Redstarts

Overcast, 20°, frequent light rain showers, breezy SW.

A damp visit to the hill today turned up 2 Common Redstart and a single Willow Warbler.

5 Chiffchaff, 6 Yellowhammer and a Hobby also noted and at least 5 Kestrel in the area, not a great deal else seen.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker.

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

3 Hedgehogs in the garden tonight.

Weekend 7th, 8th and 9th Aug.

Mainly sunny, 22°, light SW.

A Barn Owl seen over Cholsey Hill.

Then all records from the garden.

2 Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Tawny Owl and 5 Long-tailed Tit in the garden over the weekend.

Swallow and House Martin still feeding overhead and a few Swift moving over, looks as if most, if not all our local Swifts have departed.

Nearby Sparrowhawks have fledged and a Hobby flew over the garden on Saturday and several Chiffchaff around.

A Little Owl heard calling this evening from somewhere to the NW of the meadow.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies:  Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Holly Blue. Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown.

Nuthatch

 Holly Blue

Field Grasshopper

Windhover

Another breezy and cloudy day and a little cooler, 16°, breezy S.

Rather quiet on the south side of the hill, a couple of Kestrel hunting on the hill and a few Red Kite and Buzzard high overhead.

The leeward side had a bit more activity with 2 Willow Warbler seen on the hill, the first ones since the spring and presumably on return passage.

Also a rather large Tit flock of around 80 birds, mainly Long-tailed Tit and Blue Tit and at least 5 Chiffchaff. A bit further down were a couple of Blackcap feeding on Elder berries, another small group of around 12 Blue Tit and 2 Whitethroat and 5 Yellowhammer.

The Nuthatch still visiting the garden and 2 juvenile Robin in the garden this week and the Tawny Owls now regular again.

Mammals: a Weasel ran across a track in front of me and a Hedgehog still regular in the garden.

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

Raptors and Butterflies

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 20°, breezy WSW.

Again a bit breezy on the hill with very few small passerines evident.

5 or 6 Kestrel around the hill, 20+ Red Kite, 6 Buzzard, a Hobby flew rather fast south, a Peregrine flew towards the village and a Sparrowhawk went west.

A couple of hundred Rook with 30+ Jackdaw on one of the ploughed fields and around 20 Lesser Blackback Gull.

A handful of Swift and Swallow over the hill moving south and a couple of Little Owl calling nearby.

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

Holly Blue

Brimstone

We have Wind

Mainly cloudy, 21°, breezy SSW.

Another breezy day out at Lollingdon and a lot of harvesting going on.

Another breezy day says it all, I've thought this year has been windier than usual as I tend to notice it more out on the hill and the met office have confirmed it.

Due to the lack of high pressure systems so far this year, "which bring calm weather".

Met Office blog  windy 2015

Some of the fields that have already been harvested and ploughed are now suitable for gulls to loaf about on with 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull and a few Black-headed Gull.

2 Raven flew over the hill and moved off towards Moulsford and a handful of Swift and Swallow over.

A fair few Chiffchaff around with 10+ counted overall, a couple of Song Thrush and a juv Robin noted.

Butterflies: few around today, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

A lot of 7-spot Ladybirds again.

Lunar moments

Full moon Fri 11:40 July 31st, the 2nd full moon in July, also known as a Blue Moon and 00:10 Sat August 1st 2015

A few Raptors about.

Cloudy, with sunny spells, 21°, light SSW.

A quiet day on the hill but a few raptors around with 22 Red Kite over a recently harvested field with another 10 nearby, up to 6 Buzzard around, 5 Kestrel, 2 Hobby, a Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine Falcon.

A Grey Heron flew in and a couple of Great-spotted Woodpecker about, also Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and Blackcap seen along with a few of the regulars.

Dragonflies: a couple of unidentified blue Damselfly, Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker.

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

 There are about 12 Red Kite in this pic (taken on my phone)

 Nuthatch in the garden yesterday

 A couple of Linnet seen today

Redstart

Overcast, rain showers, 16°, light NW.

A Common Redstart (juv or ♀) found on the hill today along a hedgerow to the east of the hill and possibly a 2nd bird present. Unfortunately too distant for a photo but it was calling frequently.

Not a lot over the hill today, 5 Swift, c50 Swallow, 6 House Martin and a single Sand Martin.

Little else of note apart from a Hobby seen.

Butterflies: not a lot quantity wise given the weather, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Archive photo

Not a lot going on

Cloudy, 17°, breezy W.

Another windy day on the hill with virtually no movement, 2 Swift, 2 House Martin, 11 Black-headed Gull and 5 Lesser Blackback Gull over.

Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat of note, Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer but little else.

Butterflies: a few sheltered spots hosted, Large White, Small White, Holly Blue (in garden), Brown Argus, Common Blue, Red Admiral, a rather washed out Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

 Brown Argus ?

 Red Admiral

 Speckled Wood

Common Blue

Over the Hills and Far Away

Overcast with very few sunny spells, 17°, fresh WSW.

A breezy day on the hill.

A steady movement of birds over the hill today with c40 Swift, 50+ Swallow, 20+ House Martin, at least 3 Sand Martin, 34 Lesser Blackback Gull, 57 Black-headed Gull and a single Curlew, all moving in a roughly southerly direction.

I wonder if these diurnal migrants are using hills as navigation markers in their migration as Wittenham Clumps, Cholsey Hill, Lollingdon Hill and Lowbury hill are in a rough north south route?

3 Kestrel on the hill, a Hobby drifted over and a few Red Kite and Buzzard present.

Nuthatch still visiting the garden.

Fewer insects around in the overcast and windy conditions.

Mammals: Muntjac Deer, Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

RBS

Prolonged rain, 15°, light to mod SW.

Another rather damp day but tempted out by a Red-backed Shrike that had been seen out at Churn just a few kilometres away.

Went out for it this morning but the rain too heavy so decided to try later and a call from TW around 13:00 got me out again. Unfortunately the rain persisted so had to wait around 3 hours before it eased enough for the shrike to show itself.

Alerted by a Whitethroat and Blackcap giving alarm calls, the shrike eventually appeared on the top of a nearby bush. It then flew to another nearby (c80m away) bush were it stayed for a time allowing the couple of us there to see it reasonably well and for me to get a few record shots.

Other species noted were Red Kite, Buzzard, Lesser Blackback Gull, Curlew, Mistle Thrush, Starling, Linnet, Yellowhammer, and Corn Bunting.

Individuals of 3 butterfly species seen braving the weather, Large White, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

A rather damp looking Green Woodpecker in the meadow this evening.

Rain stops play....for me at least

Rain all day, 15°, light W.

A thoroughly wet day but we did need some rain.

Needless to say I did not get out to play today, however a lot of activity in the meadow behind the garden with numerous visits by Black-headed Gulls that were passing through then invariably being chased off by the resident pair of Carrion Crows who are now teaching junior how to look for food and who to tolerate on their territory.

A Green Woodpecker, various Blackbird, a Song Thrush and Wood Pigeons.

Moorhen, Mallards, Stock Doves, Collared Doves, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Dunnock and Wren in the garden and the usual Blue and Great Tits on the feeders along with Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch and a couple of House Sparrow.

Brief visit to the Hill

Mostly cloudy with a few light rain showers, 17°, breezy SW.

A brief visit out to Lollingdon today, a few small mixed flocks of Swift, Swallow and House Martin passing overhead, up to about 100 birds involved.

A few Black-headed Gull and Lesser Blackback Gull passing through.

A Kingfisher also seen of note and the regulars present.

Treecreeper and Nuthatch in the garden again.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet. All but disappeared when the sun became obscured.

Blue & Green

Cloudy with sunny spells, 24°, breezy WSW.

Little going on today, a Hobby drifted along the hill and a couple of Kestrel present.

Approximately 40 Swallow feeding for a time over fields adjacent to the hill and a handful of Swift over.

Green Woodpecker, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch in garden and 4 Black-headed Gull frequenting the meadow this evening.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Raven, Vulcan & Red Arrows

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 23°, light to breezy SSW.

On arriving out at Lollingdon 4 Raven (2ad, 2 juv) flew over moving south, managed to get the camera out of the car just as they were off over the hill.

The usual out around the hill today with only Skylark, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting in song.

2 Hobby mobbing a Red Kite again and once the Kite had moved away it was then mobbed by 2 Kestrel. One of the Kestrel appeared to stray in to Hobby territory and was seen off by the 2 Hobby rather quickly.

Blackcap, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff also noted.

Around 50 Swift passed over the hill along with 6 Swallow and 6 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Dragonflies: Blue-tailed Damselfly and Brown Hawker.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet. (I am possibly seeing Essex Skipper but unable to ID without catching one!).

Lots of Ladybirds seen today, 7-spot and 10-spot, and a Common Wasp nest found.

A brief encounter with the Red Arrows flying over the hill and a flypast by a Vulcan bomber.

A couple of Tawny Owl around the garden last night and at least 3 (common) Pipistrelle Bats.

 Raven

 Red Arrows

 The last flying Vulcan in its retirement year.

 Entrance to Common Wasp nest

Gatekeeper