Sutton Bingham - Wed 26 Oct

A brief early morning visit was very productive, with some obvious visible migration in the form of eight Skylark, eleven Fieldfare (my first of the autumn at the reservoir) and fourteen Meadow Pipits through. A Stonechat was still around the fringes of West Pool where a very late Common Sandpiper was feeding. A single Snipe was also noted on West Pool alongside a Grey Wagtail.
Returning later in the day I had a bit of time to spare so started at the southern end where a Little Grebe was present and Teal numbers had increased to 131 birds (no Wigeon seen today).
I then drove round to the Fishing Lodge and checked out the geese (something I often do...just in case!) and today it paid off with a first-winter type Eurasian White-fronted Goose present amongst the Canada Geese. Amazingly I then found a single Barnacle Goose which was another new arrival. So two quality patch year ticks in the space of a couple of minutes. Unfortunately both geese kept their distance and the Eurasian White-fronted Goose in particular was rather mobile with the Canada Goose flock, I eventually managed to get a little closer as the flock moved to the southern end of the reservoir, but my pictures, taken in fading light, do not do it justice.

 

 

 

Obviously the top photo its the very distant Barnacle Goose, and the bottom three the Eurasian White-fronted Goose hanging around with the Canada Geese. Did I mention it was distant and the light was poor?

Sutton Bingham year list 2016 now at 118 species.



Sutton Bingham - Tue 25 Oct

A quick check of the southern end of the reservoir on the way home produced just fifty Teal and two Wigeon, a real drop in numbers, but the female Pintail (presumably the same one) was back after going AWOL for several days. A Snipe flew over heading south and a Peregrine was atop one of the pylons.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 23 Oct

A quick check of the car park produced a Marsh Tit, a bird I'd not seen in this area of the reservoir before. The Stonechat was still at West Pool.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 22 Oct

A late afternoon visit produced a bit of variety. I concentrated on the southern end of the reservoir where 134 Teal and forty Wigeon were present, though nothing more unusual was amongst them. A pair of Mute Swans were new in and two first-winter Mediterranean Gulls and a Common Gull flew through heading south. A couple of Kingfishers were noted and a Stonechat was still hanging around West Pool.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 21 Oct

A female type Mandarin was seen in flight over the southern end of the reservoir late afternoon, the only other birds of note were three Kingfishers and fourteen fly-through Meadow Pipits.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 19 Oct

More of the same during this afternoon's trip to the reservoir. Starting at the southern end a quick count of the wildfowl produced forty-seven Wigeon and ninety Teal plus three Little Grebes that were also present.
Two Stonechats were still midway between the "hide" and Canoe Club with a third individual at West Pool. A single Kingfisher was the only other bird of note, though a little group of four Treecreepers were near the car park with a Goldcrest and Chiffchaff. Finally, my first patch Sparrowhawk for several months was soaring overhead with a couple of Buzzards.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 16 Oct

Well today I managed two visits to the reservoir, one pre-breakfast and another late in the afternoon.
I started the day at West Pool where there were several birds present, somewhat bucking the recent trend on patch! A Stonechat and at least six Meadow Pipits were feeding on the southern edge of West Pool where six Snipe were roosting. West Pool also held two Teal and a pair of Wigeon. Overhead a Raven was heard and the main reservoir produced a fly-by Kingfisher. The sallows in the corner of West Pool contained a couple of Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest, but nothing scarcer.
I then drove down to the southern end of the reservoir. The long-staying Pintail had moved on at last but there were still fifty-three Teal and thirty-two Wigeon. Four Skylark flew over, as did a single Meadow Pipit.
Finally this morning, I stopped off at the church, but other than a handful of Redwing couldn't find anything of note.
Returning to the reservoir late afternoon, I made straight for the dam where a Little Grebe was feeding just off the tower. Then a real surprise as I heard a Red-legged Partridge calling, only the third time I've recorded this species at Sutton Bingham and a real bonus patch year tick. It called a few times but I was unable to pin it down. A flock of twenty-five Linnet was also noted at the top of the entrance to the Fishing Lodge.
Back then to the northern causeway and a check of the gulls that were starting to drop in. Three sub-adult Common Gulls were the pick.

Black-headed Gulls numbered well over a hundred and at least three hundred larger gulls were present.
Sutton Bingham year list 2016 now at 116 species.