Whinchat

Sunny spells, 15°, light WNW.

Brian Wyatt found a nice male Whinchat this morning along the “Long Ditch” between Aston Tirrold and Cholsey. Also seen and photographed by Alan.

A Hobby over Church road at c14:30, flew north east, I was alerted by Swallow alarm calls. A few House Martin and Swift seen feeding overhead.

Raven being mobbed by 2 Carrion Crow on the border between Cholsey and Moulsford. Per MA.

Whinchat (courtesy Brian Wyatt)

 Small Blue (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Brown Argus (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Lollingdon and the Thames

Mainly sunny, 15°, light NW.

A walk out to Lollingdon on a pleasant, sunny, May morning and not a lot going on out there.

Birdsong beginning to subside now, however, a few Common Whitethroat, a single Lesser Whitethroat and several Blackcap and Chiffchaff still singing well and a few Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting along with them.

A few Swift moving north over the hill.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Small White, Orange Tip, Brown Argus, Common Blue and Speckled Wood.

Alan along the river:

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary and Small Heath.

Yellowhammer

Corn Bunting

Getting warmer

Sunny, 12°, breezy NE.

A little warmer than yesterday with a lighter wind and reflected with a few more insects on the wing.

No surprises along the Bunk line today, the usual Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Yellowhammer and Chiffchaff present.

After a few days of not seeing them 2 Swift turned up overhead and then Alan messaged me to say several Swift and House Martin over Cholsey hill.

Around 10 minutes later there were 2 Swift and a handful of House Martin over CSW.

Several Starling flying back and forth from the CSW area collecting food and one of the Herring Gull seen and an immature Gull seen flying over but too distant for an ID..

A Kestrel hunting over the field where they are digging the gravel pit.

When I got back there were 2 House Martin flying around the old headmaster’s house in Church road. Maybe they are back!

No evidence of Lapwing breeding in Cholsey this year. I know there were a few pairs around last month but no sign in their usual haunts this month so far.

19:30: Alan has seen a Hobby flyover at Bow Bridge. First one of the year.

And a Goldcrest in the garden late evening.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Large White & Small White.

Chiffchaff taking food to a nest

Hobby (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Baby Moorhen

 Amazing how a fallen tree has given rise to 16 more!

Chicken of the Woods

Spotted Orchid in the garden, the flower spike should start to appear soon.

Still a bit chilly

Sunny spells, 11°, breezy NE.

Still a bit chilly for this time of year and subsequently very few insects on the wing.

The usual out at Lollingdon this morning with Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer all seen and the usual warblers but song is a bit subdued and 2 Lesser Whitethroat still singing.

A few Swallow still feeding on the hill, not sure whether they are passage birds of locals? 

2 adult Herring Gull still frequenting CSW!

Little else seen.

Found a 15 meter section of hedge covered in a silk web protecting many caterpillars of the either White or Orchard Ermine Moth.

Some of the Swallows resting up

 Ermine Moth caterpillar colony ↕

 Ermine Moth caterpillar colony ↕

Rook

Out West

Mainly sunny, 13°, light NW.

Loren and I had a walk out to the Lees and beyond today. Have not been out there for a while and wanted to check out the “Reedy ditch” as there had been some work done on it over the winter months.

As it was, although the ditch had been thinned out a lot there were still quite a few reedy areas and both Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler were heard and seen.

5 singing male Reed Bunting, 2 Yellowhammer, Skylarks, Linnets, several Swallow over and 2 House Martin, 3 Yellow Wagtail, a Raven and a Kestrel all noted.

Also Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Blackcap at the Lees.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Reed Bunting

 Unidentified (courtesy Loren)

 Green-veined White

 Jackdaw

Broad-bodied Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)

March Winds.......No its May!

Sunny, 10° (felt about half that), Strong NNE.

A cool blustery northerly wind contributed to a quiet time today with very little bird song going on and those that were singing were rather subdued and staying in deep cover.

2 Grey Partridge along one of the tracks.

A couple of small flocks of Swallow out at Lollingdon feeding low over fields and in the lee of hedgerows.

Did not see many insects in the air at all today so species like Swallows that are aerial feeders adopt different feeding strategies as above.

Have seen Swallows pluck insects from leaves and plant tops when weather conditions force insects not to fly.

A female Sparrowhawk seen over Whitehead meadow and a male zipped through the garden later in the day.

Alan was on the other side of the village managed to find a few sheltered spots

Dragonflies: All seen in static situations and not on the wing: Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly and Four-spot Chaser.

 Corn Bunting

 One of two Pied Wagtail feeding chicks in a nearby nest

Robin

 Four-spot Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson) ↕

 Ermine Moth web protection (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Ermine Moth caterpillars (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Dragons

Sunny with high cloud, 23°, light E.

Some Dragonfly photos of Alan's from this week.

Broad-bodied Chaser

 Azure Damselfly

Club-tailed Dragonfly

Lollingdon, Bow & The Marsh

Sunny with a few cloudy spells, 21°, light S.

A walk out to Lollingdon and back and rather quiet and similar to Mondays walk.

3 Corn Bunting and 2 Reed Bunting in song on Lollingdon Hill and a Kestrel hunting nearby and 2 Lesser Whitethroat in song.

Later in the day at Bow Bridge a Common Tern flew downstream and a Willow Warbler in full song also Cuckoo, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat etc. Per AD & PC.

Sparrowhawk paid a visit to the garden again today and missed out.

Richard was also active today with a Grey Wagtail family seen, plus 2 Common Tern, Cuckoo and Raven amongst other species.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle & Four-spotted Chaser. Per AD & PC.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Marsh Fritillary and Speckled Wood. Per AD & PC.

Chiffchaff in song, Church road

Four-spot Chaser (courtesy Alan Dawson)

 Reed Bunting & Corn Bunting. Both in song.

 Pied Wagtail collecting food.

 Marsh Fritillary

White Ermine Moth (courtesy Alan Dawson)

News from a Neighbour

Some photos and information from Vicky Gilson from her garden in Aston Tirrold, one of our neighbouring villages.

Thank you.

 Great Tit nest (lined with moss and fur) with young in a planter

 Dingy Skipper ↕

 Dingy Skipper ↕

Box Bug (A species which is expanding its range northwards, having originally known only from Box Hill, Surrey.)

Insects

Some insect photos from the last few days from Alan.

 Common Clubtail

 Mother Shipton Moth

 Small Blue butterfly ↕

Small Yellow Underwing Moth

A short walk

Cloudy with some sunshine, 21°, light SSE.

A walk out with Loren to the Lees and back today. Not a lot to see except for a couple of pairs of Yellow Wagtail with possibly more past the Lees but did not go out there as a tractor was spraying the fields. With what we don’t know!

We usually get approx. 5-6 pairs of Yellow Wagtail breeding in Cholsey but last year we had just one possibly 2 pairs. So hoping this year they do better.

(Western) Yellow Wagtails are summer visitors to the UK and winter in Sub-Saharan Africa. They often feed alongside livestock and take insects kicked up by Sheep or Cattle etc. Maybe the ones we saw today were feeding alongside Zebra and Wildebeest a few months ago?

The ubiquitous Common Whitethroat seen in fair numbers plus Skylarks and the odd Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Heath.

Alan also out today.

Butterflies: Alan found a Large Skipper butterfly today. The 20th species so far. Also Marsh Fritillary. Green Hairstreak and Small Blue.

Dragonflies: Common Clubtail and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Birds: Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Yellow Wagtail.

A photo I took last year of this Yellow Wagtail picking flies off the Cows face.

 Yellow Wagtails from today ↕

Small Heath

 Small Blue (courtesy Alan Dawson) a rather tatty one!

Large Skipper (courtesy Alan Dawson)