Sutton Bingham - Tue 29 Sep

Another quick lunchtime visit today, it's pretty much the only chance I have to visit the reservoir at present, and today a couple of new birds with a  Ringed Plover present with three Common Sandpipers feeding on the mud at the southern end.

Also at the southern end a single Gadwall roosting on the far bank with Mallards. This was a long overdue patch year tick for me.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 115 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 28 Sep

The only reason I'm writing a blog post today is simply because I saw two Coots at the reservoir this lunchtime! There were still three Common Sandpipers milling around and again plenty of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Linnets on the dam (I missed a Stonechat and Wheatear found by the Wessex Water Ranger, Ivan, earlier in the day).

Sutton Bingham - Sun 27 Sep

A brief mid-morning visit between taxiing services and there was a massive arrival of Meadow Pipits around West Pool, with somewhere in the region of sixty birds, which in turn attracted the attention of a male Sparrowhawk. A further dozen or so Meadow Pipits were on the dam with twenty Linnets and a lone Wigeon was resting.

Three Grey Wagtails were also on West Pool and a lone Coot was off the northern causeway. Four Common Sandpipers were scattered across the site whilst at the southern end a single Snipe was present.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 25 Sep

A quick lunchtime visit and the Greenshank was still at the southern end along with a single Common Sandpiper. A slight increase in the number of Teal with sixteen birds present today. A couple of decent gulls today with a second calendar year Common Gull and a very smart juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 24 Sep

An afternoon visit today was fairly productive. The Greenshank that had turned up last Sunday evening was still present, and today was the first chance I had to actually go and see it as my car has been off the road.

Also at the southern end two Snipe were out feeding in the open.

A total of four Common Sandpipers were present around the reservoir whilst two Meadow Pipits were present with several Pied Wagtails and fifteen Linnets on the dam.

A small flock of nine Siskin flew over and there were at least a hundred hirundines over the reservoir, mainly Swallows and House Martins but at least one Sand Martin was seen.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 20 Sep

Yesterday's Little Stint was still present this late morning along with three Common Sandpipers, two Green Sandpipers and a Snipe.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 19 Sep

I'm without a car for a few days as it's off the road awaiting a repair, but luckily I was able to borrow my wife's car to get to work this morning and that also gave me a chance to have a quick stop at the reservoir on the way in to the office. Stopping at the northern causeway there wasn't much about until I spotted a Dunlin on West Pool.

There were also two Common Sandpipers and two Teal on West Pool, so obviously a few arrivals overnight. With that in mind I headed down to the southern end where there were a few more birds about. A further fourteen Teal were present and then a number of waders flew up and then settled again. The two long-staying Green Sandpipers vanished out of site but there were still three Common Sandpipers and a Snipe showing. I then noticed another small wader, so quickly getting the 'scope set up I was thrilled to find a Little Stint, the first at Sutton Bingham for a good few years.

This diminutive wader certainly made the visit worthwhile, even if it did mean I was running the risk of being late for work!

A quick stop on the way home from work produced two female Shoveler that had subsequently been found but I had missed first thing.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 114 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 17 Sep

A quick visit yesterday produced a Wigeon and a fly over Yellow Wagtail but I was able to spend a couple of hours on patch this afternoon and it was much the same as recent visits. The two Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers were still present at the southern end. I took a walk around the Cotton Bridge area and whereas there were plenty of birds I failed to find anything new for the year list. A Marsh Tit was nice to see though and a small flock of half a dozen Siskin were buzzing around.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 15 Sep

Another lunchtime visit today and again all the action was at the southern end where three Common Sandpipers and one Green Sandpiper were present. Two Mute Swans were new in and amongst the gathered Mallards there were two Teal and a single Wigeon.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 14 Sep

A visit yesterday produced two Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers but at lunchtime today I could only find a couple of Common Sandpipers. Two Teal were also at the southern end whilst a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull was present on the water. Not the best of photos admittedly but it was a bit of a beast.

There must have been getting on for three hundred large gulls on the reservoir today. The only other sighting of note was of an adult Little Grebe, again at the southern end.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 10 Sep

A nice long visit to the reservoir this afternoon with the best part of two hours on site. That being said, it was not that busy with nothing of note from the northern causeway or around West Pool. At the southern end two Hobbies were hawking insects. Two Common Sandpipers and a single Green Sandpiper was present along with nine Teal.

I then popped round to the Fishing Lodge and there were a few birds around on the dam, most noticeably another Wheatear.

Also around here I had my first Meadow Pipits of the Autumn with half a dozen birds present. Several Pied Wagtails were also noted with at least twenty Linnet.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 9 Sep

Another lunchtime visit and a Wheatear was a nice find in the field on the opposite side of the road to the Canoe Club.

A couple of Common Sandpipers and three Teal were at the southern end.

On the northern causeway a first summer Common Gull was an unusual bird for the time of year.

Common Gulls are to be expected in the winter, but an early Autumn bird was certainly surprising.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 8 Sep

A lunchtime visit today was fairly productive despite the short amount of time I had on site. The southern end held a single Wigeon, six Teal and two Mute Swans amongst a large number of Canada Geese. A single Yellow Wagtail was on the water's edge before flying south.

From the northern causeway an interesting Cormorant was on one of the pontoons off the Sailing Club. It was noticeably smaller than those Cormorants next to it and invited plenty of discussion.

After much discussion online the general consensus was that it was a small sinensis Cormorant. That's the thing with birding, you're always learning.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 5 Sep

A quick afternoon visit produced half a dozen Teal and three Common Sandpipers were at the southern end whilst in the cattle field to the west of West Pool at least a dozen Yellow Wagtails were 'scoped.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 4 Sep

A real patch mega this morning when, at just gone 8.00am, I found a Firecrest in the car park! This is only my second ever record of a Firecrest at Sutton Bingham following a December bird in 2016. It was in a loose feeding flock of birds that also included two Willow Warblers, a few Chiffchaffs and a juvenile Blackcap plus a Goldcrest and a couple of Blue Tits. I didn't find anything else of note today, just four Teal at the southern end, but what a bonus addition to the year list the Firecrest was!

Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 113 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 3 Sep

"Winter is coming!", to coin a phrase. The first three Wigeon of the season were new in this morning at the southern end with four Teal also present and the first Snipe of the Autumn.

From the Fishing Lodge a single Yellow Wagtail was present with around thirty-five Pied Wagtails. A Coot was off the Fishing Lodge, still less than a handful of sightings of this species at the reservoir this year, and a Raven was seen.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 2 Sep

An adult Little Grebe was a nice find late afternoon at the southern end, jus the third sighting this year (and the first adult bird). A female Tufted Duck was also new in and was in the same area. Earlier in the day a single Common Sandpiper was on West Pool and a Peregrine was on one of the pylons.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 1 Sep

Well September started where August left off with the Ringed Plover and Dunlin still at the southern end of the reservoir early morning, though the Ringed Plover flew north calling soon after 8.00am. Four Common Sandpipers were also at the southern end, a Peregrine was on one of the pylons and six Teal were present. Two Yellow Wagtails flew south over the northern causeway.