Marymead and The Lees

Sunny with scattered cloud, 17°, light ENE.

A Grey Wagtail singing on the roof this morning as I went out and 2 ad Song Thrush have been working the garden this week so probably have young in a nest nearby.

Also young of Chaffinch and Great Tit in the garden this week and a pair of House Martin nesting on Bill Campbell’s old house.

A walk out to the Lees found 2 Yellow Wagtail territories and a few singing Yellowhammer and Common Whitethroat.

The “reedy ditch” had several Sedge and Reed Warbler present and a couple of Reed Bunting and a Sparrowhawk overhead.

Butterflies: Small White, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Cholsey Marsh

Overcast, light rain showers, 14°, light NNW.

The weather today was not conducive to a lot of activity on the marsh being dull and cooler than of late.

Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, Bullfinch, Goldcrest and a distant Cuckoo calling and a Water Rail creaking away somewhere.

A Chiffchaff noted feeding fledged young.

Swift, Swallow and House Martin feeding over the marsh and river.

An ad Black-headed Gull and a 2nd sum Lesser Blackback Gull overhead, a Grey Heron, 2 Kingfisher and 2 Great Crested Grebe.

The Harris Hawk seen distantly again being mobbed by a pair of Carrion Crow.

Nuthatch alarm call

Woken this morning by some tapping outside the bedroom window and on checking saw a Nuthatch pecking away at something in the guttering. Not sure what it was after but managed to get a few pics.

Cloudy with a few sunny periods, 18°, light NE.

A walk out to Lollingdon later in the morning and greeted by 3 Raven flying north over the hill.

Also present were a Green Woodpecker, several Corn Bunting, 2 Reed Bunting, several Yellowhammer, 2 Yellow Wagtail, several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a Lesser Whitethroat.

A few Swift and Swallow feeding overhead.

The Fieldfare has not been seen since Fri 20th May.

Cetti’s Warbler still on Cholsey Marsh (Paul Rainsden & Tony Williams) and a Lesser Whitethroat. Also a Peregrine Falcon along Westfield rd. (TW).

Approx 22:30 tonight a flock of c30 Jackdaw flew in from the direction of the village and settled in the rookery, presumably to roost.

Mammals: Roe Deer, Muntjac Deer and a Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Small White, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood.

More on Molly

Ducklings still doing well, though she lost one a few days ago and is down to 11, but not bad going. They've found a regular food source.

Red Kite and Carrion Crow showing a keen interest in them, but I saw the mother chase off a Carrion Crow today, and the Rooks generally hassle the Kites. The family spend the day either on the brook or touring the gardens.

Two of the mother's siblings from last year are also paired up (female looks very similar but no limp, male is more wild-type but browner with white chest), suspect they may be laying somewhere nearby.

Also a Moorhen brood on the brook for the ducklings to play with.

Dawn Chorus

Cloudy, 8°, light NW (04:30).

A dawn chorus walk along the river at Cholsey Marsh this morning and Tony Rayner took another group from the village centre for a walk along the Bunk line.

Between the village and the Bunk line Tony’s group had 5 singing Goldcrest and Common Whitethroat and Yellowhammer adjacent to the line.

We had 2 Cuckoo this morning one on the marsh and another calling down river.

Plenty of Sedge Warbler, several Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff but we missed a few of the regulars on the marsh.

A Jay popped up briefly in the meadow yesterday and 14 House Martin feeding over the garden between rain showers.

A pair of Hedgehog in the garden recently.

Night shot of the Hedgehogs (Loren)

Molly & the crew

Molly and her brood made it to the brook.

Thanks to Richard Broughton for the photos

Bunk Line walk

Cloudy again, 16°, breezy WSW.

A walk along the Bunk Line to Winterbrook and back today and not a lot along there.

6 singing Common Whitethroat and 5 singing Yellowhammer and a couple of Chiffchaff.

Swallow, Swift and House Martin overhead feeing over the fields and 2 Green and 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker noted.

The duck (that has been named “Molly” by Loren) left with her brood early this morning and made her way to the brook. All 12 have been seen downstream by RB and all looking good.

Butterflies: Green-veined White & Orange Tip.

Cholsey Fieldfare

Cloudy, 17°, light WSW.

A steady walk out to Lollingdon Hill and back today, relatively quiet as would be expected with little change from earlier this week.

The Fieldfare still present, a singing Lesser Whitethroat and at least 2 Yellow Wagtail noted.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

Quackers

Over the last few months we have had a pair of “Mallard” almost resident in the garden. I put “Mallard” in quotes as the drake is certainly one but the female is a mix of “domestic call duck” and wild Mallard.

Anyway recently she decided to lay a clutch of eggs in a quiet part of the garden and 2 days ago they hatched out and she has 12 ducklings in her brood, they have been seen feeding in some leaf litter close to the nest site today.

Some of the neighbours are concerned that they may make a move to the brook sometime soon so they are keeping a watch in case we have to provide an escort for them.

Warblers & the rest.

Mainly cloudy, 16°, light SW.

Cholsey Marsh today: at least 8 singing Reed Warbler and up to twice that of Sedge Warbler, also several Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, 2 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and a Cetti’s Warbler.

Cuckoo heard downriver, 2 Bullfinch seen, 2 Kingfisher on the opposite bank, 2 Great Crested Grebe on the river and 2 Water Rail heard on the marsh.

A Jay, a Grey Heron and 3 Cormorant also noted.

The Harris Hawk seen high over the marsh and drifted off south.

The usual suspects seen in the garden, plus a House Sparrow today which is far from frequent.

The Starling flock was out in the meadow again today and has grown to around 50 birds and in the early evening they discovered the garden feeders.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell.

Dragonflies: 1 unidentified dragonfly seen briefly, fluttered up and went into cover, possibly recently emerged.

 Reed Warbler

 Common Whitethroat

 Harris Hawk

 Nuthatch

Moorhen

Starlings

Butterflies

Sunshine and scattered cloud, 16°, light NW.

Birdwise, very little on the hill today. A pair of Yellow Wagtail nearby and the usual Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer.

Much of the same on the walk out and back as of last week.

A post breeding flock of around 30 Starling descended on the garden this afternoon, a mix of adults and young, also a Magpie briefly, both a rare occurrence in the garden but frequent in the meadow.

The Fieldfare still present in Cholsey (Tony Williams), looks as though this bird may well summer in the area.

Nuthatch still visiting the garden, may be breeding nearby, also a singing Goldcrest in the garden and a regular visit of a Sparrowhawk.

Quite a few butterflies about today: Brimstone, Large White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock & Speckled Wood.

No dragonflies noted as yet!

Uneventful

Mainly cloudy with some sunny spells, 18°, breezy NNE.

A walk out to Lollingdon today was rather uneventful, having said that there was at least 9 singing Yellowhammer and 8 singing Common Whitethroat between the village and the Hill.

A Yellow Wagtail collecting nest material on the hill and a few Swallow passing over.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White and Small Tortoiseshell.

Cuckoo

Sunny with high thin cloud, 20°, light NW.

Cholsey marsh was buzzing with song this morning, mainly Sedge Warbler and also 4 possibly 5 Reed Warbler, several Blackcap, Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff, 1 Garden Warbler and 2 Lesser Whitethroat.

Several Reed Bunting noted and at least 2 Water Rail heard.

A Cuckoo came onto the marsh several times and was ranging down river at times.

A pair of Kingfisher flying around and 2 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Mute Swan on the Thames and a Cormorant flew down stream.

Swifts, Swallows and House Martins evident over the garden and village today and at least 1 Nuthatch visiting the garden feeders.

Butterflies: Orange Tip, Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Holly Blue.

 Cuckoo

 Reed Bunting

camera shy Sedge Warbler

A couple of Moths

A couple of Moths caught recently by the Eastender.

 Mullein

Pinion-spotted Pug

Cholsey: Whimbrel

Rain, misty, 15°, light ENE.

Almost constant rain today and a visit to Lollingdon hill and Cholsey Marsh again.

A nice highlight today of 5 Whimbrel over the hill, heard at first then seen flying NW.

Otherwise little change from yesterday although a few Swift around at both sites, 3 over the hill and 5 along the river by the marsh.

A Greylag Goose flew south over the hill and a Yellow Wagtail nearby.