Sutton Bingham - Tue 27 Feb

I managed to spend a couple of hours at the reservoir this afternoon and it started off pretty well with a flock of around one hundred Lapwing present in a newly ploughed field just west of Hyde Farm, easily viewable from the patch! An adult Mediterranean Gull drifted overhead whilst I was watching the Lapwing, always a delight to see and looking perfect in the afternoon sun, this would be the first of six Mediterranean Gulls seen during the course of the afternoon.
I then drove down to the southern end of the reservoir and walked back up to the car park. there were a few bits and pieces about with six Teal being seen as well as singles of Marsh Tit and Meadow Pipit, a couple of Reed Buntings and several Redwing and Fieldfare plus two more Lapwing in flight heading south.
Back then to the northern end again and round to the Fishing Lodge where a further eight Lapwing flew through and a drake Tufted Duck was on the water. The Wigeon flock numbered seventy-five birds.
Finally, a Kingfisher was seen from the northern causeway an a Coot was on West Pool.
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 70 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Feb

After the excitement of the Ross's Gull twitch to Weymouth this morning, I stayed closer to home this afternoon and took a walk out at the reservoir. Not much happening with thirty-six Wigeon and two Teal at the southern end, a male Reed Bunting and then from the northern causeway an Iceland Gull! I couldn't believe it, what a cracker.

I'd been hoping for a "white-winger" at Sutton Bingham this winter due to the fairly good numbers seen in the south-west and this Iceland Gull was a really nice bird and noticeably darker than the first-winter that I found here last February.
The only other bird of note was an adult summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gull just south of the car park.
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 69 species.

Radipole RSPB - Sun 25 Feb

A morning trip down to the seaside and a family twitch to see a Ross's Gull! We got lucky as we had started at Lodmoor RSPB but within a minute or two of leaving the car news broke the gull was at Radipole and ten minutes later we joined the masses and had great views of this smashing little gull. I'd seen Ross's Gull before but the lure of an adult bird in pristine winter plumage was too much of a draw.

An absolute beauty of a bird and well worth the trip out.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 23 Feb

A second-winter Yellow-legged Gull was present at the reservoir this evening, hence this very brief blog post!
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 68 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 22 Feb

A brief early evening visit produced a drake Tufted Duck and eleven Wigeon at the southern end of the reservoir. An adult Mediterranean Gull was amongst the gathering gull flock and a Meadow Pipit was heard near the Canoe Club.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 21 Feb

A nice walk along the reservoir this afternoon with the highlight being a calling Marsh Tit near the car park which gave me the run around a bit before eventually landing in a tree above my head. Marsh Tit seems to get harder each year at Sutton Bingham and the usual haunt has drawn blanks so for this year, so it was good to find this bird in a new area (although I did see one nearby at the end of 2017 so it is possible this is the same bird). A recording of the bird calling can be heard by clicking here.
Another addition to the year list came in the form of a couple of Reed Buntings, an adult male and a first winter male.
Also this afternoon, two Mediterranean Gulls were on the water, one of which was in fine summer plumaged splendour. Two Snipe were flushed from the water's edge and there were still a few winter thrushes around with a couple of dozen Fieldfare and surprisingly much fewer Redwing.
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 67 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 18 Feb

A quick stop at Sutton Bingham after returning from Lyme Regis produced the Hawfinch in the north-east corner again, my first sighting for a week, but nothing else of note.

Lyme Regis - Sun 18 Feb

A visit to the coast today and a family trip to Lyme Regis. Arriving mid-morning we started out with a trip out on to The Cobb, where on the rocks at the very end a small party of six Purple Sandpipers were present. We then took a walk back along the sea front where half a dozen Turnstones were noted and when we reached the far end of the front another seven Purple Sandpipers were seen.

Three adult Mediterranean Gulls were also noted and a Gannet was seen out to sea. A single Stonechat was noted and Rock Pipits seemed to be everywhere.

Unfortunately as the day progressed the weather worsened so as we were starting to get pretty wet we called it a day and headed home. Still, I managed to pick up a few year ticks, not bad considering it was a family trip out.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 17 Feb

A lunchtime stop today and West Pool held a Coot and a drake Tufted Duck and five Muscovy Duck had appeared from somewhere!
On the main reservoir a couple of adult Great Black-backed Gulls were present and a mighty fine adult Mediterranean Gull dropped in.

Still not much else around though.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 16 Feb

A quick stop on the way home from work produced a total of fifteen Mediterranean Gulls, the highest single count of the year. Twelve were adults (including a couple in breeding plumage), there were two second-winter birds and a single first-winter.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 12 Feb

A quick visit after work and the Hawfinch was again present albeit briefly as a helicopter passing overhead spooked the bird and sent it flying off south-east. Mid-afternoon seems to be the best time to see it as all but one of my sightings have been between 3pm and 4pm.
On the main reservoir two adult Great Black-backed Gulls were present as were a couple of adult Mediterranean Gulls.

Blashford Lakes HWT - Sun 11 Feb

The drive from Arne up to Blashford Lakes didn't take as long as I was expecting and we arrived just before 4.30pm. I walked out to Tern Hide overlooking Ibsley Water and was lucky enough to get on the Thayer's Gull pretty much immediately thanks to the birders in the hide who shared their 'scope initially and then gave excellent directions to enable me to get on it myself. It was a pretty impressive gull, and a real education. I did try to get a photo, but it was rather distant and the light was poor...plus, of course, I'm terrible at photographing birds!

There was an adult Ring-billed Gull present also, but I didn't have time to search for this. To be honest I wasn't that bothered as I only had a short amount of time and the Thayer's Gull was what I was after, but I did see a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls.
I did manage a couple of year ticks though with a flock of fifteen Goosander and two female Goldeneye noted whilst I was looking at the gull. As it was starting to get dark, and as the warden came to lock the hide, I called it a day and re-joined the family ready to head home, and to round off what was a brilliant day, a Woodcock flew over the car as we were approaching Bere Regis, result!

Arne RSPB - Sun 11 Feb

After the morning trip to the Somerset Levels I set out with the family for a day out to Arne, arriving mid-morning and starting off with a walk around Coombe Heath. It was fairly breezy and small birds were noticeable by their absence, however, the Middlebeare Channel did produce a few bits and pieces. There was a massive flock of Brent Geese with both Dark-bellied and Pale-bellied being noted, a couple of Spoonbill were present (with two more seen in flight) and a single Avocet was present amongst several Redshank.
After a quick lunch in the RSPB café, we walked out to Shipstal Point where flocks of Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin and Avocet were seen in flight, plus Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew feeding on the mudflats (it was a very low tide). On the water in Poole Harbour I failed to find much in the way of birds other than a handful of Great Crested Grebes and a few Red-breasted Mergansers.
As we were starting to walk back to the car park, news broke of the Thayer's Gull in Hampshire, so back to the café to bribe the family with cake before a diversion on the way home!

Nythe - Sun 11 Feb

I found myself with a little over an hour to kill early morning so headed up to the Somerset Levels and on to Butland Moor, just north of Somerton where half a dozen Bewick's Swans had been found in the week. Arriving at Nythe I scanned the fields finding nothing but Mute Swans and thought that I must be out of luck, so turned the car round and started to head home. Less than 100 metres down the road I happened to see more swans on the opposite side of the road, and "Hey Presto" that's what I'm looking for, a nice little herd of Bewick's Swans...always worth remembering to check both sides of the road!
As I got out of the car to try and get a record shot the heaven's opened with a heavy rain and hail shower, but still decided to try my luck, here's three of the beauties.

Not much else to report other than loads of Lapwing, but time was of the essence so I didn't loiter once I'd seen the target birds.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 7 Feb

Water levels are still very high at Sutton Bingham and I guess as a result there were hardly any duck around today. A Coot was present near the Canoe Club and was the first of the year but other than that singles of Snipe, Meadow Pipit and Kingfisher were recorded plus the Hawfinch was again present in the north-east corner.

Sorry for posting more poor photos of a cracking bird, but it is such a beauty!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Feb

A very quick stop at the reservoir on the way back from Stourhead and the Hawfinch was again present, and this time I was able to get some record shots of it!

 

Such a cracking bird I am glad I managed to finally get a couple of pictures of this great addition to my Sutton Bingham list. It was present in the same patch of trees as it was mid-week until it took flight and headed south. Plenty of gulls were dropping in, but I didn't have time to do anything more than a cursory check which yielded nothing out of the ordinary.

Stourhead - Sun 4 Feb

A trip out with the family this afternoon and a wander around Stourhead with a brief stop before walking around the grounds to check out the nearby feeding station which turned up trumps with half a dozen or so Tree Sparrows, my first for a few years. Also present a handful of Yellowhammers and loads of Chaffinch.
A walk around the grounds produced my first Marsh Tit of the year, but other than a couple of Raven overhead, six Teal and three Little Grebes it was fairly quiet. However, an enjoyable afternoon out and nice to go somewhere different.