Sutton Bingham - Tue 24 Mar

Big news from Wessex Water, they have closed all their sites for the foreseeable future as part of the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This means no access to Sutton Bingham until further notice, disappointing but a sensible decision. As a result my visit today was somewhat curtailed and all I could find were five Tufted Duck on West Pool plus the Wigeon flock which has surprisingly increased to twenty-two birds.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 23 Mar

Another very quiet start to the day with nothing of note from the northern causeway or at the southern end, however driving round to the Fishing Lodge I found a pair of Greylag Geese with the fifteen Wigeon and a few Canada Geese.

The second decent patch year tick in as many days, and given the time of year a good shout for being genuine rather than feral birds.
Sutton Bingham year list for 2020 now at 80 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 22 Mar

An early morning visit this morning and it was all looking rather quiet with just the flock of fifteen Wigeon and a small flurry of eight Sand Martins passing through. That all changed when I checked out a private area and found two Little Owls.

They were rather distant but what a cracking bird, my first on patch for well over fifteen years.

Update on the Little Owls: 
There has been no further sign of the birds so it looks as if they were simply passing through, hence the reason I added the sighting to my blog after the birds had left.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 21 Mar

I made a lunchtime visit today and there were a few new birds in, most noticeably a small flock of five Shoveler, two drakes and three ducks. This is a pretty high count for Sutton Bingham nowadays.

A Meadow Pipit was in the field between the car park and the Canoe Club and showed rather well.

Other bits and pieces today included a sub-adult Mute Swan at the southern end as well as the fifteen Wigeon that were still lingering. Two adult Great Black-backed Gull were also noted during today's visit, so not a bad little visit, but no new birds for the year list today.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 20 Mar

A bit of raptor activity early morning with a Peregrine over the northern end of the reservoir as well as seven Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk. A drake Tufted Duck was seen and fifteen Wigeon were still present. A Green Woodpecker was seen from the dam, and seemed fairly un-phased by my presence.

Two Sand Martin passed through and a pair of Mute Swans were new in.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 19 Mar

A very quick visit in pretty dismal whether produced my first three Sand Martins of the year feeding in front of the Fishing Lodge. Fourteen Wigeon were in the north east corner and a drake Tufted Duck was seen.
Sutton Bingham list for 2020 now at 76 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 18 Mar

A singing Skylark could be heard from the northern causeway first thing, and a Meadow Pipit flew over. On the water a pair of Wigeon were at the southern end and a lone drake Mandarin was present. A Peregrine was on top of one of the pylons. The "usual" pair of Great Black-backed Gulls were again present along with the first year bird that I've seen a few times over the past couple of weeks.