Sutton Bingham - Thu 29 Mar

I took Tristan up to the reservoir for a walk before dinner and we parked at the hide and followed the water's edge up to the car park before returning to the car. The two adult Great Black-backed Gulls were again present and a Linnet flew over singing.
There were still twenty-three Wigeon at the southern end of the reservoir and West Pool held two remaining Teal.
Still no migrants other than a few Chiffchaffs, but the superb weather will surely mena birds are simply flying through without stopping.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 25 Mar

Two visits to the reservoir today, my usual morning visit whilst Ellie was at church and then a follow up visit late in the day. Highlight today came in the form of a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls that spent most of the day lingering at the southern end of the reservoir.

 

 

Also at the southern end of the reservoir, twenty-three Wigeon were still present along with half a dozen Teal. A "new" Chiffchaff had arrived and was in full song halfway between the Canoe Club and hide, its face was encrusted with black pollen stains. A croaking overhead made me look up and a Raven passed by flying east.
West Pool produced four Tufted Ducks, new arrivals which will no doubt quickly move on. Two Wigeon and five Teal were also on West Pool as was a Little Egret.

Meare Heath NR - Sat 24 Mar

I took Tristan up on to the Somerset Levels this afternoon as it was such lovely weather, and very warm...the thermometer in the car indicated a very summery 22 degrees centigrade! I arrived at the Ashcott Corner car park at 3.15pm and walked out along the path. I could hear at least two Bitterns booming, but they kept themselves hidden in the reedbeds.

Tristan just would not settle whilst we were out, so it made it very hard to do much in the way of birding. I did however manage to get a good view of the two first-winter Long-billed Dowitchers as they fed on the partially drained lagoon. Also present a Ruff, a few Redshank and a small flock of Black-tailed Godwits. A single Great White Egret was also present for a while before flying off north.

Because the little man wouldn't stop crying I had to cut short our visit and get him back to the car, and to make things rather frustrating he was quiet as a mouse once he was strapped in to his car seat...never mind, at least I got to see the dowitchers.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 21 Mar

With there being nothing out of the ordinary to chase I ended up spending an couple of hours with Tristan at Sutton Bingham Reservoir instead. I took a long walk around the southern end of the reservoir and there was a fair bit of activity in the small woodland. At least two Treecreepers were seen and a Nuthatch was heard calling (I'm still awaiting my first view of this species in 2012!), other vocal birds included both Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers. A single Marsh Tit was seen and a calling Kingfisher was glimpsed through the vegetation as it headed down the feeder stream. Overhead a Meadow Pipit flew north and a pair of Bullfinches were a nice sighting.
Returning to the car I counted twenty-seven Teal on the water alongside a pair of Wigeon and a Little Egret was a new arrival. At least three Chiffchaffs were now singing away.
The northern end of the reservoir was very quiet, with West Pool holding twenty-three Wigeon and four Teal and nothing of note being on the main reservoir, but another two Meadow Pipits flew over as did three Greenfinches.

Wyke Regis - Sun 18 Mar

As it was Mother's Day my present for Ellie was to give her a few hours for her to do what she wanted and I took Tristan out to ensure she wasn't disturbed. I had considered a visit to my folks, but having spoken to Mum earlier in the day I knew they would be out.

So instead I took Tristan down to the coast again and a visit to Wyke Regis to see if we would have more luck at the site then we did a month ago...and fortunately we did. I made straight for the small copse where the over-wintering Hume's Warbler had taken up residence. Despite spending about forty minutes searching for the bird, with half a dozen other birders, I only heard it calling from deep in the undergrowth, and knowing I could not spend all afternoon waiting for a fleeting glimpse I decided to try for other target bird, happy enough that I had at least heard the Hume's Warbler.

I walked back towards the Birdging Camp and got lucky with some smashing views of the long-staying Richard's Pipit, I had a go at some record shots with my phone, but it was rather too far away.

 

The size of the Richard's Pipit really stood out as it fed in the grass alongside a Meadow Pipit. Also in the same area as the pipits I saw three Wheatears and a Black Redstart. However, before I knew it our time was up and I had to get Tristan back home for his afternoon feed, but we had a successful afternoon out.
UK list for 2012 now at 153 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 18 Mar

An hour long visit with Tristan whilst Ellie was at church produced the first singing Chiffchaff of the spring just south of the hide. From the hide there were twenty-five Wigeon and ten Teal present, and Great Crested Grebes numbered some forty-nine birds.

Two Stock Doves flew in from the south and landed in a tree opposite the hide. A single Fieldfare was seen and at least two Meadow Pipits flew over. A pair of Long-tailed Tits were carrying nesting material and five Snipe were flushed as I walked past the southern causeway, a small flock of seven more Snipe also flew through.

There was very little happening at the northern end of the reservoir as water levels had risen sufficiently to enable the sailors and canoists to take to the water. Ten Teal were on West Pool however.

West Bexington & Abbotsbury - Sat 17 Mar

After a morning at work I settled down and watched the first of the Six Nations matches before recording the others and taking Tristan out for the afternoon, thus givign Ellie some time to herself. Setting off at 2.45pm I drove down to the coast and arrived at West Bexington around 3.30pm. I walked east towards the Coastguards Cottages in an attempt to finally connect with the Velvet Scoters that had been off the coast here for the entire winter.

After a mile of walking of muddy shingle I set up my scope and scanned the sea. It was rather overcast weather and the wind meant there was a real swell on the water. This made it difficult pinning down any birds, however, I did locate a Great Crested Grebe and a Razorbill, but no ducks. A couple of Kittiwakes passed by as did a Gannet or two.

My first Wheatear of the year was located in one of the fields behind the beach, surprisingly it was a female. The same field also held a large flock of a couple of hundred Common Gulls and two splendid summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gulls.

Returning to the car I spent twenty minutes scanning the sea and eventually located the Velvet Scoters, with three birds present. I was also able to point them out to a fellow birder who had made the trip from the Blackdowns.

Leaving West Bexington I made a brief stop at Abbotsbury. Scanning the area from the car I got on the two Scaup I had seen a couple of weeks ago, only this time they were much closer and I didn't need to walk miles on shingle to see them! There were also three Barnacle Geese grazing on the meadow (these are widely believed to be genuine wild birds). Time was against me though and Tristan reminded me that it was nearing his dinner time, so off we headed back home.