Demoiselles

Sunny, 22°, light SSE.

A visit to Lollingdon today, relatively quiet, 2 singing Lesser Whitethroat and 9 singing Yellowhammer counted between the village and the hill and all the usual suspects present.

Dragonflies: a surprise of a female Beautiful Demoiselle on Lollingdon Hill and Alan had one along the river at Bow Bridge and another near the Bullshole and a Common Clubtail Dragonfly, plus Emperor Dragonfly along the Thames.

Banded Demoiselle and the regular Damselflies all seen.

Butterflies; Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Emperor courtesy Alan

Beautiful Demoiselle courtesy Alan

A Day for Insects

Sunshine, 25°, light WNW.

Not much of note today along the Bunk line other than several Yellow Wagtail flying back and forth.

A Mistle Thrush, Green Woodpecker and 4-5 singing Yellowhammer, plus the usuals.

Alan along the Thames: Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk etc.

Mainly a day for insects in the sunshine.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Red Fox plus a Muntjac Deer in garden.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly & Four-spotted Chaser.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady 4+, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

All pics courtesy Alan

Painted Lady ↕

Common Blue

Brown Argus

Meadow Brown

Painted Lady

Common Blue Damselfly

Where have all the flowers gone?

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 21°, breezy WSW.

Rather quiet out at Lollingdon today with all the regulars present and a very similar experience for Alan along the river.

One thing that strikes me on my walks around the village and surrounding areas is the complete lack of wild flowers along field margins, hedgerows and road verges! 

This is why gardens are so important for pollinators as the local farms and local authorities do not appear to be onboard with this!

Apart from a lot of gardens there are only a few areas in Cholsey where wild flowers are encouraged to grow.  

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly & Four-spotted Chaser. Per Alan.

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Small Blue, Speckled Wood & Small Heath.

Moths: Five-spot Burnet.

Speckled Wood ↕

Brimstone

Female & young Great-spotted Woodpecker

Red-eyed Damselfly & Banded Demoiselle courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Pyramidal Orchid courtesy Alan

Five-spot Burnet courtesy Alan

Garden stuff

Sunny intervals, 21°, light SW.

Caught up with some gardening today and watch the partial solar eclipse.

A young Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden being fed by an adult female and whilst watching the eclipse we noticed the local House Martins are back.

4 birds prospecting the regular nest sites in Church road. Also local Swallow and Swift in the air and a Kestrel overhead.

Plus the Hedgehog appeared mid-evening to clear up under the bird feeders.

A little of everything

Sunshine, 24°, light SW.

Bunk line: First young Swallow seen on the wing today, the Lesser Whitethroat still singing Green lane and 2 Herring Gull and 2 Black-headed Gull feeding in the same field, a couple of Yellow Wagtail etc.

River: Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Kingfisher etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly & Emperor Dragonfly (nfy).

Butterflies: Dingy Skipper (yesterday), Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Small Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock & Small Heath.

One of the young Swallows

Dingy Skipper

Kestrel with prey courtesy Alan

White-legged Damselfly courtesy Alan

Small Blue courtesy Alan

Adult Jackdaw in the garden

Young Jackdaw in the garden

A little samey

Sunny with variable cloud, 21°, light SW.

A bit samey out at Lollingdon today, all the usual’s present including 2 singing Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff a bit more vocal today.

Alan with a similar situation, Chiffchaff more vocal, plus Cetti’s Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Treecreeper, Kingfisher etc. plus a few Dragons etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure & Large Red Damselfly, Four-spotted Chaser, Broad-bodied Chaser (river) & a Southern Hawker (Lollingdon).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Spindle Ermine caterpillar?

Broad-bodied Chaser

Dragons, Damsels & Butterflies

Mainly cloudy, 19°, light SSW.

A day of insects with Dragonflies & Damselflies dominating.  

Bunk line/Green lane today, little change. Lesser Whitethroat still in song but less frequently than of late.

Frequent Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap still in song and a couple of Yellow Wagtail overhead along with a few Swallow and Swift. A flock of c50 Starling CSW.

Alan along the river over the last 2 days: Both Sedge and Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Nuthatch and Kingfisher.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly and Four-spot Chaser (both sites).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Red Admiral, Peacock, Comma & Small Heath.

Moths: Mother Shipton.

All pics courtesy Alan

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Four-spot Chaser

Azure Damselfly

Red-eyed Damselfly

Brown Argus

Common Blue ↕

Mother Shipton

Audio Clip

Lesser Whitethroat ( Robin & Wren)

Big Foot

Cloudy with very light drizzle, 16°, light NNE.

The long loop walk today to the Lees and Lollingdon and back thru Little Lollingdon.

2-3 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a pair of Spotted Flycatcher close to Aston Tirrold.

Several Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting and Yellow Wagtail, several Goldcrest, a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel and 3 pair of Grey Partridge.

A Coal Tit singing in the Brook meadow and another at the Bullshole.

And a Moorhen feeding in the garden.

Moorhen ↕

Burnet Companion Moth

Steady as she goes

Mainly cloudy with some sunny spells, 20°, light SSW.

A walk along the Bunk line/Green lane area today and surprised to see 2 Sand Martin flying low over one of the fields. Not seen very often at this time of year in Cholsey, however they may have been prospecting the new gravel workings as a potential breeding site?

A single House Martin, several Swallow and Swift also noted. No House Martin seen over the village recently and the 2 pairs that breed on Church road have not arrived!

A Lesser Whitethroat still singing along Green lane and the usual Common Whitethroat and Yellowhammer vocal.

A couple of Yellow Wagtail overhead and the rest of the usual suspects present.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle & Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Not too many around today: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Painted Lady, Peacock & Small Heath.

Lollingdon

Sunny, 25°, light ESE,

Lollingdon: During the walk out this morning I was continuously hearing both Common Whitethroat and Yellowhammer in song in the warm sunshine.

Also, Chiffchaff (3), Blackcap (4), Lesser Whitethroat (1) and Reed Bunting (2) plus all the regulars present.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly & an early Common Darter.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell & Peacock.

Common Blue ↕

Common Whitethroat ↕