Sutton Bingham - Mon 30 Jun

Nothing to report for the last week or so, though I have missed both Redshank and Hobby, the former in particular was rather frustrating.

I did manage a brief stop this evening on the way home from work and a Lapwing was a notable arrival, present on the spit of land opposite the Sailing Club. There were also five Common Sandpipers around the site, and I had a feeling there should have been something more, but unfortunately didn't have the time to really check everywhere out.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 18 Jun

A few brief visits over the past ten day shave not produced that much, but highlights included a Kestrel on 8 June, a Red Kite on 10 June and a presumed hybrid Herring Gull x Lesser Black-backed Gull also on 10 June, finally, a Peregrine on 15 June.

This morning, a quick stop turned up a pair of Egyptian Geese, present on the bank opposite the Sailing Club. Distant record shots below, though not sure why I bothered!

The only other bird of note was a Swift that flew in for a drink.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 5 Jun

My first visit to the reservoir for a little while, and between rain showers I managed to see a few things of interest, albeit nothing new for the year list. A Skylark was in song near the Canoe Club with another two seen in flight on the far side of the reservoir.

A Great White Egret in rather splendid breeding plumage was at the southern end where a female Mandarin was swimming along with five ducklings in tow.

Arne RSPB - Sat 31 May

A trip to Arne RSPB reserve today and a decent walk out to Shipstal Point first which produced a few waders, including a flock of eight Sanderling, and both Common Tern and Sandwich Tern fishing offshore. The walk down to the point also produced two Spotted Flycatchers, one of which was rather showy.

The second half of the visit was spent walking across Coombe Heath in a search for the heathland specialities, but I drew a complete blank with just a couple of Meadow Pipits and a Hobby in rather blustery conditions. Several Shelduck and Redshank were in Middlebeare channel, but that was about it.

A wonderful day out, but missed several species I was hoping to see.

Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 25 May

An afternoon visit to the Somerset Levels and the ham Wall RSPB reserve this afternoon and whilst I failed to see any of the recent scarcities that have been in the area I did have a lovely trip out and some good birds to boot.

Highlights were undoubtedly a couple of singing Garden Warblers, both of which were in vegetation right in front of me but failed to show themselves, and several hawking Hobbies which were zooming over the reedbeds from the second viewing platform.

Add to these the now expected Great White Egrets and Marsh Harriers alongside the occasional booming Bittern.

Sutton Bingham - Sat 24 May

Pete found a Sanderling on the northern causeway at lunchtime today, however, I missed the WhatsApp message and only read it ninety minutes later! Anyway, I headed up to the reservoir and pulled up along the causeway in the hope that the bird might still be present. As I got out of the car I saw the Sanderling briefly before a car drove past, beeped its horn, and flushed all the gathered gulls and the Sanderling. Mixed emotions, glad I'd seen it, albeit briefly, but annoyed it had gone. However, on a whim I checked the causeway on the West Pool side and was surprised to find the Sanderling had simply flown over the road and it showed really well for the remainder of my stay.

A scarce visitor to Sutton Bingham but this is the second recent record following an Autumn bird last year.

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 99 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 11 May

I'd not had the opportunity to visit the reservoir over the past week other than an hour on Thursday morning, where I had two singing Reed Warblers, one off the jetty at the end of the northern causeway, which seems to have present for a while and is holding territory, plus a second bird at the extreme south of the patch. I also saw three Red Kites during that visit.

This evening I had a message from Pete telling me that a Lesser Whitethroat was singing opposite the southern causeway, so I popped down and met up with Pete and after listening to it sing for a while, finally clapped my eyes on the Lesser Whitethroat, my first for the year.

As Pete wandered off I returned to the car and noticed a falcon in the top of a tree, the light was dreadful as it was directly behind the bird, however, it was clear to see it was a Kestrel, my second of the year and a tough bird to see at Sutton Bingham these days. As you can see, the light was s poor I could only get silhouettes of the bird, but you can still tell it's a bird!

Sutton Bingham year list for 2025 now at 97 species.