Sutton Bingham - Wed 16 Aug

A bit more interest today with the highlight being a Sedge Warbler in vegetation along the water's edge near the Canoe Club, a much welcome addition to the patch year list. Sedge Warblers bred on the site as recently as 2014, but over the past couple of years have been noted solely as a passage migrant.
Also this morning, another Common Tern initially seen at the southern end of the reservoir before it flew north. A total of seven Common Sandpipers were also about today and three Little Egrets were noted. Finally, a couple of Kingfishers were seen.
Sutton Bingham year list 2017 now at 103 species.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 15 Aug

What a difference a day makes! Very quiet at Sutton Bingham this morning, especially when compared to the quality birds that were seen yesterday. Just three Common Sandpipers on West Pool during a morning visit and three Little Egrets on the main reservoir. Very little else to report, though I was able to get a photo of this female Emperor Dragonfly.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 14 Aug

A pretty profitable visit before work today with a couple of quality patch birds, though no year ticks unfortunately. A quick stop at the northern causeway produced a couple of Common Sandpipers and a very flighty Little Ringed Plover.
A quick drive round to the Fishing Lodge and a further nine Common Sandpipers were present on the dam. The second quality bird of the day came in the form of a Wheatear on the dam before flying and being lost to view.

The supporting cast this morning consisted of a couple of Raven, two Little Egrets and a Kingfisher.
A quick stop on my way home from work this afternoon produced an adult Common Tern off the dam.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 13 Aug

I didn't get a chance to check out Sutton Bingham yesterday, but did pop in for a brief visit this morning. Not much change again this morning from recent visits but Common Sandpipers numbered four birds today. A total of three Kingfishers were seen, including one that was rather obliging.

Just a single Little Egret was seen today and one adult Great Black-backed Gull was still present. A Sand Martin was seen over the dam and a male Sparrowhawk caused a bit of a stir. Finally, a juvenile Bullfinch was seen near the Fishing Lodge.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 11 Aug

More of the same this morning, with two Common Sandpipers present around West Pool probably being the pick. A couple of Sand Martins were noted and two Kingfishers were also seen. Finally, there were still three Little Egrets around the northern end of the reservoir.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 8 Aug

A quick pre-work visit today and there was not much happening. The Lapwing was still present on the northern causeway (I failed to locate it on Saturday, but it was present yesterday morning) along with two Common Sandpipers.

Arne RSPB - Mon 7 Aug

A day off work and a trip down to Arne RSPB reserve with the family today. We started off with a walk around Coombe Heath, which was not overly productive though seven Spoonbills were seen in the Middlebeare channel.

Waders were very think on the ground with just a few Black-tailed Godwits and Oystercatchers. A few Little Egrets and several Shelduck were the only other birds on the mud whilst a single Dartford Warbler was heard calling but not seen. Finally, two Common Tern were noted before we headed to the café for a much needed bite to eat.
After our lunch we walked out to Shipstal Point. To be perfectly honest, there was nothing much to be seen. Another couple of Common Terns and a single Sandwich Tern off the beach and several Oystercatcher plus a few Redshank and Curlew on the salt marsh was about it.
Doing the circular route back to the car there were several dragonflies milling around, I could only get a photo of one and it's a Common Darter.

So although it was an enjoyable day out there was not much to be seen on the bird front.