Sutton Bingham - Sun 5 Jul

An hour or so on the patch late morning produced a few things of interest though nothing exceptional. The third-summer Great Black-backed Gull was again on West Pool, a real monster of a bird!

Other gull action came in the form of a juvenile Mediterranean Gull which flew south, no idea where this came from, the nearest breeding colonies are on the south coast so obviously a displaced bird having a wander. A juvenile Black-headed Gull was again present having been first seen a few days ago and a very recently fledged Herring Gull was on the northern causeway, so small and downy I wonder whether a pair may have bred at the reservoir.
The southern end hosted a female Mandarin with six ducklings, all of which were pretty well grown.
A walk around Cotton Bridge again failed to deliver any Marsh Tits, so the species remains absent from my patch year list for 2015. Plenty of positive news though with fully fledged birds feeding in some numbers in the trees, so successful breeding for many of the commoner species.

Update: A flying visit on Monday morning found yesterday's juvenile Herring Gull nestled up to a parent bird which had died. The resident Carrion Crows were showing a bit of interest in the young bird, so I don't think it's chances of survival are high. A real reminder of how tough life can be.