Redshank

Overcast and a bit misty, 8°, light SW.

Migration is still somewhat elusive locally, however a few are making it in and a change in the weather next week should see more of an influx and a bit of sunshine should see a few more insects.

2 Redshank present on the flooded field this morning before being flushed off by 2 Red Kite quartering the field.

2 Willow Warbler, both singing out at Lollingdon and 5 Chiffchaff and 5 Blackcap in total.

A Peregrine settled on one of the pylons briefly before flying off west, both Sparrowhawk and Kestrel seen.

Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Corn Bunting all present and a few Meadow Pipit out on the hill and a Jay heard.

2 Nuthatch in the garden this morning.

Mammals: Brown Hare, Muntjac Deer & Roe Deer.

Redshank

Peregrine (above & below)

Jelly Ear Fungus on Elder

 2 Canada Geese may nest out at Lollingdon

Poser 😄

Migration hiatus?

Cloudy & misty, 8°, light NW.

A claggy day and a bit cooler than of late and migration not really kicking off just yet.

2 Raven today out at Lollingdon with one hotly pursued by a Red Kite after passing too close to a nest site.

8 Chiffchaff and 6 Blackcap, 5 Corn Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting in song.

The same or a similar flock of Thrushes and Starling out at Lollingdon still but little else of note.

A male Sparrowhawk in the garden this afternoon.

A singing Willow Warbler at TR’s today.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

 Yellowhammer

Canada Goose on the pond

Otter

Overcast, 9°, light E.

A visit to Cholsey Marsh this morning to tend the Dexter’s again and then a bit of birding.

One of the first things I saw when I got to the river bank was an Otter that quickly scurried off in to the river and was not seen again! Not even enough time to get the camera on it. Worth keeping an eye out if you are down there.

A few folk present today with a wildlife interest were Ed M, Tony W and Alan D, so there was a fair bit of coverage.

Quite a few Chiffchaff present, a single Blackcap and several Reed Bunting in song.

A small flock of 5 Siskin flew over, a single Swallow and a Cormorant.

A Mistle Thrush singing, a Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming and a Green Woodpecker heard.

Up to 8 Mute Swan on the river, 2 Great Crested Grebe and several Greylag Geese and Canada Geese present.

Brambling present in a garden at Waterloo Cose. Per MA.

Mammals: Otter & Roe Deer.

Insects: European Ground Beetle Carobus nemoralis.

Flora: Both Lodden Lily and Marsh Marigold in flower.

 European Ground Beetle

 Mute Swan

 Roe Deer

Great Crested Grebe

Another wet one!

Rain and more rain. 9°, light NW.

Worth getting wet for was the first Willow Warbler of the year near the Millennium Wood singing sporadically when coming back.

Other than that, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, c100 Fieldfare, c40 Starling and 4 Redwing out at Lollingdon.

A Green Woodpecker on the hill and a rather bedraggled Red Kite.

A Swallow out at East End today. Per Tony Rayner.

A Grey Heron landed in the meadow for a brief time before being flushed by a dog walker. Per LC.

A Grey Wagtail in song flight over the garden yesterday.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

 Great-spotted Woodpecker (F) from yesterday

Grey Heron in the rain

Comings & Goings

Hazy sunshine, 14°, breezy SW.

2 Swallow flew thru Lollingdon just prior to midday………my first of the year, 7 Chiffchaff and 4 Blackcap were all I could muster for incoming migrants.

As for outgoing migrants there was a small flock of 35 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing and 40+ Starling feeding around the paddocks.

Am making the assumption that a flock of Starling mixing with a flock of migratory thrushes are also migratory as our local Starling have already paired up and are starting to nest.

2 Canada Geese flew east over the hill.

A female Sparrowhawk seen chasing a couple of Skylark but with no success and a few Meadow Pipit seen and possibly the same Sparrowhawk seen 2 hours later in the same area.

2 Mistle Thrush feeding in the meadow and a Coal Tit in the Millennium Wood.

TW still has 4 (2m & 2F) wintering Blackcap feeding in his garden.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Butterflies: 10+ Brimstone and a single Small Tortoiseshell and 2 Comma (per TW).

The first Black Oil Beetle of the year seen on the hill. There is a small colony of these rare Beetles out at Lollingdon. See the following link: Oil Beetles

Stock Dove

 Redwing & Fieldfare

Fieldfare

Canada Goose

Black Oil Beetle (fem)

Spring almost here

A very spring like day, sunshine, 11° and very little wind.

A late and short visit to the hill this afternoon and a few raptors thermalling over the hill. 2 Red Kite, 3 Buzzard and a Peregrine Falcon with the falcon eventually drifting off north.

3 Chiffchaff and 2 Blackcap were the only migrants and no Gulls or “Winter Thrushes” today.

One of the Chiffchaff flew from a hedgerow below the hill to the Hawthorns on the hill and was feeding very actively from bush to bush until I lost it at the top of the hill. Managed to get a series of photos from a distance.

A singing Treecreeper in the garden. 

2 Hedgehog in the garden tonight.

The “Tailess” Red Kite seen over Celsea Place this morning (Per Gerry Sexton) and seen by Loren and I over the Forty this afternoon.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Butterflies: a good day with 10+ Brimstone, a Peacock and 2 Small Tortoiseshell.

A few Bumble Bees around and the first Bee-fly of the year.

A couple of photos of the Chiffchaff in the Hawthorn (not easy to find). 

A few heavily cropped photos of the Chiffchaff.

And a Hare

Spring slowly arriving

Wet ‘n Windy, frequent rain showers, 10°, Fresh S.

Hardly worth going out today with rain and more rain, however the walk did me good!

2 singing Chiffchaff and a Blackcap in the Bullshole/Millennium Wood area and another 2 Chiffchaff out at Lollingdon.

A flock of c100 Starling, c80 Fieldfare and 3 Redwing out at Lollingdon but little else.

A Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden today and a Green Woodpecker in the meadow.

a rare visit of a pair of Jackdaw in the garden, even though they nest less than 100m away they rarely visit the garden.

Mammals: Roe Deer, Muntjac Deer, Field Vole & Brown Hare.

Jackdaw

River in flood

Brighter with a few rain showers, 12°, light SSW.

Down on the Marsh this morning………………….fairly quiet with 2 singing Chiffchaff and 3 singing Reed Bunting present but little else.

The river has overflowed its banks in a few places and the path is only navigable with wellies at the moment but slippery in places.

A recent situation of a dog chasing and cornering a deer on the Marsh and the timely intervention of a BBOWT volunteer prevented a bad outcome and another example of a couple letting their dog chase the cattle and had to be reminded to put the dog on a lead to keep control!

Please folks…………keep your dogs under control………………there are those who can and do.

 Thames Path

Rainy Days and Mondays

Light rain, 8°, light to breezy SSE.

Another wet day and getting very soggy out there with almost twice the average rainfall for March and April getting off to a good start.

Fairly quiet out at Lollingdon a flock of Thrushes and Starlings present, c100 Starling, c150 Fieldfare and a few Redwing.

3 Chiffchaff in song, 2 around the Bullshole/Millennium Wood area and another out at Little Lollingdon.

Both Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker seen and the usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Skylark seen around the hill.

The flooded field was virtually deserted except for a rather sickly looking Lesser Blackback Gull.

A Grey Heron flew across the meadow early afternoon and a Sparrowhawk thru the garden.

A female Brambling still present in gardens near Waterloo Close. Per MA.

Mammals: Brown Hare, Roe Deer, Field Vole.

Corn Bunting

Footpath

First Swallow of the year

Cloudy with light rain showers, 6°, light WNW.

First Swallow of the year hawking over Cholsey Marsh this morning, also a small flock of Siskin present on Thursday morning. Per Ed Munday.

A female Brambling still present in gardens near Waterloo Close. Per MA.

Quiet & Wet

Light to moderate rain……..again, 7°, light E.

Another wet walk out to Lollingdon with little change from last time.

This time last year a couple of Swallow had been seen and there were 5 species of Butterfly on the wing! No such luck this year.

A couple of Chiffchaff in song by the Bullshole/Millennium Wood area and still fair numbers of “Winter Thrushes” out at Lollingdon.

Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Meadow Pipit around the hill area.

The flooded field was deserted with all but a Grey Heron that flew over.

First sighting of the year of a Hedgehog in the garden last night. It was busy feeding on seeds that had been put down for the birds.

Also a young Tawny Owl and an adult bird around the garden and the meadow last night.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

A wet one

Light to moderate rain, 8°, breezy NW.

A wet morning with persistent rain so decided to drive out rather than walk to Lollingdon.

Approx. 500 “Winter Thrushes” around the hill, sat in tree tops and chattering away. 90% Fieldfare and the rest Redwing, also a few Starling mixed in.

A Sparrowhawk hunting around the hill causing some consternation amongst the Thrushes.

Corn Bunting back on the hill with 4-5 singing males present, 8-10 Yellowhammer around and a few Meadow Pipit on the move.

The flooded field was almost deserted with a pair of Teal and a pair of Canada Geese only.

A Little Owl, initially heard then seen nearby and a pair of Reed Bunting present. 

A pair of Lapwing displaying near the Bunk Line. Per Tony Rayner.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Corn Bunting

Little Owl

Some of the Thrushes around the Hill (click below to hear them)

Tuesday on the Marsh

Cloudy with some light rain showers, 10°, light SW.

A visit to Cholsey Marsh this morning after tending to the Dexters and still relatively quiet.

The “Tail-less” Red Kite seen briefly over the marsh, 2 Great-crested Grebe on the river and a Water Rail heard.

A single Chiffchaff seen and a few Reed Bunting, 2 Bullfinch, a couple of Redwing over and 2 Cormorant nearby.

2 Grey Wagtail around the garden today and a Cormorant flew over heading south.

Great-crested Grebe

Cormorant

A sample of plastic along the opposite bank of the river with some noted flowing downstream.

Redshank

Light cloud with the odd sunny spell, 11°, light W.

A Redshank found out on the floods today along with 2 Teal, 3 Herring Gull, c80 Lesser Blackback Gull and c120 Black-headed Gull.

6 Chiffchaff in song between the village and Lollingdon and a couple of hundred Fieldfare in 2 flocks accompanied by several Redwing around the hill.

4 pair of Yellowhammer also between the village and Lollingdon and 3 singing Mistle Thrush.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Redshank

 Female Yellowhammer

Male Yellowhammer

Red Kite with some fresh food being held in talons

C'mon Spring......still waiting.

Cloudy with the odd bright spell, 11°, breezy SW.

A walk out to Lollingdon Hill again today with a good number of Meadow Pipit on the move. Maybe 100 birds (approx.) counted. 

A surprise Oystercatcher seen distantly flying out by the Gulls towards Aston Tirrold and appeared to land. Not subsequently seen after that.

Fewer “Winter Thrushes” around but still some flocks roaming over the area.

The flooded field hosted c100 Black-headed Gull, 30+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 16 Teal.

A singing Chiffchaff in The meadow and a couple of Great-spotted Woodpecker “Drumming” and a couple of Green Woodpecker “Yaffling”.

A female Sparrowhawk tried for a Blackbird this afternoon in the garden but missed!

An interesting email from Mark Merritt yesterday:

“I did a circular walk from the church at Cholsey today, passing through Aston Tirrold and South Moreton. Not a great deal seen in the Cholsey area but I thought I'd let you know anyway. A Raven was over the (main) railway line to the East of the Lees. In the Lees were a couple of Treecreeper including a singing male. Great-spotted Woodpecker also here. South West of the Lees (probably closer to Aston Tirrold) were a few hundred gulls. Mostly Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull but about 10 each of Herring and Common Gull present and also 2 Yellow-legged Gull. (1st w and 2nd w) and coming back over Cholsey Hill there were a pair of Lapwing.”

Thanks Mark.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Brown Hare

 A couple of today's songsters, Robin & Dunnock

Some of the Teal