Sutton Bingham - Sun 22 Mar

A quick visit this afternoon to carry out the monthly WeBS count and it was still pretty quiet on the patch with a pair of Tufted Duck new arrivals on West Pool and the flock of Wigeon was still present, with thirty-one birds present.

Pick of the birds present was a second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull that was present on the northern causeway with a fair number of Herring Gulls.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2026 now at 73 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 19 Mar

An afternoon visit today turned out to be rather productive with a couple of distant Goshawks and a Red Kite soaring in the warm Spring air.

It was fairly quiet on the water, which seems to be the norm at present, but there were still thirty Wigeon and a pair of Teal at the southern end, and then a nice addition to the year list when a pair of Mandarin swam through.

A Chiffchaff was in song near the southern gate and was my first for the year at the reservoir but arguably the best bird of the visit was a Kestrel that flew low over, a species that is hard to see at Sutton Bingham these days.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2026 now at 72 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 4 Mar

As the weather was good and it wasn't dark, I decided that a quick stop at the reservoir on the way home from work might be nice, and indeed it was! I parked up on the northern causeway and looked over West Pool and the main reservoir hardly surprised by the apparent lack of birds, until I saw a distant duck off the dam that got me getting the 'scope out and sure enough, it was something of interest, a drake Goldeneye!

I quickly drove round to the Fishing Lodge and was able to get some closer views as it lingered with a couple of Mallard. Light was going and it was never that close, but I got a few record shots.

Nothing else of note during this quick visit, but Spring is on the way, so hopefully a few more things of interest will appear over the coming weeks.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2026 now at 64 species.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 20 Feb

I've had very little opportunity to visit the reservoir of the past month, but the few brief visits I have made have been very unproductive. This morning, there was a little interest with a Red Kite soaring over Hyde Farm and a Great White Egret on West Pool.

Ripley Farm Reservoir - Sun 25 Jan

When news broke of a Killdeer on a small farm reservoir a few days ago I was, obviously, tempted. However, I didn't really have the opportunity to go and see it until today when our initial Sunday morning plans fell by the wayside and that freed me up to make the journey to this interesting site just to the south of Ringwood.

I parked in the village of Avon, along with several other birders, and made the mile-long walk along a farm track towards the location of the target bird. Along the way I had a Red Kite fly over and then had some decent, if a little distant, views of a White-tailed Eagle...surely this was a good omen?

On arriving at the reservoir, which was really just a fairly large pond, I was helped on to the bird and was treated to some cracking views of the Killdeer, a Nearctic wader I hadn't really expected to see in the UK, and it was a little beauty.

There was plenty of other bird activity with several Egyptian Geese and Shelduck plus other commoner wildfowl, however, a Little Gull was a bonus year tick as I first saw it on water before it vanished whilst I was looking at other things but it then flew back in a few minutes later, showing really well in flight.

Having had my fill of the Killdeer I decided to head back home with the aim of getting back in time for lunch!

Sutton Bingham - Thu 22 Jan

Another rainy day, but I still managed some time at the reservoir this afternoon but it was pretty quiet. A small flock of nine Lapwing were near the Fishing Lodge for a while, before being flushed by one of the Sailing Club support boats.

Wildfowl were very much absent, with just a single pair of Wigeon present and little else. A Great White Egret was on West Pool and a second bird was at the southern end of the reservoir. A notable flock of thirty-nine Collared Doves was counted near the entrance to the Fishing Lodge.

The highlight of this afternoon's visit though was a Woodcock, flushed from a private area of the site. Having not seen one for a couple of years, it was a welcome addition to the year list.

Sutton Bingham year list now at 59 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 17 Jan

An afternoon trip today to do the monthly WeBS count and there was very little to report on the wildfowl front, just thirty-seven Wigeon and two Teal, though a Great White Egret was again present on West Pool.
A bit of excitement with a Red Kite seen from the dam, always a great bird to see, whilst a couple of Feral Pigeons were a less exciting addition to the patch year list.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2026 now at 58 species.