White-fronts

Overcast with rain, 5°, light NE.

6 “Russian” White-fronted Geese turned up near Cholsey Marsh today. Initially found by Paul Rainsden at Little Stoke and then re-located by Ian Lewington on the Cholsey side of the river. Later in the day they flew back to the Little Stoke area. They were with a flock of c20 Canada Geese.

A rare visitor to Cholsey, last recorded in January 2011 when a flock of 45-50 turned up in various locations around the village.

AD, IL, MP, PR.

 courtesy Ian Lewington

courtesy Alan

courtesy Ian Lewington

courtesy Alan

The following is information from the BTO:

“This small, grey goose with white forehead blaze and black belly-bars is a winter visitor to wetlands and coastal marshes.

Two races of White-fronted Goose occur in the UK: the nominate race albifrons, which breeds in western Russia and is referred to as Russian, or European White-fronted Goose, and flavirostris, which breeds in western Greenland and is called Greenland White-fronted Goose. Greenland White-fronted Geese occur in the north and west of Britain and Ireland, whilst Russian White-fronted Geese can be found in the south and east.

Wetland Bird Survey data show the range of sites where the two races winter, and it is estimated that 10,000–12,000 Greenland White-fronts and 1,000–2,000 Russian White-fronts spend the winter months here in the UK.”

The Lees

Sunny intervals, 5°, light NNE.

The Lees and Long Ditch area: 2 pair of Stonechat still present, 2 Mistle Thrush, several Redwing, 14 Skylark,2 Meadow Pipit, 18 Pied Wagtail, 2 Heron, a Jay, a Coal Tit, a Goldcrest, 80 + Linnet, etc.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Stonechat ↕ 1 pair above and the 2nd pair, more distant below

Grey Heron enjoying the late afternoon sun

Bunk & Moreton Floods

Cloudy with sunny spells, 9°, light NNE.

Bunk Line: Not much going on. Pair of Kestrel, Fieldfare, Redwing, c300 Starling, Grey Wagtail, usual gulls, Mistle Thrush 🎶 singing and Goldcrest in the churchyard.

Moreton floods: c30 Pintail, c100 Teal, c20 Shoveler, 1 Shelduck, 2 Gadwall, 6 Wigeon, c400 Lapwing, 1 Little Egret, c12 Snipe and Skylark.

AD.

all pics courtesy Alan

Bunk

Cloudy with rain on the way, 10°, breezy SSW.

A brief walk out this afternoon before the rain.

A large field next to the Bunk line hosted a large flock of Starling, Fieldfare, Redwing, Linnet, a few Skylark and Pied Wagtail.

Shortly after I arrived a Sparrowhawk appeared overhead, the Starling flock flew up and manoeuvred into two tight balls of birds, the rest just scattered in various directions.

The Sparrowhawk flew through without making a kill and approx. ten minutes later, returned. The same scenario played out again without the Sparrowhawk, again, not making a kill. In total the flock was probably just shy of 1K birds.

I decided to hang around in case something else turned up hoping for an afternoon snack but no luck.

A little later a flock of 56 Pied Wagtail flew from CSW to the field.

As the rain was imminent, I thought it best to return home and made it just in time.

A Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Buzzard, Kestrel, 2 Herring Gull, c100 Black-headed Gull, etc, also noted in the immediate area.

Marsh, Meadows & Floods

Overcast, brightening later, 8°, light S.

Still a fair bit of flooding around but water is receding.  

Cholsey Meadows/Marsh: 2 Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Mistle and Song thrush in good voice, 2 Raven, Water Rail, Reed Bunting, Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Goose, etc.

Moreton Floods: 17 Pintail, c40 Teal, Shelduck, c500 Lapwing, Chiffchaff.

Bunk: c100 Fieldfare, c80 Redwing, 6 Mistle Thrush, 5 Song Thrush, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, 20+ Linnet, 2 Grey Wagtail, 7 Pied Wagtail, c400 Starling, usual Gulls, 2 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck and a Coot.

Brook Meadow: Coal Tit, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Nuthatch, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff.

AD & PC.

Pintail courtesy Alan ↕

Lesser Blackback Gull

Black-headed Gull

Blackcap courtesy Alan

Another January passes by

Cloudy with a few rain showers, 6°, light ESE.

Still fairly quiet.

Bunk: 5 Chiffchaff, 40+ Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, 5 Meadow Pipit, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, 40+ Redwing, 20+ Fieldfare, 2 Coot, 2 Gadwall, 6 Tufted Duck, usual Gull species, etc.

Lollingdon: c150 Lapwing, c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, c100 Black-headed Gull, 5 Teal, a few hundred Fieldfare and Redwing and a Goldcrest.

Caps Lane: Barn Owl hunting - 5.00pm ‘ish.

AD & PC.

Pied Wagtail

Robin

A rather naff shot of a Treecreeper

Peregrine

Sunny periods, 7°, light WSW.

Lollingdon: arriving at one of the flooded fields initially with nothing visible. Joined shortly after with Richard and Marta who were out for a walk.

After a few minutes Marta spotted something in the middle of a field that proved to be a female Peregrine Falcon bathing.

RB & MM then continued their walk and I started to check the other flooded fields.

In total c100 Lapwing, approx. 400 Black-headed Gull, c100 Lesser Blackback Gull, 2 Herring Gull and a single Common Gull. 80+ Pied Wagtail, 5 Meadow Pipit, a few Skylark, 2 Mistle Thrush, c20 Redwing and 2 Yellowhammer.

Mammals: Roe Deer and Brown Hare.

MM, PC & RB.

Lollingdon and Bunk

Cloudy, 6°, light NE

Lollingdon and Bunk:

Lollingdon: A Pintail, c 20 Teal, 5 Shoveler,c150 Lapwing, a Little Egret, 2 Common Gull and c100 Black-headed Gull.

Bunk: several Mistle Thrush singing, up to 7 in total noted, also several Song Thrush in song.

Several small flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing, c100 Black-headed Gull, the regular 2 Herring Gull but fewer Lesser Blackback Gull.

2 Grey Wagtail, 50 + Pied Wagtail feeding on flooded fields, 2-3 Chiffchaff, 12 Meadow Pipit, a Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 11 Shoveler, 6 Tufted Duck, both Canada and Greylag Goose heard, a Cormorant over, 2 Coot and 3 Little Grebe.

Upwards of 200 Lapwing seen high over Cholsey Hill, appeared to drop down towards the Moreton floods.

And a Blackcap in Alan’s Garden.

AD & PC.

Pintail courtesy Alan

Shoveler

Pied Wagtail

Mistle Thrush

Little Owl courtesy Alan

A wet one

All day rain, 8°, light to breezy WNW.

Merlin seen hunting Starlings over the village, pre roost. Plus a Sparrowhawk. Per Geoff Wyatt.

Rain and more rain

Heavy rain and thunder at first then brighter, 7°, breezy S.

A lot of flooding out there now after 2 storms pass through.

South Morton Floods: 2 Shelduck (m), c80 Teal, c45 Shoveler, c25 Snipe and 24 Lesser Blackback Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Richard B had two Shelduck on the Church Road flood, before they flew north east, could be the same birds as on the Moreton floods.

Teal on most of the flooded areas and Richard B has also been seeing lots of Teal on the flooded areas in Cholsey and beyond.

AD & RB.

Photos courtesy Alan.

Teal

Shoveler

Herring Gull

Bunk & Long Ditch

Sunshine after the rain, 5°, breezy WSW.

Bunk area: 22+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, Chiffchaff, Treecreeper,20+ Fieldfare, 8 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 4-500 Starling, a large flock of c500 Corvids, 150+ Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, very few Lesser Blackback Gull, a Coot, 2 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 5 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Grebe, etc.

Long Ditch: Great White Egret over, Common Snipe, Kingfisher and Reed Bunting. And a Blackcap (m) in Alan’s Garden.

1st Snowdrops noted.  

AD & PC.

Gadwall (archive pic)

Lollingdon

Cloudy, 5°, light SW.

Lollingdon area:

Long Ditch: Barn Owl - 11.25am, Reed Bunting, Raven over, Chiffchaff and Lesser Blackback Gull.

Lollingdon: c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, one of which had a green ring on the left leg, c150 Black-headed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 4 Common Gull, c200 Lapwing, 25 Teal and 4 Shoveler.

AD.

Barn Owl courtesy Alan.

Cholsey

Sunny spells, 4°, light SSE.

Alan out today along the Bunk, Lollingdon and a few other spots: Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, c700 Lapwing in 2 large flocks, c50 Golden Plover over, 3 Little Egret, 9 Teal, 6 Common Snipe, 2 Herring Gull, c50 Lesser Blackback Gull, c100 Black-headed Gull, 3 Chiffchaff , 2 Barn Owl, etc.

A bit of sunshine

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 5°, light SSW.

Bunk, fairly quiet: 2-3 Chiffchaff, 6 Yellowhammer, a Treecreeper, 50+ Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, c20 Redwing, 3 Goose sp, Greylag, Canada and Egyptian, Tufted Duck, the usual Gulls, c400 Starling, etc.

Chiffchaff doing its best to avoid the camera

Green Woodpecker

A few of the many Starling

Grey days

Overcast, 6°, light S.

Another dull, grey day, with Lollingdon and the Lees area covered.

4 Stonechat (all, quite mobile), several Skylark flocks totalling 100+ birds, a Reed Bunting, a Bullfinch, 40 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare, a Common Snipe, c350 Lapwing, c200 Lesser Blackback Gull, c150 Black-headed Gull, 6 Shoveler, c30 Teal, 5 Grey Heron etc.

Tony W saw a female Merlin out Lollingdon way yesterday.

2 Blackcap, regular on a feeder in Cross Roads.  

Moreton floods: 2 Shelduck, c100 Lapwing, c5 Snipe and c200 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

AD & PC.

Roe Deer

Shelduck courtesy Alan

Unfortunately, always distant Stonechat