Sutton Bingham - Thu 30 Jan

I started off an afternoon visit at the southern end where the Wigeon flock had increased to one hundred and twenty-seven birds and a total of fourteen Tufted Duck were also present, all but one of the latter being male birds.
A decent walk around the Cotton Bridge area produced a couple of new birds for the year list with three Bullfinch and two Siskin seen. A Raven was also heard.
Round to the Fishing Lodge but nothing to report from there other than a flock of twenty-three Collared Dove.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 65 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 26 Jan

Another late in the day visit today as I stayed until dusk in the hope of finding a Woodcock...I failed, but did have a Water Rail feeding with five Moorhen near Cotton Bridge. A Peregrine was atop one of the pylons and was a new bird for the year list and a Mute Swan was new in, but didn't stay that long as it flew south and was lost to view.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 63 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 25 Jan

A late afternoon visit produced a female Shoveler amongst the Wigeon flock (which numbered around ninety birds) at the southern end of the reservoir. A total of twelve Tufted Duck were also present.
A look through the gulls produced a first-winter Mediterranean Gull but nothing else of note.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 23 Jan

After a tip off from the Ranger I staked out a private area this afternoon in the hope of finding one of my favourite birds, and after a wait of around half an hour managed to find my quarry, a gorgeous female Brambling! This was only the second one I had seen at Sutton Bingham and so I was understandably thrilled to see this brilliant finch! Also in the same area a good number of Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and my first patch Linnet of the year.
The north-east corner held eighty-eight Wigeon and one hundred and forty-four Canada Geese but nothing else amongst them. A Tawny Owl was calling from the somewhere near the church and a single Meadow Pipit was near the Canoe Club.
A good number of gulls gathered as the afternoon wore on and five Mediterranean Gulls were present, they are always a joy to see.
All in all a good visit this afternoon, but the Brambling stole the show!
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 61 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 20 Jan

I managed a couple of quick visits on Saturday, seeing a total of three Mediterranean Gulls (two adults at lunchtime and a further adult late afternoon) but there was nothing much else about other than a large flock, at least one hundred birds, of Lapwing which were over the northern end of the reservoir for a few minutes.
Today I decided that after a couple of overnight frosts I'd try a flying lunchtime visit to see if the colder weather had forced anything in. An adult Mediterranean Gull was off the northern causeway and a Green Woodpecker was a new bird for the year list, nothing at the southern end, but a flock of ninety-five Wigeon and around a hundred Canada Geese from the Fishing Lodge. A Kingfisher whizzed by and my second year tick of the day came in the form of a Little Egret in the north-east corner. No scarcer wildfowl unfortunately, but I guess it was worth a look.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 59 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 9 Jan

Despite heaving rain most of the morning I did manage a couple of hours on the patch this afternoon, and it turned out to be pretty profitable. The Wigeon flock was at the southern end of the reservoir opposite the site of the old hide, scanning through the birds I found a female Pintail.

Then, just a few minutes later, I noticed a couple of Mallard with a drake Garganey in tow! I am presuming this is the bird that was present just after Christmas and has also been seen at Ninesprings in Yeovil. An amazing addition to the year list in January for a bird associated with the summer.

Three Mute Swans, presumably a family group as there were two adults and a sub-adult present, were just to the south of the Canoe Club whilst a Kestrel was at the southern end and a Raven flew over.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 56 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 5 Jan

Now, as it happens this was not my first visit of the year to the reservoir...I had dropped in on the day we got back form Cornwall and added a few bits and pieces, though the only real sighting of note was a flock of twelve Lapwing, so today gave me the chance to really work the site. To be honest there were not really that many birds around, though three Mandarin at the southern end were a nice find and a couple of adult Great Black-backed Gulls off the car park were somewhat unexpected for the time of year. A Water Rail was heard squealing near Cotton Bridge but that was pretty much it.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 50 species.

Weymouth - Sun 5 Jan

A day out birding today, and with the usual suspects in tow for our annual January birding trip. We started off the day at Chickerell taking a walk down to the Fleet and Tidmoor Point where before long we had found six Long-tailed Duck, a Velvet Scoter and four Slavonian Grebes...not a bad start to the day.

Walking round the point at bottom of the firing range we also saw a couple of Bar-tailed Godwit and heard a Cetti's Warbler. There were loads of Dark-bellied Brent Geese and a lone Pale-bellied Brent Goose was amongst them. As we returned to the car a Firecrest put in an appearance, a nice little bonus.
Off then to Portland Harbour where a Great Northern Diver was off Portland Castle and from Sandsfoot Castle we added Razorbill and Slavonian Grebe, but to be honest the harbour was pretty quiet (though apparently we did miss a few things).
We then made our way round to Lodmoor RSPB and took a good walk around the reserve. A first-winter Scaup was a nice find and a lone Avocet was rather obliging.

Several Mediterranean Gulls were present and a Marsh Harrier was hunting over the reeds. A flock of Golden Plover circled the reserve and later we found a lone bird as well, thogh typically it took flight just as I was about to take a photo.
Out in Weymouth Bay we saw a lone Common Scoter, another Great Northern Diver and a few Gannet.
After a great morning out and about I left the lads and headed back home to check out Sutton Bingham.

Arne RSPB & Studland - Sat 4 Jan

A day out today and a trip down to Arne RSPB where we started the day with a walk around Combe Heath, and it was pretty quiet to be honest, despite the lovely weather. Middlebeare channel provided the only interest with a scattering of waders, including Avocet and Curlew, and a few wildfowl.
After lunch at the RSPB café we headed out to Shipstal Point where a few Spoonbill were asleep on their usual spit and out in Poole Harbour a Great Northern Diver and Goldeneye were seen.
We then made the quick drive round to Studland where I soon located a total of five Ring-necked Parakeets, was pretty pleased as I'd not seen any around here for a while.

Out one the sea there were four Black-necked Grebes and seven Common Scoter.

All in all a nice day out.

Cornwall - Sat 28 Dec to Thu 2 Jan

Away for the New Year and a family trip to Cornwall where we were so lucky with the weather, lovely bright days with no rain and not even that cold...and despite it not being a birding trip, I managed a few decent birds.
A morning visit to Porthkernick Beach produced a very obliging Long-tailed Duck, and it makes me wonder whether it is a returning bird as I've seen one off this beach in the past.

Off Portscatho a female Eider was present and was seen of Porthkernick a day later. Further out in Gerrans Bay a few Black-throated Divers and a larger number of Great Northern Divers were present.

A female Common Scoter was also noted as well as four Slavonian Grebes.

As always, a few walks around the coast and creeks produced a fair variety of waders despite the time of year and a few Grey Plover were nice to see, including a flock of a dozen birds. A decent sized flock of around twenty Turnstone were also noted at Portscatho during one visit.
Other than a few Mediterranean Gulls there was not much in the way of gull activity, though a lone Kittiwake was noted offshore as well as the more expected Gannets and both Razorbill and Guillemot were also in Gerrans Bay.

It was also good to see a couple of Cirl Buntings around our accommodation and I ended up with a holiday list of sixty-six species...not that shabby.