Sutton Bingham - Tue 24 Mar

Big news from Wessex Water, they have closed all their sites for the foreseeable future as part of the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This means no access to Sutton Bingham until further notice, disappointing but a sensible decision. As a result my visit today was somewhat curtailed and all I could find were five Tufted Duck on West Pool plus the Wigeon flock which has surprisingly increased to twenty-two birds.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 23 Mar

Another very quiet start to the day with nothing of note from the northern causeway or at the southern end, however driving round to the Fishing Lodge I found a pair of Greylag Geese with the fifteen Wigeon and a few Canada Geese.

The second decent patch year tick in as many days, and given the time of year a good shout for being genuine rather than feral birds.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 80 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 22 Mar

An early morning visit this morning and it was all looking rather quiet with just the flock of fifteen Wigeon and a small flurry of eight Sand Martins passing through. That all changed when I checked out a private area and found two Little Owls.

They were rather distant but what a cracking bird, my first on patch for well over fifteen years.

Update on the Little Owls: 
There has been no further sign of the birds so it looks as if they were simply passing through, hence the reason I added the sighting to my blog after the birds had left.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 21 Mar

I made a lunchtime visit today and there were a few new birds in, most noticeably a small flock of five Shoveler, two drakes and three ducks. This is a pretty high count for Sutton Bingham nowadays.

A Meadow Pipit was in the field between the car park and the Canoe Club and showed rather well.

Other bits and pieces today included a sub-adult Mute Swan at the southern end as well as the fifteen Wigeon that were still lingering. Two adult Great Black-backed Gull were also noted during today's visit, so not a bad little visit, but no new birds for the year list today.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 20 Mar

A bit of raptor activity early morning with a Peregrine over the northern end of the reservoir as well as seven Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk. A drake Tufted Duck was seen and fifteen Wigeon were still present. A Green Woodpecker was seen from the dam, and seemed fairly un-phased by my presence.

Two Sand Martin passed through and a pair of Mute Swans were new in.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 19 Mar

A very quick visit in pretty dismal whether produced my first three Sand Martins of the year feeding in front of the Fishing Lodge. Fourteen Wigeon were in the north east corner and a drake Tufted Duck was seen.
Sutton Bingham list for 2020 now at 76 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 18 Mar

A singing Skylark could be heard from the northern causeway first thing, and a Meadow Pipit flew over. On the water a pair of Wigeon were at the southern end and a lone drake Mandarin was present. A Peregrine was on top of one of the pylons. The "usual" pair of Great Black-backed Gulls were again present along with the first year bird that I've seen a few times over the past couple of weeks.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 17 Mar

No sign of last night's Great White Egret this morning but three Mute Swans were new in and fifteen Wigeon were still present.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 16 Mar

I was late leaving work due to a meeting but still decided a quick stop at the reservoir on the way home may produce a scarce gull (especially in light of the gulls turning up in north Somerset). Anyway, I failed to find any gulls but a drake Tufted Duck was new in. However, the unexpected highlight was a Great White Egret feeding on West Pool!

This is now the third year in a row I've had a Great White Egret on the patch list, but it's still a great bird to see.
Sutton Bingham list for 2020 now at 74 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 15 Mar

A visit late afternoon failed to produce any early hirundines after the heavy rain all morning. The southern end hosted sixteen Wigeon and a pair of Mandarin flew in from the north. A single Reed Bunting was noted and that was pretty much it until I noticed a distant flock of birds. Quickly getting them in the 'scope I was pleased to count a total of one hundred and fifty Golden Plover. A bird I see rarely on patch, so this was a real bonus year tick. The flock circled over the northern end of the reservoir for about five minutes before heading east.
Sutton Bingham list for 2020 now at 73 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 12 Mar

Not much sign of Spring today with the only summer migrant being a single Chiffchaff, though a dozen or so Redwing were noted. Just eight Wigeon remain at the reservoir and surely they will be moving on soon. A Marsh Tit was seen at the southern end of the reservoir and three Reed Bunting were near the car park.

A patch record count, by quite some margin, of Great Black-backed Gulls today with a first-winter and two adults off the Sailing Club and a further six adult birds over the extreme southern end of the reservoir.
A single Stock Dove and two Mistle Thrushes were the only other bird of note today.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 8 Mar

A quick stop on my way in to work this morning produced my first patch Chiffchaff of the year and what's more it was singing, a real sign of Spring. No time to look for anything else.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 2 Mar

A text from James meant a lunchtime twitch today as I raced up to the reservoir to add Stonechat to the year list. James had seen three (two males and a female) in the field opposite the Canoe Club, exactly where I had found a pair back in mid-October. I had been checking that area during most of my visits to the patch this year, but had drawn a blank! After a bit of a search I finally located a male and female on the fence line near the barn, so Stonechat safely on the patch year list and then straight back to work!
Sutton Bingham list for 2020 now at 72 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 1 Mar

Well March started with a whimper just as February had ended with a groan. It's been really quiet at Sutton Bingham over the past week or so, I guess the weather hasn't helped and the water level is very high. All the Wigeon seem to have moved on and a male Kestrel last Thursday was about the only bird of note over the past week. Today was not much better and if it were not for a total of twelve Mediterranean Gulls passing through it would have been a dead loss. Three Meadow Pipits were put up from the field between the Canoe Club and car park, but that's all folks!