Sutton Bingham - Wed 28 Nov

I've made a few brief trips to the reservoir over the last couple of weeks, but seen nothing of note. However, an late afternoon trip today did at least provide a few birds of interest. I walked from the car park to the hide along the water's edge and then back again, with Tristan tucked up in his carrier on my back.
There were a few birds flitting around before settling down to roost and a single Fieldfare was probably the most notable. As I neared the hide ten Mallards flew in and they were closely followed by a dozen Wigeon. All these duck landed at the extreme southern end and were soon lost to view.
At least two hundred Starlings flew north in various sized flocks and a Meadow Pipit also flew over. And that was pretty much it, and it brought about the end of a poor month on the bird front.
UK list for 2012 now at 234 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Nov

A shorter than normal visit as Ellie took Tristan to the Family Service at her local church which typically does not last the full hour. That being said, I still managed to see a few bits and pieces at the reservoir, and the snow had melted by the time I arrived! The southern end was all but devoid of bird life, a small flock of six Long-tailed Tits being the only birds of note. So I spent the rest of my visit at the northern end of the reservoir where West Pool hosted three Wigeon and three Tufted Duck. A surprising November record in the form of a Little Egret flew over and headed west. A single Snipe was also seen flitting from one path of vegetation to another on the side of West Pool and that was that! A brief return visit at the end of the day produced a flock of one hundred Canada Geese and in the car park a few Goldcrests were calling and at least a dozen Pied Wagtails flew over.