A good day on the Hill

Overcast with light rain showers, 14°, light ENE.

A different day today out at Lollingdon with 5 hours birding around the area.

The highlight of today was a flyover Woodlark. I noticed a Lark fly over the hill that appeared a little dumpier and shorter tailed than the Skylarks that had been flying over. Fortunately it called a few times as it went over with its characteristic call that confirmed its ID.

Am not aware of any Cholsey records of this species since the 60’s so quite a rarity in these parts and only my 2nd in Oxfordshire.

Anyway back to the nitty gritty: A couple of Chiffchaff and Redwing by the millennium wood/Bullshole area.

Halfway out to Lollingdon there was a Common Redstart along the hedge by the pylon. Also 60+ Pied Wagtail, 6 Yellowhammer and c100 gulls, Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull in the fields.

As I got to Lollingdon there was a mixed flock of c40 Redwing, 20, Song Thrush and up to 40 Blackbird. In fact there seemed to be an increase in Song Thrush and Blackbird numbers around Lollingdon generally today with both the latter on the hill and in surrounding hedgerows.

Once on the hill there were birds moving most of the time with approx. 150 Swallow, 42 Skylark, 30 Corn Bunting and a lot of Meadow Pipit and of course the Woodlark.

On and around the hill there were approx. 80 Pied Wagtail and a good number of Meadow Pipit feeding in the fields along with a few hundred Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull, c20 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Bunting, 5 Jay, a Mistle Thrush and 6 Chiffchaff.

A flock of 12 Long-tailed Tit and a Goldcrest initially feeding in the Hawthorns on the hill took a brief 200 metre flight to a hedge adjacent to the track that leads to a farm and whilst watching these I noted a Wheatear feeding further along the track.

There was also a standoff between a Magpie and a Sparrowhawk on the hill with both taking turns in chasing each other, eventually the Sparrowhawk flew off.

Another Tit flock down by the paddocks had at least 2 Goldcrest with them.

The Redstart was still present on the way back.

Dragonflies: 1 Common Darter and no butterflies today.

Got chased by this lot today.....they are normally more placid but today!

Where you are is what you get!

Sunny spells, 13°, breezy E.

A pretty quiet time around the hill today with little on the hill itself apart from a Jay, a few Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting.

The walk out found a good number of Meadow Pipit in the fields and a few Pied Wagtail and in total 20+ Yellowhammer and a couple of Reed Bunting.

A few Chiffchaff noted with 2 in the millennium wood and several out at Lollingdon with one singing.

5+ Siskin and 10+ Redwing flew overhead and a Sparrowhawk flew north.

Tony Williams visited the Lees area, Cholsey Marsh and Cholsey Meadows today and done a lot better than me: a Stonechat near the Lees, 14 Mistle Thrush, a Willow Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat near Cholsey Meadows and a Hobby and several Chiffchaff towards the 4 Arches.

A belated report of a couple of Common Tern flying upriver in August.

Dragonflies: 1 Migrant Hawker and several Common Darter.

Butterflies: 5 Red Admiral.

Redwings & LTT's

Sunny, 15°, breezy E.

A breezy visit to the hill today and my first Redwing of this winter period with 6 flying from the north side of the hill and headed east.

Little else on the hill other than a Tit flock and several Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest.

Elsewhere rather quiet but a Blackcap and several Bullfinch still around.

c20 Swallow overhead.

Dragonflies: plenty of Common Darter and 1 Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral and a single Comma.

Lily Trotter

Sunny, 16°, light ESE.

A smart Grey Wagtail out on the pond at Lollingdon today and a couple of Chiffchaff and Blackcap nearby (with Tony Williams and Dave the Dog).

Up on the hill there was a good sized Tit flock moving from west to east along the Hawthorns on the hill comprising some 30-40 birds. Mostly Long-tailed Tit, as usual, 8 Blue Tit, 6 Great Tit and 5 Chiffchaff.

2 Jay flew over as did a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Rook and 2+ Siskin flew west.

Elsewhere nearby, 2 Reed Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer and several Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail.

3-4 Redwing near brook in Church road at dusk this evening (per RB).

The House Martins at Marymead have fledged another 2 young and all departed over the weekend, in fact no Hirundines seen today.

Dragonflies; Common Darter and a probable Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: several Large White, 1 Small White, several Red Admiral and 1 Speckled Wood.

Autumn doldrums

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 16°, fresh SW.

A bit of a hiatus in migration at the moment with most of our summer visitors gone and awaiting the arrival of our winter visitors.

A similar scenario to Wednesday’s visit. Hirundines moving through with more House Martin than Swallow today.

A few Chiffchaff still present and a slight increase in Meadow Pipit numbers and a few Pied Wagtail in the area.

The Bullfinch’s have moved off the hill into some nearby gardens and at least 1 Jay still on the hill.

A Grey Heron and several Yellowhammer on the walk out and a Chiffchaff in song in the millennium wood.

Cholsey Marsh a little quiet at the moment, a few Tit flocks with Goldcrest, Treecreeper and a few Chiffchaff and a Blackcap noted. (per Tony W).

Dragonflies: a lot of Common Darter egg laying.

Butterflies: Large White & Red Admiral.

Male & Female Common Darter flying tandem and egg laying.

Crow vs Rat

A couple of weeks ago around midday a Brown Rat appeared in the garden foraging under the bird feeders.

One of the Carrion Crows that was in the garden at that time noticed the Rat and closed on it (the male I think).

As the Crow got close he then rushed at the rat and pecked it reasonably hard on the head which appeared to stun the rat. The Crow was very wary of the Rat but attacked it several times backing off very quickly each time.

The Crow inflicted several severe wounds on the Rat, Head, rear leg and back.

From what I could see the Rat crawled off in to the undergrowth with what looked like fatal injuries never to be seen again.

Hirundine vs Corvid

Sunny spells with broken cloud, 19°, light SW.

A fairly quiet hill again today with a couple of Chiffchaff, a Reed Bunting and a few Yellowhammer present and 4 Buzzard and 5 Red Kite overhead.

A Jay flew over and headed for the downs chased by several hirundines.
 good passage of Hirundines this morning with around 200 birds flying south and a 50:50 split with Swallow and House Martin.

Again several Skylark and Meadow Pipit evident on surrounding farmland.

A few more Chiffchaff on the north side and the Bullfinches still present but further east on the hill and another Jay present.

Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, Treecreeper and Nuthatch in the garden today.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Several Large White and Red Admiral and a single Speckled Wood.

The Jay being mobbed by a House Martin.

Back on the Hill

Overcast, very light rain, 19°, fresh SSW.

Back on the hill after 9 days away and rather quiet up there at the moment.

2 Raven flew over and headed towards the Downs and approx. 60 House Martin in 2 flocks fed for a short time overhead then headed off south west.

A few Meadow Pipit and Skylark present in the surrounding fields but little else.

A small Tit flock on the north side of Long-tailed, Blue and Great Tit and at least 1 Goldcrest with them, also 8+ Chiffchaff in and around a small maize crop nearby and 2 Jay in the small wooded area and at least 1 Blackcap.

A pair of House Martin still feeding their second brood of young at Marymead, they should be ready to fledge very soon.

Approx 50 Canada Geese flew west over the garden at 19:00.

Mammals: Wood Mouse.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Large White and 5 Red Admiral.

Portland to Cholsey: Day 9

Rain, 14°, breezy SSE.

A trip back home today after a relaxing visit to Portland Bird Observatory.

Generally a quiet week but a reasonable spread of common migrants with 2 Wrynecks, a Yellow-browed Warbler and an Icterine/Melodious Warbler being the highlights.

The Icterine/Melodious Warbler was an interesting bird as it was called initially as a Melodious Warbler but after looking at various photos some doubt was put on its’ identity.

Not really noticeable with the distant field views but the wing structure is a crucial factor in separating these 2 species so it was not until the warden of the Obs saw them that doubt was raised.

Later that evening as the photos were published and looked at more critically it was apparent that the photos showed characteristics that more fitted Icterine Warbler rather than Melodious Warbler.

See: http://portlandbirdobs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/25th-september.html

A busy week people wise at the observatory this week with the first half of the week taken with students from the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology at Oxford with Ben Sheldon and Andy Gosler leading the group.

Later in the week members of the Royal Navy Birdwatching Society arrived. Portland must have seemed tame to them as they work all over the world in such places as Ascension Island in the Atlantic, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and many other remote places carrying out much needed bird conservation and research tasks.

Back to today: not much noted as we left around 11:30. A few Grey Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail overhead, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff.

80 species in total for the week.

A Little Egret noted as we drove along near Ferrybridge and that was about it until we encountered our first Red Kite over the A34 as we entered Oxfordshire.

Thanks again to Martin Cade and the Prof, the EGI crew, the RNBWS and all the usual local birders at the Obs for another interesting visit.

Cheers, Paul & Loren

Portland: Icterine/Melodious Warbler, Day 8

Sunny spells after overnight rain, 16°, fresh W.

Anticipating another slow day we were pleasantly surprised when a call came through that a Icterine/Melodious Warbler had been located in a quarry in Southwell (about 1km north of the Obs).

After a quick dash up there by most of the birders at the Obs the bird was seen pretty well by all.

Blackcap, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Little Owl and Sparrowhawk also seen at the same location.

As the day was looking a bit like yesterday with very few birds present Loren and I decided to do our holiday maker bit and visit Lyme Regis for the rest of the day so no more wildlife for today.

A few record shots of the Icterine/Melodious Warbler,there were a few pointers to make this an Icterine Warbler so more later.

Portland: Wasp Spider, Day 7

Mainly cloudy, 17°, fresh S to SW.

A disappointing day with very few migrants around and a very quiet sea.

Wheatear, Whinchat, Chiffchaff, Raven and Peregrine seen on land and Gannet, a few Razorbill and Guillemot seen over the sea and that was about it today.

Fewer insects around today all but a few regulars with a highlight of a Wasp Spider that Loren found.

Eastender garden news

We had a Painted Lady today, following the 3 we had on Thursday 22nd. Also on Thursday a Clouded Yellow - our second of the year.

Reptiles - Friday 23rd together with the Treehouse children we saw 4 Common Lizards on/under refuges - this was unexpected since none seen for months before that.

On the previous day I recorded 55 Slow-worms; 4 Grass Snakes and yes no Common Lizards.

Small mammals - a family of Bank Voles on 22/9 and two Field Voles whilst cutting the meadow today 24/9.

Moths - trap on 20/9 included Beaded Chestnuts; Blair's Shoulder-knot; Brown Spot Pinion; Deep Brown Dart and Mallow - all new for the year.

We had 12 Red Admirals and 3 Small Tortoiseshells in the garden today.

The Admirals mainly on Ivy. Also several Roussel's Bush Crickets.

Today's highlights were 20 House Martins feeding overhead in early
evening, plus a Snipe fed from the centre of our meadow. Have never
had one in the meadow before - usually by the ponds.

Portland: A slow day, Day 6

Sunny, 18°, light SW.

Another slow day and the only species to reach double figures were Wheatear and Chiffchaff.

Other species noted were Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Stonechat, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Redstart, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler.

Loren went off birding to Ferrybridge (other end of Portland) and saw Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Turnstone.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Common Blue, Small Copper, Painted Lady, Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

No pics from me today but some from Loren.

Portland: Not a Lot, Day 5

Rain at dawn until 09:00 the cloudy with some sunshine, 20°, light to breezy SE.

The day started with waiting around until the rain cleared but did not live up to expectations with very little seen through the day.

The Wrynecks still present in the Obs quarry and a scattering of Wheatear, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat around the bill area.

Swallow made an appearance during the middle of the day with around 50 seen also a Sand Martin and 2 Grey Wagtail.

The sea was very quiet with a few Gannet and 6 Auk sp passing through.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood, Small Heath and Small Copper.

 Whitethroat

 Wheatear

Rock Pipit

Portland: Birds & Bugs, Day 4

Cloudy the sunny then cloudy, 18°, light SE.

Another slow day with a reasonable numbers of commoner migrants and around midday the sun came out and almost everything seemed to vanish taking advantage of the warmer conditions and better visibility!

A few Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Grey Wagtail over early morning and a Barn Owl hunting around the Obs area.

Again just ones or twos of the following: Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, and Whinchat. Slightly higher numbers of Wheatear, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and a few hundred Meadow Pipit.

Also a good number of Swallow passed through in a relatively short space of time with 400+ noted.

Also the Wryneck seen again today.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Moths: Convolvulus Hawk Moth and Hummingbird Hawk Moth of note.

Another insect noted today was a Western Conifer Seed Bug which is a resident of the USA and now breeds here after coming in on cargoes of wood etc.

Wryneck

Western Conifer Seed Bug