Sutton Bingham - Sun 1 Oct

Well September went out with a whimper and October failed to dazzle on the first day of the month! That being said there were still a few birds around today and the southern end of the reservoir was the most productive with nine Mandarin and a couple of Teal in with a growing number of Mallard. A Peregrine did a brief fly by and one of the fields adjoining the reservoir held around thirty Meadow Pipits, a similar number of Pied Wagtails and a couple of White Wagtails.
The only other bits and pieces of note today were a calling Chiffchaff, a Kingfisher, three House Martins heading south, and four Wigeon.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 24 Sep

A quick stop at the reservoir on the way home from Arne was fairly profitable. I stopped off at the Fishing Lodge and 'scoped the reservoir from there. The Canada Goose flock had grown to 165 birds and they were joined by three Wigeon. A single Mute Swan was also present. A couple of Common Sandpipers put in an appearance and overhead a Meadow Pipit flew through. A Raven was calling away from the top of a tree and finally there were four Little Egrets still present. Not a bad selection during a 15 minute stop.

Arne RSPB - Sun 24 Sep

Somewhere different today and a trip down to Arne RSPB. I started with a  walk out to Combe Heath where just as I set up my 'scope all the birds went mental as an Osprey flew in, then dived in to the channel and caught a fish before passing overhead with a fish. What a great start to the visit.

 

There were an impressive forty-four Spoonbills in the channel, it was quite something to watch them all take to the air when the Osprey flew in, what a sight and by far my highest count of Spoonbills in the UK. Also in the channel a good number of waders, primarily Black-tailed Godwit and Avocet but a few Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank and a single Knot. To round off the walk around Combe Heath a Dartford Warbler put on a bit of a show in the company of two Stonechats. Overhead, there was a good movement of Meadow Pipits and Swallows.
After a quick bite to eat in the café I headed out to Shipstal Point where nine Sandwich Tern were feeding in the Poole Harbour. Other than a couple of Oystercatchers there was nothing else of note as I completed the walk back to the car park. All in all though a brilliant trip out and the weather was just ideal.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 22 Sep

A late afternoon visit produced a flock of nine Mandarin at the southern end of the reservoir, my highest single count of this enigmatic duck at Sutton Bingham, a shame this record shot doesn't do them justice.

Not a huge amount else around, with a single Teal and two Wigeon present plus an adult Great Black-backed Gull was seen again after no sightings for a little while. A total of five Little Egrets were noted and a single Kingfisher was seen. A couple of Linnet flew over and there were still several Swallows milling around.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 17 Sep

A very busy weekend meant that I only got to spend about an hour at the reservoir on Sunday afternoon over the course of the entire weekend. As I didn't have much time today it was pretty much a whirlwind visit with a single Kingfisher, two Common Sandpipers, seven Little Egrets and a Raven being the only birds of note other than a female Wigeon which was the first of the "winter"!

There were a few Swallows and House Martins still around, but not much else to report today.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 13 Sep

An afternoon visit to the patch rather than a mad rush down to Weymouth to twitch some rare sandpipers...wrong decision! A walk from the car park down to the southern end and back produced a couple of Common Sandpipers, four Little Egrets and a Kingfisher. There was a bit of excitement and frustration as I spent 45 minutes scrambling through vegetation trying to identify a skulking warbler, which eventually turned out to be a Sedge Warbler.
West Pool produced an adult Great Black-backed Gull but nothing else while another Common Sandpiper and three more Little Egrets were noted from the Fishing Lodge. All in all somewhat disappointing given the large numbers of storm-driven waifs that have been reported from other sites around the south-west, but if you don't look you won't find anything I guess.
To add to the frustration, the warden had a Redshank first thing in the morning...no sign of it this afternoon though!

Sutton Bingham - Mon 11 Sep

A quick visit during my lunch hour was not looking like a good idea as it absolutely chucked it down just as I arrived on site. Scanning the reservoir from the car was pointless, and there was hardly anything to see other than a Mute Swan on West Pool and a couple of Little Egrets.
But then the rain stopped so I got out and checked West Pool and the fence line just to the south where I noticed a few birds milling about. So out with the 'scope and I was soon able to pick up a few pipits, and after some close scrutiny it was obvious they were Tree Pipits, result! I've got Tree Pipit on my SBR list, but I've only had fly-over birds identified by their call, so to see grounded birds was a real bonus. Scanning the fence line further I noticed a Yellow Wagtail and then a Spotted Flycatcher! Two patch year ticks in the space of a few minutes, the only down side was that I needed to rush back to work.
Sutton Bingham year list 2017 now at 108 species.