Arne RSPB - Sat 31 May

A trip to Arne RSPB reserve today and a decent walk out to Shipstal Point first which produced a few waders, including a flock of eight Sanderling, and both Common Tern and Sandwich Tern fishing offshore. The walk down to the point also produced two Spotted Flycatchers, one of which was rather showy.

The second half of the visit was spent walking across Coombe Heath in a search for the heathland specialities, but I drew a complete blank with just a couple of Meadow Pipits and a Hobby in rather blustery conditions. Several Shelduck and Redshank were in Middlebeare channel, but that was about it.

A wonderful day out, but missed several species I was hoping to see.

Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 25 May

An afternoon visit to the Somerset Levels and the ham Wall RSPB reserve this afternoon and whilst I failed to see any of the recent scarcities that have been in the area I did have a lovely trip out and some good birds to boot.

Highlights were undoubtedly a couple of singing Garden Warblers, both of which were in vegetation right in front of me but failed to show themselves, and several hawking Hobbies which were zooming over the reedbeds from the second viewing platform.

Add to these the now expected Great White Egrets and Marsh Harriers alongside the occasional booming Bittern.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 24 May

Pete found a Sanderling on the northern causeway at lunchtime today, however, I missed the WhatsApp message and only read it ninety minutes later! Anyway, I headed up to the reservoir and pulled up along the causeway in the hope that the bird might still be present. As I got out of the car I saw the Sanderling briefly before a car drove past, beeped its horn, and flushed all the gathered gulls and the Sanderling. Mixed emotions, glad I'd seen it, albeit briefly, but annoyed it had gone. However, on a whim I checked the causeway on the West Pool side and was surprised to find the Sanderling had simply flown over the road and it showed really well for the remainder of my stay.

A scarce visitor to Sutton Bingham but this is the second recent record following an Autumn bird last year.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 99 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 11 May

I'd not had the opportunity to visit the reservoir over the past week other than an hour on Thursday morning, where I had two singing Reed Warblers, one off the jetty at the end of the northern causeway, which seems to have present for a while and is holding territory, plus a second bird at the extreme south of the patch. I also saw three Red Kites during that visit.

This evening I had a message from Pete telling me that a Lesser Whitethroat was singing opposite the southern causeway, so I popped down and met up with Pete and after listening to it sing for a while, finally clapped my eyes on the Lesser Whitethroat, my first for the year.

As Pete wandered off I returned to the car and noticed a falcon in the top of a tree, the light was dreadful as it was directly behind the bird, however, it was clear to see it was a Kestrel, my second of the year and a tough bird to see at Sutton Bingham these days. As you can see, the light was s poor I could only get silhouettes of the bird, but you can still tell it's a bird!

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 97 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 May

A late afternoon visit today and there wasn't a huge amount to report, however, as I was stood at the northern causeway I had a bit of a shock as an Osprey appeared and successfully caught a fish, albeit a rather small one! I then lost it as it gradually gained height and drifted south. Here's a distant record shot!

I then went down the arm and had a look around, the pick of the birds being a pair of Teal. Then, to my surprise, the Osprey reappeared and took another fish, circled the reservoir and headed off to the south-west, not to be seen again, although it was closer, enabling slightly better record shots...slightly better!

So a pretty good visit in the end, with a decent year tick.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 96 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 23 Apr

Unlike the last couple of weeks, I didn't have time to spend long a the reservoir before work this morning, so a quick stop at the northern causeway only. This was worthwhile though with a Reed Warbler singing in the corner of West Pool, though it was deep in cover the whole time, affording just a brief view.

I had slightly more time available after work and this was also beneficial as I found six Egyptian Geese on the bank opposite the Sailing Club, rather distant but a good addition to the year list.

So two new birds for the year today (though it appears I missed a couple of Black-tailed Godwits which were flushed and flew south early morning, you can't get them all!).

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 95 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 19 Apr

I got a message this morning from one of the Rangers at Sutton Bingham saying he had a strange bird outside the Fishing Lodge but that it had flown to the northern bank and was lost to view. Unfortunately, I knew it would be a little while before I could get to site. Fortunately, when I did arrive I managed to relocate the bird in question and it was a Whimbrel!

I've not seen many Whimbrel at Sutton Bingham, they are a scarce visitor and it's been many years since the last one I saw on the patch, so this was a real bonus, and the fact it was pretty settled for the duration of my visit made it all the more rewarding.

The only other bird of note this morning was a lone Common Sandpiper but an afternoon visit did yield brief views of the singing Cetti's Warbler which is still hanging around near Cotton Bridge.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 93 species.