Sutton Bingham - Sun 10 Apr

An hour on the patch late morning was a mixed blessing. I found the first two Common Sandpipers of the year on the dam (the exact same date as last year), but it would appear I missed an Osprey earlier in the day as the warden reported a large bird that spooked all the gulls before heading over West Pool at 8.30am.
There were still a few Teal knocking about at the southern end of the reservoir, with a total of eight birds being seen and a single drake Tufted Duck was also noted.
A couple of singing Willow Warblers were good to hear and Chiffchaffs seem to have increased in number too.
Finally, an early afternoon visit in heavy rain failed to produce any news arrivals, though at least twenty Swallows were feeding over the reservoir.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 9 Apr

A spectacular site this morning with six Common Cranes circling the northern end of the reservoir over Hyde Farm. Now I would love to add this species to my patch list, but in all honesty I can't as these birds were from the reintroduction scheme up on the Somerset Levels. Now there is a wild bird amongst the "plastics", but I could not determine whether any of the birds I saw in flight were ringed or not so I'll pop it down as an almost!

Sutton Bingham - Fri 8 Apr

A couple of quick stops today with mixed results. A pair of Mandarin were on the bank to the east of the Sailing Club early morning but there was nothing much else to write home about. A return visit late afternoon did produce two adult Great Black-backed Gulls though, always a good bird to get on the year list especially with the patch being a small inland reservoir.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 7 Apr

I've managed a couple of quick pre-work visits this week, and yesterday produced my first patch Blackcap of the year with one in sub-song near the site of the old hide. Today added another spring migrant with my first House Martin of the year over West Pool with ten Sand Martins. Also this morning a male Kestrel showed well at the southern end of the reservoir and a couple of Linnets were seen close to the Canoe Club.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2016 now at 81 species.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 1 Apr

An early morning visit produced my first patch Willow Warbler of the year feeding in trees on the edge of West Pool...a stark contrast to four Fieldfare in a paddock near the Canoe Club! A single Swallow and three Sand Martins (the latter having dropped significantly in number compared to recent days) were over West Pool and three pairs of Teal were at the southern end of the reservoir.
A return visit on my way home from an evening out produced a calling Yellow Wagtail passing by somewhere in the dark above my head!

Sutton Bingham - Mon 28 Mar

Storm Katie had hit with force overnight, so I had to pop along to Sutton Bingham to see what goodies it had dropped off...the answer was a resounding none! Four Lesser Redpoll were seen on the northern causeway and two Siskin were at the Fishing Lodge, a sign that Winter has not left yet. There were at least three singing Chiffchaffs on site, so a small arrival of Spring migrants. A single Meadow Pipit flew north and a drake Tufted Duck and a drake Teal were at the southern end of the reservoir. At least two hundred Sand Martins were feeding over West Pool and the main reservoir.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 27 Mar

A late afternoon visit produced my first Chiffchaff of the year on the patch. A very flighty female Wigeon was also present and a female Siskin was in the car park.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2016 now at 77 species.