Chard Reservoir & Chard Junction NR - Sun 26 Sep

After a fairly uninspiring Singapore Grand Prix I felt that I really ought to get out and about and headed west for a visit to Chard Reservoir. I walked straight out to the hide, only to find it locked! However, after a quick call to Andy (a Chard birder and close friend) I had the combination and was sat in the hide. Scanning across the reservoir there was not a huge amount around, though I did pick out a Common Snipe and a Little Egret. There were about a dozen Teal present and a Grey Wagtail showed extremely well as it fed along the water's edge directly under the hide:

With little else about I decided to try and find the recently formed Nature Reserve at Chard Junction. This gravel pits have been pretty productive over recent years but I had never actually visited them. After getting a few directions from Andy I headed off to see what I could find. The first pit I stumbled upon held seven Tufted Ducks but nothing else, and that's when I somehow ended up in the wrong place! I failed to find the nature reserve proper, but I think that was simply because I didn't walk far enough up the main track...but at least it gives me a reason to return to the site. So with time ticking by, and my stomach rumbling, I came on home for a much needed Sunday roast!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 26 Sep

With it being such a lovely day I decided to head up to Sutton Bingham for a visit before lunch. I stopped at the northern causeway but there was nothing of interest on either the main reservoir or West Pool, so I drove down to the hide and set up my scope.
Scanning across the water I soon picked up the seemingly ever present adult Yellow-legged Gull. There was a single Little Grebe which showed briefly before diving under the water. Overhead a couple of Ravens flew over and a Meadow Pipit was heard calling. Two Skylarks flew over, heading north and a few Swallows and House Martins were also passing through.
Leaving the hide, I took a walk around the back of the reservoir to see if anything was about, and as I crossed the field down to the water I saw a couple of Meadow Pipits perched on a telephone wire:

As I walked through the trees I saw a Goldcrest and reaching the far bank I was able to look out over the exposed mud where there were four Pied Wagtails and a couple of White Wagtails. A single Common Sandpiper was also feeding on the mud.

Despite the fact it is well in to Autumn, I was surprised to see a few butterflies on the wing. Whilst I only saw singles of Peacock, Common Blue and Comma, there were about four or five Small Coppers about:

Portland Bill - Sat 25 Sep

We headed out this afternoon and drove down to Weymouth where I dropped off Ellie so she could do some shopping for a couple of hours as I continued on down to Portland. It was about 3.45pm by the time I parked up at the Bird Observatory car park, and I was hoping to finally see a Common Rosefinch as one had been trapped and ringed by Martin Cade, the warden, earlier in the day. I had a chat with Martin when I arived and he told me where the bird had last been seen so off I set, scouring the area around the Hut Fields and the Observatory Quarry.
There were a few birds about, but nothing that really leapt out. I saw a couple of Whitethroats and two or three Blackcaps. One or two Chiffchaffs were about and there were a good number of Linnets. The open areas between the huts held a couple of White Wagtails and a few Rock Pipits. But no sign anywhere of the Common Rosefinch!
So I walked up to Culverwell where the bird had originally been trapped and had a good look around, but other than a Meadow Pipit and a Sparrowhawk saw nothing of note.
Giving up on the land birds I had a quick scan out to sea which produced the usual gulls and a few Gannets.
So having yet again dipped on Common Rosefinch, I drove back in to Weymouth and picked up Ellie, who had had a more productive afternoon and managed to pick up another new pair of shoes!!

Northam Burrows, Hartland Point and Yelland - Sun 19 Sep

Up at 6.15am and picked up at 7.00am myself and the "usual suspects" headed off to the north-west corner of Devon for a day of much-needed birding. We arrived at Northam Burrows at around 8.30am and drove out to the area known as The Skern. We were after a few quality rarities that had been in the area for a few days. Setting up our scopes near a few other birders we scanned across the area, picking out a few White Wagtails, several Wheatears (including a couple of Greenland Wheatears), and numerous Meadow Pipits. But none of these were what we were after, so I approached the other birders to try and get some gen, and was told that a Lapland Bunting was just in front of us. Calling the others over, we soon got on the bunting as it showed really well, often in the company of a couple of Meadow Pipits. Despite the fact it was always on the move, I still managed some of my top-quality record shots with my mobile phone:

We were also told that the Buff-breasted Sandpiper had been showing distantly within the last hour, so we continued scanning over the area, but the bird was being rather elusive! So after drawing a blank with the sandpiper we walked back down the road in an attempt to find the Grey Phalarope that had been around for the previous few days, but like the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, this usually obliging wader failed to show itself. So we walked back to the car, though on the way I thought I'd have another look over the mudflats and found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper! We got some good, if somewhat distant, views of the bird, and decided to continue to the car in the hope of getting nearer to the bird. I soon got back on it, and whilst it was slightly nearer it was still rather distant.

Having connected with this rare trans-Atlantic vagrant we set off for Hartland Point and a spot of sea-watching. We arrived late morning and set up on the headland to see what sea birds might be passing through. There were loads of Gannets and a fairly steady passage of Manx Shearwaters, but nothing out of the ordinary. We were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins.
Checking the pager we got a message that the Grey Phalarope had been seen again at Northam Burrows, so leaving Hartland Point we drove back to The Skern to try and find the bird that had eluded us earlier in the day. We spent an age scanning the area where the bird had been seen before a fellow birder spotted it just a few metres from us...we had been expecting the bird to be in the near distance, and not under our noses! Even I managed a few semi-decent record shots of this cracking juvenile Grey Phalarope with my mobile:

We started the homeward journey but took a detour to Yelland and the (badly-signposted) RSPB reserve of Isley Marsh. We were looking for three Spoonbills, and it did not take that long to find them on the salt marsh. There were plenty of Curlews and Little Egrets here, but little else. However, a small flock of Wigeon flew through, a sign of birds returning for the winter?

Having exhausted the area with regard to quality birds, we decided to call it a day and headed home.

UK list for 2010 now at 212 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 15 Sep

It was the southern end of the reservoir where all the action was during an hour long visit late in the afternoon. I set up my scope near the hide and scanned around. Just as I settled down the long-staying Yellow-legged Gull flew down the reservoir heading north. At least sixteen Teal were present and on the shoreline two Common Sandpipers and a Green Sandpiper were feeding. In the small pool which has formed at the southern end, there was a Little Egret and a single Stock Dove flew over. At least three Ravens were present, one of six species of corvid seen this afternoon.

Black Hole Marsh, Seaton & Budleigh Salterton - Sun 12 Sep

I headed off for a few hours of birding after lunch (and the Italian Grand Prix) whilst Ellie stayed at home for a bit of a rest. Driving straight to the fairly new reserve of Black Hole Marsh on the Axe Estuary just north of Seaton, I arrived at about 3.15pm. A mate of mine had given me directions on how to find this reserve and they were spot on, as before long I was looking out over the scrapes and was impressed by this new area. There were a few waders about, noteably a couple of Greenshank and a Knot. A couple of Little Stints were also present, as were three Curlew Sandpipers.
As it was still pretty early in the afternoon, I decided to carry on along the coast and visit Budleigh Salterton where a flock of some twenty Glossy Ibis had been present for the last few days. I parked up at the "White Bridge" about half a mile north of the town proper, and walked down the river, seeing a couple of Greenshanks and a Black-tailed Godwit along the way. As I neared the cricket field I scanned across and could make out about a dozen Glossy Ibises on the far side of the field, alongside another footpath. So I retraced my steps and found this second path and before long had cracking views of a total of seventeen Glossy Ibises, and again I managed a few shots with my mobile phone:



UK List for 2010 now at 208 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 11 Sep

Ellie and I popped up to the reservoir for a hour or so during the afternoon, and whilst I spent the time looking for birds from the area in front of the hide, Ellie lay on a picnic rug in the sunshine and read her book!
A few birds of interest were about, though three Common Sandpipers were the only waders seen. A single Yellow Wagtail was feeding in the area around the small pool at the extreme south of the reservoir, and the adult Yellow-legged Gull was again present.
A Raven flew over, and there was a pretty constant stream of Swallows and House Martins passing south over the reservoir. Also over the reservoir, a total of three Sparrowhawks. A small flock of over twenty Teal were also present at the southern end.
From the northern causeway, there was nothing of note on West Pool or the main reservoir.