Sutton Bingham - Fri 30 Dec

My final visit of the year to the patch and again I failed to find anything new or that interesting. In fact, a couple of drake Tufted Ducks amongst the Wigeon was as good as it got.

So 2022 went out with barely a whisper as I failed to add any new birds to the year list since the start of December, but that being said, the year ended up being my best ever for the patch with a final total of 125 species at Sutton Bingham, and that does not include the White Storks that visited.

I did miss about a dozen birds this year, three of which (Grasshopper Warbler, Waxwing and Crossbill) would have been patch lifers. I did add two birds to my Sutton Bingham list, a self-found Pied Flycatcher and the Grey Phalarope that made a brief visit.

And that's it for another year of patch birding and I'm now getting ready to start again in 2023!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Dec

A brief late morning visit produced a female Shoveler amongst the Wigeon flock that consisted of one hundred and fifty-four birds, but there was nothing else to be found today.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 22 Dec

I've been able to make a few flying visits over the past week but seen nothing of note, however, this afternoon I arrived on site before dark and was lucky enough to see the Cattle Egret that had been dropping in presumably to roost for the past few days. It showed really well in the trees below the car park and was viewable from the northern causeway. Always a bit obscured and with the light failing rapidly I managed this identifiable photo!

The only other birds of note today were a pair of Gadwall on West Pool.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 16 Dec

An early morning visit to the reservoir today and the recent cold snap meant West Pool was completely frozen over and much of the southern end of the reservoir was also iced over. A walk from the car park towards the Canoe Club produced four Tufted Ducks with a further eighteen off the dam, a very good count for the reservoir these days. Other wildfowl present today included two female Shoveler amongst the Wigeon flock and a pair of Mandarin were at the bottom of the car park.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 15 Dec

Not much of note during the very few and very brief visits I'd made to the reservoir over the past couple of weeks. However, a few things of interest today with a late afternoon visit produced a nice total of eight Gadwall and three Shoveler off the dam with Mallards, Teal and Wigeon.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 1 Dec

I'd not had the opportunity to visit the patch for the best part of a week due to other commitments and I nearly didn't bother today as thick fog pretty much meant no chance of seeing anything on the water. However, a stop at the Fishing Lodge did turn up a year tick in the form of a Black Redstart! Initially rather distant and very mobile it eventually started feeding on the boats where it showed much better, I even got a few shots through the fog.

After enjoying this little beauty for about fifteen minutes I headed round to the car park and had a wander. A couple of Chiffchaffs were the pick of the birds with nothing else of real note being seen.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2022 now at 125 species.