Cholsey

Sunny at first then mostly cloudy, 15°, light S.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River/Marsh:

6 Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, 4 Black-headed Gull, 20+ Swallow, 3+ House Martin, 14+ Sand Martin, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, many Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 5+ Blackcap, 2+ Common Whitethroat, 3 Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl.

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

AD & PC.

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan ↕

No change

Sunny, eventually, 12°, light N.

A very quiet day all round at Lollingdon and Bunk areas.

The hill was particularly lifeless and the flood held 32 Teal, 2 Shoveler and 10 Lapwing. Well down on previous visits.

A Tawny Owl calling nearby, 2 Yellowhammer and Chiffchaff song ringing out from all sides.

Bunk had little of note, 22 Lapwing and 2 Yellowhammer and Alan noted a Barn Owl around the Church Road area.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Slow times

Sunny periods, 11°, breezy W.

The slow times are persisting with little or no movement. Lollingdon was quieter than usual. A scattering of Fieldfare and Redwing, a few Siskin overhead, several Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Yellowhammer and a Little Owl and a Tawny Owl heard but little else noted.

Alan fared little better along the Bunk and River. Green Sandpiper still present, Water Rail, a Grey Wagtail, a Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Siskin over, several Fieldfare and Redwing.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: 15+ Common Darter Lollingdon and 20+ Cholsey Meadows.

Common Darter courtesy Alan

Common Darter ↕

Garden Birdwatch plus

Sunny, 7°, light SW.

RSPB’s garden birdwatch today. A little quieter than usual and nothing unexpected. Although a male Blackcap turned up to partner the female that has been visiting.

Around 40 birds of 15 species.

A Sparrowhawk also visited out of the hours birdwatch and a couple of Tawny Owl last night.

8 Shovelor and a single Teal along Green lane. Per Richard Broughton.  

A male Brambling reported from a garden. Per MA.

Down on the river today, the boat clubs were out and 15 cars unloading paddle boards down Ferry lane. A lot of disturbance!

There is 6.5 km between Benson lock and Cleeve lock making it good stretch for sculling crews.

Alan visited Day’s Lock yesterday and got some good pics of Goosander on the river.

And still 200+ Golden Plover on Cholsey Hill.

Blackcap

Goosander courtesy Alan ↕

A day between the rains

Overcast, 11°, light NNE.

Alan out today along the Marsh to Bow Bridge: a Raven overhead, several Swift and House Martin feeding along the river. A Tawny Owl calling from the opposite side of the river and a pair of Bullfinch noted and a Lesser Whitethroat at Bow plus all the regulars.

A quiet time along the Bunk line/Green lane today. Having said that a Sedge Warbler still singing along Green lane and another close to CSW. A Reed Warbler heard singing from CSW and a Yellow Wagtail overhead.

Nearby a Lesser Whitethroat singing briefly and several Common Whitethroat and Blackcap.

Local Swallow now regularly seen in the area and 4 Swift feeding high over Church road after midday.

Common Whitethroat

Grey Heron courtesy Alan

No two days the same

Mainly cloudy, 4°, light SSE.

A completely different day today with lots of birds around.

First off was a roosting Tawny Owl near the Bullshole being mobbed by 2 Jay and several Blackbird and Chaffinch but the Owl just ignored the ruckus and stayed put.

3 Little Egret seen by a couple of local walkers in field NW of the village.

A Raven flew north over Lollingdon hill and the 2 Stonechat still present but quite distant.

A flock of approx. 250 birds on the hill comprising mainly Fieldfare and Starling and with several Redwing and a couple of Song Thrush and a flock of 47 Corn Bunting in the vicinity.

Quite a few more Fieldfare and Redwing seen elsewhere, 5-6 Mistle Thrush and several Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

200+ Gulls around the pig fields, the majority too distant to ID but most if not all were Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gull.

c120 Golden Plover seen in the air over Cholsey Hill and a flock of c50 Lapwing flew in from the west.

Both Sparrowhawk and Kestrel seen.

Whilst waiting on the hill for some of the Fieldfare to get closer the whole lot took off in a panic. The Fieldfare scattered and the Starling flew off and formed a tight ball in the sky. Then around 10 seconds later I caught sight of the reason: A Peregrine Falcon had just appeared over the hill, did a few high circuits and then flew off towards the Downs. The birds were far more aware than I was that a Peregrine was nearby heading their way.

2 ( ♂ & ♀ ) Great-spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Treecreeper, 2 Nuthatch and 1-2 Coal Tit in garden.

 This little Wren was scolding me as I was in its way.

Long-tailed Tit

A few record shots. 1. Fieldfare and Song Thrush. 2. some of the Corn Bunting and 3. Peregrine.

More Owls

Sunny spells, 6°, light to mod WNW.

A visit to Lollingdon hill today, 20+ Redwing and a few Fieldfare on the hill, 6 Yellowhammer and a couple of Buzzard.

A nice Barn Owl appeared late afternoon and was hunting for a time before being chased off by a couple of Crows. Quite probably a different bird to the one yesterday around Manor Farm.

A Short-eared Owl this evening flew across Church road and continued north (per RB).

And...........2 Tawny Owl in the meadow this evening.

Hazy (polluted) Day

Very hazy, 16º, light NE.

South East England is currently suffering from air pollution and this is rated at 7 and is composed of local and continental pollution and also Saharan dust. It should all clear by tomorrow, 4th April.

Lollingdon hill was rather quiet, a few Meadow Pipit, 3 Corn Bunting singing, a couple of Red Kite and Buzzard.

2 Lapwing still in the area, 11 Fieldfare and 2 Redwing also still present, 3 Chiffchaff in song and 4 Yellowhammer.

3 Lesser Blackback Gulls overhead, the flood on the north side of the A417 has dried up, the flood to the south had 6 Lesser Blackback Gulls and 2 Mallards on.
 

There was a Little Egret on the flood opposite brook house on Wallingford road this evening with a Grey Heron and 2 Canada Geese (per MP).

Peacock & Small Tortoiseshell butterflies noted, along with Oil Beetles burrowing, many Bees and a couple of Bee Flies.

First Hedgehog of the year in the garden tonight and the Tawny Owls vocal again.

 Yellowhammer

 Chiffchaff singing high in the canopy

 Stock Dove nest prospecting in the garden

 Oil Beetle (courtesy Loren)

 Bee Fly (courtesy Loren) 

Little Egret (courtesy Michael Pocock)

Lollingdon hill

Sunny spells, 18º, light SW.

Another brief visit to Lollingdon hill and it hosted eight Wheatear (3♂ & 5♀) today, also a single Fieldfare present. One Buzzard flew along the hill calling and another settled briefly before flying off. Usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Skylark present.

The garden has quietened down lately the Chiffchaff and Blackcap still visiting the garden trees in song but the Blackcap not feeding on fruit now. Song Thrush and finches (Gold, Green and Chaffinch) still visiting the feeders.

A couple of Tawny Owl visited the garden tonight.

Fieldfare

 

Buzzard

Wheatear with a caterpillar

Marymead

Sunny spells, 20º, light S.

Did not get the rain forecast for today but nice and sunny! Rain now forecast for tomorrow!

2 Willow Warbler and 5 Chiffchaff in trees at Marymead today.

2 Spotted Flycatchers in Lollingdon in the hedgerow behind one of the paddocks and several more Chiffchaff around, plus a single Blackcap.

Several Migrant and Southern Hawkers seen along with a few Common Darters.

Both Large and Small White Butterflies, Red Admiral, Comma and Gatekeeper seen.

Tawny Owls and Hedgehogs in garden tonight.