Sutton Bingham - Sat 18 Oct

Another fairly brief visit to the patch today, and I concentrated my efforts on the area around the dam where the grassy bank played host to a flock of 109 Canada Geese and ten Wigeon. Great Crested Grebes numbered thirty birds, I guess a few more would've been present in the southern arm as well. A couple of Raven flew over and single Meadow Pipit and Grey Wagtail were on the dam itself. A small flock of twelve Chaffinch were feeding around the Fishing Lodge.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 16 Oct

A fifteen minute stop at the reservoir on the way to work provided very little of interest, however, the field just north of Hyde Farm hosted 375 Black-headed Gulls, and around forty Pied Wagtails. Some thirty-one Meadow Pipits passed overhead whilst I was scanning the fields, as did a couple of Jays.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 12 Oct

I popped up to the reservoir after lunch for about an hour or so and today concentrated my efforts on the area around Cotton Bridge at the extreme southern end of the site. A flock of twenty-five Wigeon was the pick of the birds, though a couple of Skylarks and at least eight Meadow Pipits flew over. Other birds of note around Cotton Bridge included a Nuthatch and a Bullfinch.
Two Little Grebes were on the water off the southern causeway and a Kingfisher was seen from the northern causeway. Again, there was no sign of the Osprey.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 11 Oct

I spent a couple of hours at the reservoir this morning, parking up by the site of the hide and walking along the water's edge as far as the car park and then back again. There was a little bit of visible migration with at least six Skylarks (a new patch year tick!) and five Meadow Pipits passing overhead. Jays have been very noticeable over the past week or so and four birds were seen today and three Ravens also drifted over.
On the ground there were still several Chiffchaffs milling about with at least half a dozen birds recorded as well as four Goldcrests. West Pool hosted a female Tufted Duck and a Reed Bunting and the final sighting of note was of four Wigeon that flew south. Not a bad morning on the patch really.
I popped back to the reservoir for a shorter visit in the afternoon, this time concentrating on the area around the dam. After a stay of about seven weeks the juvenile Osprey had finally moved on, I guess the recent dismal weather was enough to convince it that Africa may be worth the trip after all!
A small flock of five Linnet flew over and there were four Meadow Pipits around the dam. The Little Egret was also present still.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2014 now at 105 species.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 10 Oct

Just a quick visit early evening on the way home from work and I popped in to the Fishing Lodge and checked the northern end of the reservoir from the dam. The Osprey was again present and a Little Egret was feeding on the dam. The flock of Wigeon had increased to twenty-seven birds.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 8 Oct

A quick visit after work this evening and I spent about ten minutes only at the reservoir and I concentrated on the north-east corner scanning the area from the dam. The juvenile Osprey was still present, again perched up in its favourite tree, though in strong winds and after the heavy rain over the last couple of days I wonder just how much longer it will hang around!
The grassy bank west of the dam held a fair-sized flock of Canada Geese (I must admit I didn't count them though) and twenty Wigeon. Not much this evening in the way of smaller birds, but a juvenile Swallow flew through battling against the winds.
The only other bird of note this evening was a Raven which landed in the top of a tree and was subjected to a constant barrage of abuse from a Jackdaw.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 5 Oct

I managed to spend about thirty minutes at the reservoir this morning and made straight for the dam and a quick look around. To my surprise the juvenile Osprey was still about, it did a couple of circuits, freaking out the gulls, and then settled in the ash tree it seems to be favouring.
On the dam a few Pied Wagtails were present along with four Meadow Pipits, at least two White Wagtails, and a Grey Wagtail. A Kingfisher did a fly-past and a single Little Egret was still about. Finally, a Mistle Thrush was foraging in the horse paddock situated below the dam.