Sutton Bingham - Sun 18 Mar

With more snow arriving overnight I thought it might be worth a visit to the reservoir this afternoon, especially as James Watson had seen a couple of Sand Martins over the reservoir earlier in the day (I failed to find any during my visit).
I parked at the southern end and walked up to the car park and back. There was a lot of activity on the water's edge with at least fifteen Chiffchaff being seen, all of which were feeding on the ground or low down. My first Chiffchaff of the year at Sutton Bingham and I was not expecting to see them in snow!

There were also several Meadow Pipits (there were at least twenty on the site this afternoon) and a pair of Stonechats moving along the edge of the water as well as two Reed Buntings and I then spotted a small wader, a Dunlin! The Dunlin was extremely obliging as it fed along the margin.

I then had a walk around West Pool and flushed several Snipe, at least twenty, and then nearly trod on a Jack Snipe as it flew up from beneath my feet and headed off. Not a lot else in this area so I drove round to the Fishing Lodge where the female Hawfinch was again present having not been seen for a couple of weeks. There were also lots of Fieldfare and Redwing about and a couple more Meadow Pipits. The flock of Wigeon were resting on the dam, staying out of the wind and snow.
Other birds of note this afternoon during a very productive visit included a fly-through Peregrine and a Kingfisher.
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 80 species.