WonderfulWildlifeUK

Barn Owl (courtesy Alan Dawson) Sparrowhawk (m) from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/barn-owl-sparrowhawk.html

Sunny, 6°, light NNE. A sunny day at last but still very muddy underfoot and hard going out to Lollingdon. Rather quiet all round today with Alan also reporting that it was quiet in other areas of Cholsey. A couple of Kestrel noted and a pair of Bullfinch and a vocal flock of Linnet in the tree tops on the hill. Fieldfare , Redwing , Blackbird and Song Thrush scattered around and all busy stripping what is left of the berry crop. The area at Cholsey Church for instance had at least 20 Blackbird present and a couple of Fieldfare and Redwing . Most of the berries have now gone except for a Cotoneaster lacteus (native to China) in the Church yard that still has many berries (or pomes) present and unlike other Cotoneasters the birds do not eat these unless they are really hungry and have no other choice! Presumably they are less nutritious or less palatable? The Harris Hawk was seen today by Gerry Sexton down at Cholsey Marsh. The first report this year of this bird.

Overcast with light rain (again), 9°, light to breezy W. Cholsey birders out in force today as I met both Tony W and Alan D along the Bunk line today. However it has gone quieter along there. Very few Thrushes around today with just a handful of Fieldfare and Redwing and a small flock of Starling . 2 Grey Wagtail and 2 Herring Gull , a flyover Raven and a female Sparrowhawk flew low over the fields. Tony went “off piste”, with the farmers permission of course and added a couple of Goldcrest . Little else of note though. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/gone-quiet.html

An interesting one today. Tony Williams was handed a bird ring yesterday and he has passed it on to me. (Pictured here). I had a look at it using a magnifying glass and noticed the ring was from a ringing scheme at Heligoland in Germany. The bird in question was a first winter male Blackbird that had unfortunately been killed by a cat! It has presumably flown approx. 700km to get here. I have sent the relevant information to the ringing scheme and await their reply. We are also waiting for a reply from a Norwegian ringing scheme as a winter plumaged Black-headed Gull photographed by Alan Dawson at Benson Lock the other week had a coloured leg ring on its right leg and a small metal ring on its left leg. According to Euring the code and colour is used in Norway. We await the results. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/rings.html

Overcast with light rain, 13°, light S. Started to brighten up around midday but more rain coming. Another venture out along the Bunk line and very similar to yesterday with good numbers of Thrushes around. A surprise of 5 Shoveler flew west (first for the year) , a very scarce duck to see in Cholsey even at a distance. 5 Bullfinch , a Reed Bunting and a couple of very active Goldcrest of note. Not 100% certain but a possible Firecrest heard in the small wood by Bunk Bridge. Could not locate the bird though! Shoveler from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/ducks.html

Overcast with almost constant light rain, 12°, light SSE. Bunk line/Green lane. Good numbers of Corvids feeding in the fields between Wallingford road and the Bunk line. Mainly Rook and Jackdaw , 20+ Carrion Crow , 6 Magpie and 2 Jay . 4 Herring Gull also present. Several hundred Thrushes scattered around with Fieldfare dominant, 50+ Redwing , c30 Blackbird , 8 Song Thrush and 3 Mistle Thrush . Fairly quiet for smaller birds although several Bullfinch , 2 Yellowhammer , a few Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail and a Chiffchaff . Nuthatch , Coal Tit and Treecreeper in garden. Around a dozen Bats feeding over CSW at dusk, probably Common Pipistrelle ? Also Blackcap (m) and a Grey Wagtail . (Per Alan Dawson). Song Thrush Redwing Fieldfare ↕ And 3 from Alan  Grey Wagtail ↕ Grey Partridge from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/thrushes-corvids-more.html

Overcast, light to moderate rain showers, 9°, light SE. Bunk line/Green lane area buzzing with birds today. as opposed to the south of the village which has been quiet this week. Several hundred Thrushes, majority Fieldfare with 80+ Redwing and a few Mistle Thrush . Around 100 Starling feeding in the area, a couple of Bullfinch , a Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest with a Tit flock and both Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker . Several Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting present. 3 Lapwing sheltering in a field along with a flock of 46 Black-headed Gull and 2 Herring Gull around CSW. A small flock of Golden Plover seen distantly over Cholsey Hill. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/busy-north-quiet-south.html

Overcast, 5°, light E. A rather dull day with low cloud and a bit chilly. Again not a lot seen today, a Little Egret out between Little Lollingdon and Lollingdon itself and a Little Owl heard calling. A scattering of all the usual Thrushes but no large flocks.  A couple of record shots of the Little Egret Mistle Thrush from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/all-quiet-still.html

This Nuthatch photographed by Alan today at Bow Bridge. Interestingly Nuthatch have not been seen in this location for a few years and may indicate an individual from the otherside of the river moving over to Cholsey if only temporarily? The only other Nuthatch(s) in Cholsey have been present for a few years now in the Church road/Station road/West End area. Photos courtesy Alan Dawson. Brown Hare from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/nuthatch.html

Cloudy, 6°, light SE. A walk along the Bunk line/Green lane area where I bumped into Alan also out birding. Between us we notched up a few species: Quite a few Fieldfare and Redwing , good numbers of Blackbird and Robin and a scattering of Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush (higher numbers than usual) . Several Common Snipe dropped into one of the fields and a Chiffchaff  , Treecreeper and male Blackcap noted. The garden busy again today with a Pheasant appearing, also Nuthatch , Coal Tit , Long-tailed Tit and Treecreeper along with the usual suspects.  Redwing Treecreeper (courtesy Alan Dawson)  Pheasant  Goldfinch, Greenfinch & Great Tit Roe Deer from yesterday, came to a full stop when it realised Alan was in front of it. (photo courtesy Alan Dawson) from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-bit-more-action.html

Sunny, 7°, light NNW. Another quiet day out at Lollingdon! A fair few winter thrushes around with 100+ Fieldfare and a few Redwing . A single Raven flew west and 70+ Lapwing flew south towards the downs. 2 Red Admiral butterflies on the wing seen today.  A couple of Pied Wagtail catching insects on a sunny roof from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/all-quiet-at-lollingdon.html

A selection of pics from Alan today from around the village.  Common Buzzard  Goldcrest Peregrine Falcon from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/sunday-birds.html

If you have followed me for a while, you will know that I like to think outside the box a little and create feeding stations that are a little out of the ordinary. I know they are not appreciated by all wildlife lovers but, for me, they provide me with a way of engaging  my audiences and they often bring in people who may not usually watch a wildlife live stream. Once I have them hooked, I can then use the opportunity to educate and teach people all about the wonderful wildlife we have here in the UK. Children also love set ups like this, so I often use them in the schools I work in, again engaging the audience and then using this engagement as the start to education. I have created lots of different scenes over the years but my mammal box ones have to be my favourite! The mammal box I designed, has removable ‘sets’. like a stage that I can dress! I use 1/12th dolls house furniture and accessories as they are the perfect size for small mammals. It is also great fun! The mammals that v

Overcast with light rain, 8°, light to breezy N. A rather grey day with not a lot being seen. A scattering of Fieldfare and Redwing with a few Mistle Thrush thrown in. 2 Kestrel hunting around the hill and a mobile flock of c100 Linnet . A few Roe Deer and a Brown Hare seen. winter plumage Black-headed Gull Autumnal scene Lollingdon from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/11/all-quiet.html

As we all know, it has been extremely wet of late. Yew View backs onto the River Severn, and this has been extremely high for several weeks now. The garden has been under water on and off for almost a month now and today, after a period where the levels had dropped, the river edged its way back up the garden… I have not seen my otter holt for over a month now! I did build it knowing that it would flood at some point, but I had not anticipated it being so wet and the whole thing being under water for so long. I’ll have to wait and see what condition it is in when the river levels drop. In the meantime, I have been closely monitoring my tawny nest box. I now have trhree different camera angles on this box. I have a Vivotek camera on the outside and then two Hikvision cameras inside. This will be the fourth year that this pair have nested in this box and the footage I am getting so far is the best yet. I have never had a camera facing the entrance and this camera has been very exci