Sutton Bingham - Fri 31 Dec

A late afternoon visit today in an attempt to try and add a last minute year tick for the patch but I failed with not a lot around at all. A few duck were in the north-east corner with 173 Wigeon, twenty Teal and around sixty Mallard.

Other than that there were loads of gulls, including a Yellow-legged Gull and plenty of winter thrushes coming in to roost.

All in all a very good year of birding at Sutton Bingham, my second highest annual total and one addition (Caspian Gull) to the patch life list. However, I did miss fifteen species over the course of the year, some by a matter of moments, and two that would have been patch ticks (but as I was in Cornwall at the time there was nothing I could do about that).

Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 finished on 118 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 29 Dec

Just half an hour of looking for birds at the reservoir this morning and I checked out West Pool in the hope of finding a Jack Snipe before the end of the year, I failed but did count seventy Common Snipe, a pretty decent Winter count for that small area. The only other sighting of note was of around two thousand Black-headed Gulls.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 26 Dec

A Christmas Day visit yesterday failed to deliver and presents, and today was not much better. The Common Sandpiper was still in a private area, I wonder if if will hang around for another week and make it in to the New Year? Other than that there were one hundred and sixty Wigeon and ten Teal, most of the duck were at the southern end today, whilst an adult Great Black-backed Gull was the first I'd seen on site for several weeks.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 20 Dec

I made a couple of brief visits to the reservoir over the weekend and the Caspian Gull continued to put on a good show.

A drake Gadwall was present on Sunday and there were also plenty of Wigeon about, but nothing else of note.

This morning I stopped off briefly before work and found a pair of Pochard! Having seen the female on Friday, the first on patch for a long time, two more appear today. There were three female Tufted Ducks and a drake Teal with the Pochard.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 17 Dec

A message on the SBR WhatsApp group just after 1pm sent me hurrying to the reservoir for a female Pochard, which fortunately I saw after a little bit of a search. Initially in the north east corner it then flew in to the middle of the reservoir with the Wigeon flock.

This is the first Pochard I've seen at Sutton Bingham for nearly three years, it is a real site rarity nowadays. Apparently the Caspian Gull was also present today, though I didn't really look for it as time was against me. The Common Sandpiper was still present though.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 118 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 15 Dec

Heartbreak on Monday as Dave Chown found the first Caspian Gull for Sutton Bingham, present from early afternoon until around 4pm when it was lost to view, presumably amongst the gathered roost. I arrived at 4.15pm and in dreadful weather and dismal light failed in my quest to see it. A two hour visit yesterday afternoon drew another blank but on a hunch I zoomed down to the reservoir during my lunch break today and refound it! What a tide of emotions over the past few days.

Initially on the causeway where a lady was throwing out bread it then took to the water before I succumbed to throwing bread myself and that drew it nice and close, the flight views were spectacular as this bird, a nice first-winter, flew by showing a snowy white head. Caspian Gull is a species I have searched for in numerous gull roosts at Sutton Bingham over the years, so finally connecting with one was brilliant, especially after the disappointment earlier in the week.

OK, the above photos are not as good as those taken by Dave when he found it on Monday, but I'm happy to have been able to see it and at least get a few record shots. I had to zoom back to the office so no time to see if anything else was about.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 117 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 12 Dec

Another fairly brief visit and again nothing much to report. A nice little flock of eleven Tufted Duck were viewable from the Fishing Lodge and a single drake Gadwall was with one hundred and six Wigeon at the southern end and that was that.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 9 Dec

Nothing much to report from the reservoir in early December, partly because I've not had the chance to visit other than a couple of brief stops. The Common Sandpiper is still present, thought not in a publicly accessible location. Wigeon numbers hit over eighty birds at the start of the month and three Tufted Duck stayed a day.