Redwings arrive

Cloudy at first then sunny spells, 15°, light W.

Redwing arrived in some numbers today along with numbers of Song Thrush. Messages were coming in from around the county of their arrival and Cholsey was no exception with several hundred seen toady.

Both Alan and I out along the Bunk line: a couple of Chiffchaff and Blackcap along Green lane and 2 Stonechat along the Bunk.

Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Pied Wagtail have all increased in numbers.

Plus all the usuals.  

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral and Comma.

Redwing

Stonechats ↕

Common Darter courtesy Alan

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Kestrel courtesy Alan

Comma

Relatively Quiet

Cloudy at first then sunny, 15°, light NNW.

Lollingdon relatively quiet today, 4 Stonechat around the hill, a flock of 18 Mistle Thrush flew west and 3 Raven over.

Nearby a Little Owl calling, 5-6 Chiffchaff in the vicinity, 2 Jay plus 20+ Skylark overhead and several Meadow Pipit.

Alan out later in the day along the River/Bunk line:  Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Raven, 2 Jay, 

Mammals: Stoat & Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: 20+ Common Darter.

Butterflies: a single Peacock and Red Admiral.

Chiffchaff

Stonechat

Common Green Shieldbug

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Ravens

An overcast dull day, 17°, light SE.

Both along the Bunk line today, up to 7 Raven with 3 hanging around for a time then flew off to the south west, then around an hour later 4 flew in from the north and continued on.

Just 7 Swallow and 2 House Martin passed thru over a 4 hour period.

Several Blackcap and Chiffchaff still present along Green lane.

A Little Owl that we both heard then seen by Alan a little later, also several Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Yellowhammer, Green Woodpecker, Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel and 10 Canada Geese flew towards the gravel pit.

Apart from a few Bees no insects today!

Ravens and almost every ones favourite. A Robin.

Suspicion!

Mainly overcast with minimal sunny spells. 19°, light SSW.

Some worrying observations today with Alan finding a dead Fox and Tony W finding a dead Buzzard and Badger all under suspicious circumstances with the latter 2 being suspected of being shot! Keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activity please.

Not a lot going on out at Lollingdon today. A Little Owl present, several Chiffchaff and good numbers of Meadow Pipit and Skylark. Tony W had 4 Mistle Thrush earlier and a possible Ring Ouzel.

Alan along the Bunk line: Stonechat, several Meadow Pipit, Linnet and Skylark, Reed Bunting, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

And along the river later in the day: 14 Mistle Thrush, Chiffchaff, more Jay and a Kingfisher.

A Kingfisher flew from Cholsey Brook in the Brook meadow and disappeared across Church road.  

Mammals: Weasel, Stoat, Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

All photos courtesy Alan

2 Weasels at play? ↕

Stonechat

An excellent capture by Alan just outside the parish boundary

Red Fox deceased

Bunk Line

Cloudy with a few showers, 14°, breezy W.

Both along the Bunk line this morning coming in from opposite ends on another blustery day.

A reasonable passage of Hirundines with c50 Swallow and 30+ House Martin passing thru.

A single Blackcap and several Chiffchaff present plus several Meadow Pipit, 2 Grey Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail, a Grey Heron, c20 Yellowhammer, 2 Jay and a Sparrowhawk.

Alan had a walk along the river later in the day: several Swallow and House Martin, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Jay and a Raven.

Mammals: kept getting glimpses of a Stoat hunting and eventually saw it running off carrying prey. Appeared to be a Vole!

Butterflies: a single Red Admiral.

Stoat with prey

Great-spotted Woodpecker courtesy Alan

Chiffchaff ↕

Shaggy Inkcap ↕

Honey Fungus

Blustery

A few sunny spells, 15°, breezy SSW.

4 Stonechat out at Lollingdon today, 1 on the north side of the hill, 1 in the cattle fields and 2 more to the NE of the cattle field.

A single Wheatear on the hill and 24 Swallow and 14 House Martin battling south against the stiff breeze.

Several Chiffchaff still present, several Meadow Pipit, 2 Jay, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel and the usual Yellowhammer present.

Per Alan: Another Stonechat present at Cholsey Meadows. River/Marsh: Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and 4+ Jay.

Bunk line: Meadow Pipit, Chiffchaff, and Skylark.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Stonechat

Buzzard courtesy Alan

Stonechats

Speckled Wood

Name that Tune

Rain at first then sunny spells, 17°, breezy WSW.

Not out today but Alan out along the Bunk line/Green lane area.

3 Yellow Wagtail overhead plus Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Skylark and the rest.

Over the last few weeks Alan and I have been listening to sub-song of a particular species of warbler at more than one site, (listen to the vid below). 

There are several theories of why some birds do this. i.e. a juvenile practising? But we have also observed adult birds at this time of year in sub-song. So as always there is probably more than one reason!

 Video courtesy Alan Dawson

Meadow Pipit courtesy Alan

September bows out

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 15°, breezy SSW.

A blustery day and summer migrants fast disappearing and negative for dragonflies and butterflies today and both Alan and I along the Bunk line/Green lane.

Several Chiffchaff noted were the only warbler species seen today. A single Yellow Wagtail, several Skylark, Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit. A Sparrowhawk, 2-3 Jay, 2+1 Raven, and 3 Mistle Thrush.

A few small flocks of Swallow and House Martin feeding in the lee of the weather before moving on.

Alan along the river p.m.: 15+ Mistle Thrush, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting.

Getting Cooler

Sunny spells, 14°, breezy NW.

Lollingdon fairly quiet today, 4 Raven over the hill and a small number of Swallow and House Martin still trekking south,

Both Meadow Pipit and Skylark in the area plus several Chiffchaff and a few Blackcap on the wooded side.

Several Jay out at Lollingdon, Bullshole and Whitehead meadow and a couple of Mistle Thrush out at Lollingdon.

Alan along the Bunk line: Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Meadow Pipit and Skylark and both Swallow and House Martin moving thru.

10 Lapwing over Cholsey hill pm. Per Loren.  

Mammals: Brown Hare,

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

Mistle Thrush courtesy Alan ↕

Chiffchaff courtesy Alan

Comma

Hoverfly & Honey Bee on Ivy

Common Darter ↕

Sort of Quiet

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 15°, breezy S.

Sort of quiet today, Alan out beyond the Lees and found 2 Stonechat, a few Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

I took a hike along the Bunk/Green lane area, 8+ Blackcap still feeding on Elder berries, plus several Chiffchaff, 10+ Swallow and 2 House Martin and an increase in Skylark numbers and a small number of Meadow Pipit.

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

Skylark

Stonechat courtesy Alan

A little quieter

Sunny, 22°, light WSW.

Lollingdon rather quiet today, 4 Raven on the hill for a time mixing with the Red Kite and Buzzard thermalling overhead.

Several Chiffchaff present with some in song, a single Blackcap, Little Owl, several Meadow Pipit and Jay and 2 Kestrel.

A few House Martin and Swallow over.

Alan out and about on the other side of the village with Jay, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher and Swallow.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker, Ruddy Darter & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

Ivy Bees courtesy Alan

Willow Emerald courtesy Alan

The Lees

Overcast, 20°, breezy W.

Both Alan and I out beyond the Lees this morning. I overslept so arrived a bit later and missed most of it!

3-4 Stonechat, a Peregrine and several Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit.

3 Corn Bunting and several Chiffchaff.

A Sparrowhawk along the Bunk line.

I keep forgetting to add Jays to the mix with quite a few seen and heard over the last few weeks.  

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

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

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Alan’s garden).

Photos courtesy Alan

Peregrine

Stonechat

Lollingdon & Bunk

Sunny intervals, 20°, light WSW.

2 Stonechat on the hill today along with several Meadow Pipit, 10+ Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and a Common Whitethroat.

Up to 50 Swallow overhead and a Little Owl, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel nearby.

Bunk line with Alan: Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Stonechat.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Comma & Speckled Wood.

Stonechat ↕

Wryneck near Wantage courtesy Alan

Any ideas what spider? courtesy Loren

Meadow Grasshopper courtesy Loren

Southern Hawker courtesy Alan