Sutton Bingham - Sun 11 May

Really quiet on patch this morning. Starting at the southern end I took a bit of a walk but other than a large number of House Martins feeding (one of which nearly took my nose off as they flew so close to me) and about a dozen Swifts there was nothing about. A stop off at the northern causeway produced just a single Common Sandpiper.

Corscombe - Sat 10 May

A trip up to Corscombe this afternoon in the hope of seeing the Hoopoe which had been present for much of the week. I wasn't feeling too confident as there had been no news all morning, it was windy with heavy showers, and some idiot had been flushing the bird all Friday afternoon! As it happened my pessimistic attitude proved to be the right one, sure enough not even a sniff of the bird. I did see a Cuckoo and a couple of Skylarks, but that was about it.

Lodmoor RSPB & Radipole RSPB - Mon 5 May

A family trip out to Weymouth and after dropping my lovely wife off in town to do some shopping I headed off to Lodmoor RSPB reserve to twitch a Black-winged Stilt! After a bit of a walk I reached the little viewing shelter and was told the bird was currently out of site on the marsh, but it didn't take long until it came back out in to the open and showed well, if distantly, for the next five or so minutes. A few Common Terns were milling around overhead and a Dunlin was the only other wader I saw during the relatively brief visit.
Back then to Radipole for a cup of coffee and flapjack and whilst looking through the gulls I relocated the Iceland Gull that had been seen on and off over the past few days, much to the joy of the birders present. Unfortunately I had left my scope in the car else I could have got one of those brilliant record shots that always liven up my blog posting! A sub-adult Sandwich Tern was also present and the rather flamboyant Hooded Merganser was trying to pull a female Tufted Duck (I didn't fancy his chances!). We did attempt a bit of a walk but time was against us so we headed back home after a great trip out.
Year list for 2014 now at 171 species.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 5 May

An early start this morning and a little over two hours on site before breakfast. As it happens this was a good move with some decent birds around despite the clear skies overnight. I started off near the Fishing Lodge where a scan over the reservoir and adjacent fields produced my first patch Swifts of the year.
A brief stop at the Water Treatment Works and outflow stream was hardly worth it with a Grey Wagtail being the only bird of note.
Off then to the extreme southern end of the reservoir and the boundary of my Patchwork Challenge area. Again nothing out of the ordinary but then as I scanned the area back to the north and the reservoir proper a Hobby shot through causing a bit a panic amongst the local Woodpigeon population.
A walk along the water's edge failed to produce much but as I reached the Car Park a Greylag Goose flew in from the north and settled on the water, I wasn't expecting that! I retraced my steps back to the car and then drove up to the northern causeway and parked up for a while. Three Common Sandpipers were about and a small flock of seven Tufted Duck were new arrivals. As I scanned the gulls that had started to drop in to the reservoir I suddenly came across a small wader whizzing by, fortunately I was able to see the bird pretty well as it continued south and the nice black belly showed this to be a breeding plumaged Dunlin! This rounded off a brilliant start to the day, four new ticks for the patch list.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2014 now at 92 species.

Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 4 May

Up to Ham Wall this afternoon and in bright sunshine I had a most enjoyable visit. I made pretty much straight for the second viewpoint where I found four Whimbrel, a good start to the afternoon out. A couple of Hobbies flew around overhead and at least three Bitterns gave cracking views. Several Swifts were wheeling around and a couple of Cuckoos were heard, though I didn't manage to see any. The usual warblers were in full song and a very fine Nightingale but on rather a good show for the gathered masses (news of this particular individual is out in the public domain now), though one or two "birders" felt the inclination to get almost in the bush with it, though luckily for them they moved away before I got close enough to say something! So a cracking afternoon out and a couple of year ticks to boot.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 May

I spent about an hour or so at Sutton Bingham this morning, but it was again pretty quiet. A total of four Common Sandpipers were seen along the water's edge just to the south of the Canoe Club and a fifth bird was feeding on the slipway at the Sailing Club.
A Lesser Whitethroat was heard singing and showed very briefly and I managed a patch year tick with a  singing Sedge Warbler at West Pool.

Chard Reservoir - Sat 3 May

A trip to Chard Reservoir this afternoon to see their long-staying Little Gull, and sure enough it was still there when I arrived and was feeding constantly over the water for the duration of my visit. A cracking bird, if only the Sutton Bingham one had hung around!
Not much else was seen during my visit, a Goldcrest with nesting material, a couple of Treecreepers and a Nuthatch in the woodland and several singing Blackcaps was about it. But nice to take a stroll around in the afternoon sun.