Sutton Bingham - Mon 29 Apr

I had the morning off work today to do a few things but I did manage a little bit of time at the reservoir and was rewarded with my first Lesser Whitethroat of the day, which eventually gave itself up and showed very nicely near the Canoe Club. The only other birds of note today were a pair of Stock Doves that flew north and a Common Sandpiper that was on the northern causeway.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 88 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 25 Apr

An afternoon visit today and a decent year tick in the form of a very obliging Yellow Wagtail in a private area of the reservoir.

Whilst an expected year tick, having a grounded Yellow Wagtail in the Spring is rather unusual as all the other Spring birds I've had have been fly-overs. It is a much more regular Autumn visitor.
Also this afternoon, two Common Sandpipers were on the dam whilst three drake and one duck Tufted Ducks were at the southern end.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 87 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 22 Apr

More of the same, or rather less of the same, over the past few days but I did add Whitethroat to the patch year list today with a male in song between the car park and the Canoe Club. A couple of Common Sandpipers were noted and two sub-adult Black-Headed Gulls were somewhat unusual for the time of year. The long-staying drake Tufted Duck was again seen.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 86 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 18 Apr

I've made a few brief visits to the reservoir over the past week, but not a lot to report other than a few Common Sandpipers. Three Tufted Duck were present on 12 April along with a Marsh Tit in a "new" location on patch. A pair of Teal were seen on 16 April.
Today, though, an early morning visit before work produced a long awaited patch year tick in the form of a Mute Swan, present between the car park and the Canoe Club, amazing that it's taken three and a half months to add this species to the year list. A drake Tufted Duck on West Pool was the only other bird of note.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 85 species.

North Somerset - Sun 14 Apr

A trip out with the "usual suspects" today and we set off to north Somerset where we started a day's birding at Otterhampton/Steart Marshes. A long walk around the reserve produced a few birds of note, though it was very windy and pretty cold. Six Little Ringed Plovers were the pick of the birds seen, though there were also good numbers of Avocet also.

My first Reed Warbler of the year was heard but not seen and a few Swallows and Sand Martins passed through.
A quick drive up to Wall Common produced four Wheatear on the shingle and several Curlew on the mudflats. A fly-over Yellow Wagtail was a nice surprise.
We then set off for another location along the cost but other than good numbers of Linnet and Goldfinch there was not much about, though a pair of Stonechat put on a nice show.
We finished the day exploring a couple of valleys in the Quantocks, but failed to find any summer migrants in the woodlands, a somewhat disappointing end to a fun day out, even if the birds were lacking.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 11 Apr

A quick check of the reservoir before work this morning in somewhat chilly but lovely conditions produced a pair of Grey Wagtails on the northern causeway and a single Common Sandpiper. A trip to the southern end turned up a surprise year tick with a pair of Shoveler present.

A single Swallow was feeding over fields at Bingham Bower Farm.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 84 species.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 9 Apr

Despite somewhat misty conditions I stopped off at the reservoir before work this morning and parking up on the northern causeway could see a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls looking and sounding agitated, and it was obvious why...an Osprey was perched up in a tree opposite the Sailing Club! Rather distant and in the mist, I still managed a few record shots.

After about twenty minutes the Osprey took to the air and made a few circuits of the reservoir before being lost to view.
A Cetti's Warbler was heard singing this morning also.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 83 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 8 Apr

A quick lunchtime visit failed to generate anything of interest until a Hobby whizzed through at a rate of knots heading north.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 82 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 7 Apr

A quick late afternoon visit produced a single Common Sandpiper on the northern causeway, and nothing else!

Sutton Bingham - Sat 6 Apr

An hour at the reservoir this afternoon produced my first Willow Warbler of the year, with a bird singing occasionally at the bottom of the car park, it was seen briefly. Another first for the year today in the form of a singing Blackcap on the far side of the reservoir, though I was unable to locate this one. A pair of Reed Buntings were near the Canoe Club and a single Meadow Pipit was loitering with them. Just a single Swallow this afternoon but the two long-staying Great Black-backed Gulls were again present.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 81 species.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 5 Apr

A quick pre-work visit this morning failed to produce any amazing Spring vagrants, but there were a fair few Sand Martins and Swallows buzzing around. A pair of Tufted Duck were off the Fishing Lodge and a stroll around the car park produced at least eight Chiffchaff. Two Great Black-backed Gulls were noted and a single Stock Dove and two Collared Dove were seen. A very smart Reed Bunting was at West Pool.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 2 Apr

James found a Common Sandpiper late afternoon, so as it would be my earliest ever record at Sutton Bingham I popped up to see it and see it I did. It was feeding with two Pied Wagtails on the grass on the edge of West Pool.
Three more patch year ticks this evening too with twenty or so Sand Martins, at least ten Swallows and two House Martins over West Pool. So more year ticks in five minutes than I manage din the whole of March!
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 79 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 1 Apr

Well over the past few weeks I've missed a few things at Sutton Bingham, not too worried about the commoner fair but James had a Red Kite last Saturday and the warden had a rather wary goose which he couldn't pin down to species mid-way through last week.
This evening though I finally managed to add Coot to the year list.

Coot is now a fairly rare bird at Sutton Bingham with only a handful of annual records, so it was great to finally see one on patch.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 75 species.