Sutton Bingham - Tue 28 Apr

With a little bit of time on my hands, having left for work early, I popped in to the reservoir for a quick look. Bright sunlight meant viewing the main reservoir from the northern causeway was a bit tricky so I checked out West Pool, which had been almost devoid of birdlife for the last few months. Today was slightly different when I stumbled upon a brown aythya duck, keeping close to the water's edge on the far side of the pool. I immediately noticed the white under-tail coverts and rounded back of the head...no sign of a crest. Chestnut brown in colour with a darker back and paler flanks, a dark eye and darkish bill. Was this a female/first-summer Ferruginous Duck? However, aythya hybrids are always a possibility and something didn't look quite right, was there a hint of Pochard in there somewhere? My gut instinct was telling me this was a hybrid, a real shame but the bill and forehead didn't look right for Ferruginous Duck and were more like Pochard. A quick Tweet to get news out and a couple of phone calls so others could check it out. I guess a few second opinions will nail it one way or the other.

UPDATE: I can confirm that the mystery aythya was indeed a hybrid, possibly Fudge x Pochard though it looked as if there could even be some Red-crested Pochard somewhere in it! A very interesting bird!

Meare Heath NNR - Sat 25 Apr

I had just arrived at work when the pager went off with a *Mega Alert* alerting me of a Hudsonian Godwit just up the road at Meare heath NNR on the Somerset Levels. What followed was the longest four hours I had ever spent sat at my desk, with a constant eye on Twitter and the RBA website keeping me abreast of the birds presence I finally set off and arrived on site soon after 1pm. The new car park was packed to capacity but fortunately I managed to squeeze in to the old car park at Ashcott Corner and walked out to view the drained lagoon, along with around 500 other birders!

When I first got on the bird it was fast asleep, though it did do a little preening before settling down again. So I walked on to take a look over Noah's Lake where I added Common Tern to the year list, with two birds flying around. A couple of Hobbies overhead were also new for the year and the now expected Great White Egrets, Bitterns and Marsh Harriers were all noted.
I then returned to the throng and the Hudsonian Godwit was now feeding but was working its way in to the left hand corner of the lagoon and was for the most part obscured from view. However, with a little patience I got some great views and was able to see all the distinguishing features, including the dark underwing when it had a go at a Black-tailed Godwit. I did try and get a couple of record shots, but was more interested in seeing the bird and appreciating this third for Britain.

 

 

The only other bird of note that I saw this afternoon was a Greenshank, there were loads of other quality birds around, but I didn't actually connect with any of them...not that I minded, I saw the important one!

Sutton Bingham - Sat 25 Apr

An extremely quick visit on the way to work this morning added Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler to the patch year list. The Whitethroat was singing away from the depths of the railway embankment and whilst extremely vocal did not actually show. The Sedge Warbler was equally elusive in the north-east corner of West Pool, giving about thirty seconds worth of song from deep within the vegetation. A single Common Sandpiper was on the northern causeway.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 23 Apr

I'd had a text message from fellow "Bingham Birder" James first thing to say he had a "Commic" Tern on one of the distant buoys viewed from the northern causeway, so I decided to pop up to the reservoir during my lunch break. No sign of the tern in question but I did see three Green Sandpipers on a pontoon near the Sailing Club, a nice year tick and the first I'd seen on the patch for a couple of years.
As I had a little time left before needing to get back to work I popped along to the Canoe Club to see if yesterday's Great White Egret might still be around, it wasn't! However, I did find two Little Terns, a Sutton Bingham tick for me and a real unexpected surprise! Unfortunately the birds flew to the southern end of the reservoir and were lost to view. A quick drive to the southern end failed to relocate them, I can only presume they carried on and were simply passing through. It would have been nice to have watched them for a little longer, but I was thrilled to get a patch tick, and I guess if yesterday's Great White Egret was "Patch Gold" today's Little Terns have got to be "Patch Platinum"!
Sutton Bingham year list for 2015 now at 81 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 22 Apr

"Patch Gold" today when I found a Great White Egret during an afternoon visit to the reservoir! The bird was perched up in a tree opposite the Canoe Club for most of the afternoon. It appeared to be coloured ringed, with a red ring just viewable on one leg.

Nothing else of note except for three Little Egrets, so it was a real case of quality over quantity today!
Sutton Bingham year list for 2015 now at 79 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 19 Apr

A mid-morning visit to the patch added House Martin to the year list, with two birds hanging out with a Swallow at the most southerly point of my Patchwork Challenge area. Also from here a Kestrel flew through. Back at the northern causeway a Common Sandpiper was seen, as was a Little Egret. A check of the gulls reaped rewards as I located a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull amongst the Herring Gulls, the second patch year tick of the day!

Greylake RSPB, Meare Heath and Ham Wall RSPB - Sat 18 Apr

Arriving at Greylake RSPB in the early afternoon we made for the hide and lucked in at last and were rewarded with good, if somewhat distant, views of the drake Green-winged Teal, I even managed a typically dodgy phone-scoped picture of it!

A couple of male Garganey were also present at Greylake amongst the few remaining wildfowl and I also heard my first Reed Warbler of the year and my first booming Bittern. A very successful stop so on towards Ham Wall and Meare Heath, where a Red Kite over the village of Ashcott was a welcome surprise.
We walked out to have a quick look at the drained lagoon at Meare Heath, another male Garganey was a nice find and a Great White Egret made a brief stop. A fair-sized flock of Black-tailed Godwits were also present and a male Marsh Harrier passed over the far reed bed. As we returned to the car park a Garden Warbler could be heard singing from the scrub but we could not nail it's exact location! A singing Sedge Warbler was another addition to the year list.
A quick walk over to Ham Wall RSPB and I saw my first Swifts of the year, a total of four were seen over the reserve. A couple more Great White Egrets were seen and as we returned to the car a Bittern flew over the reeds, frustratingly I was the only one to see the bird before it was obscured from sight by a stand of trees.
A brilliant day out with some great friends!
UK list for 2015 now at 150 species.