Sutton Bingham - Fri 20 Jul

I raised my binoculars to my eyes for the first time in nearly four weeks today as the poor weather has meant no birding at all since mid-June! I took Tristan up to the reservoir after work and we spent about forty minutes on site. As I walked along to the hide a pair of Bullfinches flew across the road in front of me and from the hide I came across the adult Yellow-legged Gull that has spent several autumns at Sutton Bingham. It lingered on the water for a few minutes before flying south. Also around the hide a rather noisy Whitethroat, a singing Reed Bunting, a pair of Ravens and several butterflies, mostly Meadow Browns but I also saw my first Ringlets of the year and a Comma.
As I started to walk back to the car I bumped in to Ivan the SBR warden who told me that he had seen an Oystercatcher earlier in the day. So armed with that information I drove up to the northern causeway and 'scoped the bank of the reservoir on the far side of the Sailing Club, sure enough a single Oystercather was present...a real surprise considering the amount of water in the reservoir. Despite the fact it was miles away I managed some brilliant photos of it...seriously it is an Oystercatcher!

 

After a pretty good trip we returned home so that Tristan could have his tea!