Cattistock & Sutton Bingham - Sun 19 Nov

A trip down to Cattistock this afternoon where I finally got in on the Hawfinch action with two birds showing well, albeit briefly, around the church.

 

A brief stop at Sutton Bingham on the way home only produced the Egyptian Goose and a Peregrine.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 18 Nov

A visit mid-afternoon today and the Egyptian Goose was still present off the Fishing Lodge. The Wigeon flock numbered some sixty birds but it was pretty quiet today. A flock of fourteen Redwing and a single Fieldfare were also seen and whilst there were plenty of finches, there were no scarce stragglers amongst the commoner species.
Late news for yesterday, two pairs of Tufted Duck were present late in the day.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 15 Nov

A little over an hour at the reservoir this afternoon and the Egyptian Goose was again present and viewable from the Fishing Lodge. Two drake Shoveler were new in and were bobbing on the water off the Sailing Club. A small party of seven Meadow Pipits were on the dam and Wigeon numbered some fifty-five birds. Three Bullfinches were the only other birds of note this afternoon.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 12 Nov

An hour on patch late morning and the Egyptian Goose was present off the Fishing Lodge and was showing much better today.

 

No sign of any Wigeon today which was somewhat surprising and the only other birds of note were all "fly-overs" with singles of Raven and Meadow Pipit plus two Skylarks and a small flock of around a dozen Fieldfare.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 10 Nov

A slight change of plan this week due to unforeseen problems at work on Wednesday meant I finally got my half day today and managed to spend almost three hours at Sutton Bingham. The Egyptian Goose that was present briefly at the weekend was back today and was associating with Canada Geese around the Sailing Club.

Off the dam the Wigeon flock had increased to fifty-four birds and two Tufted Duck were also present. Gull numbers increased as the afternoon progressed but other than a few Common Gull which were the first of the winter there was nothing unusual amongst the gathering flock.
A walk along the reservoir's western edge was not overly productive, with just a couple of Redwing seen around the car park.
I then spent a good hour working the area at the extreme south of the reservoir which turned out to be the most profitable part of the patch today. A roving flock of Long-tailed Tits contained a couple of Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest, but nothing rarer. A Raven was "cronking" overhead. Ten Teal were flushed from the water but the highlight of the day were two, possibly three, calling Water Rail. These were my first on patch since 2014 and a very welcome patch year tick.
Sutton Bingham year list 2017 now at 110 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 4 Nov

A flying visit on my way to Dorchester and only because as I was driving past the water treatment works a goose flew over towards the reservoir that looked interesting. So a quick check from the Fishing Lodge and sure enough, a very smart Egyptian Goose had dropped in.

Update:
I didn't have time to do much more in the way of patch birding this weekend, but the Egyptian Goose was still present until around 11:45 on Sunday morning before it flew off northeast.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 1 Nov

Just over an hour spent at the reservoir this afternoon and the highlight was a flock of thirty-seven Lapwing over the northern end of the reservoir before they drifted off south. Wigeon numbers had risen to forty-two birds, feeding in a private area and not viewable from public rights of way.
I also managed my first Autumn Redwing and Fieldfare with singles of each along the southern arm. A Stonechat was typically obliging near the Canoe Club whilst the only other birds of note were a fly-through Mistle Thrush and a Sparrowhawk.