Sutton Bingham - Fri 26 Feb

A quick stop on the way home from work produced five Tufted Duck (a single one was present yesterday evening) viewable with around one hundred and twenty Wigeon from the northern causeway.
It's been fairly quiet at the reservoir over the past ten days, though two Mute Swans were present on 20 February, with one (or another) lingering to the next day.
I did miss two Greylag Geese which were present briefly on 23 February, unfortunate as this is by no means an annual occurrence on the patch and it would have been nice to add it to the year list.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 16 Feb

A quick look from the car as I passed on the way to work was worthwhile as I found a drake Pintail distantly off the northern causeway.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the photos above, it was a long way out but was a patch year tick nonetheless.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 69 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 15 Feb

A quick walk after work produced a total of ten Mediterranean Gulls, nine of which were on the water and the tenth was feeding with other gulls in an adjacent field. A flock of around seventy Lapwing flew over heading east.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 14 Feb

Nothing on the bird front today other than three Snipe and a Mediterranean Gull. The Wigeon flock had moved the the arm and around one hundred and twenty birds were on the water. However, the reason there's a blog post today is because I had some amazing views of an Otter hunting out in the reservoir between the car park and Canoe Club. Eventually it caught a massive Carp and swam to shore. Been a few years since I last saw an Otter at Sutton Bingham, always such a privilege to see one.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 13 Feb

The cold weather and snow failed to deliver anything out of the ordinary with little of note at the reservoir during this afternoon's walk. A couple of Siskin were near the Fishing Lodge and were the only sighting of interest.

Overhead a Mediterranean Gull flew south with a few Common Gulls and a single Snipe was flushed.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 11 Feb

I started my daily exercise at the Fishing Lodge today where a good number of Wigeon were still present along with several Canada Geese, but nothing unusual amongst either flock. A nice flock of eighteen Tufted Duck were in the north-east corner, that's a decent count for Sutton Bingham these days. In the horse paddock I was surprised to find two Lapwing, not often one gets grounded Lapwing in winter, they are usually seen in flocks flying over.

As I carried on my walk a raptor whizzed overhead and caused a bit of a fuss amongst various smaller birds (including at least one Siskin)before it alighted in a tree. A very smart male Kestrel, my second new patch year tick of the day.

A further stroll around the southern end of the reservoir produced seven Teal but nothing else of note.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 68 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 7 Feb

Taking my daily exercise at the reservoir this afternoon and it started fairly well with a single drake Gadwall amongst the Wigeon flock in the north-east corner. The fourth Gadwall I've seen on the patch this year having waited until the end of September to see one last year.

Having heard one "cronking" yesterday it was nice to see a couple of Raven today, my first at Sutton Bingham this year. As I was watching the Ravens a Grey Wagtail dropped in to a puddle right in front to me, but turned his back just as I took the photo!

On the water there were three adult Mediterranean Gulls, one in near full summer plumage with a second not far behind. Around a dozen Common Gulls were also present.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 66 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 4 Feb

A little over ninety minutes at the reservoir this afternoon and it was still very quiet on the bird front, however, there was one surprise in the form of a Shelduck viewable in the north-east corner with a dozen or so Canada Geese and ninety Wigeon.

Having not found a Shelduck at Sutton Bingham in 2020 it was good to add one to the year list especially as mid-Winter records are somewhat unusual with Autumn tending to be the most likely time to find one.

A walk around Cotton Bridge produced an amazing count of around seventy Snipe but I was unable to find anything else amongst them. Fourteen Teal were also seen at the southern end but that was it.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 65 species.