Soggy Day

A soggy day, 13º, frequent rain showers, light SW, breezy in showers.

The hill was relatively quiet again only 5 Red Kite and a few Fieldfare and Redwing around on the first pass. The meadows to the north were a bit livelier with around 100 Fieldfare and Redwing, 8 Blackbird and 2 Song Thrush. In addition a Chiffchaff with a small Tit flock but just as I was trying to get a photo the rain hit so had to take shelter under a tree and subsequently lost track of the flock.

As the rain had eased I went back to the hill and found the Stonechat still present along the fence line and a Buzzard flew overhead.

The pig fields in the distant had its usual compliment of Gulls and only around 50 Lapwing present.

Between 3-400 Starling seen at dusk from the Orchard centre car park wheeling over Old Didcot presumably to a nearby roost, an impressive sight and interrupted by a Sparrowhawk that flew through the flock 3 times but made no contact.

A Treecreeper and a ♀ Great-spotted Woodpecker regular in the garden recently and up to 6 Mallard visiting early morning.

 Stonechat

 Great-spotted Woodpecker

 Jelly Ear Fungus on Elder

Quiet out West

Low cloud, 11º, light drizzle, light S then breezy.

Lollingdon hill rather quiet apart from 5 Red Kite and 2 Buzzard soaring overhead in the moderate breeze from the south, also a Kestrel hunting over the hill.

The usual large flock of Gulls out by the pig fields and around 200 Lapwing still in the area.

A scattering of thrushes around that included Fieldfare, Redwing, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and Blackbird.

A Peregrine Falcon resting on a pylon out by the Lees and a Sparrowhawk flew through.

A flock of around 100 Golden Plover still on Cholsey hill.

Other species noted were Grey Heron, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Reed Bunting, and Pied Wagtail.

A House Sparrow visiting the rear garden today and a Grey Wagtail along the brook.

A few Roe Deer seen today also.

The House Sparrow amongst others on the feeders

Cholsey marsh roost

Cloudy, 10º, misty, light SSE.

A dusk visit to Cholsey marsh saw c100 Corn Bunting arrive to roost and around 20 Meadow Pipit this evening and only a handful of Reed Bunting.

At least 1 Water Rail heard calling and a Kingfisher and Cormorant along the river, singles of Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Red Kite over the marsh.

A scattering of Redwing and Fieldfare feeding on the remnants of Hawthorn berries bordering the river bank and 2 Song Thrush present.

Several Fieldfares feeding on Hawthorn by the garden today and 6 Blackbird around the garden.

c80 Pied Wagtail roosting around the Orchard centre Didcot yesterday.

 A couple of Fieldfare by the garden

Misty Moon

Love is in the air!

For Ravens.....................at least!

Sunny, 8º, light S.

We were just commenting on how quiet the hill was today when 2 Raven appeared over the brow and performed what I believe was an amazing courtship display lasting for around 20 minutes before both heading off towards the Downs. Most of the time their flight was synchronised (knock the socks off the Red Arrows) with climbs, dives and various tumbles along the south side of the hill and with what looked liked food passing movements (aka harriers), they seemed to be enjoying the moment and it all appeared very playful but serious at the same time, also some low croaking noises heard frequently during the process, all in all one heck of a display.

No sign of the Stonechat today and very few Thrushes around with only a handful of Fieldfare and Redwing, 20+ Blackbird and 8 Song Thrush. A ♀ Sparrowhawk flew south, 2 Magpie, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and 2 Pied Wagtail also on the hill.

Lots of Gulls in the area by the pig fields and also a field being ploughed near Aston Tirrold, Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gulls ID’ed, also c500 Lapwing in the area.

The Harris Hawk has been reported from Cholsey marsh again last week.

A series of photos of the Ravens, not great quality but illustrating many flight positions. Also a late Plume Moth found on the car when we returned back from the walk and a few pics of some distant Lapwing flocks in the air.

A drive out!

Sunny spells, 10º, light S.

A drive out this afternoon for a bit of light Xmas shopping and a few birds noted.

A Common Snipe flew over Cholsey hill and a pale Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk seen along the Wallingford bypass.

Now the leaves have fallen a better view is to be had of the meadow and quite a few Fieldfare and Redwing seen today moving through, also several flocks of Black-headed Gull overhead and a brief visit by a Pheasant to the garden this morning.

A couple of “Sunset over Cholsey hill” photos by Loren from the car on the way back home.

Tonights moon low on the horizon @ 23:30

Not been out!

Not been out this week due to a heavy cold............................Yuk. Just birding from the living room window.

A ♀ Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Treecreeper have been frequent visitors to the garden this week and up to 10 Blackbird (most feeding on Rowan and Pyracantha berries in the front garden) also a Mistle Thrush frequenting the area, several Mallard, 3 Moorhen and 2 Stock Dove still regular and up to 8 House Sparrow present in the front garden on a neighbours feeder and a Pied Wagtail regular in the vicinity.

A Grey Heron seen dropping in to the brook after dark this evening and earlier 600+ Starling seen flying SW over the Orchard centre in Didcot at dusk heading presumably to a roost site.

Photo © Loren Chaplin

Stonechats again

A dull day, overcast and relatively mild, 10º, light breeze from the north.

The 2 Stonechat still present, 1 on Lollingdon hill and the other near the Lees and up to 200 Lapwing in the pig fields along with c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, 120+ Black-headed Gull and a large Corvid flock.

A Grey Heron, several small flocks of Redwing & Fieldfare, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Yellowhammer, 3 Buzzard, 5 Red Kite and 8 Meadow Pipit also more Song Thrush & Blackbird present along hedgerows.

Unusually a Peacock butterfly seen on the wing today.

Quiet

Overcast, 9º, very dull, no wind.

c200 Thrushes still around the hill, most were Fieldfare, with 30+ Redwing, 9 Blackbird and a Song Thrush, also 50+ Chaffinch flying with them. Only other species of note were 2 Goldcrest seen.

The garden still busy with up to 20 Goldfinch, 12 Chaffinch, 5 Greenfinch, 3 Moorhen, 3 Mallard, 2 Stock Dove, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, a Green Woodpecker plus all the other regulars, . 2 Goldcrest present today and 5 House Sparrow in the front garden and a ♀ Sparrowhawk overhead.

A few scenic pics from Loren

Cholsey, 21st Nov

Rain again at first, then sunny spells, 6º, light to mod N.

A walk along the “Bunk line” to Winterbrook, then along the Thames path to Cholsey Marsh for dusk.

The “Bunk line” route was fairly quiet with a scattering of Fieldfare & Redwing, a few Song Thrush & Blackbird especially on hawthorns in the hedgerows, also a couple of both Green & Great-spotted Woodpecker and 2 Jay.

The walk along to Cholsey Marsh again Fieldfare & Redwing were frequent along the hedgerows and also a few Song Thrush & Blackbird with them.

At least 3 Kingfisher seen along with 4 Little Grebe, a Buzzard, 3 Bullfinch and a high flying Cormorant.

Also a light movement of Black-headed Gulls upriver and some high flying Lesser Blackback Gull seen.

Arrived at Cholsey Marsh at 15:00 and the first Corn Bunting appeared at 15:27 eventually to swell to 120+ roosting there this evening along with 30+ Reed Bunting.

Other species noted were 80+ Starling flew west in 3 small flocks, 21 Golden Plover flew over heading west also. 2 Common Snipe at least on the marsh along with a Water Rail, 2 Kestrel hunting the area and 2-300 Thrushes mainly Fieldfare in the area.

A ♀ Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden this morning.

A flock of Canada Geese flying around to the east of the village tonight at 23:45.

A few pics of the Little Grebe and a Kingfisher on the opposite bank.

 

The Lees area.

Heavy rain clearing around midday then sunny spells, 6º, light to mod SW.

After the rain cleared around midday I took a walk out to the Lees area to see if the other Stonechat was still present but unable to find it. However a couple of Common Snipe present in the long ditch along with 3 Reed Bunting and around a 100 Skylark present in the fields.

A Tawny Owl heard calling from the Lees, a few Redwing & Fieldfare overhead, 2 Mistle Thrush and quite a few more Blackbirds in the hedgerows.

A lot of corvids around with 200+ Rook, 40+ Jackdaw and several Carrion Crow, in addition 5 Pied Wagtail and a scattering of Black-headed Gull and Lesser Blackback Gull.

The small flock of Golden Plover still on Cholsey hill.

 

 Rook

One of the garden Stock Doves

Amur Falcon: a conservation success!

Good news for migrating Amur Falcons in Nagaland, India.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/20/safe-passage-for-amur-falcons-via-nagaland/

Autumn Plovers

Sunny, 4º, light NW, decidedly colder!

A flock of 50+ Lapwing with the Gulls & Corvids in the pig fields to the south west of Lollingdon hill today, also a flock of around 80 Starling present foraging the area.

c50 Golden Plover still intermittently present on Cholsey hill.

Redwings passing overhead from the garden this evening.

Wet & Soggy

Overcast with low drizzly cloud, 9º, and a very light SW breeze. Yucky day!

Poor visibility and damp weather today, the Stonechat was still present on the hill today along the lower fence line, not as many thrushes today with c100 Fieldfare, 20’ish Redwing a couple of Blackbird and 1 Song Thrush. Also a few Goldfinch with the thrushes and elsewhere on the hill were a couple of Yellowhammer and 2 Kestrel.