Lapwing success & Butterflies

Cloudy, 20º, light NW..............thundery, heavy rain showers late afternoon.

A walk out to Lollingdon today and luckily got back just before a thunderstorm struck and it continued raining until around 19:30.

A single adult Black-headed Gull on the playing field.

The Lapwing pair in Lollingdon have fledged 3 young........a great success and the adults are still quite aggressive towards intruders on their territory. I think these were the only successful breeding Lapwing in Cholsey this year!

Quite a few young Common Whitethroat around today with several family groups of between 4 to 7 birds.

The hill had the usual Corn Buntings (5), Yellowhammers (6), Yellow Wagtail (5), Chiffchaffs (3), Common Whitethroats (5), Blackcaps (3) and Linnets (12).

A couple of Swift flocks over the hill, one of c30 birds flew directly over south and another flock of around 10 feeding for a time and drifted off north.

Also a few Swallow flocks, one of 20+ birds had 2 Sand Martin with them and they flew SW and another flock of slightly less flew over and headed south.

20 Lesser Blackback Gulls flew south and 5 Black-headed Gulls flew high NW.

On the way back a covey of Grey Partridge exploded before me, I counted around 20 birds (mostly young) before they dropped out of site. One of the adults flew to about 6 metres from me and proceeded to do the “broken wing” distraction display, squawking and running in a tight circle with the left wing drooping to the ground. This lasted for around 20 seconds before it then flew off to join the others.

A couple of Kestrel, a Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, Great-spotted Woodpecker and a  Grey Heron all noted and 11 Magpie on the playing field as I returned.

The garden became rather busy during the rain: a ♀ Mallard, 3 Moorhen, 2 Magpie and a supporting cast of 14 other species.

Lots of butterflies today; Meadow Brown and Ringlet most numerous, also Small Tortoiseshell, Large White, Small White, 1 Marbled White, several Gatekeeper, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, 2 Red Admiral, 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Comma and the only dragonfly was a Blue Emperor.

 

 Lapwing

 Young Lapwing

  Goldfinch feeding on Thistle

 Meadow Brown

 Large Skipper

 Gatekeeper

 Small Skipper

 Small Skipper

July garden

Sunny, 18º, light SW.

The garden was quite busy today with at least 3 Magpie (incl a couple of youngsters) turning up and the 2 resident Crows unusually turning a blind eye to their presence.

The Crows still soaking their bread that neighbours are putting out in whatever water they can find. 

2 Great-spotted Woodpecker have been visiting on a regular basis and 2 Coal Tit, at least 1 Goldcrest regular with a small Tit flock that passes through the garden at least once per day.

2 Stock Dove still frequenting the garden and they appear to be nesting in one of the Lime trees in the garden.

Several Moorhen still turning up throughout the day and another young Robin present since the weekend.

Both Chiffchaff and Blackcap occasionally in the garden but mainly in the hedgerow in the meadow and a Common Whitethroat heard singing nearby.

The odd Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and both Large & Small White butterflies  in the garden.

 Great-spotted Woodpecker

 Magpie (Loren)

 Carrion Crow with a sandwich (Loren)

 soaking the sandwich (Loren)

 Robin taking advantage of the Crows absence (Loren)

Hummer

Sunny spells, showers, 20º, breezy SW.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth in the garden this afternoon! 1st record for the garden and the first one I've seen this year.

Comma

Sunny, 24º, breezy SW...............rain expected later.

2 Comma butterfly and a Blue Emperor dragonfly in the garden today.

The Tawny Owls have been present this week around the garden after dark.

Am I over feeding?

Sunny, 26º, light SSW.

I know I feed the birds all year round but am I over feeding?

 Erithacus rubecula gigantus

Joking aside at least one Goldcrest in the garden today and a Coal Tit nearby.

The 2 House Martin nests are doing OK and a pair of Swallow have nested in a
neighbour’s garage and have young.

Birds & Butterflies

Cloudy, 24º, muggy, no wind.

A flock of 20 Swallow feeding over the hill today for around 30 minutes, both adults and juveniles, a couple of Swift over also.

Usual species present, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Linnet, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting, a couple of Red Kite and a single Buzzard.

A lot of butterflies today, good numbers of Large and Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Speckled Wood and a deceased Comma.

 Field Poppy

 Ringlet

 Common Whitethroat

 Meadow Brown

Various Insects

A selection of insect photos from Lollingdon today, most still to be identified. Courtesy Loren.

 Peacock butterfly caterpillars

 Deceased Comma butterfly