Sutton Bingham - Wed 17 Jan

A decent stroll around the reservoir this afternoon failed to produce that much, with a fly-over Siskin being the pick of the bunch. There were still fifty-six Wigeon and thirty-two Canada Geese present as well as a single Mute Swan, a colour ringed bird DIX black on yellow - I'll feedback on this when I get news on its history.
I then took a drive round to the Fishing Lodge but for some reason I thought I'd carry on and check out the fields just to the south of the entrance to the Fishing Lodge. Scanning the first ploughed field, which neighbours the reservoir, I noted several Black-headed Gulls and then something rather different! After getting a fairly decent if somewhat distant view I knew I was looking at a first-winter Little Gull. Jumping back in the car I drove further down the road and pulled in to overlook the field and was treated to some much better views of the bird as it settled in the field and carried out numerous feeding flights.

 

Todays Little Gull was the first at Sutton Bingham for a couple of years and was a completely unexpected addition to the year list.