Sunshine & Showers

Sunny with showers, 17º, light to breezy WSW, cooler.

A walk out to the hill today and a juv Green Woodpecker near the garden, a 20+ strong Tit flock in the Millennium wood with at least a dozen Long-tailed Tit present and a couple of Chiffchaff, also a family party of at least 5 Wren and a Blackcap at the Bullshole.

A flock of c40 Chaffinch feeding in a recently harvested field along with a few Yellowhammer.

The ♂ Redstart still present on the hill and calling frequently, also 5 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Kestrel and a juv Green Woodpecker working along the top fence line.

A lot of (c300) Lesser Blackback Gulls around the pig farm area.

Nearby 8 Yellowhammer, 2 Hobby, a Jay, a Grey Heron and a Kingfisher.

Fewer insects around today.

Dragonflies; several Common Darter.

Butterflies; 1 Small Skipper, several Small White, Speckled Wood and Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Red Admiral, 1 Meadow Brown and 1 Comma.

The garden dominated by finches at the moment with 6 Greenfinch, 7 Goldfinch and 10+ Chaffinch at least and fewer House Martin and Swallow overhead.

 Green Woodpecker

 Redstart again!

 Comma

H&H

2 Hobby on lane, W of Waterloo bridge, to Cholsey station; one flew low and abruptly S over railway line, very sharp-winged raptor, so assumed Hobby. Seconds later, saw another definite flying high and N toward Cholsey. This bird then began soaring with (and mobbing) ... a male Harris Hawk!. (per MA).

Probably the same 2 Hobby that were over the garden/village yesterday.

This Harris Hawk has been around for a couple of years now. This pic taken over Cholsey Marsh in 2011.

Yellow & Red

Sunny spells, showers, 19º, light to moderate SW.

A couple of hours on the hill today and my first Clouded Yellow butterfly of the year. Rain then stopped play.

3 Redstart (1 ♂ & 2 1^stw) on the hill today, there have been Redstarts on the hill for over a month now with at least 5 different birds present.

Also today were up to 8 Chiffchaff, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat, 1 Yellow Wagtail, c50 Linnet, c 20 Yellowhammer (2 flocks), 2 Kestrel and at one point there were 3 Red Kite, 2 Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk in the air together.

TW noted a Raven over the hill this morning.

2 Hobby over the garden this afternoon and c30 House Martin and c20 Swallow nearby.

Dragonflies; 1 Southern Hawker, 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies; 1 Clouded Yellow, several Small White, Speckled Wood and Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Meadow Brown, 2 Gatekeeper, 2 Red Admiral, 2 Large White, 1 Common Blue.

 Clouded Yellow

 Redstart

 Yellowhammer (Loren)

 The rain on its way (Loren)

Quite quiet!

Sunny, light showers, 20º, breezy WNW.

Sunnier and a little warmer than yesterday but still breezy.

♂ Redstart still on the hill and feeding along with a couple of Common Whitethroat in close attendance, not sure what’s going on there as the Whitethroats are following every move the Redstart makes.

3-4 Kestrel on the hill and a small flock of 8 Swallow flew SW but that was about all.

Dragonflies; several Common Darter.

Butterflies; 2 Large White, several Small White, Speckled Wood and Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Red Admiral, 2 Common Blue and 4 Meadow Brown.

 

Red & White

Sunny spells, showers, 18º, breezy SSW.

A variable weather day, quite warm in the sun but cooler in the wind and shade, fewer insects around.

The hill was relatively quiet, surprisingly the ♂ Redstart was still there with 2 Common Whitethroat, also 4 Chiffchaff,  a few Linnet and Yellowhammer, 3 Kestrel, 2 Buzzard and a Red Kite.

A couple of hirundine flocks passed over struggling in to the headwind totalling c40 House Martin and c10 Swallow.

Dragonflies; 3 Common Darter and 1 Southern Hawker.

Butterflies; several Small White, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood, 1 Large White, 1 Comma, 1 Red Admiral.

 ♀ Common Darter

 ♂ Common Darter

 Redstart

 ♀ Common Darter

 Green-veined White (Loren)

 ♀ Common Darter (Loren)

 Sloe Bug (Loren)

The Inglorious 12th

The 'Inglorious 12th' promoting biodiversity on our heather moorland!

By Keith Brockie

August Supermoon

Tonight’s August Supermoon, a perigee moon approx 222000 miles from earth, estimated to be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual.

A Perigee moon is at the closest point it passes to the Earth, Apogee being the furthest point. 

They usually occur once every 13 months but this year there are 3 in a row, July, August and September a phenomena that apparently will not happen again until 2034.

Also a few meteors (Shooting stars) from the Perseid meteor shower tonight to the NW.

 

Two Hills

Sun, Rain, Wind.........a variable day with heavy showers, thunder storms, sunny spells, 17º, moderate to fresh W...................basically the remnants of Hurricane Bertha sweeping through.

Had to get out this afternoon for some fresh air so we decided on somewhere with a big vista so we could see what weather was coming and therefore went initially to Wittenham Clumps.................. and for those of you who are not familiar with them .................................... Wittenham Clumps are 2 hills around 5 miles away from Cholsey, also known as the Sinodun Hills (seno-dunum, Celtic for “Old Fort”). The 2 hills are Round Hill and Castle Hill and both hills have a commanding view over the surrounding countryside and being around 120m above sea level. Not very high by most standards but quite enough for this area.

Castle Hill is the site of a Bronze Age fort that dates back c2000 years.

It was a little breezy up there today with very little noted, a few Red Kite and Kestrel in the air, a few Swallow passing overhead, also Yellowhammer, 1 Common Whitethroat and a Chiffchaff.

The view to the north took in the Day’s Lock area and a gravel pit by the river Thames at Dorchester and many Gulls, Geese and Swans could be seen in the distance with at least Mute Swan, Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese, Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gull being identified!

The second hill was our familiar Lollingdon Hill, a lot windier up here as it is quite exposed. Very little noted, however the ♂ Redstart was still present (a month now), a Kestrel, 3 Magpie and a single Chiffchaff and that was about it.

The only dragonfly noted was a Common Darter in Lollingdon and a few butterflies were to be found in a few sheltered spots. Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral and Common Blue.

 Common Blue (Loren)

 Common Blue

 Cholsey from Wittenham Clumps

 Lollingdon Hill from Wittenham Clumps

 Day's Lock from Wittenham Clumps

 Wittenham Clumps from Lollingdon Hill

The Hill

Sunny, 25º, light SSW.

A walk out to Lollingdon hill today.

The walk out and back was reasonably quiet, a Green Woodpecker on the playing fields, a few Greenfinch and Yellowhammer in the hedgerows along with a few Chiffchaff and 2 Blackcap. Quite a few Wood Pigeon feeding in the fields on spilt seed and 12 Red Kite quartering a field being worked presumably scavenging for any casualties.

The hill was fairly active with up to 12 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, a Common Whitethroat, 2 Yellow Wagtail, Green Woodpecker and the ♂ Redstart still present.

A few Yellowhammer, c 30 Linnet and at least 2 Hobby nearby. Several more Red Kite and c12 Buzzard.

Dragonflies: 2 Brown Hawker, 1 Southern Hawker, 1 Migrant Hawker, 1 Blue Emperor and several Common Darter.

Butterflies, less numerous; 2 Large White, Small White, Small Tort, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, 1 Comma, 5 Red Admiral, 3 Common Blue and 2 Brown Argus.

A Sparrowhawk had taken a Wood Pigeon in the garden and a Carrion Crow was feeding on what was left.

Tawny Owls around the garden this evening.

Around 20 House Martin and several Swallow feeding over the garden today and it looks as though most if not all of our Swifts have departed (mean departure date 5^th Aug) unless there are any late breeders, most from now on should be migrants passing through.

 Green Woodpecker (juv)

 ♂ Common Redstart

 Brown Argus