Sutton Bingham - Tue 26 Sep

Nothing of note at the reservoir over the past ten days or so, but a Blog post today simply because I had a record count of Mandarin at the southern end of the reservoir with thirty-one birds present. A lone Common Sandpiper was the only other bird of note.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 22 Sep

Another Dunlin turned up yesterday and was still present this evening alongside seven Common Sandpipers. There were five Wigeon and around thirty Teal also at the southern end whilst three Gadwall were on West Pool.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 17 Sep

A brief visit a couple of days ago produced my first two Wigeon of the Autumn but today was much better with an evening visit yielding a Black Tern at the southern end alongside a Common Tern. It's been a couple of years since my last patch Black Tern and with Autumn passage at Sutton Bingham being so poor this year with hardly any migrants it was great to finally pick up a very welcome year tick. Also this evening a Dunlin, whether it's the same bird that was present a few days ago or not, who knows, and a few Common Sandpipers.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2023 now at 115 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 13 Sep

A quick visit during my lunch break today produced a Dunlin at the southern end with half a dozen Common Sandpipers.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 10 Sep

An evening visit today, arriving at around 5.30pm and there was a nice amount of action for a change with two Cattle Egret dropping in to land on the small pontoon opposite the Canoe Club being the pick of the birds seen. Five Common Sandpipers and a drake Gadwall were at the southern end. A Wheatear was in the field that is on the far side of the road by the Canoe Club and another two were on the dam wall, this is the first time I've seen three separate Wheatears at Sutton Bingham on the same day.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 7 Sep

Water levels are dropping but I fear it's too late for any real wader passage now, but here's hoping. A quick visit on Monday this week did turn up another brief Cattle Egret and a drake Gadwall but little else.
This afternoon a very quick visit in very hot conditions was unsurprisingly devoid of birds with just a single Common Sandpiper seen but two more Wheatears were on the dam wall briefly.

It's been a pretty amazing Autumn for Wheatears at Sutton Bingham this year, with a total of eleven being seen (of which I've seen nine), but there have been very few other passerine migrants.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 3 Sep

After the day out in Devon I thought I had better check out the patch just in case! Two Common Sandpipers were at the southern end, but the Greenshank seems to have moved on after its two week stay. Another Wheatear was present on the dam wall and a Cattle Egret flew up the arm.

South Devon - Sun 3 Sep

A trip out with birding mates today as the usual suspects met up at Darts Farm and headed out to our first stop of the day, Bowling Green Marsh RSPB where we struck it lucky as the tide was in so there was a mass of waders present. Among the numerous Curlew, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and Redshank there were a few different waders.

A Ruff showed pretty well feeding in the grass at the water's edge.

A lone Whimbrel was located amongst the gathered waders.

A few Bar-tailed Godwits were amongst their black-tailed cousins.

About a dozen or so Knot were present, though could blend in with the crowd, this one associating with Redshank and Dunlin.

A single Curlew Sandpiper took some finding, but I managed it!

Other than the waders there was very little around, a Kingfisher flew past and a Pintail was on the pool at the back of the reserve and a Spoonbill flew in, circled the area and headed off north.

After a good peroid of time we decided to head back to the cars and drove on to our second location of the day, Aylesbeare Common RSPB. By the time we arrived it was very hot and there were very few birds around, just a few Stonechats and we did eventually locate three Dartford Warblers. There were lots of butterflies though with the pick being Grayling, Small Heath and a Clouded Yellow.

We then decided to head back towards home and stopped at the Seaton Wetlands reserve, in particular Black Hole Marsh, for a look around. We added Ringed Plover and Greenshank to the day's wader tally but not much else, though a Knot was seen on the Axe estuary.

With the heat and a fair amount of walking now taking it's toll we called it a day and set off for home. Some great birds and some even better company.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 1 Sep

A pre-work visit turned up another Wheatear, this one was on the dam wall, which seems to be a favoured spot for them this year. A Hobby flew over the car I was making my way to the Fishing Lodge whilst at the southern end the Greenshank was still present along with five Common Sandpipers and five Teal. A drake Gadwall was off the northern causeway.
Whilst at work Pete messaged our WhatsApp group to say he'd had a few Spotted Flycatchers at the southern end so during my lunch break I hot-footed it back to patch to try my luck. Fortunately, I succeeded with at least seven being present around Cotton Bridge.

I'd left my 'scope in the car so the above photo was the best I could manage through my bins.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2023 now at 114 species.