WonderfulWildlifeUK

  This past month we have been adapting the way in which we work to allow groups to still come and visit us. Our photographic days have been extremely popular, and we have even had a couple of schools and private groups come to see us all in line with our restrictions and the regulations, and of course we are still open to the public at weekends to pre booked online tickets. Before lockdown earlier in the year, we had just had two new pine marten enclosures built. They remained vacant for most of the summer while we were short staffed and still catching up with things, but this past month we finally managed to move our new martens on to display. An older male called Columbo is in one, and a young spritely female called Lyra in the other. Both are in the Dell, and almost certainly if you see one it will be Lyra.  She is pictured in the above two photographs and is settling in extremely well. Our red squirrels have been very active recently, and are beginning to gr...

Overcast with low cloud at first then clearing to sunny spells, warming up to 17°, light W. Lollingdon Hill was quite lively with 100+ Meadow Pipit present and many more overhead, 250-300 in total. 3 Stonechat , 1 Wheatear , 2 Corn Bunting , 10 Yellowhammer , 2 Reed Bunting , 2 Blackcap and several Chiffchaff today. 3 Raven on the north side of the hill and a Kestrel . 20+ Skylark and 5 Pied Wagtail overhead. Another small flock of c12 Yellowhammer and 2+ Reed Bunting near Little Lollingdon. Alan saw 2 more S tonechat along Westfield road and another 6 at a site nearby but out of the Parish. Also several Swallow and House Martin along the Bunk line. Coal Tit in song, Whitehead Meadow. Mammals: Brown Hare and Stoat . Dragonflies: 2 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter . Butterflies: several Whites and a Red Admiral . Quite few Meadow Pipit pics today followed by a distant shot of the 3 Stonechat and the last 2 Stonechat from Alan. ...

Cloudy, 16°, light WNW backing W. Not a great deal out there today with both Alan and me walking the Bunk line/Green lane area at different times. The odd Chiffchaff , a single Blackcap and several small flocks of Swallow and House Martin passing thru. The small flock of Yellowhammer present and a Reed Bunting with them. Several Meadow Pipit around and approximately 20 Skylark and a few Pied Wagtail overhead. A small flock of 12 Black-headed Gull and 2 Lesser Blackback Gull at CSW. Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and a couple of Common Darter . Butterflies: several Whites , 1 Small Tortoiseshell , 1 Red Admiral and 1 Small Heath . Meadow Pipit from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/still-rather-quiet.html

Today in Tony’s Garden. Nothing much on the bird front except for a lot of Canada Geese flying over. Butterflies: in our meadow - Small White 2, Large White 1, Red Admiral 1, Small Copper 5. Reptiles: Grass Snakes 6, Slow-worms 31. Small mammals:   Wood Mice found in 3 places. Bank Voles found in 3 or possibly 4 places. I continue to find Fox toys in our meadow - must be from nearby gardens. These are toys that a Fox has been bringing into Tony's garden. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/garden-toys.html

 A few from Alan today from around Cholsey. Stonechat Lapwing flock, approx 100 ↕ Egyptian Goose from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/sunday-best.html

Cloudy with a few sunny periods and some light drizzle, 12°, fresh NNW. The current weather has certainly put the mockers on any meaningful birding over the last few days with a biting northerly airflow. A late afternoon walk along the Bunk line/Green lane area proved somewhat fruitless. The only migrants noted were a single Chiffchaff calling and a lone Swallow passing overhead. Apart from larger birds such as Corvids , Kites , Wood Pigeons and a single Lesser Blackback Gull there was nothing else in the air and apart from the odd Bumble Bee, no insects! Even small birds were inconspicuous with just Wren , Robin and Dunnock heard occasionally. Tony Rayner was fortunate to have 4 Small Copper butterflies in his garden today. This was the only thing that stayed still long enough. A Shaggy Inkcap. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/summer-has-gone.html

We have had to adapt our photographic days slightly since re-opening to comply with new guidelines/restrictions and to keep everyone, photographers and staff, safe. All the same great opportunities are there for you to take some fantastic photos, just in smaller group sizes.  We still take photographers in to all the same enclosures, and all the animals have been as brilliant as usual, but there is no doubt that the real stars have been our wildcat kittens! There are a lot of visitors photos of our kittens up on the interweb on various social sites etc. I hadn't had the chance to take many recent photos of them myself, but looking through the many than had been shared, I had to make time to spend with them one evening last week.  They are growing fast, but still look very kitten like. Kind of going in to that leggy stage. Hilda's two kittens, who are slightly younger, seem to be a little shyer but still do venture out most of the time. Kendra's two however are a...

Sunny spells, 13°, very breezy NW. Pretty dire out there today with the fresh wind deterring anything from showing. The only saving grace was that Alan found a Little Egret , seen flying over the Bunk line towards the Hithercroft area. Lollingdon hill was very quiet with a couple of Meadow Pipit and 6 House Martin over. Nearby the only thing of note was a single Chiffchaf f. Dragonflies: 2 Common Darter . Butterflies: 2 Small White and 1 Speckled Wood . Photo from last year from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/little-egret.html

Sunny spells then clouding over, 14°, moderate SW. A lot cooler and windier than of late and reflected in the lack of insects around. Both Alan and I out along the Bunk line/ Green lane area today and not a lot noted. Alan saw a Hobby over the new gravel workings and I saw presumably the same bird a little later spooking a flock of Starling a bit further south. A fair few Chiffchaff and Meadow Pipit around plus a light movement of Swallow and House Martin overhead and a single Blackcap and the usual flock of Yellowhammer noted. Dragonflies: 1 Southern Hawker and several Common Darter . Butterflies: a handful of Large and Small White , 1 Red Admiral and 1 Comma . Comma Hobby (courtesy Alan) Chiffchaff (courtesy Alan) Meadow Pipit Yellowhammer from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-change-in-weather-and-quieter.html

 A few Insects from today Small Copper Brindled Green (courtesy Tony Rayner) Southern Hawker (courtesy Alan) Large Ranunculus (courtesy Tony Rayner) from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/todays-insects.html

Sunny, 18°, light N. Another quiet one out there today. Very little on the hill with just a couple of Chiffchaff and a Blackcap present. A Cormorant flew east overhead and a couple of Kestrel present. A few other bits and pieces seen off the hill were a Kingfisher , several Yellowhammer , a Corn Bunting and a Reed Bunting . A light passage of Hirundines, c60 birds in total. Mainly Swallow but also a few House Martin and a light passage of Meadow Pipit and Skylark overhead. A Spotted Flycatcher and a Blackcap along the Bunk line. Per Alan. Dragonflies: several Southern Hawker and Common Darter . Butterflies: a Clouded Yellow graced the hill for a short time. Several Large and Small White , a Common Blue and a few Speckled Wood . A few record shots of the Clouded Yellow Spotted Flycatcher (courtesy Alan) from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/clouded-yellow-spot-fly.html

 3 Praying Mantis found yesterday in a Cholsey garden. they appear to be  European Mantis (Mantis religiosa)  as the female measures 6cm. Which is in the range for this species. European Mantis are another species spreading north from Southern Europe due to climate change and may even survive our winters now. These however have probably been released or have escaped as this species is frequently kept as pets by some. Where these 3 came from is anyone's guess. Thank you to Giuseppe Morlando for the photos. from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/european-praying-mantis.html

Sunny with high cloud, 20°, light ENE. Very quiet out along the Bunk line today but good to see both Tony Williams and Brian Wyatt out there birding. A small flock of Hirundines out near Green lane comprised around 20 Swallow and 5+ House Martin . Several roaming flocks of Starling , a Kestrel , 5-6 Chiffchaff , 2 of each Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail . A single Mistle Thrush and a Blackcap and that was about it! Apart from the usual large flock of Corvids . Dragonflies: several Southern Hawker and Common Darter . Butterflies: as usual several Large and Small White and a single Small Tortoiseshell. Chiffchaff Meadow Pipit from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2020/09/quiet-on-all-fronts.html