What a difference a day makes

Overcast, 16º, rain, light SSE.

Another walk out to Lollingdon today in milder conditions and as soon as I got to the hill..................you guessed it....................rain.

Only around 20 Redwing in the area today as yesterdays flock had moved on.

3 Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrest noted but little else seen.

Redwing in the rain....again

Redwings

Overcast, rain, 12º, light SW.

Up to 400 Redwing today out at Lollingdon, also numbers of Blackbird and Song Thrush present. A Raven still present in the area. (per TW).

Acting on Tony’s phone call I took a rather damp walk out to Lollingdon.

A good flock of thrushes still present in the area and appeared to be slowly moving west.

c400 Redwing, 50’ish Blackbird and 20+ Song Thrush both Redwing and Song Thrush calling as they were moving through the hedgerow feeding on Hawthorn berries.

Upwards of 200 Meadow Pipit around, 40+ Pied Wagtail and a few Skylark.

2 Raven, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Grey Wagtail, c200 Linnet, c100 Chaffinch, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker and 3+ Jay noted, also 36 Lapwing flew north.

A surprise of a Short-eared Owl drifted high overhead moving west.

A Southern Hawker dragonfly seen hunting in the rain.

2 Hedgehog frequenting the garden after dark along with at least 2 Tawny Owl recently.

 Redwings in the rain

Yucky, but the first Redwing of the autumn

A dull, wet and overcast day, almost constant light to heavy rain with varying wind, 14º, light to fresh SW.

A brief and wet visit to the hill late afternoon, subsequently the camera did not come out to play very much.

2 Wheatear present, a Raven overhead and a Jay on the north side.

A hedgerow to the north had a lot of activity with counts of 14 Blackbird, 9 Song Thrush and 2 Redwing, may have been more but my bins kept steaming up and I was getting quite wet, also at least 2 more Jay here.

The local tit flock was also out in this area and as usual dominated by 20+ Long-tailed Tit; there were also several Blue and Great Tit, at least 3 Goldcrest, 4 Chiffchaff, Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Treecreeper, (2 other Chiffchaff nearby).

2 Jay near the garden this morning and a Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff in the garden over the weekend.

A rather snatched shot of the Raven flying over.

Autumnal

Still breezy but sunnier, 16º, SSW.

A brief visit and still relatively quiet on the hill with a few summer visitors still moving through and anticipating the arrival of winter visitors soon, a very autumnal feel.

1 Wheatear present on the south side and the usual Red Kites and Buzzards around and 8 House Martin and 2 Swallow flew over.

A single Goldcrest and 3 Chiffchaff on the north side and a Jay nearby.

Up to 6 Pied Wagtail and the Grey Wagtail still present.

c100 Golden Plover on Cholsey hill late afternoon, not there when returned an hour+ later (first of the autumn).

Dragonflies; 3 Common Darter.

Butterflies; 4 Red Admiral, 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Large White and 1 Small White.

Tits, Tails and Rainbows

Sunny spells with heavy showers, 15º, and a fresh SSW easing late afternoon.

A few hefty rain showers passed through this afternoon so had to take shelter on a couple of occasions.

The more sheltered north side produced a Goldcrest and up to 6 Chiffchaff with a Tit flock. The Tit flock consisted of around 30 birds and were mainly Long-tailed Tit.

3 Wheatear present today but little else on the south side except for the odd Buzzard and Red Kite and the usual Kestrel.

8 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 8 Yellowhammer, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Song Thrush and a Jay also in the vicinity.

Dragonflies; 1 Common Darter and no butterflies.

North-South divide.

Sunny spells, 14º, a few distant rain showers, breezy WSW and much cooler.

Very quiet on the southern exposed part of the hill  as the wind was quite fresh and blowing across the face!

The sheltered north side was more productive with 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 2 Kingfisher, 10 Yellowhammer, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Little Owl.

Dragonflies; 1 Common Darter.

Butterflies; 1 Small White, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 1 Red Admiral.

Cooler

A few sunny spells, cooler, 15º, light SSE.

A quiet time on the hill with no much noted. The only migrant on the hill today was the Clouded Yellow butterfly, appeared to be the same one as was present on Friday and again too flighty.

2 Raven flew over the hill towards the downs and there were a few Skylark and Meadow Pipit moving around and a Sparrowhawk also flew south on to the downs.

3 Chiffchaff, 3+ Jay, a Grey Heron, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail and 2 Song Thrush were all of note.

A lot of gulls following the plough in a distant field.

Dragonflies; several Common Darter.

Butterflies; several Small White, 1 Large White, 2 Peacock, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 5 Red Admiral and a Clouded Yellow.

 Sparrowhawk

Late Cuckoo

Overcast, 15º, rain, breezy W.

Juv Cuckoo this morning seen initially by a paddock then flew towards the millennium wood. (per TW).

Same as yesterday...Well nearly.

Another warm and sunny day, 21º, fresher SSW.

Same as yesterday....but. The 4^th record this year of a Clouded Yellow butterfly on the hill, too flighty to get a pic but looked fresh and bright.

When I arrived there were 4 Buzzard resting on the hill, they immediately flew off, caught the breeze and drifted off to the north, recognised as a local family group.

Every Red Kite double checked today as there was a possible Black Kite seen at Port Meadow, Oxford earlier today but alas no luck.

Still the same 2 Wheatear present and a Kingfisher, Grey Heron and a Grey Wagtail and a single Jay nearby. (ref;Jays, there has been a movement of Jays also east of Oxford & Dorset noted this week).

Dragonflies; several Common Darter.

Butterflies; several Small White, 6 Red Admiral, 2 Peacock, 1 Large White, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Speckled Wood and a Clouded Yellow.

Buzzards

You got it!

A quiet hill

Another warm and sunny day, 20º, very little wind SSW.

A quiet day on the hill, still 2 Wheatear present, 2 Sparrowhawk over south also c30 Starling flew north.

At least 3 Jay still around the north side, c4 Chiffchaff and a Grey Wagtail nearby.

Numbers of Meadow Pipit around 200 noted between the village and the hill and far fewer Pied Wagtail c20.

Also a Grey Wagtail in the garden.

Dragonflies; a Southern Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies; several Small White and Red Admiral, 2 Small Tortoiseshell and 1 Speckled Wood.

Wheatear

Common Darter

What’s that coming over the hill...........?

Mainly cloudy, little sunshine, 19º, light to mod W.

Quite a surprise to see a Budgie fly over the hill today accompanied by 2 Linnet, they did a couple of circuits and then disappeared to the west.

Apart from that there were 2 Wheatear on the hill, a few Red Kite, Buzzard and a single Kestrel over.

The Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron and 2 Kingfisher still present nearby, up to 6 Jay in 2 locations still around.

10+ Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, several Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit etc.

Fewer Gulls today again scattered around various fields.

Dragonflies; Several Common Darter.

Butterflies; several Small White, 1 Large White, 3 Speckled Wood, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Peacock and 10+ Red Admiral.

3 Moorhen (ad & 1 juv) feeding in the garden late afternoon.

 Wheatear

 Kestrel

 Lesser Blackback Gull

Interesting what an upturned dustbin lid can attract.

Quiet month end

Sunny, 21º, light SW.

Looks as though it will be the driest September on record and maybe the warmest?

Not much today, a walk in to Wallingford alongside the bunk line produced little other than a flock of 17 Yellowhammer and a singing Chiffchaff.

No dragons but a few butterflies; 2 Common Blue, several Small White, 2 Peacock and a Comma.

Tawny Owls in the garden again tonight and rather vocal.

A walk to the hill

Cloudy with little sunshine, 18º, light SW.

A walk out to Lollingdon.

Plenty of gulls around today scattered in fields that had recently been worked, mainly Lesser Blackback Gull with a number of Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull.

Quite a few Meadow Pipit, 17 Yellowhammer, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 2 Reed Bunting and a handful of Skylark.

There were 3 Wheatear on the hill but little else other than the Kestrel (with no tail), a few Red Kite and Buzzard overhead and a single Swallow flew south.

20+ Chiffchaff in total with a couple in song, Great-spotted and Green Woodpecker, 3+ Jay and another single flew west from the Bullshole.

A Grey Wagtail on a garden pond and a Grey Heron flew in.

Dragonflies; 2 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies; Small White and Speckled Wood frequent, 8 Red Admiral and 2 Small Tortoiseshell.

A Hedgehog in the garden this evening for it's 4th day.

Meadow Pipit

Grey Wagtail

 2 Wheatear

Yellowhammer

Jay

Another Chat

Sunny spells, 20º, light NW.

A brief visit to the hill today found 6 Wheatear and a single Whinchat turning up this time, along the south face.

Was not aware of the number of Meadow Pipit around until a Sparrowhawk flew low over the field they were feeding in and just over 100 were flushed along with c20 Skylark.

4 Chiffchaff around and 60+ Hirundines mainly Swallows but also 20+ House Martin through also a couple of Jay still present in the area.

Dragonflies; Several Common Darter.

Butterflies; several Small White, 4 Speckled Wood, 3 Small Tortoiseshell and singles of Brimstone, Peacock and Red Admiral.

A Hedgehog and a couple of Pipistrelle Bats in the garden last night.

 Wheatear

Chat time

Mainly cloudy with little sunshine, 18º, breezy WSW.

After yesterdays influx of Chats there was 1 Stonechat (diff from yesterday) and 1 Wheatear on the hill today, also 2 Pied Wagtail, 20 Swallow and 7 House Martin overhead.

4 Chiffchaff around the hill and 3 Jay on the north side, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Kingfisher and a Grey Heron noted nearby.

Dragonflies; 2 Southern Hawker, 1 Migrant Hawker & several Common Darter.

Butterflies; several Small White, 3 Speckled Wood, 1 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Small Tortoiseshell.

 Stonechat

Robin