Static

Few sunny spells, 21°, light SW.

A settled couple of days at Lollingdon and from the Church out to the “reedy ditch”.

A lot of activity with a good number of Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

Several Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler along the “reedy ditch” and again Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

Little Owl seen and heard out at Lollingdon.

Usual stuff along the river from Alan, Sedge & Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Kingfisher etc.

River Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Southern Hawker, Emperor & Black-tailed Skimmer.

River Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Marbled White, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Moths: Cinnabar & Silver-Y.

Crab Spider with prey courtesy Alan

Reed Bunting

Sedge Warbler

Small Tortoiseshell

Silver-Y

Bunk Line & Thames

Few sunny spells plus a few light rain showers, 20°, breezy SSW.

Bunk line this afternoon: 20+ House Martin and approx. 12 Swallow feeding over and around CSW. Also a couple of Swift present.

A dozen or so Yellowhammer with several singing, plus Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.

A young Cormorant flew north-west and a Little Owl calling.

Alan on his patch with: Common Tern, Kingfisher, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch etc.

Alan Dragonflies: White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Emperor.

Alan Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Comma, Marbled White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Butterflies: the area dominated by good numbers of Meadow Brown and Marbled White today. Also: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Alan Insects: Yellow Longhorn Beetle, Brassy Longhorn Moth (new for Cholsey).

Insects: Yellow Longhorn Beetle.

Small Skipper

Comma

Common Blue

Red Admiral

Yellowhammer

Greenfinch courtesy Alan

Yellow Longhorn Beetle courtesy Alan

Brassy Longhorn Moth courtesy Alan

Yellow Longhorn Beetle

Settled times

Sunny intervals, 20°, breezy SSW.

Pretty quiet all round today out at Lollingdon and the river.

Usual birds present, no changes, looking very settled.

Alan saw an Oystercatcher at the weekend along the river, a first for the year.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Southern Hawker & Emperor.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Marmalade Hoverfly and Cranefly above & Soldier Beetle below feeding on flower heads ↕

Wasp

Great-spotted Woodpecker courtesy Alan

One that got away

Sunny spells, 22°, light SSW.

Lying in bed this morning at around 06:00 listening to birdsong in the meadow which comprised of Blackbird, Song Thrush, and Blackcap etc. when I picked up on a different song.

It sounded familiar, as in I have heard it before and it was not until after about a minute I thought that sounds like an Iberian Chiffchaff!

A quick check on the app and I thought I’d better try and record this. Trying to get ready and get outside but within another minute the singing had stopped.

I eventually got outside and spent some time searching but with no luck.

I alerted a couple of local birders and continued searching but again no joy.

Eventually I took a walk along the Bunk line and back and searched again until 14:00 and still no luck.

We also checked early evening along with Alan and Tony.

As it stands I am unable to verify this on song alone and over a brief period of time!

Anyway Alan out at Lollingdon today and myself along the Bunk line and no surprises at either!

Roe Deer courtesy Alan

Spotted Orchid in the garden

LRP

Light cloud, 20°, light N.

Lollingdon again, still somewhat quiet birdwise, a few Swallow, House Martin and Swift overhead and the usual songsters present.

A Little Owl and Grey Heron also noted.

A Little Ringed Plover seen at the gravel pit by Alan. 2nd record this year and only the 4th in the last 10 years!

Also Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting etc.

Dragonflies: Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer and Emperor. The Emperor took a Meadow Brown butterfly out of the air and devoured it on the wing. All that was left were the wings of the butterfly that fluttered gently to the ground.

Mammals: Brown Hare.  

Alan: Common Blue Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Emperor & Four-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet & Small Heath.

Alan: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Marbled White, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

Moths: Silver-Y.

Little Ringed Plover courtesy Alan

Little Owl

Grey Heron

Hornet Hoverfly

Beautiful Demoiselle

Red Admiral

Speckled Wood

June bows out

Cloudy, 18°, light N.

Bunk line today on a warm and cloudy day.

Birdwise was rather quiet this afternoon, just Blackcap and Yellowhammer in song.

A couple of Yellow Wagtail around and several Swift and Swallow feeding overhead and a flock of 10+ House Martin appeared to pass thru.

Alan out later in the day with a trek out to the Lees and back to the village via Lollingdon.

Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler and Chiffchaff etc.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle. Alans: Beautiful Demoiselle, Emperor & Four-spot Chaser.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Marbled White, lots of Meadow Brown and a couple of Small Heath. Alans: Large Skipper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Speckled Wood & Meadow Brown.

Other Insects: Hornet Hoverfly & Meadow Grasshopper.

Marbled White on Scabious

Large Skipper on Vetch

Red Admiral

Peacock Caterpillar courtesy Alan

Beautiful Demoiselle courtesy Alan

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Alan

Meadow Grasshopper courtesy Alan

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Dryad's Saddle

A Grey Day

Cloudy, 16°, light to breezy NNE.

Rather quiet out at Lollingdon today, a pair of Common Whitethroat have fledged at least 3 young and a few Swift feeding overhead and that was all of note. All the regulars present, plus a Little Owl seen.

No dragonflies or butterflies this morning as probably a bit too cool.

Alan out this afternoon along the river and having a bit more luck as it got warmer. (Bunk line yesterday).

Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Goldcrest.

Mammals: Brown Hare & a Red Fox yesterday.

Reptiles: Grass Snake yesterday.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Comma, Marbled White, Meadow Brown & Ringlet.

Photos courtesy Alan

Ringlet

Red Fox

Black Rabbit

Birds, Butterflies & Dragons

Mainly sunny, 20°, light W.

10K walk today out to the Lees and around to Lollingdon Hill and back to the village.

Again good numbers of Yellow Wagtail between the Church and out beyond the Lees, plus Common Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting and Reed Bunting.

Several Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler along the “Reedy Ditch”, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Linnet.

5 Raven (2ad & 3 yng) on Lollingdon Hill, eventually spiralling up and moving North.

Usual Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and Common Whitethroat present.

Alan was down along the river with the regular Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting etc and a long time no see Bullfinch.

River Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Emperor, Four-spot Chaser & Black-tailed Skimmer.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Emperor and Black-tailed Skimmer all around a flooded field area.

River Butterflies: Large Skipper, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Marbled White & Meadow Brown.

Butterflies: apart for plenty of Meadow Brown, 2 Painted Lady, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Speckled Wood and 2 Small Heath.

Insects: Hornet Robber Fly.

A lot of photos today!

Yellow Wagtails

Meadow Brown ↕

Marbled White courtesy Alan

Large Skipper courtesy Alan

Knot Grass ? courtesy Alan

Comma courtesy Alan

Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan

Goldfinch feeding on Thistle 😊

Painted Lady

Black-tailed Skimmer

Song Thrush