Meare Heath NR & Ham Wall RSPB - Sat 11 Jan

An afternoon out on the Somerset Levels and a quick look around the alders near the Ashcott Corner car park produced a female Siskin. I then walked out to Noah's Lake and scanned the water. There were loads of duck present and before long I had added Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard and Pintail to the year list. Nothing unusual about though so I walked back to the car. As I neared the car park a Goldfinch flew over on the company of two Lesser Redpoll.
Off then on to Ham Wall and from the first viewing platform I saw a Great White Egret and both male and female Marsh Harriers. Several Water Rails were squealing away and a couple of Cetti's Warblers were also heard. A steady stream of Starlings heading west indicated the roost was well underway, so to avoid the masses and pending congestion I decided to call it a day and headed on home.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 9 Jan

I had some time off work this afternoon and was thinking of heading up on to the Somerset Levels, but time somehow vanished so I spent a couple of hours on patch instead. Starting at the southern end of the reservoir I managed to pick out a drake Teal hiding and a pair of Wigeon were also seen. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling from the trees behind me and a quick look produced the bird as it flew off!
Back then to the Canoe Club where I parked up and walked along to the car park. A couple of Meadow Pipits popped up from the field and a pair of Collared Doves flew over, both new birds for the patch year list, as was a Robin which was singing away.
There was very little in the way of birds around the car park, I heard a Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests and that was it. There were however a couple of birders around today so it was good to catch up with a few friendly faces.
On the water there were hardly any gulls coming in to roost, and no sign of the Iceland Gull that was present last night. Amazing what a difference 24 hours can make! A flock of around forty Common Gulls looked as if they were going to settle but simply moved on. A Great Crested Grebe in summer-plumage gave hope that Spring is on the way and Cormorants numbered at least forty birds today, my highest count for a while. Also of note, some twenty or so Pied Wagtails flew in to a small tree in the car park to roost.
With the light failing the final new bird of a good visit with regard to the patch year list was a calling Water Rail on West Pool.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2014 now at 48 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 8 Jan

A flying visit to the reservoir after work just before dark just to check out the gulls and unbelievably this paid dividends as I found an Iceland Gull! A patch tick for me which is hardly surprising as it is only (as far as I'm aware) the third record for Sutton Bingham following birds in January 1983 and January 1985. I did my best to get a record shot, these are arguably my worst ever photos of any sort of bird but it was nearly dark and the bird was hanging out with Herring Gulls a fair way out from the northern causeway. To aid in identification I've placed a nice red ring around the Iceland Gull, you can see it if you squint!

 

 

Judging by the plumage I would age the bird as a first-winter with an almost complete dark bill, similar size to the associated Herring Gulls and with that ivory white mottled plumage. This more than makes up for the leucistic Herring Gull that sent my pulse racing at Sutton Bingham a few years ago...no doubt about this one. Oh yes, and there was nothing else of note tonight by the way!

Sutton Bingham - Sat 4 Jan & Sun 5 Jan

More wet weather all weekend, a very brief visit on Saturday afternoon failed to produce the Yellow-browed Warbler but I did manage to add Kingfisher and Sparrowhawk to the patch year list and seven Wigeon were off the dam.
Sunday morning started dry-ish so I popped up to the reservoir late morning and within seconds of arriving the heaven's opened again. So I spent about forty-five minutes birding from the car. Four Canada Geese were on the grass by the Fishing Lodge and four Mute Swans, a juvenile and three adults, were also present. The Wigeon flock numbered some ten birds today and they were seen in flight today over the reservoir near the dam.
Despite the rain I did take a look around the car park. This proved to be fairly fruitless to start with and I was soon pretty wet. As I returned to the road I could hear Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests and I soon located the flock. A total of three Chiffchaffs were seen, including the very buff individual which is almost certainly a Siberian Chiffchaff. At least one Treecreeper was also seen and then I was lucky enough to see the Yellow-browed Warbler again as it flew on to a branch in front of me for a while and then vanished again. I decided that was enough so called it a day as a flock of around fifty Redwing flew south in to the rain as I headed for home to dry out.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 3 Jan

I spent a couple of hours at Sutton Bingham this afternoon, my first chance to do any birding on my local patch this year. I started at the extreme southern end of the reservoir where I saw a handful of Fieldfares and Redwings and a single Song Thrush.
It was then back towards the northern end of the reservoir and I parked near the Canoe Club and walked along the water's edge to the car park. I spent a fair bit of time around this area and just as I was about to head back to the car I heard a Long-tailed Tit calling...and as it was a year tick I hunted out a small flock. I then saw a Chiffchaff which looked exactly the same as the bird I saw a few weeks ago, all buff with black bill and legs and pale wing bar, the probable Siberian Chiffchaff. My attention was then drawn to another small bird and I couldn't believe when I lifted my bins and found myself looking at a Yellow-browed Warbler! This is the second record for Sutton Bingham, the first was the bird I found back in October of last year. So a few frantic phone calls followed as I got the news out.
The flock of feeding birds moved along the water's edge back towards the small bridge at the back of the church and then vanished. A single Chiffchaff was seen and was another year tick, this bird was the typical greenish variety! As I returned to the car park a female Reed Bunting flew from the vegetation.
I spent half an hour at the end of my visit checking the gulls. Not many around tonight, but I did head off for home before dusk so I expect most of the gulls had not yet come in. I did see a single Common Gull amongst the more routine fare. A small flock of a dozen Wigeon were present off the dam. All in all a brilliant start to the year on patch.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2014 now at 36 species.

Patchwork Challenge
This year I am taking part in the Patchwork Challenge, a friendly competition to see how many species occur on your local patch, so understandably I've picked Sutton Bingham Reservoir. The area I'm covering is as follows and is well within the three square kilometre limit:

For more information click here.

Arne RSPB & Cheselbourne - Thu 2 Jan

Arriving in time for a picnic lunch it was midday when I got to Arne RSPB. After a very heavy shower which forced me to delay my walk I set off out to Shipstal Point and back to the car park for a circular walk. This gave me the opportunity to connect with a few of the commoner woodland/garden species I had missed yesterday as well as connect with a slightly less usual species in the form of eight Spoonbills. The tide was high so the only waders seen were a few Curlew and Redshank. A female Goldeneye was in Poole Harbour alongside several Red-breasted Mergansers.
On returning to the car I checked the pager to find the two Common Cranes had been seen again near Cheselbourne, so I set off back towards home with a slight diversion! When I got to the field where the birds had been I again drew a blank, so I drove a circuit round to Dewlish. A flock of twelve Little Egrets were feeding in one cow field and just as I was about to give up hope when the two Common Cranes flew right over the top of the car! Result, and a good end to the day.

Portland Harbour, Ferrybridge & Cheselbourne - Wed 1 Jan

A day out birding today and I headed down to Portland Harbour. A brief stop en route at Radipole was curtailed as it was still dark so I arranged with some friends to meet at Portland Castle, so off I went.
Arriving at bout 8.00am it was very windy and tipping it down with rain...unfortunately this proved to be the case for the entire duration of my time out. I spent two and a half miserable hours staring out over Portland Harbour. No sign of the Brunnich's Guillemot, but I did manage to see three Black-throated Divers, a couple of Great Northern Divers, the long-staying Black Guillemot, and the more usual fare. The only grebes I managed were single Little Grebes and Great Crested Grebe. A Rock Pipit added a bit of variety as it worked its way along the rocks.
I finally gave up and went back to the car to dry off and warm up. Just as I was getting ready to move on I managed to catch Steve and John whom I was planning on meeting up with earlier. They had stopped off at Ferrybridge so after the usual New Year wishes I set off to Ferrybridge.
The weather had again deteriorated, if that was possible, so I stayed in the car, adding Dunlin and Dark-bellied Brent Goose to the dismal list of birds seen today. That was about it, so off I went with a brief stop at the top end of Radipole where I did manage to see the Glossy Ibis.
On my way out of Weymouth I decided to try and see if the two Common Cranes were around Cheselbourne (they had been seen yesterday). A drive round for half an hour or so produced a covey of Red-legged Partridges and little else of note. So I tried a quick trip to Athelhampton to check the water meadows. No sign of any Common Cranes but I did pick up Wigeon and Little Egret!
And that was it, enough was enough, so back home in time for lunch with a pretty poor year list total!
Year list for 2014 now at 37 species.