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.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 17 Apr

Another early morning visit before work, as has been the norm over the last couple of weeks, and today I connected with my first Whitethroat of the year with a singing male below the railway embankment on West Pool.
However, there was nothing else until I heard and then located a Greylag Goose that was between the car park and the Canoe Club. I managed much better photos than those of the Greylag Goose that was present a month ago.

Another addition to the list this week was House Martin with a small number present at the northern end yesterday.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 92 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 13 Apr

Pete found a singing Cetti's Warbler in a private area of the reservoir yesterday, which I tried and fail to find, but today I got lucky and had a burst of song during a brief visit. A very scarce bird at Sutton Bingham, hopefully this one will hang around for a while. I also managed to connect with a Spring Willow Warbler that was half-heartedly singing in the car park a couple of days ago.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 90 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 10 Apr

The recent run of productive visits today (though I did miss a Wheatear yesterday) although at one stage a pair of Tufted Duck on West Pool looked like they were going to be the highlight. However, a trip round to the northeast corner turned up trumps as a Green Sandpiper was present with a Common Sandpiper.

Scanning the margin I then found another wader, this time a very smart Little Ringed Plover, a species that is pretty rare in Spring.

So a couple of quality patch year ticks today.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 88 species.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 8 Apr

Yesterday I managed to bag my first Common Sandpiper of the year and a Coot was present along the arm. Today I found not one, but two pairs of Reed Buntings. The first at the southern end and the second at the northern end...although I suppose it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they could have rapidly moved up the reservoir! There were also three Common Sandpipers today and four Tufted Duck (there have been a few over a recent days).
Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 86 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 5 Apr

A fairly productive visit today with a few additions to the year list, the first of which was Mandarin Duck with three drakes displaying to a rather uninterested looking duck on West Pool. In the car park a Blackcap was in full song and my third, and final, addition of the day was a Skylark heard singing up high somewhere near the Canoe Club (despite my best efforts I was unable to spot it).
A few Sand Martins passed through and a pair of Swallows seemed to be back on territory at the church.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 84 species.

Bowling Green March RSPB - Fri 4 Apr

I had to go down to Exeter for an appointment this afternoon, so when I was all done I popped down to Topsham for a visit to Bowling Green Marsh RSPB, the first time I'd been to this reserve for a couple of years. Unfortunately, my timing was off as it was low tide so there were not many birds present, especially with regard to waders (I was hoping that the Long-billed Dowitcher would be present...it wasn't!).

However, it was a nice visit and I did have good views of four very sleepy Spoonbills.

On the pool a lone female Scaup was actively diving and was much more active than the Tufted Ducks that were also present. There wasn't much else of note, all routine fair really but nice to visit somewhere different.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 2 Apr

A pair of Shoveler were in the company of a drake Tufted Duck off the bottom of the car park this morning.

Having failed to see any Shoveler at Sutton Bingham last year, this is the second pair on the patch this year. The only other bird of note this morning was a fly-over Red Kite.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 1 Apr

I had the morning off work but still needed to get to the office for the afternoon, however, that did give me the opportunity to spend about an hour or so at the reservoir just after midday. It was a lovely sunny day, and out of the wind it was really warm, and this led me to think it may be a good day for raptors, and so it was with a single Red Kite seen and a bonus in the form of Goshawk (an increasingly regular visitor to the patch).
Over the water I saw a small number of Sand Martins and at least one Swallow, the latter being my first of the year. A lone Wigeon was at the southern end whilst a drake Tufted Duck was on West Pool.
A quick stop on the way home from work in the evening turned up another surprise, with a Dunlin on the northern causeway.

The Dunlin was extremely obliging and another welcome addition to the patch year list.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 81 species.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 28 Mar

A lunchtime twitch today and I successfully connected with a very smart drake Shelduck that Pete had found on West Pool earlier in the day. When I arrived on site there was no sign on West Pool, but a Mute Swan was present. Staying positive, I headed for the southern end and was rewarded with some lovely views.

After a short time the Shelduck took off and ended up back on West Pool again.

Other additions to the patch list during a couple of brief visits over the last ten days include two Sand Martins on 19 March and a Jay on 22 March.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 78 species.

Ham Wall RSPB - Thu 20 Mar

It was a lovely afternoon and I had time off work so I decided to head up to the Somerset Levels and enjoyed a couple of hours at Ham Wall RSPB reserve. On arrival I made straight for the first viewing platform where there were three target species I was after. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts I could only find one of these, a very smart Spotted Redshank, that showed pretty well...not that you can tell from this photo.

There were also a couple of Redshank and a few Black-tailed Godwits present, along with the usual species of duck.

I then walked on down to the second viewing platform, with Bitterns booming, Marsh Harriers quartering and Great White Egrets gathering nesting material it was a delightful walk, and I also had a Red Kite fly over.

As I returned to the car park, I stopped off at the first viewing platform again where this time I did manage to see the drake Garganey.

I pointed the Garganey out to a couple of other birders who were present, who went on to tell me the two Glossy Ibises had just flown in and were somewhere out of site, so I stood up on one of the benches and straightaway managed to see both birds.

All in all a very enjoyable afternoon out and I connected with all three target species, that does not happen that often!