A better day

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light SW.

The highlight of the day was a Turtle Dove that arrived off the sea and spent some time moving around the bill area before departing.

An intermittent sea-watch produced: 2 Pomarine Skua, 2 Arctic Skua, 3 Red-throated Diver, 6 Common Scoter, 10 Mediterranean Gull, 6 Common Gull and 3 Manx Shearwater etc.

The land was more varied in species if not numbers: 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler, Blackcap, 8 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Common Redstart, a Whinchat, Stonechat, 4 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail and c30 Swallow.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and Wall Brown.

A wet one

Variable cloud and heavy showers, 16°, light to moderate S.

A trip out to Lollingdon and birding in between the rain showers.

Managed to cover most of the hill area: a Spotted Flycatcher, a Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Yellow Wagtail overhead, 2 Wheatear, 2 Stonechat, a Whinchat, Raven etc and c50 Swallow and 6 House Martin over.

A few Geese flying over the garden early evening, 20+ Canada, 20+ Greylag and at least 1 Egyptian Goose.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

Home & Away

Cloudy with a thunder storm mid-morning, 21°, light ESE.

Our final day at the Obs for this autumn and left around midday. A sea-watch early morning and then packing up to come home with a bit of birding in between.

2 Arctic Skua, a Red-throated Diver, c30 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Manx Shearwater, 3 Common Scoter, 2 Oystercatcher and c15 “Commic” Tern.

VizMig: c50 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Grey Wagtail, 10+ Swallow, 6 Sand Martin, 4 House Martin, a Swift, 4 Meadow Pipit, a Tree Pipit, plus 2 Sparrowhawk, a Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Wheatear and a Blackcap.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral and Wall Brown.

Moths: Striped Hawkmoth, Convolvulus Hawkmoth, Hummingbird Hawkmoth, a Scar Bank Gem and a Latticed Heath.

A catchup from Tony Williams whilst I’ve been away.

Lollingdon Hill: 250+ Swallow and House Martin over.

Bunk area: Spotted Flycatcher, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap, and 4+ Chiffchaff.

5 House Martin, 3 Swift and a skein of c50 Canada Geese over Church Road this evening.

Sunrise

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Latticed Heath courtesy John Lucas

Scar Bank Gem courtesy John Lucas

Tonight's partial Lunar Eclipse 

Not a lot

Sunny spells, 19°, fresh SSW.

VisMig was non-existent today with virtually nothing smaller than a Starling moving due to the constant wind.

On land very few birds found: 4 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and a single Swallow over late evening.

Sea-watch: 4 Arctic Skua, 15 Balearic Shearwater, 4 Manx Shearwater, 12+ Kittiwake, 4 Sandwich Tern, 3 Fulmar, 4 Cormorant and many Gannet.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

Moths: several Hummingbird Hawkmoth around the Obs garden.

Slightly better

Sunny spells, 20°, fresh WNW.

A slightly better day but passerine migration at a minimum.

4 Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, a Spotted Flycatcher, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 18 Swallow, 4 Sand Martin and a Sparrowhawk.

The sea was not much better, with singles of Arctic Skua, Common Scoter, 2 Common Tern, 6 Sandwich Tern, 8 Fulmar and 50+ Kittiwake etc.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

Moths: 3 Hawkmoths, same as yesterday.

Bunk

Overcast with light cloud, 23°, breezy NNW.

Bunk area:

Marsh Harrier seen over Cholsey Hill, Gull numbers on the increase with c50 Black-headed Gull, c30 Lesser Blackback Gull and a couple of Herring Gull.

5 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, a Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, 1 pos 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Yellow Wagtail, 4 Mistle Thrush, 15 Swallow, 8 House Martin, 3 Sand Martin, 20+ Swift and a Sparrowhawk.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and a Brown Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Portland 7th May

Sunny spells, 14°, light NE veering SE.

Our last day on Portland this spring. Very slow going this year as the weather was not conducive for visible migration.

Having said that, a change of scenery and birds was welcome, plus we got to meet some friends from previous visits which made for a good social atmosphere.

A phenomena seen today was a halo around the sun that had everyone looking and thanks to Loren for taking a few photos.

Anyway back to the birds etc: the day was broken up between packing and watching so sporadic sightings were in order: a Red-throated Diver and 2 Arctic Skua on the sea. 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, c50 Swallow and a Hobby all noted either in or from the garden.

A sun halo over the observatory ↕

Spotted Flycatcher

Cooler & Windier, with a few birds turning up

Sunny periods, 14°, breezy NE.

Another slow day with few migrants noted, windier and colder than of late.

The pick of an intermittent sea watch produced 20+ Manx Shearwater, a Great Northern Diver, an Arctic Skua and 7 Whimbrel.

Elsewhere: a Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Wheatear, Stonechat, c50 Swallow, 1 House Martin and a Swift.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Wall Brown.

Moths: A Striped Hawk Moth and a Sycamore.

Spotted Flycatcher

Striped Hawk Moth

Sycamore

A poor day for some

Foggy at first then sunshine, 16°, light SW.

A sea watch was out of the question until after 09:00 as the fog had blown in overnight and made viewing conditions impossible. Even when it lifted there was very little noted other than a Red-throated Diver and 3-4 Whimbrel.

Elsewhere was just as poor although singles of Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Flycatcher was slightly uplifting and a supporting cast of 5 Swallow, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat and 2 Wheatear made for a very poor day list.

On the other hand, insects were abundant in the warm sunshine.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Wall Brown and Speckled Wood.

Moths: a couple from the traps: Blairs Mocha and Beautiful Marbled.

Still, we enjoyed the sunny weather.

Portland: Day 10.

Sunny, 18°, light NE.

An on/off sea watch today and a little less walking.

5 Manx Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Arctic Skua, 100+ Kittiwake, 15 Knot, 3 Wigeon, 10+ Auk, many Gannet etc.

2 Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, 2 Sparrowhawk, a Short-eared Owl, a Little Owl, 300+ Swallow, 100+ House Martin, 30+ Sand Martin, 25 Yellow Wagtail, 12 Grey Wagtail, 19 “alba” Wagtail, c200 Meadow Pipit, 3 Tree Pipit, 20+ Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Whinchat, 3 Stonechat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 1 Pied Flycatcher, etc.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: fewer numbers of both Whites, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Many Blue-fin Tuna still feeding offshore.

Sunrise

Portland: Day 9.

A cloudy start then clearing, 18°, light SW.

A cloudy and damp start to the day looked very promising but it soon fizzled out to be followed by glorious sunshine for the rest of the day which made for hard work in finding birds.

However, an improvement on the last few days.

The long staying Marsh Harrier, a Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Little Owl, 8 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Grey Wagtail, 60+ Meadow Pipit, 6 Tree Pipit, 2 Skylark, c35 Swallow, 5 House Martin, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Whinchat, 5 Stonechat, a Sedge Warbler, a Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, c25 Chiffchaff, a Pied Flycatcher and a Spotted Flycatcher.

A brief look at the sea when someone called: 3 Common Scoter but no prolonged sea watch.

Approx. 17:00 we noticed hundreds of Gull feeding high in the air just off the east cliffs. Flying Ants were the prey and swarming in 1000’s. Most of the Gulls noted were Mediterranean Gull (150+).

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large and Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

A couple of interesting Moths: Gold Spot and Beautiful Gothic.

Plus, a Sexton Beetle and a Black Slip Wasp.

All captive insects safely released.

some photos courtesy Loren.

Pied Flycatcher

Chiffchaff

Raven

Starlings on the lighthouse

Little Owl

Beautiful Gothic

Black Slip Wasp

A smattering of migrants

Sunny spells, 20°, breezy WSW.

Alan out at Lollingdon and Cholsey Downs today: 3 Spotted Flycatcher, Nuthatch, Bullfinch, Kingfisher, Stonechat and Whinchat etc.

I covered the Bunk area: 60+ Swallow, 20-30 House Martin, 5 Blackcap, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat, 10+ Chiffchaff, a Raven, 8 Pied Wagtail, 3 Yellowhammer, 40+ Linnet, 4 Mistle Thrush, etc.

Tawny Owl in garden @ 21:40.  

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Whinchat courtesy Alan.

Long-tailed Tit

A couple of Redstart

Overcast, 20°, breezy SW.

Lollingdon & Bunk: A female type Common Redstart on the hill this morning and Alan found a male on there this afternoon.

A good numbers of Swallow moving through with 50+ in one flock and several more in smaller groups.

Richard Broughton had 3 Spotted Flycatcher out at Lollingdon earlier but not relocated later plus 5 Swift over the Lees early evening..

Elsewhere, 30+ Swallow, a few House Martin, 3 Blackcap, 2 Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff, a single Yellow Wagtail and a Little Owl.

Dragonflies: a single Common Darter and Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: several Large and Small White, a Red Admiral, several Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

Redstart ↕. female type above and male below. Male courtesy Alan

Swallow ↕

Red Admiral

River

Sunshine, 29°, light SW.

River area, courtesy Alan. Spotted Flycatcher, Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Lesser Whitethroat, Swallow, Swift, Peregrine and most of the usual suspects.

No additions to the Dragons, but there are a few more Brown Hawkers on the wing which is to be expected or is it?

Butterflies still on a low and I’m yet to see a female Marbled White (as am I)!

Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Blue Emperor

Young Swallow

Lollingdon & Bunk

Variable sunshine, 17°, light WNW.

Lollingdon and Bunk:

The Lapwings appear to have moved on after raising at least 2 young and the first Hobby of the year seen by Alan late afternoon.

Common Whitethroat numbers appear to be down by approx. 30%. Unknown reason.

Other species noted: Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin and Swift, Treecreeper, Raven, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and 2 Herring Gull. The Herring Gulls, I suspect may well breed somewhere in CSW as pair have been present for a few years and nearly all year round.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly.

Butterflies: several Whites, 6 Common Blue, a Brown Argus, a Red Admiral, 2 Speckled Wood and a Meadow Brown.

AD & PC.

Meadow Brown

Brown Argus

Song Thrush in full flow

Herring Gull

Red Admiral

A couple of Collared Dove, regular garden visitors