No two days the same

Mainly cloudy, 4°, light SSE.

A completely different day today with lots of birds around.

First off was a roosting Tawny Owl near the Bullshole being mobbed by 2 Jay and several Blackbird and Chaffinch but the Owl just ignored the ruckus and stayed put.

3 Little Egret seen by a couple of local walkers in field NW of the village.

A Raven flew north over Lollingdon hill and the 2 Stonechat still present but quite distant.

A flock of approx. 250 birds on the hill comprising mainly Fieldfare and Starling and with several Redwing and a couple of Song Thrush and a flock of 47 Corn Bunting in the vicinity.

Quite a few more Fieldfare and Redwing seen elsewhere, 5-6 Mistle Thrush and several Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.

200+ Gulls around the pig fields, the majority too distant to ID but most if not all were Black-headed and Lesser Blackback Gull.

c120 Golden Plover seen in the air over Cholsey Hill and a flock of c50 Lapwing flew in from the west.

Both Sparrowhawk and Kestrel seen.

Whilst waiting on the hill for some of the Fieldfare to get closer the whole lot took off in a panic. The Fieldfare scattered and the Starling flew off and formed a tight ball in the sky. Then around 10 seconds later I caught sight of the reason: A Peregrine Falcon had just appeared over the hill, did a few high circuits and then flew off towards the Downs. The birds were far more aware than I was that a Peregrine was nearby heading their way.

2 ( ♂ & ♀ ) Great-spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Treecreeper, 2 Nuthatch and 1-2 Coal Tit in garden.

 This little Wren was scolding me as I was in its way.

Long-tailed Tit

A few record shots. 1. Fieldfare and Song Thrush. 2. some of the Corn Bunting and 3. Peregrine.





from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/01/no-two-days-same.html

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