Cornwall - Fri 14 Oct to Fri 21 Oct

A week away in Cornwall with the family was relaxing and enjoyable but was somewhat lacking in the birds...not that I was looking for any of course! On our first evening I counted over two hundred Mediterranean Gulls off Porthkernick, and there were Mediterranean Gulls present daily during our week away.
The first full day of our holiday saw us stay local to Portscatho but just up the road we stopped to take a look at a flock of small birds that consisted mainly of Linnets but also a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits but the highlight was a pair of Cirl Buntings.
A trip to St Just in Roseland produced a Whimbrel, but surprisingly few birds in the churchyard.

Along the coastline Turnstones and Oystercatchers were both pretty abundant.

A trip to Ruan Lanithornes was quite profitable with a couple of Firecrests present and a Common Sandpiper. A look over Gowens Bay turned up to Great Northern Divers and five Common Scoters were seen in flight.

All in all a wonderful week away and really good to recharge the batteries.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 6 Oct

A few brief visits since the start of the month have failed to produce anything of interest, despite lots of exposed mud still, there have been very few birds on patch. This afternoon I spent about an hour and a half on patch checking the reservoir for anything of note. Five Wigeon and a Little Grebe were at the northern end before being disturbed by sailors. The Wigeon relocated to the southern end.

There were also nine Teal this afternoon and plenty of Meadow Pipits. A couple of White Wagtails were on the fringes of West Pool but there nothing else of note today.

Lodmoor RSPB & Portland - Sun 2 Oct

Somewhere different today as myself and the "Usual Suspects" headed off for a day out together, the first time for many years since all five of us could make it. Arriving at Lodmoor we were met by heavy rain but after donning waterproofs we set off anyway and had a good explore of the reserve. An explore of the old tip area drew a blank as we looked for the juvenile Red-backed Shrike that had been in the area for a few days, but in the rain I guess it was not that surprising, so instead we headed down to the reserve proper and checked out the birds present. A few Mediterranean Gulls were noted and on the deck a handful of Black-tailed Godwit and Lapwing. A flock of small waders then flew in, all Dunlin but one which was a Little Stint. Continuing round the reserve we added Kingfisher and then a couple of Ruff. Two Great White Egret was also present. Fortunately, the rain eventually stopped and it soon became a bright and warm morning, so we returned to the old tip location to try our luck again. I somehow managed to find myself separated from the others so focused on finding the location where the Red-backed Shrike was last seen, and I found it! So a quick call to the rest of the gang and before long we were all treated to great views.

We then returned to the car and drove out to Portland It was now a glorious day and the weather was far too good for any passage offshore, which just a few Gannet and a couple of Common Scoters noted. On the land there were a few Rock Pipits and a very smart Wheatear but little else. So after a good wander around we headed back home after a really enjoyable trip out.

After getting back I popped up to Sutton Bingham for a quick look and found a couple of late Common Sandpipers but nothing else of note.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Sep

A couple of flying visits in the morning produced nothing but I popped back out to the reservoir later in the afternoon and spent about an hour on site where I found two Redshank that had arrived at some stage during the day and settled on West Pool.

A third calendar year Yellow-legged Gull was amongst the gulls gathered at the northern end.

At the southern end three juvenile Swallows had managed to get themselves bogged down in the sticky mud, a truly sad sight but no chance of trying to get them out unfortunately.

There were hundreds of Swallows and House Martins passing through during the hour I was on site. I also picked out a Hobby flying over the willows at the southern end, my third this year, no doubt attracted by the masses of hirundines.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 24 Sep

A quick visit early in the day produced a very smart male and a couple of female/juvenile type Stonechats at the southern end.

A White Wagtail was amongst Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits also at the southern end but there was no sign of the Little Stint today.
A return visit in the afternoon produced a Wheatear on the dam wall, which Pete had found late morning, my third of the Autumn in what has been a very slow year for them on patch.

Finally, a juvenile Little Grebe was off the northern causeway.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 23 Sep

The Little Stint lingered in to it's third day and I popped out at lunchtime to take another look, and it was showing really well in the north-east corner of West Pool, just off the northern causeway, so took a few more photos, and they turned out a bit better than the poor efforts I took on Wednesday evening.

I think the photo of the Little Stint alongside a discarded beer can shows just how small they are.

Nothing else of note during today's quick visit though.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 21 Sep

I'd not made a trip to the reservoir since the weekend due to the fact I'd been at work and despite visits from other birders nothing of note had been seen, however, that changed today. Because Ash had drawn a blank first thing I decided against a lunchtime trip, but at 2.30pm Dave Chown messaged to say he had found a Little Stint on West Pool, what followed was over three hours of nervous waiting before I could get to site after work. Fortunately the bird lingered and after a bit of a manic search I finally clapped my eyes on this tiny wader. Poor light and an even poorer photographer resulted in a few ropey record shots.

The Little Stint was associating with a Common Sandpiper and were pretty much the only birds of note during my brief stop.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2022 now at 120 species.