Thrushes and Dragons

A sunny day with thin high cloud, 16°, light S.

A rather unseasonal day weather wise that felt quite warm in the sun and Thrushes dominating the birdscape out at Lollingdon.

500+ Fieldfare, c100 Redwing, c40 Blackbird, 5 Mistle Thrush and 3 Song Thrush and 100+ Starling on or around the hill.

Wood Pigeon numbers have increased in the area with a flock of 350+ that flew over.

A Raven, several Siskin, 2+ Bullfinch, 2 Goldcrest, a Chiffchaff and 2 Peregrine having an aerial dispute.

Dragonflies: 5 Common Darter, incl a pair egg laying in the brook.

Butterflies: 4 Red Admiral.

The male Common Darter guarding the female whilst egg laying, She will stay attached to the male and will dip the tip of her abdomen in the water releasing one or several eggs that will hopefully hatch the following year.

Noon Fly

Harris Hawk

A Harris Hawk turned up in a garden along the Wallingford road today, still in the vicinity this evening.
Presumably an escapee from somewhere and not the same bird that has been present along the Thames area for the last few years.

photos courtesy John Wheeler

Frosty

Hazy sunshine, warming up, 10°+, light W.

A walk out to the hill this morning with a ground frost still on the grass but slowly warming up.

2 Jay in the Millennium Wood, 2 Grey Wagtail on the brook near the railway and several Yellowhammer half way out.

Roughly 500 Fieldfare around the hill today feeding on Hawthorn berries, a handful of Redwing, 5 Mistle Thrush, c80 Starling and a definite increase in Blackbird numbers with 50+ noted and 3 Song Thrush.

A Corn Bunting, several Yellowhammer, 6 Goldcrest and 2 Bullfinch also on the hill.

2 Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a flock of approx. 100 Linnet.

A walk out by the Lees did not produce a lot other than 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Jay, and several Skylark and Meadow Pipit.

Amphibians: Common Frog (on the allotments yesterday).

Dragonflies; 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: 5 Red Admiral.

Merlin

A Merlin, late a.m. on Thursday 26th Oct flying from fields near Caps Lane towards Cross roads. The first record this autumn. Thanks, Chris Brown.

Quiet day

A sunny day, 12°, light WNW.

A later than usual visit to the hill today and just a Green Woodpecker present and a Sparrowhawk hunting Linnets (unsuccessfully).

Nearby, 14 Fieldfare, 23 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 2+ Bullfinch and several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit.

Female Stonechat near Silly bridge.

Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: 4 Red Admiral.

Stonechat

Female Stonechat perched on fence post c50m south of Silly bridge. per MA.

Thrushes arriving

Overcast with some light rain showers, 15°, light SW.

Fairly quiet on the hill today with little movement, 17 Starling, 2 Redwing and 2 Fieldfare overhead and 6 Mistle Thrush on the hill.

Nearby a further 30+ Redwing and 7 Fieldfare.

A slight increase in the number of Blackbird and Song Thrush noted recently.

Quite a few Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail in the area, plus 2 Corn Bunting and 3 Yellowhammer, also a Kingfisher.

A Chiffchaff and 6 Grey Wagtail near Church road bridge yesterday. per RB.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

A Brambling but no YBW

Overcast, Rain, 13°, Fresh to strong SW.

A Brambling 1stw/F with a Chaffinch flock this morning SU5985, per MA.

No sign of Yellow-browed Warbler today. Whitehead Meadow/Rec/Millennium Wood and Bullshole all checked.

Yellow-browed and 2 late Swallow

Cloudy with a fair bit of sunshine, 14°, fresh WSW.

A breezy and bright day on Lollingdon hill but little moving. Before that:

I was out in the garden clearing some twigs etc. after last night’s blow when I heard a Yellow-browed Warbler calling close to the garden in Whitehead (Brook) meadow, along the hedgerow leading to the Rec at around 17:00. Rushed in to get the bins and camera but could not relocate the bird. Searched until nearly 18:00 and all I managed to find was a flock of Long-tailed Tit and 2 Goldcrest, it may still be somewhere in the area so will look again tomorrow.

Earlier in the day: 15 Mistle Thrush and 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker on the southern side of the hill and 2 Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest on the northern side.

Nearby 2 Kestrel, c50 Pied Wagtail scattered around, 30+ Meadow Pipit, a Grey Wagtail, 3 Bullfinch, a Little Owl, a couple of Siskin and c20 Redwing.

2 Swallow flew south west over the hill just after 13:00.

Stonechat along the dyke near the Lees and a Peregrine. TW.

Dragonflies: 6 Common Darter.

Butterflies: 8 Red Admiral and 1 Comma.

Murky

Overcast and murky with some light rain, 13°, light SE.

2 Corn Bunting, 3 Reed Bunting and a Green Woodpecker on the hill today.

Nearby 3 Bullfinch, 4 Chiffchaff, 50+ Redwing, 30 Meadow Pipit, 10 Pied Wagtail, 10 Mistle Thrush and several Siskin buzzing around.

Also 2 Raven in the vicinity (2 yesterday per TW).

A couple of Chiffchaff and a Cetti’s Warbler on Cholsey Marsh yesterday towards the 4 Arches, TW.

Tony's Garden

Cloudy, 14°, light SW.

A photo from Tony Rayner with a Raven in his garden yesterday.

10 Mistle Thrush on Cholsey Marsh today but little else.

Movement

Cloudy and wind strengthening, 19°, fresh S.

An early movement of birds over Lollingdon hill this morning that fizzled out around 10:00 as the wind started to strengthen.

c120 Redwing, 3 Fieldfare, 2 Mistle Thrush, 70+ Starling, 60+ Chaffinch, at least 1 Brambling and 2 Redpoll.

30+ Skylark and several Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail over the hill were more likely a local movement.

The more sheltered side of the hill had 1 Chiffchaff and 3 Goldcrest with a Tit flock.

3 Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk in the area.

c100 Lapwing on Cholsey hill this afternoon with both Lesser Blackback Gull and Black-headed Gull.

“Pretty sure I had 3 Wheatear on Cholsey hill on Saturday - but I was driving and they were flying across the road together, so didn't get more than silhouettes. Redwing piling in since Saturday night (4 in garden on Sunday), and at least 4 Coal Tit in the flock that's going round the gardens”. (RB).

Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: 2 Large White and 3 Red Admiral.

Some interesting weather today with the sky appearing various hues of dark grey to almost an orange. The sun poking through at times and looking very red. Apparently this is due to dust from the Sahara region and smoke and particulates from the Iberian wildfires being whipped up in the atmosphere by Ophelia?

The following photos were of the only things that stated still for any length of time 😄.

Wheatear

Sunny, 18°, light S.

An afternoon walk out the Lees with a couple of Chiffchaff en route, 17 Starling flew south and a Wheatear (poss 2?) feeding around Farm buildings near the Lees.

Around 60 Lesser Blackback Gull loafing in fields nearby but little else of interest.

Earlier in the day 2 Raven and several Siskin flew over the garden.

Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: several unidentified “Whites”, 3 Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood.

 Any ideas?

Harlequin (probably)

Last 2 photos courtesy Loren.

Hope October livens up!

Overcast and breezy. 16°, fresh SW.

Another quiet day on the hill with little of note around.

Nearby were 16 Redwing, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Yellowhammer and a Goldcrest.

A Sparrowhawk and 3 Kestrel also around.

A roaming Tit flock passed through the garden this afternoon with 8 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Coal Tit, several Blue and Great Tit and 2 Nuthatch.

14 Goldfinch also feeding in the garden this afternoon.

Mammals: Pipistrelle Bat and Hedgehog active in the garden after dark this week.

Butterflies: 4 Red Admiral.

 This local Buzzard was the only bird on the hill

 Nuthatch, photo taken through foliage.

Red Admirals & Wind

A windy day with rain showers and some late sunny spells, 16°, fresh SW.

The weather was not conducive to any meaningful birding around the hill today with driving rain blowing on to the hill.

5 Redwing, 3 Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest and a single Siskin noted.

Stonechat possibly still present. Got a distant, brief view of a bird that fitted the size and shape but not seen again.

One nearby field had a flock of c40 Lesser Blackback Gull and 10 Black-headed Gull present.

A Treecreeper with a flock of Long-tailed Tit in the Millennium Wood.

Butterflies: around a dozen Red Admiral with 8 in the meadow adjacent to the garden. Apparently it has been a bumper year for this butterfly in the UK.