Some insects from the week end. Stag Beetle & Southern Hawker courtesy Andrew McBirnie and the White-legged Damsel, Blue-tailed Damsel, Comma and Ringlet courtesy Alan Dawson.

Has Summer arrived?

Sunny, 23°, light ENE.

A nice warm day today and reflected by the number of insects around and Painted Lady butterflies just into double figures with 11 seen.

Firstly the Spotted Flycatcher pair still present so staying hopeful.

Then out to Lollingdon and bumped into a Little Owl, one of the pair present out there.

The Swallow family have now fledged with 5 young, sat on the wires and being fed regularly by the 3 adults that raised them.

Several Swift and a couple of House Martin feeding overhead.

8 Yellowhammer still in song on the walk out and several Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Common Whitethroat still singing.

Garden Warbler and Reed Warbler still singing well on Cholsey Marsh (less so Sedge Warbler). Per TW.

A Little Egret seen to fly into Cholsey Brook in the meadow yesterday.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Southern Hawker and Emperor Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Common Blue, Red Admiral (6), Painted Lady (11), Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown (most numerous).

Little Owl

Southern Hawker

Emperor (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Marbled White

 Common Whitethroat

Yellowhammer

Song Thrush

Buntings

Hazy sunshine, 14°, light ESE.

Fairly quiet on the hill today, 8 Corn Bunting present and a few Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

Lots of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling scattered about the area and impossible to get a count.

30+ Pied Wagtail in a recently worked field and the flock of Yellowhammer more scattered now the stubble fields have been ploughed.

Little else of note seen.

Mammals: 2 Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: A Southern Hawker in the garden and a single Common Darter Lollingdon.

Butterflies: 3 Red Admiral.

Blue & Green

Cloudy with sunny spells, 24°, breezy WSW.

Little going on today, a Hobby drifted along the hill and a couple of Kestrel present.

Approximately 40 Swallow feeding for a time over fields adjacent to the hill and a handful of Swift over.

Green Woodpecker, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch in garden and 4 Black-headed Gull frequenting the meadow this evening.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.