Sherborne Water Treatment Works - Sat 28 Dec

After a tip off I spent a bit of time on the Sherborne patch this afternoon and scored with an extremely obliging Yellow-browed Warbler, my second for the Sherborne patch and this one was a real beauty, especially as it's one of my favourite birds. A Firecrest was another quality bird this afternoon, they are always such a joy to watch. I also managed to see my first patch Treecreeper of the year, a long over due addition to the list.

My Sherborne patch year list for 2024 ended up on 68 species, which wasn't too bad and pretty much par for the coarse.

Sutton Bingham - Tue 24 Dec

A quick visit before work this morning and "the" Cattle Egret was again present on the northern causeway, and I even managed to get a photo that looks like a Cattle Egret today.

Also, this morning, what was presumably the same White-tailed Eagle that was present a week ago was in a tree opposite the Sailing Club, what a cracking bird.

So a couple of decent birds first thing but no time to hang around, had to get to the office!

Sutton Bingham - Mon 23 Dec

A quick visit the morning produced a Great White Egret on West Pool and a Cattle Egret that flew off over the railway line, presumably the same bird that has been seen on and off for the past week or so, here's a picture I took of it last Thursday, slightly better (only slightly!) than the previous effort.

Not much else to be seen, though a flock of twenty-four Golden Plover flew over heading north.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 18 Dec

Originally seen yesterday (but news was not shared by the finder) a White-tailed Eagle was present at the northern end of the reservoir this morning. An absolute beauty of a bird, and what a size! I originally got it perched up but it took to the air before I could get a photo, so I just enjoyed the spectacle as it flew around before being lost to view.

A Cattle Egret was present on the northern causeway but with the eagle flying around I'm sorry to say I paid the egret very little attention.

Update:

I received the following from the Roy Dennis Foundation having reported the eagle:

"The White-tailed Eagle that you saw was a male with the leg ring code G637. He fledged from a nest in West Sussex in 2024."

Sutton Bingham - Sat 14 Dec

I managed to add a bird to the year list today with a Cattle Egret present this evening in trees below the car park, complete with accompanying photo!

There were also three Gadwall present off the northern causeway.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 107 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 9 Nov

Three Mute Swans were present this morning, and as they are so scarce at Sutton Bingham these days and as I've had nothing else to report I thought I better write a brief blog entry. There were also forty Wigeon from the Fishing Lodge

Sutton Bingham - Sat 2 Nov

A Bar-headed Goose was present on the northern causeway a few days ago but it was a much more interesting species that I found this afternoon during a very quick visit. A small flock of six Dark-bellied Brent Geese were present at the northern end and showed very well from the bottom of the car park.

It seems that they flew south soon after I left the site. Brent Goose is a very scarce visitor to Sutton Bingham and my only previous sightings have been of individual birds, so to have half a dozen on the patch was a very pleasant surprise.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2024 now at 106 species.