Sutton Bingham - Fri 30 Aug

Yesterday it was Ash finding decent birds that I then went on and missed last night, this time another Whinchat and a Greenshank. All I've seen this week was a Common Tern passing through on Wednesday morning.

This morning I stopped before work and spend a decent amount of time working the water's edge at the southern end and just as I was giving up hope and heading back to the car to get to the office I found the Whinchat...at last! It was a little distant but I had good 'scope views and was just relieved to add another bird to the year list.

Absolutely nothing else to report this morning other than the Great White Egret I found a few days ago.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 103 species.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 27 Aug

Pete found a Whinchat last night at the southern end (and had a fly-over Tree Pipit) but it was hardly surprising that my search this morning drew a blank with no sign of yesterday's Whinchat. I did find a Great White Egret and a Green Sandpiper and two Common Sandpipers were still at the southern end.

August has been a disappointing month as I've missed several species, but family and work commitments are much more important than patch birding.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Aug

A few brief visits on the way to and from work over the past week have failed to produce anything much of note, though a notable count of three Coot together on Friday was worth mentioning.

Today we were eating Sunday lunch and I heard my phone notify me of a WhatsApp message, I didn't really think anything of it and it was nearly two hours later that I remembered and thought I'd better check...Sanderling on the northern causeway, but flighty and had gone missing at least an hour earlier...fortunately I didn't really notice the "gone missing" bit and I just jumped in the car. On the drive over the penny dropped that it had left the northern causeway and hadn't been relocated, so on a hunch I made straight for the Fishing Lodge and this turned out to be an inspired decision as I found the Sanderling feeding on the shoreline right in front of me.

An inland Sanderling is always a good record, and when it's on your patch that's even better, my third for Sutton Bingham and another quality find by Dave Chown.

After getting my fill I headed round to the northern causeway where a Common Tern was present.

The southern end was much quieter with nothing new to report.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 102 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 19 Aug

I managed to spend a bit of time at the reservoir this morning before work, hoping that something would have dropped in...it hadn't. The only bird of note was a fly-through Common Tern.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 18 Aug

After my recent run of missing some decent year ticks on the patch, I finally connected with a patch scarcity today with a Kestrel at the southern end of the reservoir. I've not seen a Kestrel at Sutton Bingham for over eighteen months so it was a real bonus seeing this one. Credit has to go to Pete who found the bird earlier in the day (in fact he had two juveniles together, I was happy that one had hung about).

The only other birds of note around today were a single Green Sandpiper and three Common Sandpipers.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 101 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 17 Aug

A quick visit to day produced a female Tufted Duck in the north-east corner, a very well marked individual.

A pair of Gadwall were off the northern causeway whilst a Green Sandpiper and two Common Sandpipers were also present.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 15 Aug

Despite a few decent birds this week has been frustrating as I've missed four year ticks, Pete had Greenshank and Ringed Plover fly through yesterday and Ash had a fly-through Sandwich Tern and a pair of Shoveler this morning. I've missed something like fifteen species so far in 2024, not good.

Hasten to say, the Shoveler had vanished by the time I got to the reservoir this evening despite a decent search. That's twice I've missed this species this year. However, I did have a Wheatear fly from the dam wall and vanish to the south and a single Common Sandpiper was on the dam itself. Other than that, there were two Coot off the Fishing Lodge.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 13 Aug

Just over a week after the family group appeared at the southern end of the reservoir, a lone Shelduck was off the northern causeway this morning!

Very little else of note during a quick visit with the waders at the southern end having all appeared to have cleared out and just three Common Sandpipers off the Fishing Lodge.

A return visit later in the day produced a couple of Common Terns off the dam.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 12 Aug

A pre-work visit produced five Green Sandpipers at the southern end, viewable from the road a the bottom gate is still locked unfortunately. Six Common Sandpipers were present from the Fishing Lodge and two Coot were in the same area.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 7 Aug

A quick stop, as is the norm of late, on the way home from work to day and luckily I was able to find the Wheatear that Pete had found earlier in the day. It's taken a while this year, but that finally brought up the century!

Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 100 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 5 Aug

A very quick visit before work turned up a surprise in the form of a family group of Shelduck at the southern end.

It's been a few years since my last patch Shelduck, so this was a welcome addition to the year list.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 99 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Aug

An early morning trip to the reservoir today and it turned out to be pretty productive, bucking the recent trend of disappointing visits. I arrived on site and made the northern causeway my first stop, within a few minutes an Oystercatcher flew in from the north and briefly alighted on the causeway before a Grey Heron spooked it and off it went again, heading south.
I then popped round to the Fishing Lodge where half a dozen Common Sandpipers were bobbing about and the Oystercatcher flew back in, circled the northern end and then vanished never to be seen again!
No access to the southern end as the gate was closed as the meadow is scheduled to be cut soon, but I did stop at the car park and walk partway down the reservoir towards the Canoe Club. A Sedge Warbler was in the vegetation on the water's edge and a Hobby flew overheard, rounding off an enjoyable ninety minutes on the patch.