Chard Reservoir - Thu 27 Feb

A stop at Sutton Bingham this afternoon was totally unproductive, so as I needed to pop to Taunton I took a diversion via Chard Reservoir where I soon connected with the Little Gull that had been hanging around for a couple of days. Quite a cool bird and always a joy to see one and this was a particularly active one as it constantly flew around the reservoir dip-feeding off the surface. Well worth going slightly out of my way.

Cornwall - Sat 15 Feb to Sat 22 Feb

A week away in Cornwall to recharge the batteries, especially as our planned break back in October was cut short due to car issues, basically it blew up!

As with all family holidays, this was a strictly no birding...but obviously that wasn't quite true! In fact we did our first bit of birding on the drive down, stopping at Dozmary Pool where I connected with three Ring-necked Ducks, of which one was a very smart drake. A large flock of Golden Plover were wheeling around overhead and at least one Goosander was on the nearby Colliford Lake. Not a bad journey down to Cornwall.

The first full day and we stayed local, a trip to Portscatho produced a Black-necked Grebe close inshore, which I saw several times over the course of the week, and two Sanderling on the beach. A single Mediterranean Gull was also present. I then had a quick scan over Gerrans Bay from Pendower where I saw two Black-throated Divers and a few Great Northern Divers as well as a couple of Razorbills. It was pretty much more of the same the following day, except I found a drake Common Scoter off Porthkurnick beach.

On Tuesday we headed down to west Cornwall for the day, where a quick stop at Lelant Saltings produced a Glaucous Gull amongst the gathered gulls, but I was unable to find the adult Ring-billed Gull. After a nice day out I went along to the railway bridge on the A394 to stake out the roost site of the long-staying Booted Eagle. After a thirty minute wait I connected with my target and finally added Booted Eagle to my UK list (payback after missing the Chew Lake bird many years ago).

Over the next couple of days I spent most of my time checking out the sea, with a couple more Common Scoters and three Slavonian Grebes off Portscatho. Along with some commoner stuff it was a brilliant non-birding holiday.

Somerset Levels - Sun 9 Feb

A day out and about with the old crowd today, the first time in over a year since I'd been out birding with mates and we had a trip around the Somerset Levels.

Starting off at Greylake RSPB we failed to see anything that unusual other than a couple of very distant Common Cranes and a Marsh Harrier. A Cetti's Warbler was heard and a Reed Bunting was singing from atop a tree, but no sign of the long-staying and extremely regular and photogenic Merlin.

Off then to Catcott Lows where we saw lots of wildfowl, but no sign of the Green-winged Teal unfortunately.

The next stop was Shapwick Heath, pausing on route to connect with a couple of Egyptian Geese, and then long walk out to Decoy Lake where we missed our next target, two drake Ring-necked Ducks. At least one booming Bittern was some consolation.

So a mixed morning, and off to Ham Wall RSPB for the afternoon where a walk out to the second viewing platform and back failed to produce anything new so we took another long walk out to Noah's Lake where again we saw nothing new!

So after several hours of birding and having walked 10 kilometres we had pretty much missed every target bird we'd tried for. So with a final throw of the dice we drive round to Sharpham where we finally connected with something, a lone Russian White-fronted Goose, the day was rescued!

We may have missed lots of birds, but it was great to get out and about and spend time with good friends, sometimes that's the most important thing.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 6 Feb

I made a mad rush to the reservoir yesterday lunchtime to "twitch" a couple of Mute Swans, which I manged to successfully do, and having missed two previous sightings of what is a fairly difficult bird to see at Sutton Bingham these days, it was a welcome addition to the year list.

This afternoon I spent a good two or so hours on the patch and surprisingly the Mute Swans were still present, and rather more obliging than they were yesterday and they patrolled the southern end of the reservoir.

Also at the southern end there were twenty-eight Wigeon and a lone drake Tufted Duck. Despite a real slog around the site, I failed to add anything to the year list and to be honest, there isn't much more to report.

Sutton Bingham year list now at 68 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 2 Feb

I got a message from Pete late morning to say he'd had a Water Rail at Cotton Bridge, so later in the day I popped out and gave it a go. Fortunately, I managed to hear not one but two Water Rails in the area, one of which was extremely vocal and less than two metres away from me, but due to where I was standing I had no chance to actually see it! Nothing else of note for me today though.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 67 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 30 Jan

A very productive couple of hours at the reservoir this afternoon, starting on the northern causeway where I had a good scan of the area including towards Coker Wood where I picked up a raptor heading my way and I knew straightaway it was something different. Over the next few minutes I followed it in my scope and was able to confirm my initial thoughts, a Marsh Harrier! This is the third Marsh Harrier I've seen at Sutton Bingham and the first for many years, with the previous records both being in May.

I then popped down to the southern end where a single male Tufted Duck was amongst a flock of Wigeon.

Back then to the car park and a walk down towards the Canoe Club where a lone Wigeon was in the company of a pair of Shoveler, a species I missed last year on the patch. As I was watching the Shoveler a flock of twelve Lapwing flew over, another omission on the 2024 list.

As I returned to the northern causeway I scanned the gulls and had a lone Mediterranean Gull on the water.

Overhead I heard another Mediterranean Gull calling and picked out another five circling above me, though these failed to settle. I then went round to the Fishing Lodge, where I managed to finally see my first Fieldfares of the year, with three in with a flock of Redwing.

So a very good visit today, with four additions to the year list.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 66 species.