Sutton Bingham - Fri 26 Oct

Highlight this morning was a Green Sandpiper which was picked up in flight as it was being chased by a Black-headed Gull. The unwanted attention was obviously too much as the Green Sandpiper gained height and flew off strongly to the south.
The Teal flock was slightly down in number this morning with twenty-six birds present and just a single Wigeon was noted. A Kingfisher was near the Canoe Club and a Little Egret was on West Pool.
At the southern end at least twenty Pied Wagtails were feeding alongside just a couple of Meadow Pipits. Overhead a Skylark was heard and a single Redwing passed through.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 25 Oct

A brief early morning visit produced a patch year tick in the form of a fly-over Lesser Redpoll. Later in the day a Lapwing was present on West Pool whilst at the southern end a flock of forty Teal and two Mistle Thrushes flew over.
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 116 species.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 23 Oct

My first visit to the reservoir for a few days and it was pretty rewarding with three Shelduck present off the dam, whilst West Pool hosted a Little Egret and four Teal with a small flock of six Linnet flying through.
A quick look from the Canoe Club produced a further thirty-one Teal and eighteen Wigeon with around eighty Mallard.
Overhead my first Fieldfare and Redwing of the winter, with fifteen of the former and a couple of the latter.

Treeve Moor, Land's End - Sat 20 Oct

After an agonising week of waiting I was finally able to go down to Cornwall this afternoon to twitch the Grey Catbird that had turned up at the previous Monday. Having to work in the morning was a bit of a headache so I didn't actually get going until midday. Fortunately I had company as long-time birding mate John joined me for the trip.
After an uneventful three and a half hour drive we arrived on site only to have missed the bird by seconds! Luckily we only had to wait half an hour or so before it showed again, not that close but great views in the 'scope with all the features easily identifiable before it flew towards us and in to a blackthorn bush.
After a further thirty minute wait it then called, not convinced it sounds like a cat but anyway, and eventually popped up in to the top of the blackthorn and this time I even managed a couple of record shots of the Grey Catbird.

What an awesome bird, and only the second Grey Catbird for the UK, well worth the drive.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 18 Oct

A flying visit on the way home form work produced an amazing flock of three Pochard! A drake and two female-first-winter type birds. This is the highest single Pochard count at the reservoir for several years. Also today, two Tufted Duck and seven Wigeon.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 17 Oct

A quick stop on my way home after being in Bath all day and it produced six Pintail at the southern end, all of which were female/first-winter type birds, and I could only manage to get four of them in shot at once.

There were still half a dozen Wigeon present along with a pair of Teal and a single Tufted Duck. A small flock of five Skylark flew over.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 16 Oct

An afternoon at Sutton Bingham today and a lot of hard work with not much reward. A Stonechat was present in the field behind the Canoe Club, though rather distant. Two Gadwall were present with the Mallard flock and six Wigeon at the southern end.

A Peregrine was seen atop one of the pylons and a search around Cotton Bridge produced four Chiffchaff and a Marsh Tit but nothing more unusual. Another Chiffchaff was present at the outflow stream whilst a Kingfisher was seen at the dam.
Overhead there was some good Skylark movement with a total of twenty-three birds being noted, including flocks of fourteen and six. Just a couple of Meadow Pipits today though, both flying over.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 10 Oct

A Stonechat at West Pool was the pick of the birds this afternoon with very little else about. Half a dozen Wigeon were at the southern end and three Little Egrets were on site. A Chiffchaff was heard calling near the car park.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 8 Oct

No chance to check the reservoir before work today as I was running late, not normally an issue but when I had a text from James to say a Pochard was present a stressful morning followed until I could get away during my lunch break to try and catch up with a species that is really hard to get on the patch year list nowadays, with just one or possibly two sightings a year recently.
Anyway, all was good as I arrived at the northern causeway and the Pochard was showing well.

No time to look for anything else as I needed to zoom back to the office!
Sutton Bingham year list 2018 now at 115 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 7 Oct

A mid-morning visit was barely worth while with jut a couple of Wigeon viewable from the Fishing Lodge plus a Kingfisher on the dam and a small flock of seven Meadow Pipits which flew over. A Raven was seen and a Chiffchaff was calling. Just a single Linnet today but a Common Gull was new in.
A call from James early evening sent me back to the reservoir though as he had seen a rather skulking warbler. After much hunting we finally pinned it down and it turned out to be a Sedge Warbler, my first October record of this species at Sutton Bingham.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 3 Oct

An afternoon visit produced a Clouded Yellow near the dam which turned out to be the pick of the action today. On the bird front there were fourteen Teal and two Wigeon amongst the usual Mallards. A drake Tufted Duck was off the northern causeway. Other bits and pieces included half a dozen Meadow Pipits, a Reed Bunting and two Little Egret.