Sutton Bingham - Fri 30 Apr

A quick lunchtime visit produced a Red Kite over the southern end of the reservoir. A welcome addition to the patch year list. A total of five Common Sandpipers were on the northern causeway early evening.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2021 now at 86 species.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 29 Apr

A push for migrants today as I was well down on my average April patch additions, but nothing doing other than a singing Whitethroat just south of the car park. I missed a very brief Yellow Wagtail which was rather annoying, but that's the way it goes sometimes. The only other birds of note this afternoon were three Common Sandpipers, a lone White Wagtail and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls. There must have been somewhere in the region of five hundred large gulls on the water.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 28 Apr

A couple of flying visits over the past few days had failed to turn up (no pun intended) any interesting migrant terns or waders. A small number of Common Sandpipers have been present daily and a pair of Tufted Duck were seen yesterday evening as well as a couple of adult Great Black-backed Gulls.
A visit at lunchtime today produced a rather odd looking goose.

Obviously it has got some Greylag Goose in it, but what about the rest? Swan Goose has been suggested, and the colouration on the neck may support that, and Lesser White-fronted Goose was also mooted. Whatever it's parentage, it was an interesting bird.

There were also loads of hirundines feeding over the reservoir today, including the first Sand Martins I'd seen for a few weeks.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 22 Apr

Two hours on patch this afternoon, two hours to try and find something new for the year list, two hours that failed to do that! A Mute Swan was seen along the arm and a single Little Egret was also noted. However, it was pretty much more of the same today with five Common Sandpipers seen. A fly-through Meadow Pipit was somewhat unseasonal. On and above the reservoir there were impressive numbers of large gulls but nothing out of the ordinary and scanning the various raptors taking advantage of the thermals I counted eleven Buzzards but again nothing more exciting.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 21 Apr

A quick stop in the morning produced seven Common Sandpipers and three Tufted Duck, whilst a return visit in the evening that was equally brief yielded two adult Great Black-backed Gulls.

Sutton Bingham - Mon 19 Apr

A quick stop on the way to work produced a nice Spring total of twenty-one Common Sandpipers, with fourteen on the northern causeway initially before they moved to the lawn and pontoons at the Sailing Club with a further seven in the north-east corner off the dam. My second Wheatear of the year was also seen this morning in a private area, it was rather distant, but here you go. In case you were wondering, it's got its back to you and is facing slightly left.

No time to check for anything else on what felt like it could have been a good morning for migrants.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 18 Apr

I spent about ninety minutes at the reservoir early morning and it was somewhat productive with eight Common Sandpipers on the northern causeway, before they relocated to the dam. A Skylark was again in song over the field behind the Canoe Club and two male Reed Buntings were in song along the southern arm, a single female was also seen. Two pairs of Tufted Duck dropped in and five Teal were somewhat unexpected for this time of year.