Black Hole Marsh, Seaton - Sat 30 Jul

A trip out this afternoon to Devon and a wander around Black Hole Marsh, part of Seaton Wetlands. A few decent waders had been seen over recent days, so I thought I'd pop down and take a look in the hope of getting a couple of year ticks...not that I'm year listing of course!
On arrival I scanned the marsh and immediately picked out a good number of Dunlin (including some very nice summer plumages birds), several Black-tailed Godwits, and loads of Redshank. A single Curlew and at least ten Common Sandpipers were also noted. But the birds I was after took just a little more work and I made for the Island Hide to maximise my chances of seeing them, and that paid off as first I had some smashing views of a Wood Sandpiper.

I then got on three juveniles and a single adult Little Ringed Plover. Other bits and pieces seen included a rather showy, if somewhat distant, Water Rail and a couple of Ringed Plover.
On the gull front I failed to pick out anything out of the ordinary, but I did not check the estuary. All in all it was a lovely afternoon out and made for quite a nice change from birding at Sutton Bingham!

Sutton Bingham - Fri 29 Jul

A quick mid-morning visit failed to produce anything other that what was presumably a family party of four Raven over the Canoe Club.
However, that all changed when I got a phone call at 1:45pm from Sherborne birder Brendan Sheils telling me that a Black-tailed Godwit had just dropped in after a heavy shower. So I pegged it over and was lucky enough to see the bird before it flew off soon after 2:00pm! My fourth patch year tick in four days and I was glad to finally connect with Black-tailed Godwit after missing two earlier in the year.

Also present at lunchtime, singles of Great Black-backed Gull, Little Egret and Common Sandpiper on West Pool.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 28 Jul

I popped out before breakfast and made straight for the dam where a Redshank was heard and then seen as it flew over the reservoir and headed south. I then set about scanning the dam wall for anything other than wagtails and was surprised with what I found. A juvenile/female-type Black Redstart! That was certainly unexpected. I managed to get some wonderful views as it worked its way along the horse paddock and back towards the Fishing Lodge before it was lost to view. Unfortunately, it was far too mobile for me to be able to get any sort of record shot, but what a cracking bird and a patch tick!
Other bits seen this morning included three Common Sandpipers and two Mandarin. Overhead a Hobby passed by carrying a small bird which it was busy plucking whilst on the wing.
Sutton Bingham year list 2016 now at 102 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 27 Jul

No early morning visit today but I did manage a brief stop mid-morning but could only find a Great Black-backed Gull and Little Egret on West Pool. I then had to pop in to East Coker and just as I was getting back in to the car after carrying out some chores I heard a wader call, having a pretty good idea what it was I quickly headed back to the reservoir just in case it has dropped in, and sure enough, when I got to the northern causeway an Oystercatcher was waiting for me! Unfortunately it was flushed by a passing cyclist within a couple of minutes of my arrival and it flew south and was lost to view. A real lucky patch year tick!

Sutton Bingham - Tue 26 Jul

No sign yesterday or today of the Wheatear that was present on Sunday and in fact I was getting a little fed up during this mornings early visit as all I could manage from the dam were a couple of Kingfishers and three Little Egrets.

A Raven was calling from the top of a tree near the outfall stream and a juvenile Black-headed Gull was present with eight adults on the buoys.
Off to the northern causeway where another Kingfisher was seen and then I could hear a warbler singing from the edge of West Pool. I was pretty sure it was a Sedge Warbler and after a quick hunt I managed to confirm my thoughts and got some smashing views of the bird. The first one at Sutton Bingham this year and the hundredth species of bird that I have seen on the patch in 2016!
I then popped down to the Canoe Club for a quick look around seeing another Little Egret and a third calendar year Yellow-legged Gull which showed really well on a buoy, a nice bird to round off the pre-breakfast visit.

Sutton Bingham year list 2016 now at 100 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 24 Jul

It was disappointingly quiet on the patch this morning. Starting at the dam I counted a total of five Little Egrets and two Common Sandpipers. A single Raven flew over and that was about it so I drove round to the northern causeway. Nothing of note, on to the Canoe Club where two more Ravens were seen as well as a couple of Kingfishers. A check of the muddy fringes along the edge of the reservoir produced another Common Sandpiper.
On the way back I made another quick stop at the northern causeway where I saw a single juvenile type Mandarin acting rather brave for this usually shy species (or at least they are on patch), and a Great Black-backed Gull was on West Pool.
A return visit later in the day didn't yield a thing but I later found out a Wheatear had been seen near the Fishing Lodge later in the day...so I missed that one then!

Sutton Bingham - Sat 23 Jul

Well I suppose I've been quite lucky this month in so far as I've managed to spend some time at the reservoir pretty much every day. So I popped in again this morning to see if anything had dropped in overnight, but initial scans indicated that this was probably not the case!

Four Little Egret were again present from the dam as well as a Kingfisher, but it was really quiet so round to the northern causeway where single Great Black-backed Gull was on West Pool and seven Stock Doves were feeding in the newly mown field alongside the pool.

A Coot was seen off the Sailing Club, something of a rarity on the patch nowadays, and I don't think they have bred this year for the first time since I've been birding here.

I then popped down to the Canoe Club to check the southern end of the reservoir. A Peregrine was atop one of the pylons and a further two Kingfishers were seen.

Back then towards home and a quick stop at the northern causeway en route proved to be an inspired decision as firstly a Common Sandpiper flew in and landed on the causeway and then at pretty much the stroke of 8am two Common Terns arrived from nowhere and flew south!