Sutton Bingham - Mon 26 Jun

A bit of wader passage this morning with two Common Sandpipers and a Redshank present on the northern causeway at 7.50am.

Redshank is often one of the earliest passage waders and this year has proved no different, with this bird arriving just a day later than the first Redshank of 2016. A single Little Egret was also noted during the briefest of visits.
Sutton Bingham year list 2017 now at 96 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Jun

As has been the case over the last few days, there was not a lot about this morning with a couple of Little Egrets and two Great Black-backed Gulls being the only real birds of interest, all of which have been present for a while now. A flock of twenty-one Canada Geese included just a single gosling.
A return visit later in the day did turn up something new as I parked on the northern causeway an adult Common Tern flew right over my head before doing a circuit of West Pool and then heading back to the dam. As well as this adult bird a first-summer was on one of the buoys on West Pool and showed pretty well.

Apparently both birds were present until 8.20pm at least.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 21 Jun

More sweltering temperatures this afternoon, but I still braved the weather to spend a little over an hour at the reservoir. As expected it was pretty quiet, it's that time of year, but a couple of Little Egrets were present and a Sparrowhawk (my first at Sutton Bingham for a few months) caused a bit of a stir amongst the local Swallows.
On the water there was a pretty big gathering of gulls with the following counts: 607 Herring Gull, 141 Lesser Black-backed Gull, three Black-headed Gull and two Great Black-backed Gull. Despite searching I failed to find anything more unusual amongst them.

Wet Moor - Sun 18 Jun

Despite temperatures pushing thirty degrees, I headed out mid-afternoon for a walk on to Wet Moor, just to the west of Long Load. However, I did make a slight diversion on the way to stop off at a local site where I was lucky enough to hear a couple of singing Nightingales, and one even showed for about half a second!
Anyway, back to Wet Moor and a walk in blistering heat which failed to produce an awful lot, perhaps not that surprising given the temperature. that being said I did hear a calling Yellow Wagtail and a couple of Sedge Warblers showed well. Not anything else to write home about, but another couple of ticks for the year list (which I don't keep!).

Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 11 Jun

I had a couple of free hours late morning so took myself up on to the Somerset Levels. I had a rough route I wanted to take, but as it happens I ran out of time so ended up spending most of my time at Ham Wall. I made a quick detour on the way to Ham Wall to try and connect with a bird I've never seen in the UK...and unsurprisingly I didn't see one today either, however I did connect in so far as I heard at least two singing Quail!
On then to Ham Wall and everything started well as I connected with the first-summer female Red-footed Falcon showing distantly from the bridge that crosses the drain just east of the car park. So far so good. I also saw a Bittern in flight and a couple of Hobbies.
On then to the far eastern end of the reserve where a thirty minute stake out failed to produce any sight or sound of the Little Bittern, and with time against me I had to call it day. Other highlights this morning included at least four Great White Egrets and a calling Cuckoo, plus my first Sedge Warbler of the year.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Jun

A late morning visit failed to produce anything much out of the ordinary. Two Little Egrets were probably the pick whilst a small flock of thirteen Canada Geese were near the dam, as were a pair of Linnet. At least twenty Swift were noted today.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 2 Jun

A quick trip before work today produced a Common Tern off the dam (typically ropey record shots below!) and a single Little Egret.

It has been very quiet at the reservoir over the last couple of weeks, which is not that surprising as May and June tend to be slow months with regard to adding much to the year list. A small number of Black-headed Gulls and up to three Great Black-backed Gulls have been present and a pair of Raven were noted yesterday.
A return visit after work failed to produce the Common Tern that was present this morning, but from the northern causeway I 'scoped two Red Kites as they drifted north over the back of the Fishing Lodge, these are my 3rd and 4th records of Red Kite at Sutton Bingham and my first for several years.
Sutton Bingham year list 2017 now at 95 species.