WonderfulWildlifeUK

We have a heronry of wild herons out on our nature reserve who have come in completely on their own accord. Before and while the reserve was being designed and built they would visit most days, and even before the reserve was finished but after the main water ways had been created they decided to make the move permanent. Each year they are very successful in rearing chicks, and over the last few weeks if you head down on to our boardwalk you would hear the constant chattering of the chicks calling for food. Our local fish monger donates his waste fish to us to feed our otters with. Any scraps from this, or which we don't want to feed the otters, goes out for the herons to come down and supplement their wild diet they will be finding around the reserve. Often these herons visit our otter ponds at the end of the day too to see if there are any scraps off food left over in there. One youngster from last year is particularly friendly... Let me introduce you to Herman, as

Green Hairstreak and Small Copper butterflies today. Courtesy Alan Dawson. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/butterflies.html

Mainly cloudy with sunny spells, 13°, light ESE. Fairly quiet on the hill and surrounds today, 2 Lesser Whitethroat and a Willow Warbler . The usual Blackcap , Common Whitethroat and Chiffchaff , Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer present and a couple of Raven again in the area. A Yellow Wagtail near Westfield road. Per Alan Dawson. Mammals: Roe Deer and Muntjac Deer . Reps: Common Lizard . Butterflies: Brimstone , Orange Tip , Holly Blue , Small Tortoiseshell , Peacock and Speckled Wood . Common Lizard Yellow Wagtail (courtesy Alan Dawson) Muntjac Deer Blackcap from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/quiet-again.html

Light cloud and sunny spells, 14°, light NNW. 2 pair of Tufted Duck at Cholsey Meadows. Per Alan Dawson. A scarce bird in Cholsey. A Swallow alarm call heard over the garden this afternoon and within around 10 seconds a female Sparrowhawk flew over. First 3 photos courtesy Alan Dawson.  Tufted Duck  Linnet Red Admiral Robin bath time from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/tufted-ducks.html

Mainly cloudy with a few sunny spells, 13°, fresh W. The first Swift of the year over the village this afternoon and 2 House Martin over Church road. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/first-swift.html

It’s been great to have a few weeks at home for the Easter break, as it has given me time to get out in my garden around my other work. With good weather last week and with  the blackbirds having fledged, I could spend a bit of time around the pond. I had cleared it out in the Autumn as it had been overgrown with Yellow Flag and it was looking a little bare. I treated myself to some new pond plants to supplement the existing planting. I could see a few newts in there, as well as frogs, although I only had one patch of frogspawn this year.   I also have a patio area, at the other end of the house, outside the conservatory. Having had a new oil tank installed in this area this winter, I was left with a rather unattractive plastic oil tank and quite a lot of mess at the far end from all the soil that was dug up. A good few days of tidying and installation of a fencing panel, I have started to create a screen for it. A clematis will hopefully screen it further. This area is a little

Sunny periods, 14°, moderate SSW, rain mid PM. The Firecrest seen again in Whitehead meadow this morning and heard in song. Per Michael Pocock & PC. Not seen this afternoon! A Merlin flew through Cholsey Churchyard this morning. Per Tony Rayner. 2 Cuckoo in the Cholsey Marsh area. Per Alan Dawson. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/firecrest-merlin-cuckoo.html

OK, OK, this may be a little rushed, but I am very excited!... Our adders have been dancing! Keen followers of the blog over the years will be well aware that I have a soft spot for our adders, and that I particularly look forward to their beautiful "dance" every year. I was only talking to a couple of members over last weekend saying I think it will be any day now they start, and luckily for some of your who visited on bank holiday Monday, that was the day. Apparently they had been at it a while in the morning too, but it was in the afternoon that keeper Aaron spotted them at it and gave me a shout. Of course, I rushed up to see them, and it was as entrancing as ever. I was initially disappointed that I had put off cutting the grass in anticipation of them dancing, but as it happens I think that really added something to their display! The "dance of the adders" is a display of strength and stamina between rival males, competing over nearby females. The

After a quiet morning out at Lollingdon today I was resigned to writing up a minimal blog. Sitting at the laptop when an email came through from Richard Broughton saying that he found a Firecrest in Whitehead Meadow……………………….Grab the bins and camera and rushed out. Found Richard and then the Firecrest. It was less than 50m from the garden flitting around the trees and bushes on the east side of Whitehead Meadow. I quickly called Loren, Tony W and Alan and all managed to get to see it. A real beauty that performed for us and a little later I was watching it from the garden. This is the 6th record of this species for Cholsey. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/firecrest.html

Sunshine and showers, 15°, moderate S. (There will be another blog later when we get back from a gig tonight. Watch this space). Very quiet out there today with very little birdsong and no influx or movement of migrants detected. A Raven and a Little Owl were the only species of note. Mammals: Roe Deer . Butterflies: a few around in sheltered spots in the sun, Brimstone , Orange Tip , Green-veined White , Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood .  Orange Tip upperwing & underwing from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/all-gone-quiet.html

Cloudy with some light rain showers, 13°, light to fresh SSW. An early call from Alan this morning regarding a Grasshopper Warbler on Cholsey Marsh. A quick cup of tea and got to the marsh and as soon as I got out of the car I could see Alan and Brian Wyatt there and heard the Warbler reeling away in the depths of the reed bed. They are an annual visitor on Cholsey Marsh and have bred there in recent years. Several other Warblers were in song including, Blackcap , Common Whitethroat , Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler . Also Cetti’s Warbler per Brian. All photos courtesy Alan Dawson. Reed Warbler Sedge Warbler Hairy Shieldbug from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/warblers.html

Hazy sunshine, high cloud, 21°, light ESE. Firstly a Cuckoo heard late yesterday from Cholsey Marsh area. Per MA. Lollingdon was a little busier today with 4 singing Lesser Whitethroat and the pair of Swallow have returned. A week later than their neighbours in the village. A Swallow seen collecting mud from a puddle in Church road this afternoon. Other species noted singing today were, 8 Chiffchaff , 9 Blackcap , 6 Common Whitethroat , 6 Yellowhammer , 1 Reed Bunting , 5 Corn Bunting , a Treecreeper and a few other resident species. Also seen: Raven , Little Owl , 2 Yellow Wagtail and 2 Jay . A Garden Warbler , Cetti’s Warbler and both Reed and Sedge Warbler at Cholsey Marsh. Per TW. "The fledged Rook from the Church road Rookery on the 15 th might be the earliest ever recorded in Britain. Back calculating a minimum 49 days for laying, incubating & nestling periods, the lay date would have been around 25 th Feb. The earliest lay date in the BTO databa

Sunny intervals, 21°, light ESE. Still only dribs and drabs arriving out at Lollingdon. An increase in the number of Common Whitethroat and 3 Lesser Whitethroat and singles of  Willow Warbler ,  Yellow Wagtail and Sparrowhawk . 6-8 Yellowhammer , a single Reed Bunting , Green Woodpecker , Little Owl and a Raven . A Garden Warbler in the garden yesterday. Mammals: Roe Deer . Reps: 1 Common Lizard . Butterflies: Brimstone , good numbers of Orange Tip , a couple of unidentified Whites , good numbers of Holly Blue , Small Tortoiseshell , Peacock and Speckled Wood . from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/dribs-drabs-arriving.html

As you can imagine, there is a tremendous amount of footage to look through each week at Yew View. It is impossible to save everything and almost impossible to choose highlights from each week! I try to lift footage that shows interesting behaviour or moments that sum up the rapid growth and development of these owlets. We started the week with three owlets, but I had noticed last week, that the youngest and smallest of the three was not strong enough to fight for the food coming in and each day it was getting weaker. On the 11th April, this owlet died and was quickly moved to one side by the female…. That evening, this owlet became supper for its siblings. It may seem harsh, but with hungry mouths to feed, it would be a waste not to make use of what small amount of flesh was on this owlet. IA sad moment, but something that happens regularly with owls. If there is not enough food being supplied to sustain 3 healthy young, then better two survive than three not quite be as strong a