Sutton Bingham - 10 Aug 13

I spent a couple of hours at my local patch this morning, something I've not done for quite some time. I walked pretty much the length of the reservoir and whilst there was nothing scarce around a Common Sandpiper was on the northern causeway before flying south (I later heard it at the southern end of the reservoir but didn't see it again). The only other slightly less common birds seen today were two Little Egrets near the Sailing Club.
Whilst there may not have been anything much on the rarity front, I did see plenty of evidence of successful breeding this year at SBR. A small family of Reed Warblers was a pleasant sight whilst a juvenile Green Woodpecker put on a nice show near the hide.

Near the car park a female Reed Bunting was seen with a couple of fledglings, a Coot was present with one youngster, and Great Crested Grebes seem to have faired much better this year with a good number of young present, ranging in ages too with some almost as large as the adults and another pair with young still on their backs, and a couple of Little Grebes were also seen. A Sparrowhawk zoomed low over the water and was the only raptor I saw.
One of the Herring Gulls present spent about ten minutes yawning whilst perched on one of the buoys...it's a hard life loafing around being a gull!

On the butterfly front I finally saw my first Common Blues of the year, though there were just two seen. Small Coppers were slightly more numerous and I also saw a couple of Gatekeepers amongst more routine fair. It was certainly an enjoyable time "on patch" today.