Insects on the rise

Mainly sunny, 17°, light SE.

River: no apparent change bird wise but 2 new Dragonflies and a Butterfly for the year.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Beautiful Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak and Peacock.

AD.

photos courtesy Alan  

A wet one

Rain until 14:00, then just cloudy, 10°, breezy S.

Bunk area: a reasonable passage of Hirundines this afternoon. With c80 House Martin, 40+ Swallow, a handful of Sand Martin plus c20 Swift.

5 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 4 Common Whitethroat, 5 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, a Yellow Wagtail, a Gadwall and 7 Lesser Blackback Gull, etc.

AD & PC.

Common Whitethroat

Blackcap courtesy Alan

Reed Bunting

May Day

Sunny at first then clouding up, 17°, light NE.

Lollingdon, Bunk, River and Long Ditch areas covered today.

Back to birding in Cholsey after a 10-day stint at Portland. A coldish time but viz-mig was good with 96 species.

Firstly a Barn Owl heard at 22:15 last night over Ilges Lane. Per Geoff Wyatt.

Other areas: Oystercatcher, Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper, Little Egret, 2 Herring Gull, 2 Raven, Lapwing, Tree Pipit (flew over garden), Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, 8+ Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, 3+ Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, 2 Swift, several Swallow and House Martin and a single Sand Martin.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Peacock and Comma.

Contributors: AD, AK, GW, LC & PC.

  

Yellow Wagtail courtesy Andy King

Little Egret courtesy Alan

Azure Damselfly courtesy Alan

Buff-tailed Bumblebee courtesy Loren

Bunk & Lollingdon.

Sunny spells, 13°, breezy S.

Lollingdon: Wheatear, Swallow.

Bunk: Little Egret on flood opposite school, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Gadwall.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly.

Butterflies: Green-veined White.

Sightings and photos courtesy Alan.

Day 10: Departure

Sunny spells, 11°, light SW.

Last day on Portland and leaving around 13:00. Heavy rain overnight and not subsiding until approx. 08:30. So got a lay-in.

Some brief walks and intermittent sea-watch whilst packing, so not a lot to report.

A couple of Manx Shearwater on the sea and an early stream of Gannet. Land wise. 2 Wheatear, a Whinchat, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest and 2 Common Whitethroat.

A brief stop off at Ferrybridge: 3 Whimbrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Oystercatcher, c15 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover, c20 Little Tern and 2 Sandwich Tern.

Butterflies: Green-veined White.

Day 9: a good one

Mainly cloudy, 7°, fresh NE.

Best day so far with a reasonable fall of migrants.

Sea-watch: an on and off one today with a Pomarine Skua, 3 Arctic Skua, c80 Common/Arctic Tern, a few Sandwich Tern, several Manx Shearwater, a Fulmar and the usual Gannet, Shag, Cormorant and Auks plus the 1000 strong, feeding, Gull flock off the Bill.

Land: a Redpoll, 3 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 3 Grasshopper Warbler, 10 Common Whitethroat, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 18 Willow Warbler, 9 Chiffchaff, 3 Common Redstart, 3 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Whinchat, 2 Stonechat, 102 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 80+ Swallow, 14 House Martin, 6 Sand Martin and 4 Swift.

Mammals: Grey Seal.

Chiffchaff

Reed Warbler

Pied Flycatcher

Wheatear

Redstart

Wheatear

Common Whitethroat

Grey Seal

Gannet diving for fish

Day 8: Cold

A cloudy day with some afternoon rain, 7°, breezy WNW to E.

A bloody cold day with a bitty passage of migrants seen, the exception being Hirundines.

Swallow (100’s), House Martin (50+) and Sand Martin (10+) started around 09:30 and finished of around 14:00, give or take a few.

A sea-watch was non-existent for me other than an Arctic Skua and 28 Common Scoter plus the usuals.

Land: a Cuckoo flew from the garden at first light and may well have roosted there.

c30 Willow Warbler, 10+ Chiffchaff, 2 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, a Whinchat, a Tree Pipit, a Common Redstart, a Garden Warbler, a Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, 2 Yellow Wagtail and a Whimbrel.

Redstart

Garden Warbler

Day 7: cold and Windy

Mainly cloudy with some light rain, 10°, breezy NNE.

A cold and windy day that produced very few birds on both land and sea and little motivation.

Sea-watch: 7 Whimbrel, 4 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwater and that was about it other than the regulars.

Land: Willow Warbler, 178 ringed in the obs garden today! Several Chiffchaff, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Cuckoo and 1 Tree Pipit.

A trip out to Ferrybridge: 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2+ Ringed Plover, c10 Dunlin and several Little Tern and Sandwich Tern.

Find the Gannet

A cropped shot

Blackbird with prey

HMS St Alban's off Portland

Day 6: A slow day

Mainly cloudy, 10°, N, backing WSW.

A slow day with little on the sea and land.

Sea-watch: 17 Whimbrel, 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 Great Northern Diver, 7 Manx Shearwater, 1 Puffin, 2 Sandwich Tern plus many Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet etc and c2000 Gulls feeding over the race.

Land: 1 Peregrine, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, good numbers of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, 1 Swift, several hundred Swallow, 30+ House Martin, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Wheatear, 2 Oystercatcher and 3-4 Purple Sandpiper.

Butterflies: Green-veined White and Orange Tip.

Purple Sandpiper 

Oystercatcher

Herring Gull

Day 5: A little quieter

Mainly cloudy, 10°, Light N.

A little chilly still.

Sea-watch: an on-off sea-watch today, 2 Shelduck, 1 Arctic Skua, 2 Arctic Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 30+ Whimbrel and 10 Bar-tailed Godwit etc.

Land: a Brambling (f), 16 Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Blackcap, 30+ Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 2 House Martin and a high flying Hen Harrier in-off the sea.

A rather feisty Starling

Cholsey

Mainly cloudy, 10°, Light N.

River: Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Cetti’s Warbler, Kingfisher and Reed Bunting.

Lollingdon: Willow Warbler, Wheatear, Blackcap, Swallow, Lapwing and Yellow Wagtail.

Bunk: Little Egret, Common Sandpiper, Blackcap, Swallow, House Martin, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtail over.

Per Alan.

Yellow Wagtail

Day 4: Rain stopped play

Cloudy then rain, 8°, light NNE.

Day started reasonably well then rain stopped play around 13:00.

Sea-watch: 67 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Knot, 2 Arctic Skua, 9 Whimbrel, 10 Common Scoter, 3 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, numbers of Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet and several Sandwich Tern and Oystercatcher.

Land: Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Common Redstart, Cuckoo, Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin.

Razorbill

Swallow

Guillemot

Great Blackback Gull

Guillemot and a Razorbill

Oystercatcher

Day 3: Improving

Mainly sunny, 12°, breezy NE.

A protracted sea-watch produced, 60+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Arctic Skua, 16 Common Scoter, 2 Sandwich Tern and a single Great Northern Diver.

The landward sightings became a little more diverse today with 5 Wheatear, a Stonechat, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 3 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Common Redstart, several Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a Cuckoo, a Ring Ouzel, 40+ Swallow, 4 House Martin and a single Sand Martin.

Butterflies: a Small White, Green-veined White, Holly Blue and Peacock.

Pied Flycatcher (f)

Day 2: Slow start

Sunny, 13°, light to breezy NE.

A bitty sea watch and a good day’s birding. Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, a couple of Manx Shearwater, 2 Canada Geese, a Fulmar plus usual Auk species, Shag and Gannet.

On land: 2 Common Redstart, a Black Redstart, 3 Wheatear, a Whinchat, a Stonechat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, several Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, 20+ Swallow, 2 Little Owl, 3+ Raven and a Whimbrel.

Butterflies: Small White, Holly Blue and Red Admiral.

Lesser Whitethroat

Stonechat

2 Little Owl

2 of a flock of 18 Carrion Crow

Angle Shades