Redpolls

Cloudy, 6°, light W.

Michael Pocock has reported a Barn Owl at Cholsey Marsh last night and further upstream a major Corvid roost comprising a rough guess of 5000 birds seen distantly.

“The Rooks and Jackdaw come in once it was nearly dark and swirl like a murmuration of starlings”.

Alan found a small flock of 4-5 Lesser Redpoll on Cholsey Marsh today, first ones since November last year that we know of.

Water Rail and Barn Owl present.

After the rain

Cloudy with a few sunny spells, 9°, light W.

A walk out to the Lees this afternoon with Loren, Alan was out there this morning and the river area this afternoon.

Alan saw a Peregrine and 2 Stonechat this morning and we saw the 2 Stonechat this afternoon along with a flock of c300 Gulls, mostly if not all Lesser Blackback Gull but too distant to pick out much else.

2 skeins of approx. 200 Canada Geese flew over to the south of us, heard calling initially and they were about a kilometre or more away.

And a Red Kite in Whitehead meadow this morning devouring the remains of what appeared to be a Wood Pigeon.

Along the river was a Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit, Water Rail and Reed Bunting.

A female Brambling reported by Mike A in his garden.

A male Blackcap still visiting the garden and the Blackcap pair still at Alan’s.

Mammals: 20+ Roe Deer.

Med Gull & Stonechats

Cloudy with some sunshine later, 2°, light ESE.

A second for Cholsey today found by Richard Broughton on the flood in the field by Church road.

A 1stw Mediterranean Gull, it was in the company of Black-headed Gulls but flew off south before it could be photographed.

The only other record of Med Gull was a 2ndw in March 2013 out near Lollingdon found by Roger Wyatt.

Also a pair of Stonechat along the Bunk line near the Church.

Med Gull is a little larger than Black-headed Gull with a shorter but stouter bill and broader wings.

A Barn Owl seen hunting along the Bunk line yesterday. Per Brian Wyatt.

Not a great deal else seen today by either Alan or myself.

The pair of Stonechat still present on Lollingdon Hill roaming widely and 250+ flock of Fieldfare and Redwing out with the sheep.

A Raven heard calling to the south of the hill but not seen. The usual Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipit and Linnet flocks out near Little Lollingdon.

Alan saw the Barn Owl again late afternoon hunting near the gravel pit.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

A muddy walk

Overcast with a few light rain showers, 10°, light W.

A very quiet period for birding locally at the moment with very little movement going on, so a walk along the Bunk line with Loren today was somewhat subdued.

Having said that there was still birds to look at etc.

At the gravel workings they are pumping water from the new digs out into the field. Creating a flooded area that had attracted around 60 Gulls, mainly Lesser Blackback Gull and a handful of Black-headed Gull, .all using it for a wash and brush-up!

The usual flocks of Starling, Fieldfare and Redwing noted along with a couple of small flocks of Pied Wagtail.

A Green Woodpecker and a “drumming” Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Jay calling, the odd Meadow Pipit and Yellowhammer and 2 Mistle Thrush around the church.

Alan out today with, a Kestrel, Winter Thrushes, Song and Mistle Thrush, Blackcap, Black-headed, Lesser Blackback and Herring Gull.

Nice to see some Snowdrops coming thru!

Snowdrops courtesy Loren

Lesser Blackback Gull ↕

Kestrel courtesy Alan

A few scenic shots courtesy Loren

The Sun is up there.............somewhere!

Cloudy with a short sunny period, 8°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon was pretty quiet today, however a Little Egret near Amwell Spring and a Chiffchaff with a Tit flock made up for it.

As usual loads of Fieldfare and Redwing present also 2 Mistle Thrush and a Kestrel in the cattle field.

Good numbers of Yellowhammer, Linnet, Meadow Pipit and Skylark scattered around various fields.

Alan along the river today: Cormorant, Grey Heron, Black-headed Gull, Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Goldcrest, Grey Wagtail and the usual Fieldfare and Redwing.

Noted today an unidentified Bee on Mahonia (japonica) flowers in the garden and a Blue Tit feeding on the pollen.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Little Egret

Fieldfare & Redwing ↕

Cormorant courtesy Alan

An "in" Day

A foggy day, 0°, very light N.

A day for staying in today, cold and foggy.

Gardens very busy with Alan getting some good pics of the Blackcap pair up his end of the village and me getting zero pics of a Blackcap at my end of the village.

Both Fieldfare and Redwing in trees in the garden and a Coal Tit and Great-spotted Woodpecker in the garden amongst others.

Blackcaps feeding on Ivy berries courtesy Alan

Another cold one.

Overcast, 1°, very light NNE.

A walk out by the Lees and back with Loren today. Rather quiet out there other than a male Peregrine Falcon sat on a lofty perch on one of the pylons.

Around 100 Lesser Blackback Gull on the floods and a small flock of c12 Pied Wagtail.

A belated report of a Kingfisher along the long ditch, seen on a couple of occasions recently by another walker.

As usual numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing moving around and 2 Mistle Thrush near the church.

2 Blackcap (m & f) Papist Way. Per Alan.  

Tony Rayner reported 8-10 Siskin in trees in Caps Lane today.

Mammals: Roe Deer. 

Distant Peregrine Falcon

Phragmites Reed ( back in the 60's the area beyond the Lees was covered in this wetland plant).

I can see for miles, or rather a few metres!

Foggy, 0°, very little wind NNW.

A somewhat dire day out there with very little seen that could be seen. Relying more on listening than anything else.

Hearing lots of Fieldfare, Redwing and Meadow Pipit and the odd Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtail and various Finches and a couple of Gull species.

2 Raven heard initially then seen appearing out of the mist and flew towards the village.

Alerted Alan whom I knew was out on the other side of the village but he did not connect with them.

Although he did manage to find Bullfinch, Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit and of course Fieldfare and Redwing.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Todays photos courtesy Alan

Fieldfare

Grey Wagtail

GBB

Overcast, 3°, cold NNE.

A cold and quiet walk along the Bunk line with Loren today with very little seen in diversity of species.

The saving grace was a Great Blackback Gull consorting with a flock of Black-headed Gull on one of the floods.

The odd Meadow Pipit, Yellowhammer, a single Green Woodpecker and Kestrel but not a lot else apart from numbers of Corvids and Thrushes.

Nice to see a few signs of the impending spring with buds on some bushes and trees.

Great Blackback Gull. Obviously not photographed in Cholsey 😀

A chilly one

Overcast, 4°, breezy NNE.

A cold wind blowing today and very squelchy underfoot.

Alan along the river (or thereabouts) today with Water Rail, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Stonechat and 15-20 Siskin.

A Little Egret on floods near Bow Bridge yesterday. Per Tony Williams and 3 Blackcap (2m & 1f) in his garden.

I took a walk out to Lollingdon. 2 Stonechat still on the hill and plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing around.

A Little Owl nearby and a flock of c30 Linnet, 20+ Pied Wagtail, 50+ Meadow Pipit and 30-40 Skylark and a few Yellowhammer. 

Loren out by the Lees this afternoon and a large flock of Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull, c400 birds.

2 Little Egret seen out at Lollingdon yesterday by another observer.

A flock of 16 Long-tailed Tit in the garden late afternoon and the male Blackcap still visiting.

Mammals: Brown Hare and 26 Roe Deer in total.

Siskin courtesy Alan

Lesser Blackback Gull & Red Kite courtesy Loren

Quiet start to Year

Mainly cloudy, 4°, light NE.

A rather quiet time out along the Bunk line to the gravel pit area today.

A Raven flew south east and a single Herring Gull hanging out with a flock of c100 Black-headed Gull.

A good number of Pied Wagtail noted in fields and a few Yellowhammer and a single Reed Bunting along with several Linnet along Green lane and the usual Fieldfare and Redwing also several Song Thrush seen.

4 Stock Dove in the garden today and the Little Grebe still on Cholsey Brook.

A large Corvid roost captured by Alan this evening

Redwing courtesy Alan

2021 starts here

A murky day, damp and cold, 1°, no sun and very little wind from the NW.

Did not venture out today but done my birding whilst working on the laptop and peering out of the window. Fortunately I have a good view and always a lot of activity going on.

36 bird species noted and 1 mammal, Grey Squirrel.

As for the birds a Blackcap was notable feeding on the suet balls dotted around the feeders, a small flock of Long-tailed Tit and 2 Coal Tit.

A couple of Starling dropped in briefly (a scarce bird in the garden) and several species on a heard only basis included Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker, Moorhen, Buzzard and Magpie.

Alan added another 12 species to the list with Cormorant, Egyptian Goose, Treecreeper, Bullfinch, Meadow Pipit, Corn and Reed Bunting etc.

Long-tailed Tit ↕

Blackcap

Coal Tit

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Wishing everyone a safe year ahead.

Patterns in the snow by Ernestine Northover.