Wednesday 27 March 2024

A little cooler

Rain and Shine, 9°, breezy S.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River areas covered today and yesterday.

7 Wheatear, many Chiffchaff, 6-8 Yellowhammer, at least 12 Pied Wagtail, 8 Lapwing, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Lesser Blackback Gull.

Blackcap in song yesterday.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: yesterday – Brimstone, Peacock & Comma.

Insects: yesterday – Dark-edged Bee Fly.

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Yellowhammer
Chiffchaff courtesy Alan
Wheatear (f) courtesy Alan
Dark-edged Bee Fly courtesy Alan
Yellowhammer
Comma courtesy Alan
Brown Hare courtesy Alan

Monday 25 March 2024

Wheatears moving through

Rain at first then sunny spells, 9°, light SW.

Wheatears still passing through on Lollingdon Hill. With 10 yesterday and 7 today. Per Michael Pocock and Alan Dawson.

photos courtesy Alan. the Wheatears looking rather nervous with several Buzzard and Red Kite passing over frequently.




Saturday 23 March 2024

Wheatears

Sunshine & Showers, 8°, breezy NNW.

2 (m) Wheatear on Lollingdon Hill today. Per Alan.



Thursday 21 March 2024

Cholsey

Cloudy with prolonged sunny spells, 15°, light SW.

Bunk, Lollingdon and River covered in the last 2 days.

Appears to have been a big influx of Chiffchaff over the last couple of days as they are all over. A Willow Warbler also heard singing today out at Lollingdon.

A few waders also turned up today with a Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and an Oystercatcher.

A Blackcap in song, 4 Siskin, 8 Lapwing, 3 Grey Heron, several Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and a small flock of Redwing.

We’ve had a male Pheasant resident in the garden for approx. 2 months now. He hangs around under the feeders to pick up anything that drops to the ground and out muscles the Squirrels.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Peacock and Comma.

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Little Ringed Plover courtesy Alan
Little Ringed Plover
Siskin courtesy Alan

Tuesday 19 March 2024

A quiet day

Mainly cloudy with some light rain, 14°, light SSW.

Bunk area: 7 Chiffchaff in total, 1 Blackcap, 2m Reed Bunting, 6 Lapwing, 3 Grey Heron, c100 Lesser Blackback Gull, 5 Herring Gull and a Mute Swan. Pretty quiet overall.

First time this year: no “Winter Thrushes”.

Butterflies: 1 Brimstone.



Monday 18 March 2024

1st Wheatears arrive

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light SSW.

4 good birds found by Alan today. A Wheatear on Lollingdon Hill and a Curlew and Green Sandpiper along the Bunk area and a Peregrine seen.

A Wheatear also found on Saturday an Lollingdon Hill. Per Michael Pocock.

Butterflies: 2 Brimstone on the allotments yesterday.

Green Sandpiper courtesy Alan
Wheatear courtesy Alan
Brimstone

Friday 15 March 2024

Hithercroft & Bunk

Sunshine and showers, 14°, breezy SW.

Hithercroft floods: Little Egret, 3 Shelduck over, Common Snipe, Herring Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Black-headed Gull, Chiffchaff - many singing, Reed Bunting and Lapwing.

Bunk area: 7 Chiffchaff, several in song, a Blackcap singing, 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Siskin, a Sparrowhawk, 14 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, 50+ Starling, a Grey Wagtail, 8 Pied Wagtail, 5 Meadow Pipit, 1 Lapwing, 1 Mute Swan, 32 Lesser Blackback Gull, 7 Black-headed Gull, 2 Herring Gull and 1 Common Gull, etc.

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole, Wood Mouse & Brown Hare.

Amphibians: Smooth Newt (per Bill Nicholls, garden pond).

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

AD, BN & PC.

Shelduck courtesy Alan
Sparrowhawk
Wood Mouse courtesy Bill Nicholls

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Spring? Not yet!

Cloudy and breezy, 14°, moderate WSW.

Lollingdon very quiet today: 7 Lapwing, a singing Chiffchaff, a handful of Yellowhammer, c 50 Redwing in the cattle field, 10+ Pied Wagtail on the hill and the odd Meadow Pipit.

Below the hill, a field being ploughed hosted approx. 60 Lesser Blackback Gull, at least 1 Herring Gull and a flock of c200 Thrush, mainly Fieldfare and Starling.

Also a Peregrine noted in the area.

c40 Teal and 2 Gadwall on Wallingford road flood. Per MP.

Mammals: Brown Hare, Muntjac Deer and Roe Deer.

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Redwing
Brown Hare courtesy Alan

Monday 11 March 2024

Oystercatcher

Overcast, 10°, light NNW.

An Oystercatcher found by Alan today on the floods along the Bunk but flushed by a dog walker, back mid-afternoon.

Approx. 80 Lesser Blackback Gull, 50 Black-headed Gull, 3 Herring Gull and a single Common Gull. A Grey Heron, 2 Mute Swan, 12 Greylag Geese, 20+ Canada Geese, a Gadwall, c20 Teal, 40+ Shoveler and c20 Tufted Duck.

6 Chiffchaff, a Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, 6 Yellowhammer, 6 Pied Wagtail, a Kestrel, a large flock of Fieldfare, Starling and Redwing, (c600 birds) and a Peregrine Falcon.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

AD, BW & PC.

Oystercatcher courtesy Alan
Dunnock
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gulls and a Common Gull
Curlew from last week courtesy Alan
Common Gull courtesy Alan

Thursday 7 March 2024

Feeling colder

Mainly cloudy with some light rain, 9°, breezy ENE.

Bunk line: 4 Chiffchaff (1 in song), 5 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting, a Grey Wagtail, 6 Pied Wagtail, fewer Fieldfare and Redwing than of late, a Lapwing, 2 Mute Swan and 4 Gull species.

c200 Golden Plover on Cholsey hill and a Cormorant overhead, (per Alan), also the Plovers seen in the air from the Bunk area.

Mammals: Roe Deer.

Pied Wagtail bathing
Chiffchaff courtesy Alan
Robin
Greenfinch courtesy Alan

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Lollingdon

Sunny, 10°, light SSE.

A visit out to Lollingdon today and still relatively quiet: 20+ Pied Wagtail on the hill following the sheep around and feeding on whatever was kicked up.

A large flock of mainly Fieldfare with Redwing and Starling flew over the hill heading north east. Approx. 400 birds.

A Lapwing and 2 Common Snipe on the flooded field and 6+ Yellowhammer in the hedgerows nearby.

A couple of Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming and a couple of very vocal Green Woodpecker. Also a Tawny Owl heard calling.

Mammals: Short-tailed Vole, Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Lapwing
Yellowhammer

Tuesday 5 March 2024

Bunk

Sunny periods, 10°, light NNW.

An afternoon walk out along the Bunk: somewhat quiet, c100 Lesser Blackback Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 3 Black-headed Gull, 1 Common Gull, 2 Mute Swan and a Greylag Goose on the “not so flooded” field.

c100 Fieldfare, c150 Starling, 30+ Redwing, 4 Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush, 2 Chiffchaff, 5 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting, Kestrel, 2 Raven and a Lapwing.

Chiffchaff
Yellowhammer courtesy Alan
Goldfinch (above) and Red Kite (below) courtesy Bill Nicholls

Monday 4 March 2024

Weekend Bits

Weekend bits: a Firecrest found at the Bullshole by Tony Williams on Saturday, also seen by Alan but extremely elusive and not found on Sunday.

c500 Golden Plover seen on and over Cholsey Hill over the last few days.

Today, Bunk and Cholsey Hill. 3 Gull species, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Goldcrest. Noted by Alan.

Golden Plover courtesy Alan
One of the many Skylark in the area. courtesy Alan

Thursday 29 February 2024

Bunk

Overcast with light rain showers, 8°, light WSW.

Both along Bunk this afternoon: 20+ Greylag Geese, 6 Canada Geese, 2 Mute Swan, 50+ Lesser Blackback Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 3 Black-headed Gull and a single Common Gull on the floods.

“An interesting Gull on the floods along the Bunk this afternoon. With an off-white mantle and wings, black wing tips and a black tail tip, white head and rump, yellowish legs and a yellow bill with dark tip. Similar size to Lesser Blackbacks present but flew of west before I could get a pic.”

Around 50 Shoveler and 20 Tufted Duck in the air after an overflying Chinook flew over.

200+ Starling with a similar amount of Fieldfare and Redwing, a Lapwing, 2 Raven, a Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, 2 Siskin and both Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker.

c150 Golden Plover over Cholsey Hill. Per Geoff Wyatt.  

A Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming in the Brook meadow today.

Black-headed Gull courtesy Alan
Common Gull courtesy Alan
Starlings with the odd Fieldfare and Redwing
Lapwing
Lesser Blackback Gull courtesy Alan

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Egrets

A cloudy day with some light showers, 10°, light SSW.

Bunk with Alan: A Cattle Egret (3rd record) flew over heading NW.

Black-headed Gull, Lesser Blackback Gull, Herring Gull, Raven over, Shoveler over, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Goldcrest, Lapwing, Meadow Pipit and 4 Mute Swan.

A call later in the day from TW alerted us to 2 Great Egret back on the flood near Winterbrook bridge. They then flew towards Bow bridge but were relocated back at the initial site by Alan later.

Looks as though all 3 Egret species will became a regular sight locally in the future as they have done in other parts of Oxfordshire.

Egret photos courtesy Alan