Sutton Bingham - Wed 30 Nov

After a couple of days of clear skies and freezing temperatures I was relieved that rain hadn't come in this afternoon and I was able to enjoy a couple of hours in the sun at Sutton Bingham (though the cold eventually got to my toes by the end of my visit).
I started off at the Fishing Lodge and dam where a flock of fifty-eight Wigeon and amongst them a single drake Gadwall and a single drake Shoveler.

 

 

Also from the Fishing Lodge a single Meadow Pipit and a good number of "garden" birds around the feeders. On the lawn in front of the Fishing Lodge a single Redwing was feeding, and it looked darker than the "normal" Redwings but nowhere near dark enough to be of the Icelandic race, and the undertail coverts certainly didn't appear dark enough! Nevertheless, a very smart little thrush.

 

 

 

I then drove down to the southern end of the reservoir where there were good numbers of Teal present, I counted at least 127 birds, but there were surely more tucked up in the vegetation along the water's edge. A further eleven Wigeon were also present and Mallard numbered at least forty birds. Another Meadow Pipit flew over and a Peregrine was perched atop a pylon tucking in to something.
I stopped quickly at the northern end as I left the patch, a couple of Common Gulls amongst the gathering masses were the only things of note though.