Sutton Bingham - Sun 28 Nov

My usual Sunday morning visit whilst Ellie was at church turned out to be pretty productive if cold, with the temperature not getting above -2 degrees centigrade! I parked up on the northern causeway and scanned the reservoir, there were a good number of ducks off the dam, with over sixty Wigeon and twenty or so Teal. Also present, four Pochard and seven Tufted Duck. Feeding on the water's edge was a Little Egret, an unexpected find at this time of year. The railway embankment held a few Redwings and Fieldfares feeding on the assorted berries.
Whilst the main reservoir was full of birds, West Pool held nothing of note, so I decided to explore the southern end of the reservoir to see if there was anything happening on the bird front there. Getting out of the car the first thing I noticed were a pair of Bullfinches. I then took a walk along the reservoir's edge to the trees and river at the extreme south. Walking along I put up two Snipe from the water's edge and then a real surprise, a Woodcock! This was my first ever Woodcock at Sutton Bingham and my 160th species at the site. Despite searching I could not locate the bird as it flew through the trees. Returning to the car I scanned the pylons, finding an adult Peregrine and another flock of about twenty Teal were present. A quick walk out past the hide produced two Lapwings flying over heading north.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 24 Nov

A pleasant if somewhat chilly afternoon, and not being in the mood for a long drive I popped up to the reservoir for an hour or so before dark. I took a long walk around the southern end of the reservoir where there were a few birds around. The wintering wildfowl were rather skittish and flocks of at least thirty Teal and sixty Wigeon were wheeling around above the reservoir and occasionally settling on the water. A single female Tufted Duck was also present.
A total of twelve Snipe were flushed from the water's edge and overhead a few Siskins passed by. On the pylons there were two adult Peregrines, one of which spent ten minutes or so dive-bombing a Buzzard which had caught prey.


Winter thrushes were a but thinner on the ground today, with just a couple of Redwings and Fieldfares seen. A Water Rail was heard calling but refused to show itself and as I returned to the car a pair of Bullfinches flew over.
A quick stop to check the gathering gulls and West Pool failed to produce anything of interest other than a single Little Grebe. Some of the Wigeon flock had relocated to West Pool to roost and on the reservoir proper there was a flock of twenty or so Canada Geese roosting.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 21 Nov

My usual Sunday morning visit whilst Ellie was at church was somewhat productive. Starting on the northern causeway I noticed a mixed flock of twenty or so Fieldfares and Redwings fly over and land in trees near the Sailing Club. On West Pool the only things of note were two Little Grebes.
I then headedon to the southern end of the reservoir and took a walk about. I inadvertantly flushed seven Snipe from the waterside vegetation and duck numbers were not too bad with at least fifty Wigeon and twenty Teal present.
Over heads further flocks of Fieldfares passed by with at least one hundred birds moving. There was a flock of forty or so Starlings near the southern causeway feeding on sloes, and a single Goldcrest was also seen in that area.
Before I knew it my hour was up and it was time to head back home.

Hollingworth Lake - Sat 20 Nov

On the road at 6.00am with a car full of my birding mates, John, Andy and Barry, and leaving Ellie tucked up in bed, I headed off north to Manchester in the hope of catching up with the Pied-billed Grebe that had been present for a week or so. I had dipped this species in the earlu nineties and was hoping to get it marked off, and after a drive of just less than four hours we parked up in a pay and display car park on the edge of the lake. As we got out of the car a Grey Wagtail flew over.
We had a twenty minute walk to the far side of the lake, seeing nothing of note along the way, and after meeting a few birders en route got directions as to where the bird was. Setting up our scopes it took us a bit of time to get on the bird as it skulked in the reeds, but before long it flew out on to open water and we got cracking views of this Nearctic vagrant.
Unfortunately, it flew out of the bay we were looking at and out of site, so leaving the others behind I hot-footed round the corner, and after relocating the bird within about two minutes it had flown back to where the others were still stood! So I retraced my steps and finally managed a few really poor record shots of the Pied-billed Grebe.


After watching the bird for half an hour or so we completed the circuit of the lake back to the car, seeing a Mistle Thrush and a couple of Redwings in the waterside trees, and a single Tufted Duck on the water. It was about 11.30am by the time we got back to the car, and with the twitch being a success we headed straight back home, and to round off a perfect day, Spurs notched up their first win away at Arsenal for seventeen years!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 14 Nov

A curtailed visit to Sutton Bingham this morning due to the onset of steady rain from about 10.40am, just five minutes after I had arrived on site. Hasten to say, I only stayed about ten minutes, during which time the only birds of note were a couple of Fieldfares.

Exminster Marshes RSPB - Sat 13 Nov

A busy morning at work, a headache, and an hour later leaving home that I had hoped, followed by being zapped by a cop with a speed gun doing 50 on the A30 in a 40 zone had set the afternoon up nicely for dipping the American Robin at Exminster Marshes...and dip it we did!
On the plus side, we did have a nice walk for an hour or so, but not only did we miss the American Robin, we also missed a Glossy Ibis and a Red-breasted Goose! In fact I can't really think of anything out of the ordinary that Ellie and I saw during the afternoon. A single Black-tailed Godwit flew over, and there were hundreds of Starlings gathering to roost. But we missed all the decent stuff and by the time we got back to the car it was dark. Bit of a wasted afternoon but at least Spurs won!

Boshill Cross - Wed 10 Nov

A lovely bright afternoon, so I took advantage of my half day and drove down to Boshill Cross, about four or so miles south of Axminster. I pulled off the road at Axminster Football Club and looked over the flooded field opposite and connected with my target bird straightaway, a Long-billed Dowitcher. The bird was showing really well and afforded excellent views.
Also present, at least twenty Dunlin and several Curlew and Lapwings. There were also a small number of Teal on the small pool.
Before I had a chance to decide what to do next I had a phone call from work, so unfortunately I had to give up on the idea of any more birding and zoom home to troubleshoot an IT problem...wasn't this meant to be my half day?