Sutton Bingham - Mon 27 Feb

A couple of visits to the reservoir over the weekend failed to produce much, though Wigeon peaked at twenty-nine birds after several days of not seeing any on patch. An adult Great Black-backed Gull was also seen. However, a quick stop on the way in to work this morning turned up a real unexpected find. As I drove up to the northern causeway to park, an all white gull took flight and settled on the water...an Iceland Gull! I quickly stopped the car, grabbed my phone and got a record shot, I reckon it was a first winter bird.

Over the next five minutes I was able to get the 'scope set up and rattle off a couple of slightly better pictures before leaving at 8.00am, the bird took off from the water as I drove past but looked pretty settled.

 

 

 

This is my second Iceland Gull at Sutton Bingham following a bird in January 2014, this one was much more obliging though.
I popped back in to the reservoir on my way home from work and the Iceland Gull was present in the gull roost. Two adult Mediterranean Gulls were also present.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 22 Feb

Still pretty quiet at Sutton Bingham, just a pair of Teal at the southern end with no sign of any other duck at all. From the northern causeway I noted three Great Black-backed Gull, two adults and a third calendar year bird, whilst two Coot were on West Pool. Three Mute Swan were again present, including an adult female that was ringed as an adult in 2013 at Abbotsbury Swannery.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 20 Feb

A couple of visits over the weekend failed to produce too much in the way of decent birds, but an adult Great Black-backed Gull was present on Saturday morning, with a pair on the main reservoir on Sunday morning. The Peregrine was again seen at the southern end, but there have been very few duck over the last week, just a drake Tufted Duck seen on Saturday.
Back to today though and a drake Gadwall was seen early morning from the northern causeway, again very jumpy it took flight and settled briefly on West Pool, no idea whether this is the same bird that was present earlier in the month. I managed a quick shot as it took flight!

A late afternoon visit produced a count of at least fifteen hundred Black-headed Gulls.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 16 Feb

A quick stop this morning produced a single Lapwing present on the northern causeway until I got out of the car and spooked it sending it flying off to the east!
An equally quick visit after work yielded three Mediterranean Gulls flying south and the Peregrine was again present on one of the pylons.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 15 Feb

A quick pre-work stop at the northern causeway was a good call as a drake Gadwall flew in to West Pool, hung around for a couple of minutes, and then flew off to the east!

Arne RSPB - Tue 14 Feb

A trip down to Arne RSPB reserve today and a nice walk around although I failed to see much variety in the way of birds. The highlight was a flock of sixteen Spoonbill viewable from Shipstal Point, a bird that is almost expected when visiting Arne nowadays. I figure the tides were not quite right for waders, as just ten Black-tailed Godwits were seen (in flight as they passed overhead) and small numbers of Redshank and Curlew were noted. On the water a drake Goldeneye looked rather smart whilst back a the Visitor Centre there were some very obliging Siskins. None of the hoped for heathland specialities today, but I dare say I'll head down this way again!

Sutton Bingham - Mon 13 Feb

A quick stop at Sutton Bingham after work turned out to be much more productive than yesterday's extended visit! An adult Great Black-backed Gull was on one of the pontoons off the Sailing Club and overhead a little stream of gulls included twenty-five Common Gulls and two Mediterranean Gulls.
A couple of Mute Swans were viewable from the northern causeway whilst at the southern end a Peregrine was again noted. Just five Wigeon and six Teal seen today but a good number of winter thrushes were seen with at least fifty Fieldfare and over a hundred Redwing present.
Overhead a Raven and Stock Dove passed by.