Rain did not stop play!

Rain, 11°, light SSW.

A bit of a washout today………………………However I stayed out for a few hours, got thoroughly wet and managed to connect with a few bits and pieces.

Lollingdon Hill: Quiet, 4 Reed Bunting (2m, 2f), 2 Blackcap, and the usual Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Cholsey Marsh: 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Water Rail and an Egyptian Goose flew upstream.

Garden: 4 Blackcap still present, 1 Siskin, a Coal Tit and a Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff in the meadow.

2 House Martin over the garden yesterday.

2 Egyptian Geese on the flood near Bunk Bridge (Richard Broughton).

Barn Owl post-mortem.

One more thing, I got the post-mortem from the showy Barn Owl from last November that ended up having its head nibbled off by a Red Kite – it was female, all organs were normal (no sign of contamination), but it was very thin, so as expected it was starving, probably not helped by that wing injury. (Thanks Richard).

courtesey Richard Broughton

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A Short-eared Owl along the Bunk Line this afternoon just north of Cholsey SF, flew off east.

A Long-tailed Tit nest with eggs and a pair of Lapwing present nearby (Richard Broughton).

They are arriving...........just.

Cloudy with a few light rain showers, 12°, light W.

Pretty quiet up on the hill today, a Blackcap (presumably new in) present and the usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting.

c60 Fieldfare still around, a pair of Great-spotted Woodpecker, a Green Woodpecker and 3 Chiffchaff present.

A walk out along the Bunk Line with c50 Swallow and c20 House Martin over Cholsey SF and 2 Herring Gull there.

Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, 2 Redwing and 2 Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush in the meadow today plus a Siskin overhead. At least 3 Blackcap still frequenting the garden and a Nuthatch visited this morning.

2 Tawny Owl in the meadow this evening.

Redstart

Rain, Hail, Sunshine, 10°, light to fresh NW.

A nice male Redstart on the hill today working along the Hawthorns, did not stay too long as I could see some dark clouds heading my way and just made it to cover as rain and hail came down.

Several Corn Bunting present along with 10+ Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting.

3 Chiffchaff and a handful of Fieldfare were the only other birds of note.

2 Lapwing over Cholsey Hill earlier in the day.

c100 Swallow with a few House Martin around Cholsey SF today and the Cetti’s Warbler still present on Cholsey Marsh and c50 Fieldfare out at Lollingdon (Tony Williams).

Sunshine & Showers............... & Windy

Sunshine & showers with a fresh westerly blowing, 10°.

Very little on the hill itself which was not surprising with a brisk wind blowing across the face. A single Chiffchaff in a sheltered area to the east was all that was on the south face.

The sheltered north side of the hill had around 10 Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting in the hedgerow.

Further north in the fields were a flock of around 80 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, several more Yellowhammer, 10 Starling and a small flock of c 20 Linnet.

3 more Chiffchaff also noted.

The 6 Blackcap still around the garden and at least 1 Nuthatch still visiting and have also been seen in gardens along Station road.

Getting warmer

Cloudy but with some good sunny spells, 13°, light W.

6 Blackcap in the garden today (4m, 2f) feeding on the apples and a lot of squabbling going on.

A visit to the hill today was relatively quiet, 2 Willow Warbler (1 briefly on the hill and another in song to the north), 4 Chiffchaff and I caught the tail end of a Swallow flying over.

A single Fieldfare in one of the fields, a Grey Heron by the pond.

Mammals: Field Vole, Hedgehog.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

A couple of Bee Fly on the wing.

Early Bird

Cloudy with rain showers, 10°, light to breezy SSE.

A call from Brian Wyatt this morning with several Swallow and House Martin feeding over Cholsey SF and a singing Willow Warbler nearby.

By the time I got out later the cloud and rain had arrived. Both Lollingdon Hill and Cholsey Marsh were fairly quiet.

Lollingdon: 52 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing, 3 Reed Bunting, 8 Yellowhammer, 4 Chiffchaff and at least 3 singing Corn Bunting.

Cholsey Marsh: 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Siskin, 2 Kingfisher and 2 Great-crested Grebe.

Blackcaps & Swallows

Cloudy with some sunshine, 14°, light SE.

3 Blackcap (2m, 1f) in the garden today and the "f" is unringed so is a different one from the previous "f" that appeared earlier in the year. These UK wintering birds should move off later this month and head presumably north east to their breeding areas in Central Europe.

Other visitors today included: Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk as well as the usual regulars.

6 Swallow noted locally by the EastEnders today and presumed to be newly arrived local birds rather than birds passing through.

The Rookery is in full swing at the moment with 30+ nests and being hassled daily by Red Kite and Buzzard with the adult birds flying up and chasing off any potential predator.

A Comma butterfly in the garden.

Not quite there yet.

High cloud and a breezy SSE wind, 11°.

A Chiffchaff singing in the garden most of the day which gave me the incentive to get out and see what was around.

Disappointingly rather little in the way of migrants:

A walk out to Lollingdon and the Lees did not live up to my expectations.

The hill was quiet with just a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk (over) and a Buzzard on the hill and a few Red Kite overhead. A couple of Yellowhammer and 5 Corn Bunting (several in song).

A Grey Heron on the pond and a couple more Chiffchaff around, a flock of c100 Fieldfare and 3 Redwing.

A field between the Bullshole and Lollingdon was fairly active with around 40 Linnet, 20’ish Yellowhammer about the same of Chaffinch and a single Reed Bunting.

A few more Yellowhammer out by the Lees and another Kestrel and a Chiffchaff, also 2 Mistle Thrush near the church.

Garden time

A sunny day, 10°, light NNW.

Catching up on some gardening today, 2 Sparrowhawk (M&F) over the garden presumably the local pair and the male seen displaying.

Also 4 Red Kite and 3 Buzzard high overhead.

A pair of Pied Wagtail back at Marymead and 3 nest boxes being used/investigated in the garden by Blue & Great Tits.

2 Siskin flew over and my first Swallow of the year flew north.

A Chiffchaff singing nearby and both Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker in the meadow Nuthatch, Coal Tit and Blackcap visiting.

Wheatears

Sunny spells, 10°, light SW.

4 Wheatear on the hill today, 5 Chiffchaff around and 2 Raven high overhead.

Little else around other than 14 Yellowhammer, 5 Corn Bunting, several Meadow Pipit and 2 Pied Wagtail, a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk.

A Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk around the garden today and Nuthatch and Blackcap still present.

The first Swallow of the year seen today in Cholsey (Michael Pocock).

A single Brimstone seen on the hill.

Wet, wet, wet.

Heavy rain, 10°, fresh to strong SW.

Not a good day for birding other than from the living room window.

A Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Coal Tit in the garden to name a few and Tawny Owls in the meadow last night and a pair of amorous Hedgehogs in the garden after dark.

At last

A sunny day, 13°, light WSW.

A Wheatear (at last) on the hill this afternoon, initially along the fence line then feeding on the slopes, also a singing Chiffchaff in the Hawthorns and a Raven flew over.

A surprise of a Ringed Plover flew north calling, certainly an oddity for the hill.

30'ish Corn Bunting, at least 1 Reed Bunting and several Yellowhammer around the hill.

Elsewhere 53 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, 2 Siskin, several Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail, 2 Reed Bunting singing on the walk out and 2 more Chiffchaff.

2 Mistle Thrush, a Coal Tit and a Green Woodpecker in the meadow and the 2 Blackcap (M&F) in the garden.

4 species of Butterfly today: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock.

A Cetti's Warbler on Cholsey Marsh this morning (Michael Pocock).

Spring maybe here?

Overcast morning then rain, 8°, light SSW.

A singing Chiffchaff near Cholsey school this morning (per Richard Broughton).

A Wheatear and a couple of Stonechat on Blewburton hill (Blewbury) today, not that far away from Cholsey (per Gerry Quinn) and with Swallows seen at Farmoor & Otmoor today maybe spring is here.

A pair of Stock Dove investigating potential nest sites in the garden and a Hedgehog in the garden last night.

Both male and female Blackcap in the garden this afternoon.

Rubbish weather still

Overcast, 9°, light WNW, a dull and dismal day.

Very little today, most of the winter thrushes have moved on with only 2 Fieldfare noted, also no gulls at all.

24 Corn Bunting, 14 Yellowhammer and 5 Reed Bunting on the hill.

Approx. 50 Meadow Pipit and 30 Pied Wagtail feeding nearby and a Green Woodpecker and Great-spotted Woodpecker in fields to the north.

Red Kite (courtesy Tony Rayner)