An early morning visit to the reservoir today before work and the weather was brilliant, clear skies and good light, if a little cold. Stopping off at the northern causeway first of all a single Lesser Redpoll was still present and showed well on the fence before flying off.
I then drove down to the southern end where it was very quiet, two Little Grebes and four Wigeon were about the only birds of note. A pair of Bullfinches were in the tree line by the road. Giving up I drove back up to the car park and had a wander around. Three Siskin were feeding in the alders in the car park and another two Bullfinches were seen (both females this time).
I finished my visit with a walk along the edge of West Pool (NB: there is no public access to this part of the reservoir). A Reed Bunting was singing away and a further three were seen and another two Little Grebes were on the water. As I got to a markedly reedy area I started putting up Snipe, with at least thirty birds being flushed. I started back to the car (time to get to work!) and from under my foot another bird took flight, a Jack Snipe! It flew a short distance before dropping back in to cover, and having made note of where it landed I set off after it. As I neared the location it took flight again and I had brilliant views of the bird as it flew across West Pool and dropped in to cover on the far bank, and a couple of Snipe followed suite showing a real comparison of species. What a great way to round of my visit, this was only my second ever Jack Snipe at Sutton Bingham.
NB: A quick visit late afternoon produced three adult Mediterranean Gulls.
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