Whinchat

Sunny at first then clouding over, 18°, breezy SW.

A few bits on the hill today, a nice Whinchat present along with a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat and a couple of Chiffchaff.

3 Kestrel also present and being harried frequently by passing Rooks.

A good passage again of Hirundines with 200+ over the hill and Alan had quite a few along the Bunk line this morning an almost equal mix of Swallow and House Martin.

A look around the cattle field found a Willow Warbler, several more Chiffchaff, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Blackcap and 5 Yellowhammer.

A 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull over the hill as well and all joining the Gull flock in the pig fields.

A couple of Jay heard along the Bunk line near the Jubilee field.

Mammals: a Stoat hunting Rabbits and disappeared down a Rabbit hole not to be seen again!

Dragonflies: 3 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Large White and Small White, 2 Red Admiral and 1 Speckled Wood.

Whinchat ↕

 Red Fox (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Lesser Blackback Gull (courtesy Alan)

Ivy Bees

A video and some photos of Ivy Bees courtesy Alan Dawson.

Hirundines

Sunny spells, 19°, light W.

A good passage of Hirundines today with Alan seeing a flock of up to 400 House Martin along the Bunk line this morning and between us both we have seen a good passage of both Swallow and House Martin this afternoon, possibly 1K hirundines thru today.

Little else seen other than several Yellow Wagtail, the Common Redstart being very elusive a Kingfisher and a Blackcap.

A family of Mute Swan (2 ad & 2 young) parked up in Green lane, then they walked all the way along the railway line but could not get thru the fence so they trudged all the way back again.

2 Grey Wagtail in the garden this morning.

Dragonflies: Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: several Large White and Small White.

A few of the House Martins (courtesy Alan)

Swallows & House Martins (courtesy Alan)

 Mute Swan family

They missed the Train 😄

Grey Wagtail

Bunk Line

Sunny spells, 17°, breezy WNW.

A walk along the Bunk line this morning with one of the Diesel locos on the line and a few workers maintaining and checking the rails.

Could not find the Redstart so carried on along to Green lane and very little there. 1 Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaff so was not expecting much.

On the way back the train and workers had moved back to near Green lane and I just happened to catch a movement in a hedgerow to the north of CSW.

A scan along the hedge found 3 Spotted Flycatcher and a/the Common Redstart about 100m away. All still present when I left.

Further down 2 Common Whitethroat seen, a flyover Yellow Wagtail and Sparrowhawk and that was about it!

Alan had a flyover Peregrine Falcon in the afternoon and the Redstart back where it was on the 2 previous days.

A Coal Tit and Treecreeper in the garden this afternoon.

Butterflies: just a few Whites for me: Alan, Large White, Red Admiral, Peacock and Small Heath.

A few records from Tony Rayner with a Small Copper butterfly, an Orange Swift moth and a Hornet Robberfly recorded.

Common Redstart & Spotted Flycatcher

 Blood Vein (courtesy Alan)

 Orange Swift (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Small Copper (courtesy Tony Rayner)

Redstart

Cloudy, 17°, light to breezy SSW.

A trip along the Bunk line in the afternoon and managed to catch up with the Common Redstart that Alan found yesterday. It was very actively feeding from the fence line along railway and at times on the rails.

Also seen, a Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff and Yellow Wagtail and a Sparrowhawk overhead.

Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter.

Butterflies: a couple of Large and Small White.

Common Redstart ↕

There were 9 Magpie out with the sheep.

Redstart 2 Wheatear 0

Overcast with frequent rain showers, 20°, breezy WSW.

Where are the Wheatears this autumn? We normally have a good passage thru Cholsey on both hills but apart from 4 seen by Michael P near Silly Bridge last month there have been no other sightings!

100+ Hirundines out at Lollingdon feeding and resting up on wires in the lee of the hill a good 50/50 mix of Swallow and House Martin.

I spoke to the local farmer today who said over the weekend they estimated approx. 300 Hirundines in the same spot when they were out tending to the cattle.

Relatively quiet on the hill today probably down to the weather, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat and the odd Chiffchaff present.

2 Kestrel hunting and 2 Raven around.

Very quiet on the walk out and back with only a Reed Bunting and a few Chiffchaff noted.

Alan found a Common Redstart along the Bunk line. An excellent find for that area!

Dragonflies: 2 Southern Hawker and a few Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Large White, several Small White, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood.

 Common Redstart courtesy Alan

 Raven

Speckled Wood

Quiet Zeptember start

Sunny with light cloud, 19°, light W.

A visit to Lollingdon this morning, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Chiffchaff on the hill.

Nearby the Little Owl seen, first time in a couple of months and a flock of c60 Swallow overhead.

Along the Bunk line later where I bumped into Alan. Several Yellow Wagtail, a Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap and several Chiffchaff and 2 Grey Heron flew over and Alan had a flock of c50 House Martin earlier.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White. 1 Common Blue, 6+ Red Admiral, 1 Peacock and 1 Gatekeeper.

 Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

 A really duff shot of Common & Lesser Whitethroat

 Yellow Wagtail

Yesterdays Peregrine Falcon courtesy Alan

August ends with a whimper

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 15°, light E. 

After all the turbulent weather of the last few weeks August goes out with a whimper.

A walk along the Bunk line/ Green lane today and Alan out by the Lees area.

Some good flocks of Hirundines moving thru today with one mixed flock of Swallow and House Martin numbering 100+ birds (c250 in total) and movement ceased around midday.

A Willow Warbler in brief song along Green lane and 3 Blackcap, a Common Whitethroat and several Chiffchaff and 4-5 Green Woodpecker of note.

Quite a few Yellow Wagtail still around (10+) and 6 Pied Wagtail.

Alan managed a Peregrine Falcon and Sparrowhawk out by the Lees.

Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: several “Whites” and 1 Red Admiral.

Moths: a Silver-Y.

Yellow Wagtail pics courtesy Alan Dawson.

Chiffchaff

Red Admiral

We had weather today!

Cloudy with some sunshine and rain arriving, 16°, light SSE.

A visit to Lollingdon Hill and a walk along the Bunk line today prior to rain and a thunderstorm late afternoon. We certainly got weather today! 😎 💦 🌈 ☂ ☁

2 Common Redstart, a Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff and a Common Whitethroat present along with a Kestrel.

A single Yellow Wagtail overhead and a Hobby passing thru and a few small groups of Swallow.

Along the Bunk line I was watching a couple of Yellow Wagtail in a field when a Kestrel went over and 14 Yellow Wagtail flew up. Did not realise there were that many present. 😄

50-60 Hirundines feeding around CSW, mainly Swallow with a few House Martin.

A few Chiffchaff present in the hedgerow around the sewage works and one in song.

A Grey Wagtail in the garden again.

Wind & Rain

Sunny spells (after the rain), 21°, gusty SW.

A walk out this afternoon once the rain had stopped along the Bunk line. The wind was gusting quite strongly and put paid to any decent birding.

I could hear Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer calls though but they were staying well in cover along with other small birds.

a couple of Yellow Wagtail heard calling near CSW.

A few Hirundines (Swallow & House Martins) moving thru and a group of around 10 Swallow stayed for a time feeding low over one of the fields

Corvids Kites and Gulls were the only birds in the air and coping with the strong wind.

A single Southern Hawker dragonfly and a few Small White butterflies were on the wing in a sheltered area.

Some of the Swallows feeding.

Not much happening

Cloudy with the odd sunny spell, 19°, light WSW. 

Just got rid of Ellen and now Francis is on its way!

2 Common Redstart on the hill today (m & f) and a Willow Warbler along the same hedgerow. Unfortunately always distant!

A single Kestrel hunting on the hill, a Yellow Wagtail overhead and a flock of 9 Magpie and a few family groups of Swallow over.

Nearby another Common Redstart in the cattle field, several Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and a Common Whitethroat.

A Raven seen near the 4-Arches. Per MA.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: another Clouded Yellow and a few Whites.

 Common Redstart

Common Darter

A lone Swift passes thru

Sunny spells, 21°, very fresh SSW.

Hardly worth going out today as Ellen came in with some gusty conditions and most birds appeared to be keeping their heads down.

A field next to the Bunk line was being ploughed and had attracted a few gulls with 47 Lesser Blackback Gull, 1 Herring Gull and 1 Black-headed Gull as well as numbers of Rook and Jackdaw.

A few Yellowhammer feeding along the field margins and several Chiffchaff in the hedgerows.

A few Swallow and House Martin struggling thru against the wind and Alan was fortunate enough to see a Swift in the same area this afternoon.

A Brown Hare seen with a damaged rear right leg but appeared to be moving reasonably okay!

In sheltered spots there was a few dragonfly and butterfly. Brown Hawker and Common Darter and a few Small White and a Gatekeeper.

Swift (Archive photo)

After the Rain & Before the Storm

A Sunshiny day, 23°, fresh SSW.

A little breezy on the hill today and not much there. A Common Redstart still present and now in the Hawthorns at the top and 3 Yellowhammer still present.

4 Kestrel hunting on the hill and the usual Buzzards and Red Kites and a single Yellow Wagtail overhead.

A single Spotted Flycatcher in the cattle field along with a Common Whitethroat and several Chiffchaff.

Another reasonable passage of Swallow again today with c80 flying south in total.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: My first Clouded Yellow of the year, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Insects: Hornet Robberfly out near Little Lollingdon and Tony Rayner found 2 in his meadow today.

 Mystery bird 😃

Spotted Flycatcher

 Hornet Robberfly

Speckled Wood

 Kestrels ↕

Buzzard

Kestrel

A wet one

Rain, 19°, light SSE.

A thoroughly wet day and did not venture out until around 15:00 when the rain had eased a little.

As expected it was rather quiet along the Bunk line on a brief walk.

A good passage of House Martin and Swallow passing thru 100+ birds in total.

5 Yellow Wagtail flew over and a Sparrowhawk flying low along the line. Good numbers of Greenfinch still present around Green lane and do not recall seeing that many before in that area. Also been a good dozen feeding in the garden recently and a Grey Wagtail present again.

Alan saw the Common Sandpiper again today on the new gravel workings.

Surprisingly a couple of butterfly on the wing with 3 Small White, 1 Red Admiral and a Meadow Brown.

Yellow Wagtail pics courtesy Alan