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Sunshine, 34°, light SE.

A brief walk along the Bunk line/Green lane today.

Fairly quiet in the hot weather today. Several Yellow Wagtail and Pied Wagtail around, maybe 4+ of each and a couple of brief snatches of a Willow Warbler song.

A couple of Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff, a Kestrel and 3 Green Woodpecker.

4 Grey Wagtail in the garden this morning, hopefully this was from a successful breeding pair nearby.

A Common Sandpiper seen this morning at the new gravel workings. Per BJW & AD.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Moths: Info from Tony Rayner, We are in uncharted territory - an amazing number of moths last night dominated by one species. We made it 337 Common Wainscots! This is sort of numbers that I have only previously experienced in Bulgaria - again in high temperatures.

 One of four Grey Wagtail in the garden

 Kestrel

Green Woodpecker

Spot Flys

Sunny, 32°, light SE.

Lollingdon hill was rather quiet today, initially 100+ Rook and Jackdaw present but they eventually moved off to the fields to the south.

The 2 Common Redstart still present (still quite elusive, waited 90 mins before the ad male showed) along with a couple of Common Whitethroat and a Chiffchaff and a single Corn Bunting and just a single Kestrel on the hill today.

Nearby 4 Spotted Flycatcher doing their thing, “flycatching” in the cattle field. A couple more Common Whitethroat, a Blackcap, several Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler.

Alan went back this evening and saw Flycatchers in 2 places so possibly min of 4 and max of 6.

Yesterday, a Hobby and 8 Swift over Papist Way. Per Alan. And a few more Swift noted by several observers along the river.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, 2 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Peacock, 1 Comma, several Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown, 1 Ringlet and 2 Small Heath.

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon: Lollingdon Hill: Alan Dawson

Another warm one.

Sunny, 30°, light SSE.

Building for another warm day so not out too long today with a walk along the Bunk line/Green Lane.

A Stonechat seen briefly and up to 4 Yellow Wagtail around. Several Chiffchaff and quite a few Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch along Green Lane. And a large flock of Rook and Jackdaw in surrounding fields.

100+ Black-headed Gull in the Jubilee field early evening. Per Alan Dawson.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, 1 Migrant Hawker, 1 Southern Hawker, 2 Brown Hawker and 4 Common Darter.

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

Holly Blue

Green Woodpecker in Whitehead Meadow

A Falcon day and more.

Light rain initially then sunny spells, 24°, light SSW.

An unprecedented number of Kestrel on the hill today with 11 birds in total. When I arrived there at around 10:00 there were 5 and by midday the number had risen to 11.

A lot of hunting for mainly Grasshoppers and a lot of interaction between them all.

(Michael P went up to the hill during his lunch break but only saw 10 Kestrel 😀).

Just prior to midday a Peregrine Falcon drifted over and immediately 5 of the Kestrel flew up to meet it and basically drove it off, the Peregrine flying off strongly to the south west.

And just as I was leaving a juvenile Hobby flew south over the western end of the hill.

A light but steady flow of Lesser Blackback Gull over the hill all moving roughly south west.

2 Common Redstart still present on the hill and a couple of Chiffchaff there.

Nearby 4 Spotted Flycatcher along the central hedge in the cattle field, also a Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff and at least 3 Bullfinch present.

TW went out and saw the Flycatchers mid-afternoon.

Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, a Reed Bunting, 2 Yellow Wagtail overhead and several Yellowhammer all noted.

4 Wheatear around Silly Bridge this morning. Per Michael Pocock.

A Song Thrush regularly visiting the garden for a bath recently.

Mammals: Roe Deer and Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Brimstone, Large White, Small White, 3 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Peacock, 3 Speckled Wood, several Gatekeeper, 2 Meadow Brown and 1 Ringlet.

Insects: Hornet Robberfly.

Waved Black

Sunny, 23°, light SSW.

Some information from Tony Rayner.

“One moth species that has extended its range is the distinctive Waved Black, this year I have caught one on several occasions.

Another species that I had thought we had lost with the passing of East End Farm and its horses is the Hornet Robberfly. (Britain's largest fly).

Until recent years we were thought to have one of the strongest colonies in the country outside of Somerset. Today I found two in our meadow.”

I also found a Hornet Robberfly near Little Lollingdon on Monday.

Hornet Robberfly and other stuff

Sunny spells, 20°, breezy NW.

2 Common Redstart still present on the hill in the usual hedgerow but very elusive. Also present in the same stretch were a Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and several Common Whitethroat.

A deceased rabbit on the hill was attracting the attention of 8 Red Kite, a Buzzard and several Carrion Crow and Magpie. 

2 Kestrel also present.

All the cereal crops around the hill have now been harvested and the Corn Buntings and Reed Buntings have now gone.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

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

Insects: Hornet Robberfly.

Hornet Robberfly

5 Red Kite

Small Tortoiseshell

Brimstone

Common Darter

Whinchat

Cloudy with a few light rain showers and sunny spells, 21°, light WSW.

A brief walk along the Bunk line and a Whinchat present near Green Lane. Could not get anywhere near it unfortunately.

Quite a few Chiffchaff along the hedges with 10+ counted, a couple of Blackcap and a single Sedge Warbler.

50+ Black-headed Gull and a couple of Lesser Blackback Gull overhead flying south.

Cholsey's first Hornet Moth

Evelyn Toal’s article on finding Cholseys first Hornet Moth 22nd June 2020.

A couple of days ago, me and my friends (Lily, Daisy and Ellie) decided to meet in the Cholsey park for lunch and have a proper catch up instead of chatting online. We were climbing trees, when Daisy spotted a very peculiar insect. At first, I thought it was a toy stuck to the tree trunk, but then it crawled across the tree. Daisy thought it was a wasp, then I soon corrected her and told her it couldn’t have been a wasp due to its size (about 3cm). We called over Ellie and Lily for them to see it. They had no clue to what it was either. I knew my Mum would know what it was because she’s an entomologist, so I ran up the mound where my Mum was sitting, and told her about our find. She came down and we showed her the insect. She examined the insect, then she said it was a Hornet. She looked at it a little closer and then she told us it was a sawfly. She took some photos then we went back home and looked it up in her book where the sawfly were. We found one that looked similar. The next day when my Mum and brother came back from tennis, they announced that it was a Hornet Moth! We looked at the sawfly that we thought was it, then spotted that that one had different coloured stripes on its bottom (its abdomen) and different antennae. A few days later, we discovered that it was actually the first ever Hornet moth to be spotted in Cholsey! 

Submitting our record

As our moth was a first sighting for this area, my Mum submitted it as a record to the iRecord website. This means it can be used by scientists to track how Hornet Moths are doing. The record tells you where and what date the moth was found and who identified it. We also tweeted the photo and so far it has got 178 likes (Which is the most likes we’ve got for a tweet).

Thank you to Evelyn and Claire (Mum) for the info and photos.

A warm one.

Sunny, 26°, light SSE.

Another quiet day out there today in the warm sunshine.

2 Common Redstart still on the hill (1m & 1 juv) along with 5-6 Common Whitethroat a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap. 2 Kestrel also present.

10 Red Kite and 2 Buzzard enjoying the thermals over the hill for a time before drifting off to the north.

At least 5 Yellowhammer still in song on the walk out.

Forgot to mention yesterday. 2 juv Common Tern seen flying upriver towards Wallingford. Per Paul Rainsden.

Dragonflies: several Banded Demoiselle and 1 Emperor.

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

Dust Bathing

Cloudy with some sunny spells, 20°, light WSW.

A very quiet time out by the Lees today, just a few Reed Bunting, Chiffchaff and a single Blackcap.

Got back home and found 9 House Sparrow dust bathing in the garden. This activities likely purpose is to remove parasites from their feathers.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Emperor and Common Darter.

Butterflies: low numbers, 1 Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, 3 Common Blue, 2 Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Peacock, several Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Wet 'n Windy

Overcast with frequent showers, 19°, breezy SSW.

The juv Stonechat still present on the hill along with the male Common Redstart, several Common Whitethroat and a Chiffchaff, also 2 Kestrel in the area.

During a brief break in the rain the Stonechat came down onto the fence line for a time before flying back up the hill when the rain started again.

100+ Swift, c40 Swallow and several House Martin overhead in the space of 90 minutes and 3 Lesser Blackback Gull.

The garden has been very busy today with both Blue and Great Tits, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Dunnock, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove and several Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch a 5+ Blackbird.

Also some local Swallows feeding low over the garden and adjacent meadow.

juv Stonechat

Kestrel

Rare Moths

Tony Rayner caught two notable moths last night. A Four-spotted Moth and a male Gypsy Moth.

The first was only the second ever found here and the second was a first ever record.

The Four-spotted is nationally scarce and the Gypsy appears not to have been recorded in Oxfordshire before.

 Four-spotted Moth

Gypsy Moth (m)

Quietish

Mainly cloudy with the occasional sunny spell, 23°, light WSW.

Just the male Common Redstart seen on the hill today and a family of Common Whitethroat.

A male Peregrine flew south west and a Kestrel hunting the area.

Still plenty of Yellowhammer around and still in song and a couple of Reed Bunting.

A Sparrowhawk hit the garden mid-afternoon and took a young Blackbird.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Muntjac Deer.

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

Sparrowhawk

 Common Redstart

 Kestrel

Yellowhammer (courtesy Alan)

Stonechat

Mainly cloudy, 22°, light SW.

An interesting young Stonechat on the hill today attracted Tony W, Alan and myself up there to take a look.

In the prevailing light conditions it was a rather grey looking bird reminding Tony of a Flycatcher initially.

Never really got very close to us but seen in the middle distance was thought by us to be another Redstart. However it has been pointed out that the bird is actually a juv Stonechat. Should pay more attention to the plumage details which on closer inspection tells it all.

A single Lesser Blackback Gull and a Herring Gull flew overhead late afternoon.

Photos courtesy Alan.