Getting better

Cloudy at first then brightening up, 20°, light ENE,

The land side produced a better birding day than of late with an impressive passage of 500+ Swallow, 80+ Meadow Pipit, 20+ Siskin, 6 Yellow Wagtail, 9 Grey Wagtail and 6 Tree Pipit.

The Obs garden was awash with Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler plus 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Sedge Warbler, 3 Blackcap and 2 Whitethroat.

Elsewhere, 6 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat, a Grey Heron, 2 Sparrowhawk, 3 Cormorant over and 2 Buzzard that were seen heading out to sea and for a brief moment we thought may have been something else until we realised, they were 2 of the local Common Buzzard taking a short sortie out over the bill and back.

An intermittent sea-watch today produced 6 Balearic Shearwater plus few common odds and sods.

A Barn Owl heard calling after dark and Common Pipistrelle picked up on the bat detector around the garden.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

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

The 2 Common Buzzard high overhead and a selection of Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler from the garden.

A slow day at Portland

Sunny, 20°, light SW.

For Portland in September the birding is rather dire to say the least. Didn’t even bother with a sea-watch today but spent time staking out certain areas but even that did not pay off.

A good early passage of Meadow Pipit and Swallow that petered out as the morning progressed or did, I lose focus.

Other species noted: Little Owl, Raven, Buzzard, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Siskin, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, (Common) Blue, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown & Small Heath.

A variety of moths, too many to mention.

2 of Portlands Little Owls taking in the sun

Marbled Beauty (Moth courtesy John Lucas)

Dunnock

Common Whitethroat

Buzzard

Common Whitethroat

Moths save the day

Sunny spells with some fog, 20°, light SW.

Portland.

The day started with a sea watch; however, the sea was relatively quiet and migrants on land were a bit thin on the ground so no big surprises there, but moths were the surprise of the day.

Sea: 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Sandwich Tern, 6 Balearic Shearwater, several Oystercatcher and reasonable numbers of Auks and Gannet plus several Shag and Cormorant.

Land: Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Wheatear, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, Siskin, Little Owl, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard.

Fish: several Bluefin Tuna feeding offshore.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Moths: The surprise moth of the day was an Echium Leaf Miner (Dialectica scalariella picked from the moth trap by Martin Cade and only the 2nd for Dorset, the 1st being found yesterday). A tiny moth (5mm) that needed a macro lens to photograph it. I do not have one but I know someone who does.

Other moths of note were a Blue Underwing, Red Underwing and a Heath Rustic.

Insects: Speckled Bush Cricket.

Echium Leaf Miner a very skittish moth courtesy Martin Cade

Blue Underwing or Clifden Nonpariel upperside and underside

Common Darter

Common Buzzard

Red Underwing

Southern Oak Bush Cricket

Speckled Wood

All moths were safely released at the end of the day.

1

 

PBO

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

A warm one

Hazy sunshine, 29°, light E.

Bunk line a bit quiet this afternoon, several Chiffchaff, 2 Common Whitethroat, a couple of Blackcap, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Raven and a few family flocks of Swallow on the move.

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

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

Comma

Whinchat

Sunny, 30°, light E.

Only Alan out today and a beautiful Whinchat found.

Whinchat courtesy Alan

On our way back from Bunkfest on Sunday night we saw the moon rising a bright red. Photo taken from Cholsey Hill.

A few migrants moving

A sunshiny day, 28°, light E.

Both along Bunk line in the morning/early afternoon. 3 Yellow Wagtail, a Redstart, a Willow Warbler, several Chiffchaff, and Blackcap and 2 Common Whitethroat.

A steady flow of Swallow passing thru plus a few House Martin. At least 2 Raven, 100+ Lesser Blackback Gull, several Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Alan also covered Bunk line and River later.

Dragonflies: Willow Emerald, Emperor, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

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

Insects: Hornet Robberfly.

Photos courtesy Alan  

Raven

Migrant Hawker

Willow Emerald

Chiffchaff ↕

Hornet Robberfly

More Redstarts

Sunny periods, 18°, breezy WNW.

Bunk line, 11:30 onwards: initially a light but steady trickle of Swallow and House Martin moving thru.

Then at Green Lane it started livening up with 2 Redstart, 3 Common Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Treecreeper with a Tit flock and a Jay.

Also a Green Woodpecker being pursued by a Sparrowhawk but it managed to evade it.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Gatekeeper & Meadow Brown.

Insects: Hornet Robberfly.

Redstart

Green Woodpecker that evaded the Sparrowhawk

Another of the Redstart

Hornet Robberfly

Bunk, Lollingdon & Silly Bridge

Sunny periods, 18°, breezy WNW.

Alan along Bunk earlier than me but not a lot noted.

Later out at Lollingdon: Whinchat and Wheatear still present along with several Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting.

Another visit along Bunk line late afternoon: Redstart, Several Yellow Wagtail, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

Silly Bridge: Wheatear, a few Yellow Wagtail and Skylark.

photos courtesy Alan

Corn Bunting

Wheatear

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

Brown Hawker

Lollingdon

Sunny spells, 20°, light SW.

A walk out to the hill this morning, very little "en route", just a few Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer and a single Common Whitethroat.

2 Wheatear, a Whinchat and 6 Yellow Wagtail present on the hill and a Common Whitethroat and several Chiffchaff nearby.

A few House Martin heard but not seen.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper & Meadow Brown.

Lollingdon

Sunny at first then clouding up, 19°, light NW.

Alan up at Lollingdon late afternoon. Whinchat, Wheatear, Corn Bunting, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine over, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat and several Yellow Wagtail.

Wheatear courtesy Alan

Great White

Sunny at first then clouding up, 12°, light NW.

An early morning walk along the Bunk line today:

I had a Little Egret fly over but only seen briefly thru the tree tops. Approx. an hour later I saw another presumed Little Egret rise up over a hedgerow and head off north towards the Wallingford area. This one was in view a little longer and although fairly high and distant and flying away. I could either take some pics or look at it thru my binoculars. I chose the former and managed a few shots before it disappeared over the tree line. It wasn’t until I checked the pics on the computer, I realised it was a Great Egret. The second record for Cholsey.

The rest: c40 Canada Geese and 2 Egyptian Geese on a stubble field, nearby 2 Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper, 1 Little Egret, 2+ Raven, 2 Jay, 3 Herring Gull, 7 Lesser Blackback Gull, 11 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 10+ Chiffchaff, 7 House Martin and 100+ Swallow.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Red Fox.

Butterflies: just the one Small White.

Whinchat & Redstart

A cloudy day, 18°, breezy SW.

Alan covered the Bunk line this morning whilst I went out to Lollingdon.

I had just got back at mid-afternoon when I received a message from Alan that he had just found a Whinchat and a Redstart along the Bunk line. So “Deja vu”, boots back on etc and made for the Bunk line.

Not only a Whinchat was found but 2 Redstart and 2 Common Whitethroat which rounded off an otherwise quiet day nicely. Also several Swallow over and 5 Raven up near Green lane.

Lollingdon this morning: 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Willow Warbler, 10+ Chiffchaff, several Swallow and a Jay and a Raven.

Bunk this morning: several Raven, Yellow Wagtail, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff etc.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Muntjac Deer.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

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

Whinchat courtesy Alan

Whinchat with Magpie

Redstart courtesy Alan

Redstart

Yellowhammer

And finally 2 Linnet courtesy Andy King