Sutton Bingham - Fri 25 Sep

A quick lunchtime visit and the Greenshank was still at the southern end along with a single Common Sandpiper. A slight increase in the number of Teal with sixteen birds present today. A couple of decent gulls today with a second calendar year Common Gull and a very smart juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 24 Sep

An afternoon visit today was fairly productive. The Greenshank that had turned up last Sunday evening was still present, and today was the first chance I had to actually go and see it as my car has been off the road.

Also at the southern end two Snipe were out feeding in the open.

A total of four Common Sandpipers were present around the reservoir whilst two Meadow Pipits were present with several Pied Wagtails and fifteen Linnets on the dam.

A small flock of nine Siskin flew over and there were at least a hundred hirundines over the reservoir, mainly Swallows and House Martins but at least one Sand Martin was seen.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 20 Sep

Yesterday's Little Stint was still present this late morning along with three Common Sandpipers, two Green Sandpipers and a Snipe.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 19 Sep

I'm without a car for a few days as it's off the road awaiting a repair, but luckily I was able to borrow my wife's car to get to work this morning and that also gave me a chance to have a quick stop at the reservoir on the way in to the office. Stopping at the northern causeway there wasn't much about until I spotted a Dunlin on West Pool.

There were also two Common Sandpipers and two Teal on West Pool, so obviously a few arrivals overnight. With that in mind I headed down to the southern end where there were a few more birds about. A further fourteen Teal were present and then a number of waders flew up and then settled again. The two long-staying Green Sandpipers vanished out of site but there were still three Common Sandpipers and a Snipe showing. I then noticed another small wader, so quickly getting the 'scope set up I was thrilled to find a Little Stint, the first at Sutton Bingham for a good few years.

This diminutive wader certainly made the visit worthwhile, even if it did mean I was running the risk of being late for work!

A quick stop on the way home from work produced two female Shoveler that had subsequently been found but I had missed first thing.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 114 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 17 Sep

A quick visit yesterday produced a Wigeon and a fly over Yellow Wagtail but I was able to spend a couple of hours on patch this afternoon and it was much the same as recent visits. The two Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers were still present at the southern end. I took a walk around the Cotton Bridge area and whereas there were plenty of birds I failed to find anything new for the year list. A Marsh Tit was nice to see though and a small flock of half a dozen Siskin were buzzing around.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 15 Sep

Another lunchtime visit today and again all the action was at the southern end where three Common Sandpipers and one Green Sandpiper were present. Two Mute Swans were new in and amongst the gathered Mallards there were two Teal and a single Wigeon.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 14 Sep

A visit yesterday produced two Green Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers but at lunchtime today I could only find a couple of Common Sandpipers. Two Teal were also at the southern end whilst a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull was present on the water. Not the best of photos admittedly but it was a bit of a beast.

There must have been getting on for three hundred large gulls on the reservoir today. The only other sighting of note was of an adult Little Grebe, again at the southern end.