Sutton Bingham - Fri 30 Oct

A few brief visits over the course of the week have failed to turn up anything, though a Mute Swan was present yesterday and was still on site this morning. However, of much more interest was a Garganey that was seen from the northern causeway flying south with three Mallard, unfortunately I was unable to relocate it at the southern end. A Stonechat was seen flitting around in the vegetation along the water's edge at the southern end and a Coot was off the northern causeway.

A quick stop in pouring rain the following morning, Sat 31Oct, produced a total of three Coot and a very late Swallow.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Oct

My first visit to the reservoir for over a week due to our family holiday in Cornwall and it does not look like I have missed that much, though the water levels are very high now. Wigeon numbers had increased to sixty-five birds and a single Common Sandpiper was on the northern causeway, surely it will be heading off south to Africa soon? Three Skylark, a single Siskin and a small flock of eighteen Fieldfare passed overhead whilst I was on site.

Cornwall - Sat 17 Oct - Sat 23 Oct

A week away...at last...as we were due to take this family holiday back in March until the whole COVID-19 lockdown business and it was great to get some time off work and get away for a proper break. A Red Kite was one of the first birds we saw after crossing the Tamar in to Cornwall and after arriving at the holiday cottage after dark on Saturday night a pair of Tawny Owls were calling from the garden, so a good start to the trip! The following morning my first Fieldfares and Redwings of the Autumn flew over as well as a good number of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits. A trip to Pendower and Carne beaches produced a total of four Clouded Yellows as well as a Whinchat with a few Stonechats on the coastal path.

A Firecrest in the garden was a good start to Monday and this was further improved by the presence of a Cirl Bunting. A trip to Portscatho yielded half a dozen Common Gulls and at least ten Mediterranean Gulls off the harbour and a couple of Rock Pipits were unsurprisingly feeding on the rocks.

We then headed to St Mawes where I found a Firecrest and a couple of Chiffchaffs whilst on a walk to the east of the town. The River Percuil estuary held Greenshank and Redshank as well as a couple of Curlew.

Tuesday afternoon saw me pop out for a hour or so to check out Ruan Lanithorne where with the tide being low I managed to find a few waders including a lone Black-tailed Godwit with seven Lapwings and a single Common Sandpiper. Two Little Grebes were on the river and a nice flock of around fifty Stock Doves was seen over the adjacent fields. That evening a Clifden Nonpariel moth alighted on the cottage wall, and it was still present the following morning, albeit a little soggy.

A walk around the churchyard (though they are more like gardens) at St Just at Roseland on Wednesday in what was pretty poor weather, however, I did find another Firecrest along with a Blackcap and Goldcrest. In the afternoon we popped over the river on the King Harry Ferry and took a wander around the National Trust site of Trelissick, though nothing much in the way of birds other than common seaside species.

More garden action on Thursday morning with two Tawny Owls belting it out at 6.50am. After breakfast we found two Firecrests in the garden feeding just outside the front door.

Later in the day we headed to Towan Beach where at least five Grey Seals were present and three Mediterranean Gulls were offshore.

On Friday morning I popped down to Pendower for an early morning seawatch which produced five Great Northern Divers, of which three were in fine summer plumage. A single Kittiwake and several Gannets were out to sea and three Razorbills were noted.

Later in the day we popped to Melinsey Mill for a cream tea and whilst there saw a couple of Marsh Tits amongst commoner fair. Another beach walk rounded off the day and then before we knew it it was Saturday morning and we had to pack up and come home. A brilliant week away and batteries fully recharged!

Sutton Bingham - Thu 15 Oct

A flicker of excitement this afternoon when a stumbled upon an all white gull, but after a quick glance I was certain it was just a leucistic Herring Gull.

However, what followed was much discussion on our own SBR WhatsApp group and Twitter about what this bird actually was. A second summer Iceland Gull was suggested but after much more online discussion the general consensus was that my original call was correct and it was indeed a Herring Gull. Other than the dodgy gull there was not really much else about, a female Stonechat was in the same area as the male that I found the other day. A couple of Coots were present and a few Swallows and Chiffchaffs were noted.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 11 Oct

A decent two and a half hours on patch this morning and quite a bit of Skylark movement with at least ten passing through along with a similar number of Siskin also going over. A male Stonechat was on West Pool.

A couple of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were still about, though presumably passage birds. The two Common Sandpipers were still on West Pool. At least forty Meadow Pipits were present across the site. A Tufted Duck was a new arrival and at the southern end the number of Teal and Wigeon seemed to be pretty much the same as it has been for the past few days. Finally, two Kingfishers were also seen this morning.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 9 Oct

A quick lunchtime visit today produced a Green Sandpiper with a single Common Sandpiper at the southern end of the reservoir. Two more Common Sandpipers were on the northern causeway and a Little Grebe was also present.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 8 Oct

A bit of time at the reservoir this afternoon, but other than an adult Yellow-legged Gull it was pretty much more of the same today.

Two Common Sandpipers were again present on the West Pool side of the northern causeway whilst at the southern end around twenty Teal and a similar number of Wigeon. A single Siskin was heard flying over and at least thirty Meadow Pipits were present. Finally, three Common Gulls, all sub-adult birds, were on buoys around the water tower.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Oct

What a dismal morning, raining consistently for what seems like over 36 hours and still falling when I arrived on site at about 8.45am. I went straight to the southern end and was not surprised to see that all the mud that had been exposed over the summer had gone, covered in water. That being said there were twenty Mandarin present (a quick look yesterday had produced two dozen) and a similar number of Teal and Mallard and three Wigeon. Whilst scanning the duck a massive raptor burst from the vegetation and attempted to take a mallard before banking and alighting in one of the small trees on the water's edge. A Goshawk! Unbelievable and what a bird. It was an adult male, striking grey with the nice white "eyebrows" and the size of a Buzzard, making the nervous Grey Heron look almost small in comparison. Unfortunately the distant and rain made getting a photo all but impossible, but I had a go nonetheless.

After this excitement I wandered up towards the Canoe Club and relocated the Ringed Plover on the water's edge.

In the same area there were around thirty of so Meadow Pipits, a Common Sandpiper and a nice male Stonechat. I then went up to the northern causeway and again saw the Coot that has been present for a short while now, but nothing else of note. So a quick drive round to the Fishing Lodge but other than nine Wigeon it was very quiet. Several hundred Swallows and House Martins were feeding over the reservoir for the duration of my ninety minutes on site.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 116 species.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 2 Oct

A very quick visit in the rain at lunchtime was not very productive! The Ringed Plover was still present though with rising water levels I doubt it will be around much longer and it looks as if the recent rain will have done enough to push the water up high enough to cover the exposed mud, thus putting pay to any late wader migration unfortunately. Two Common Sandpipers were on West Pool and a Coot was off the northern causeway.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 1 Oct

A good couple of hours on patch this afternoon and whereas I failed to make any additions to the year list but there were still a few decent birds about. The Ringed Plover that I found on Tuesday (but failed to see in pouring rain yesterday) was still around, though always a little distant.

A single Snipe and a Green Sandpiper were also at the southern end along with a total of nineteen Teal and two Wigeon. A further seven Wigeon were off the dam. Two Common Sandpipers were feeding on and around the dam wall.

There was again a good number of Meadow Pipits with over fifty across the site, most in the northeast corner with twenty or so Linnets and several Pied Wagtails...which attracted the attention of a Sparrowhawk. A first winter Common Gull was on the floats surrounding the tower.

A single Siskin flew over heading north and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was present. A good number of Swallows were seen and a few Chiffchaffs were around. Finally, a Raven was heard calling and a Coot was still present. So all in all a good afternoon.