Bit of a mix

A sunny day for a change but still windy, 11°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon and Bunk line covered today by us both.

3 Wheatear, Little Egret, Mandarin Duck, several Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Grey Wagtail, Raven, Lapwing.

Mammals: Brown Hare, Stoat & Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Peacock, Comma & Speckled Wood.

Chiffchaff ↕

Wheatear

Wheatear courtesy Alan ↕

Mandarin Duck courtesy Alan

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Roe Deer

April showers

April showers & a bit of thunder, 12°, breezy WNW.

Today's showers were conducive to concentrate Hirundines over flooded and sheltered areas with c300 birds in total. Predominantly Swallow with several House Martin and Sand Martin.

The majority seen by Alan along the Bunk line. As soon as the showers passed by so did the Hirundines.

Also along Bunk line, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit and Lapwing.

(several Swallow and House Martin also seen yesterday. Per AD & RB).

Water Rail on the marsh but otherwise fairly quiet.

Lollingdon was fairly quiet with just a couple of Blackcap in song plus the now established Chiffchaff, 2 Greylag Geese flew south east, Sparrowhawk and a Lapwing on the floods.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Stoat.

Butterflies: a single Peacock.

Blackcap

Pied Wagtail courtesy Alan

Sunshiny day

Sunny, 11°, light ESE.

2 (m) Wheatear out at Lollingdon today along with 4 Lapwing, a Blackcap (m), Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, 1-2 Raven and 2 Grey Wagtail.

Not a lot elsewhere!

Mammals: Stoat and Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone and Peacock.

Insects: Dark-edged Bee-fly.

 Brimstone on Daffodil

Peacock

Brown Hare

Grey Wagtail doing its best to avoid a pic

Grey Wagtail courtesy Alan

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Still a little quiet

Cloudy at first then a few sunny spells, 14°, light SSW.

A quietish day again. Alan reported the river area as very quiet with just a Sparrowhawk worthy of note.

Bunk line also quiet, a Little Owl heard calling, a Treecreeper and the usual Gull flock loafing in one of the fields, c400 birds.

Lollingdon also proved quiet, however a Barn Owl seen being harried by a Red Kite. The Owl eventually dived thru a hedge and lost its pursuer. A Raven over and a Grey Wagtail present and 2 Common Snipe on a flooded field.

Mammals: Brown Hare, Stoat and some long dead remains that looked like a Polecat.

Dragonflies: at least one Common Darter still on the wing.

Both pics courtesy Alan

Buzzard

Lesser Blackback Gull

All quiet

Mostly cloudy, 14°, breezy SSW.

Not a lot today out at Lollingdon: 2 Stonechat on the hill,100+ Fieldfare and 30’ish Redwing, a single Chiffchaff and a Raven over was about it.

Only other thing of interest was a Stoat hunting.

Cholsey

Sunny spells, 23°, light SSE.

Trekked out early today shortly after sun up and Alan out later in the day.

A large flock of 200+ Geese flew from Cholsey Hill overhead and most disappeared towards the river. Predominantly Canada Geese with c40 Greylag, 30+ Egyptian Geese and surprisingly a Ruddy Shelduck present.

other species of note today: Common Sandpiper, Little Grebe, many Swallow passing thru plus good numbers of House Martin and 2-3 Sand Martin.

Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Wheatear, 20+ Linnet, 10+ Yellowhammer, c10 Yellow Wagtail and 5 Mistle Thrush.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Stoat.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker & Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma & Speckled Wood.

Moths: a couple of Hummingbird Hawkmoth (has been a good year for this migrant moth).

Paul & Alan.

Common Sandpiper courtesy Alan

Common Whitethroat

Hummingbird Hawkmoth courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff

Quiet day

Overcast, 12°, light W.

Bunk line/Green lane/Gravel pit today: a few hundred Redwing scattered around and approx. 100 Fieldfare.

34 Pied Wagtail in the cattle field (although the cattle had just been moved out), a Grey Wagtail, 2 Bullfinch, a Kestrel, Mistle Thrush, Jay, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Grey Heron, c150 Starling, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 120 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 2 Sparrowhawk (m & f).

Alan along the river: Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, 2 Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting and 30+ Siskin.

Anyone seen a Great-crested Grebe along the river lately? No confirmed sightings since the spring!

Mammals: Stoat.

A little quieter

Sunny intervals, 13°, light S.

A little quiet out at Lollingdon today, a mixed flock of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling on the hill but soon moved off south west.

A couple of Siskin flew overhead and a Chiffchaff calling, a Kestrel and a Mistle Thrush, several Meadow Pipit and Yellowhammer but little else of note.

Alan covered the usual, Redwing, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting, 3 Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail and Meadow Pipit.

7 Buzzard in one field!

Mammals: Stoat.

Dragonflies: 3 pair of Common Darter still egg laying and a couple of individuals.

Butterflies: Red Admiral.

Pics courtesy Alan Dawson

Green Woodpeckers

Mistle Thrush

Buzzard ↕

Fieldfares arrive

Cloudy, 9°, light NNW.

Well, it looks like Fieldfare have finally arrived in some numbers today. This afternoon I had a flock of 52 fly towards the Church, then another flock of 100+ go over and for the next few hours several more flocks of between 50-100 birds. Totalling in excess of 500.

Alan also had similar numbers out at Lollingdon.

Green lane was alive with Redwing with something in the region of 300 birds and again more passing overhead. 700 plus is a conservative estimate.

Quite possibly a change in the wind direction had given them the impetus to move further south.

Both Song Thrush and Blackbird seen and heard moving with the flocks.

Also seen along the Bunk/Green lane area: Grey Heron, 2 Herring Gull, Grey Wagtail, Kestrel, 20+ Yellowhammer and all the usuals.

Lollingdon: Fieldfare, Redwing, Little Owl, Chiffchaff and Little Egret.

Mammals: Stoat.

Butterflies: surprisingly a single Red Admiral.

Jays & Stonechats

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 16°, light S.

Lollingdon, 2 Stonechat still present on the hill and approx. 20 Mistle Thrush but mobile and 30+ Redwing.

A single Chiffchaff, several Jay, 30’ish Skylark and several Meadow Pipit.

A Little Owl nearby and 2 more Stonechat and a Tawny Owl at Little Lollingdon.

Alan along Cholsey Marsh/River this morning. Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Stonechat and 2 Raven over and several more Jay.

Bunk line this afternoon. Redwing and Stonechat.

A Jay in the garden late afternoon. Both Jay and Stonechat have been very frequent in the area this month.

Mammals: a Stoat hunting a Rabbit and a couple of distant Roe Deer.

Jay

Stonechat

Suspicion!

Mainly overcast with minimal sunny spells. 19°, light SSW.

Some worrying observations today with Alan finding a dead Fox and Tony W finding a dead Buzzard and Badger all under suspicious circumstances with the latter 2 being suspected of being shot! Keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activity please.

Not a lot going on out at Lollingdon today. A Little Owl present, several Chiffchaff and good numbers of Meadow Pipit and Skylark. Tony W had 4 Mistle Thrush earlier and a possible Ring Ouzel.

Alan along the Bunk line: Stonechat, several Meadow Pipit, Linnet and Skylark, Reed Bunting, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

And along the river later in the day: 14 Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, more Jay and a Kingfisher.

A Kingfisher flew from Cholsey Brook in the Brook meadow and disappeared across Church road.  

Mammals: Weasel, Stoat, Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

All photos courtesy Alan

2 Weasels at play? ↕

Stonechat

An excellent capture by Alan just outside the parish boundary

Red Fox deceased

Bunk Line

Cloudy with a few showers, 14°, breezy W.

Both along the Bunk line this morning coming in from opposite ends on another blustery day.

A reasonable passage of Hirundines with c50 Swallow and 30+ House Martin passing thru.

A single Blackcap and several Chiffchaff present plus several Meadow Pipit, 2 Grey Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail, a Grey Heron, c20 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and a Sparrowhawk.

Alan had a walk along the river later in the day: several Swallow and House Martin, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Jay and a Raven.

Mammals: kept getting glimpses of a Stoat hunting and eventually saw it running off carrying prey. Appeared to be a Vole!

Butterflies: a single Red Admiral.

Stoat with prey

Great-spotted Woodpecker courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff ↕

Shaggy Inkcap ↕

Honey Fungus

All about Insects

Sunny periods, 23°, light NNW.

Quite static birdwise at the moment. A Chiffchaff on Lollingdon hill on the move and a Little Owl nearby.

A Sparrowhawk carrying prey and being mobbed by several Swallow.  

Alan reporting very similar along the river area.

Mammals: Stoat, a family of 4 with the 2 adults hunting Rabbit. Brown Hare also noted. A Red Fox seen by Alan recently.

River Dragonflies: Blue-tailed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Brown Hawker, Emperor, Four-spot Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Emperor & 2 Common Darter.

River Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

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

Moths: 3-4 Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden yesterday evening.

Insects: Roesel’s Bush Cricket.

Common Blue

Gatekeeper

Comma

The rest courtesy Alan

Emperor

Blackcap

Brown Hare

Red Fox

Roesel's Bush Cricket

Four-spot Chaser