Sutton Bingham - Sun 9 Jan

My usual Sunday morning visit to the reservoir after dropping Ellie at church, and I drove straight down to the southern end and took a walk around.
There were loads of duck on the water, including over 115 Teal and more than thirty-five Wigeon. A Peregrine caused rather a stir as it whizzed over the water in an attempt to flush the wildfowl. A couple of Skylarks were calling as they passed overhead and a small flock of six Fieldfares flew south. A male Reed Bunting was seen in the waterside vegetation.
Returning to the car I drove back to the northern causeway where I saw fifteen more Wigeon on West Pool but nothing else of note.

Meare Heath NR and Ham Wall RSPB - Sat 8 Jan

After being in at work all morning, Ellie and I took advantage of the unseasonal sunshine and headed up on to the Somerset Levels for an afternoon stroll. Parking at Ashcott Corner we walked out to the hide overlooking Noah's Lake. There were plenty of birds on the water, but the only thing of real interest (in other words a 2011 year tick) was a single Bewick's Swan.
We had fortunately dodged a shower whilst in the hide and when we returned to the main drove saw a mixed flock of Goldfinches, Lesser Redpolls, and Siskins feeding in the top of some alders.
We then headed straight out to Ham Wall and from the first viewing platform saw a Great White Egret. Several Lapwings passed overhead and a Cetti's Warbler could be heard singing from the reeds. Before long it got very busy as all the locals arrived for the Starling roost, so we took this as a sign to come on home after a nice afternoon out.
UK list for 2011 now at 111 species.

Portland and Abbotsbury - Mon 3 Jan

We left Radipole and drove out to Sandsfoot Castle overlooking Portland Harbour. There was a bit of drizzle in the air but nothing that hampered our views out over the water and before long Steve had found a Great Northern Diver, and I quickly got my eye in and located a couple of Black-necked Grebes. Also in the harbour we saw several Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers, but no other divers unfortunately, so we headed off again.
We drove straight out to Portland Bird Observatory and parked and then walked down to The Bill. We spent about quarter of an hour sea-watching, seeing numerous Gannets and Kittiwakes and countless Guillemots and Razerbills. With our fingers getting cold in the wind we packed up our scopes and started searching for the wintering Purple Sandpipers. It took us a while, but eventually we tracked down the small flock of seven or eight Purple Sandpipers feeding on the surf-sprayed rocks. It was now getting on a bit, so I phoned Ellie to tell her that I would not be back home by 1.00pm! Fortunately, she was fine with this so I did not need to rush back home. As a result we decided to drive along the coast to Abbotsbury.
Before too long we had arrived at Abbotsbury and parked up overlooking the Swannery. We were hoping to see the flock of eighty or so Barnacle Geese that had been in the area for a few weeks, but there was no sign of the birds...but we got lucky as John spotted a superb male Hen Harrier hunting over the reeds before it flew out over the fields and was lost to view.
It was now getting rather cold and damp, so we set off for home with a brief and unsuccessful stop at West Bexington where we were hoping to see a couple of Velvet Scoter. So after a pretty productive day out and about in Dorset we got back at 3.30pm.
UK list for 2011 now at 106 species.

Lodmoor RSPB and Radipole RSPB - Mon 3 Jan

An early start again today as I had arranged a morning out with friends Steve and John and we arrived at Lodmoor at 8.45am. We walked down Beachdown Way and before long found the main target bird, a Long-billed Dowitcher as it showed well alongside some Dunlin and Lapwing.
We then continued around the reserve and saw a few other species as we walked along. An Avocet was feeding on the marsh and a Marsh Harrier flew over. A total of seven Scaup were on the water, and a pair of Bullfinches were seen. We then left Lodmoor and headed down the road to Radipole.
It was just before 10.00am when we arrived and after paying for an hours parking we walked straight out to North Hide, seeing a Water Rail along the way as it ran across the path in front of us. From the hide we saw a couple of Black-tailed Godwits and a Stonechat, but little else of note. With time ticking by, we walked back to the car, seeing a couple of Mediterranean Gulls on the water.
I had told Ellie that I would be back home in time for lunch, but before I knew it John and Steve had convinced me to stay out for a bit longer and we ended up having an afternoon of birding too!

Bracketts Copse NR and Sutton Bingham - Sun 2 Jan

After carrying out a few chores it was too late in the day to travel any distance, so I popped out to the small Dorset Wildlife Trust of Bracketts Copse, arriving soon after 2.30pm. I took a walk around the wood and managed to pick up a few of the expected woodland species, including Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Green Woodpecker. However, there was not a huge amount of birdlife about, so at 3.30pm I left the copse and headed home, stopping at Sutton Bingham en route.
I parked the car on the northern causeway and took a walk along the water's edge. A Mistle Thrush was seen in the car park (which is currently closed for the winter), and a flock of thirty-three Lapwing flew over. I failed to see much more of note, so with the light fading fast, returned to the car and came on home.
UK list for 2011 now at 89 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 2 Jan

My first trip of the year to Sutton Bingham Reservoir and there were a few birds of note about. From the northern causeway there was nothing much of note, although Coot numbers were at a pretty high twenty-four birds.
I spent the next forty or so minutes taking a walk around the southern end of the reservoir. I flushed a Snipe from the water's edge and overhead a couple of Skylarks flew over. Wildfowl consisted of a flock of forty or so Wigeon, twenty Teal, four drake Pochard and two drake Tufted Ducks.
There were two Peregrines on one of the pylons and a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were also present. A single Common Gull flew north.

Dawlish Warren and Exminster - Sat 1 Jan

An early start to the new year as I was picked up from the village by John and Steve at 8.00am for a day out in Devon. After picking up Andy and Dave from Chard we headed straight for Dawlish Warren for our first spot of birding. Seawatching produced the long-staying female Surf Scoter and a few fly-by Red-throated Divers and a Great Skua. A flock of Eider and a couple of Slavonian Grebes were also out to sea. On the land we saw a few bits and pieces, the highlight being a superb male Black Redstart.
Leaving Dawlish Warren we headed back towards Exminster, stopping at Cockwood to look out over the estuary. The tide was not really in our favour, but we saw a few waders, including Greenshank and Turnstone. A couple of Goldeneye were on the estuary.
We then drove up to the fields at the back of Exminster village where after a bit of searching we found a handful of Cirl Buntings. With not a lot else of note we drove back down to Exminster Marshes where we were to spend the rest of the day.
After parking the car we walked out towards Topsham lock where a redhead Smew had been for the last few days, only it had been flushed by dog-walkers minutes before we got there. So we decided instead to walk back down the Exeter Canal to Turf where we had been told of a Red-breasted Goose...but like the Smew it too had vanished by the time we got there!
Thinking that our day was taking a turn for the worse we were even more frustrated when, after being told the Smew had returned, we got back to Topsham lock to find it had again just been flushed. However, after ten minutes we got lucky as the Smew had flown back on to the canal and gave some brilliant views:

After finally getting our target bird we then drove back down to the Swan's Nest pub and parked up before taking a walk out to the new RSPB reserve of Powderham Marshes. It was a fair walk out to the viewpoint, but we were rewarded with a mixed flock of Chaffinches and Bramblings, and a smashing male Merlin. We were hoping to connect with a small flock of Eurasion White-fronted Geese, but we could not locate them. By now it was starting to get dark, so we called it a day and walked back to the car. A pretty long and tiring day but well worth it.
UK list for 2011 now at 82 species.