Sutton Bingham - Fri 9 Mar

I made an hour long evening visit to the reservoir with Tristan just before dark, and it was more a matter of quantity rather than quality today.
Some five hundred plus Herring Gulls flew in and bathed before flying south, they had all departed by 6.00pm. About fifty Black-headed Gulls were also present along with a couple of Common Gulls and a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Despite the influx of "white-wingers" this winter SBR never seems to attract any vagrant gulls.
West Pool held four Teal and six Wigeon, and a further twenty-six Wigeon were off the dam.
A Goldcrest was singing near the hide and was the only bird of note at the southern end of the reservoir.

Catcott NR - Wed 7 Mar

A trip up on to the Somerset Levels this afternoon and I took Tristan to Catcott for a look around. We arrived at about 4.00pm and whilst the light was perfect it was really windy. As I neared the hide three birders left, telling me that there was still a Spoonbill present, though it was distant. So we entered the hdie and no sooner had I sat down then Tristan started kicking off, so as there was still another birder present I made my apologies and went back outside!
As it happened, it worked in our favour because the distant Spoonbill flew in closer and landed about twenty metres from us as we viewed it from behind the wicker screen, you can see the "bling" on its legs in the second photo, though I'm not sure where it was ringed. As it happens, it was also a Somerset tick for me.

As I scanned over the water three Dunlin flew past and then landed on the mud and began feeding alongside some of the many Wigeon. On the water there were good numbers of Pintail, Shoveler and Teal and a few Lapwings were present on the small banks.
A small raptor passed through heading west and it didn't take long to realise that it was a male Merlin, a nice bonus for the afternoon. From the car I also saw a pair of Stonechats and three Bullfinches flew in and landed in a tree nearby.
Before I knew it, it was nearly 5.30pm and I had promised Ellie that I would be home by 6.00pm, so off we rushed after a pretty good afternoon out.

Ringing Update
I reported the rings for this Spoonbill and had a reply back today (9 Mar 12) from Otto Overdijk in Holland. This bird was ringed as a nestling in 2007 in Schiermonnikoog, Holland. Since then it has ranged over a vast area and has been reported in Kent, Norfolk, Devon, Cheshire, Suffolk, back in Holland and now in Somerset! A very well-travelled bird indeed.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Mar

After a morning of heavy rain it cleared up after lunch so I took Tristan out for a couple of hours, though we stayed close to home and simply called in at the reservoir to see what was about. The water level is starting to rise again, so I guess the pollution concerns have past, though it may simply have been the volume of rain over the previous 24 hours that forced the levels up.
West Pool held a dozen Teal, but not really anything else. Off the Sailing Club three Tufted Duck were fast asleep on the water. The gull flock was smaller than normal, but I guess we were earlier in the day that our usual visits. About half a dozen Common Gulls dropped in alongside the more usual species.
The southern end of the reservoir was equally quiet, with no sign of the Great White Egrets that had been present for over a fortnight. However, a fly-over Stock Dove and Meadow Pipit added a bit of interest. The Teal flock was near the Canoe Club, and numbered some sixty birds. But finding nothing else we decided to head back home.

Radipole RSPB & Lodmoor RSPB - Sun 4 Mar

I met up with Steve, Steve, John and Andy at Radipole RSPB at 8.30am and the rain was still hammering down. Despite the weather we set out and soon located the long-staying Hooded Merganser, though despite it coming pretty close for a while I could not get a photo of it!
We then walked out to the hide, hearing several Cetti's Warblers and Water Rails along the way, but not anything that out of the ordinary. Arriving at the hide we finally saw a Cetti's Warbler flitting around in reeds in front of us and two Chiffchaffs were sheltering from the rain in a bramble patch. As we walked back to the car I saw a Water Rail and it rushed in to the undergrowth.

As we were already pretty wet we decided to go on to Lodmoor RSPB and struck it lucky when we got out of the cars and a Bittern flew over! A walk around the reserve produced few birds of note, though we did see about half a dozen Black-tailed Godwits. A look out over Weymouth Harbour did yield a couple of new birds for the day, with a Great Northern Diver being seen and a single Razerbill. Completing the circular walk I called it a day as I had promised to be back in time for lunch, and to round the morning off a female Marsh Harrier drifted over the reed beds. Despite being soaked to the skin I had an enjoyable morning out and it was great to catch up with my mates. Of course, as soon as I got home the sun started shining!

Ferrybridge & Portland Harbour- Sun 4 Mar

An early start and a morning out with my birding mates was planned as Ellie was taking Tristan to the Family Service at church. I drove down to Weymouth, arriving at Ferrybridge at 7.00am in pouring rain! I still managed to do a bit of birding from the car and a flock of waders contained about twenty Turnstones and a similar number of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin, a single Sanderling was also present.

I then drove round to the Sailing Academy and scanned Portland Harbour, but other than a few Red-breasted Mergansers there was nothing about. Since the development of the harbour there seem to be very few wintering divers and waders nowadays. It was now just gone 8.00am and I drove back to the centre of Weymouth to meet up with the others.

Mudeford Quay - Sat 3 Mar

After being at work all morning I was at a bit of a loss as to where to take Tristan this afternoon, but as the weather was actually better than forecast Ellie and I thought we'd all go out for the afternoon and headed down to the coast and Mudeford Quay, this also enabled us to pay a surprise visit to "the in-laws"!

Arriving at Mudeford just after 3.00pm we took a walk around the quay however, it was really windy so we moved the car so that it overlooked the sea and whilst Ellie sat in the warmth of the car I did a spot of seawatching. The wind was causing quite a swell but eventually I picked out an adult male Long-tailed Duck as it flew in from the east and settled on the water briefly before doing another fly past. Two female Eiders also flew through.

There was nothing else that I could see out on the water and another walk about produced a single Rock Pipit and very little else of note. So we headed off and went for a cup of tea with Tristan's grandparents!

Cary Moor - Wed 29 Feb

An afternoon out with Tristan and we headed up to Castle Cary and took a walk along the Macmillan Way towards Cary Moor. I was hoping to find some Tree Sparrows, this site has been pretty reliable for them over the years. I reached the set-aside field and soon located a fair sized flock of birds. Scanning through the numerous Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and Chaffinches I eventually located a smashing Tree Sparrow. Despite a continued search I could not find any more, but I suppose one is all you need for your Year List.
On the small pool a pair of Little Grebes were present along with a Little Egret. As I returned to the car a flock of Redwings flitted through the trees in front of me and a female Kestrel was perched on a telegraph wire staring intently into the field below it.
I had planned on driving on to Torr Reservoir but Tristan had other plans and started getting grumpy, so we headed back home instead so that he could have a feed!
UK list for 2012 now at 133 species.