2016 Review - Sutton Bingham Reservoir by Tim Farr

Patchwork Challenge 2016 - Sutton Bingham Reservoir

Report by Tim Farr

I had a pretty good year in 2015 and honestly thought I would be heard pressed in beating last year’s total, but I guess hard work pays off and 2016 turned out to be a real cracker of a year with four patch lifers and some quality rarities to boot. As always my apologies for the photographs…I rely on phone-scoped record shots!

January

Not a bad start to the year with a January 1^st visit producing a drake Shoveler amongst the regular wintering Wigeon. A Stonechat kindly stayed in to the New Year and got added to the list alongside Kestrel and Little Grebe. Just a couple of days later I found a small flock of Lesser Redpoll, a species I’d not seen on patch for a couple of years and a week later I added Marsh Tit, a species which took eight months to get on to the year list in 2015! Some annoying news was received on 14^th January as a fellow birder had flushed a Jack Snipe, despite trying a couple of times I failed...my first patch dip of the year, and unfortunately not my last! A spontaneous lunchtime visit on 21^st, always a bit of a rush, turned out to be an inspired decision with a group of eight Pintail and three Shelduck present off the dam. An adult Mediterranean Gull was a mid-month highlight, as was a female Gadwall. A pretty respectable 64 species of bird had been recorded by the months end.

Pintail – 21st January 2016

February
The month started late with my first visit being on 7^th but that did produce a Peregrine. Despite some nice birds being seen, nothing was added to the year list for a week when a flock of Golden Plover flew through heading north, a real unexpected bonus with it being several years since the last time I’d seen this species on patch. On the morning of 19^th I spent a bit of time working an area that I thought may get me Jack Snipe back, and the birding Gods were with me as I flushed a single bird, that made up for missing this species in January and was only my second ever patch Jack Snipe! A couple more common species were added before the end of the month. Eight species added to the year list, which was now at 72 species.

March

A Shelduck early in the month was a surprise, not an annual visitor to Sutton Bingham, so two records (of four birds) in a year is pretty good. Then is all happened on 19^th March when a quick pre-work visit produced my first patch tick of the year with an Avocet seen on a pontoon off the Sailing Club. Unfortunately it was flushed by sailors shortly after I left and only one other local birder got on it. The end of the month produced the expected Swallows and Sand Martins as well as my first Chiffchaff. The year list had risen to 77 species.

Avocet – 19th March 2016

April

The first of the month produced the first Willow Warbler of the Spring, a handful of “late” Fieldfares and a fly-over Yellow Wagtail. A week later and the first Blackcap was back on territory and a day later a couple of adult Great Black-backed Gulls were present. Six Common Cranes on 9^th provided a little excitement, though being from the Somerset Levels reintroduction scheme I didn’t add them to the list! A couple of days later and widespread news of Little Gulls moving throughout the UK meant I had to stop off on my way home from work, and sure enough two adult Little Gulls were present, my first at Sutton Bingham since 2001. Another Shelduck passed through and two drake Mandarin were noted and the first passage Common Sandpipers arrived on exactly the same date as they did in 2015 and peaked at 25 birds on 17^th. Four Whimbrel were seen mid-month followed by another individual a few days later, the latter on the same pontoon as March’s Avocet. Finally, a Northern Willow Warbler was a new sub-species for me at Sutton Bingham. A busy and productive month with the total of species having risen to 89.

Great Black-backed Gull – 8th April 2016

Whimbrel – 27th April 2016

May
With trips to the Isles of Scilly and visits to friends in Essex and West Sussex meant little time on patch, just two species were added during the month with a Hobby a nice addition to the patch list. I did however dip an adult Black Tern that lingered for less than an hour and had gone by the time I could nip out during my lunch break. All in all May turned out to be a rather quiet month with the total rising to 91 species.

June

Rather embarrassingly a Feral Pigeon produced my 100^th Patchwork Challenge point of the year, and I missed a Pochard early in the month. I managed to finally add Little Egret to the patch list and a couple of waders added a bit of class, Redshank is expected annually but a couple of fly-through Curlew were an unexpected bonus. Steadily approaching the century, the year list was at 95 at the end of the month.

Little Egret – 18th June 2016

July

Things really took off during July. Two more Redshanks turned up and yet another Shelduck, both good birds but not year ticks. Up to three adult Great Black-backed Gulls and a Yellow-legged Gull were present during the course of the month and then a touch of class with a summer-plumaged Dunlin near the dam. A patch lifer in the form of a Fulvous Whistling Duck failed to make the list, despite it being a rather smart bird! My first patch Sandwich Tern for fifteen years was found on 13^th July, but it was gone the next day. Another wader in the form of a Greenshank was added to the list with a second bird a few days later. These were soon followed by a Green Sandpiper and a couple of fly-through Common Terns. Hearing an Oystercatcher whilst collecting my son in East Coker spurred me in to zooming down the road “just in case” and sure enough it had landed at the reservoir, right time and right place, and another quality patch year tick in the form of a Black-tailed Godwit (I’d missed two earlier in the year) rounded off the month. Patch lifer number two of the year came in the form of a female-type Black Redstart present on the dam one morning. No idea what that was doing there or where it came from. This was a long-awaited addition to my patch list, though I was always thinking one would turn up in the winter! A really productive month brought up the total to 103 species for the year, matching my entire 2014 total.

Sandwich Tern – 13th July 2016

 Yellow-legged Gull – 26th July 2016

 Black-tailed Godwit – 29th July 2016

August

The month continued as July had ended with a few quality birds on patch, starting on 4^th when I found a very smart summer-plumaged Spotted Sandpiper! Stupidly I had left my phone in the car so the best record shot I got was a few days later. Arguably the bird of the year, though as it spent most of the time in an inaccessible area of the reservoir arranging access was a headache with many visiting birders ignoring instructions and a few trespassing…it makes one think twice about sharing bird news! The month continued with a fine supporting cast as another Shelduck appeared, this one staying for nearly two months. Two more Oystercatchers dropped in and my first patch Lapwing of the year was a one-day bird on 15^th. An early Teal popped in mid-month and fly-through birds included a Tree Pipit and a female-type Garganey.  A couple of Green Sandpipers and a hand full of Greenshank were also noted during the month, which ended on another high with an Osprey being present. Another great summer month had pushed the year list to 108 species which equaled my previous year list record, set in 2015…and still four months to go!

Spotted Sandpiper (honest!) – 8th Aug 2016

Oystercatcher – 11th Aug 2016

Shelduck – 9th Aug 2016

September

The summer continued in to autumn with another half a dozen species added during September. The Osprey popped up on 1^st but that was it whilst a day later my highest single count of Black-tailed Godwit as a flock of fifteen flew south. On 3^rd September in heavy rain I found a Pectoral Sandpiper, present just until the rain cleared at lunchtime, when it did a bunk, this was my second for Sutton Bingham, the previous one was also found by yours truly back in 2001. The first of a hand full of Whinchats turned up on 4^th and my first patch Wheatear for several years was seen on 10^th. A little bit of excitement a few days later with three Lapwing on the West Pool and a female Blue-headed Wagtail was in a private area of the reservoir (where a Yellow Wagtail had been earlier in the month). The first Wigeon of the winter arrived on 15^th and a few White Wagtails were noted. Another couple of year ticks were added nearer the end of the month with three Spotted Flycatchers and my first patch Garden Warbler for an age both logged. The end of the month yielded a Stonechat and the patch year list had grown to 114 species.

Lapwing – 14th Sept 2016

Spotted Flycatcher – 18th Sept 2016

Blue-headed Wagtail – 14th Sept 2016

October

A Pintail was seen at the start of the month, and spent a few days on and off at the reservoir during the month, though it was more often absent than present. A couple of Green Sandpipers were loitering at the start of the month and a Redshank passed through on 7^th. Another patch dip on the 12^th, this time I missed a Red Kite, still a very scarce bird at Sutton Bingham but a Siberian Chiffchaff, a nice vocal and showy example to boot, a couple of days later was some consolation. Wigeon and Teal numbers steadily grew as the month progressed and the first Mediterranean Gulls of the winter were noted. A birthday day present came in the form of a calling Red-legged Partridge, just my third patch record for this species. October ended with a mini Goose-fest. A first winter Eurasian White-fronted Goose dropped in on the evening of 26^th with a flock of Canada Geese, and amazingly a Barnacle Goose also dropped in. A Common Sandpiper was still lingering to the end of the month also and a drake Goosander flew through on 28^th. The patch year list was now standing at 118 species.

Green Sandpiper – 5th Oct 2016

Common Gull – 16th Oct 2016

White-fronted Goose – 26th Oct 2016

November

The month started well with a female Goldeneye seen on 5^th, but that proved to be my only addition for the month, but a small grey and white wader seen in flight could have been good if only it had been close enough to identify. That being said there was a little bit of quality with the Barnacle Goose being seen on a couple of occasions and another Goosander, this time a redhead, being seen (followed by another drake at the end of the month) A pair of Shoveler were noted as were a couple of Mandarin, a drake Gadwall and a pair of Pintail but I missed four Egyptian Geese that didn’t linger long enough for me to try during my lunch break. That single addition rose the total to 119 species.

Barnacle Goose – 6th Nov 2016

Stonechat – 23rd Nov 2016

Goosander – 9th Nov 2016

December

It was a slow start to December, and to be perfectly honest I was not holding out much hope of adding anything to the year list, but with patch birding you just keep going. Rather unseasonal, a Great Black-backed Gull and Little Egret were one-day wonders and a sub-adult Peregrine kept an eye on things from a regular perch atop a pylon. A few nice winter plumaged Mediterranean Gulls were as ever a delight. Then as if from nowhere on the morning of 19^th a quick stop before work produced patch lifer number three of the year and great little gem to break the December duck…a Firecrest! Only the third record of Firecrest at Sutton Bingham and the first for thirty years. Things crept along quietly for the rest of the month but I did manage one final visit on 31^st to end the year. This proved to be an inspired decision as I found another patch lifer, this time a winter-plumaged Black-necked Grebe. What a way to end the year, and to add a little dusting of New Year joy a female Pochard completed the year list for 2017.

Black-necked Grebe – 31st Dec 2016

Mediterranean Gull – 20th Dec 2016

I ended up with a great total of 123 species in 2016, smashing my previous Sutton Bingham year list record. Just goes to show that hard work pays off, but I feel I will be hard pressed to match this total in 2017!

#PWC2015 Tim Farr - Sutton Bingham Reservoir

After enjoying my first year in the Patchwork Challenge last year I signed up for 2015 without even thinking about it. It turned out to be a pretty good year, with two patch ticks including a first for Sutton Bingham. Apologies in advance for the poor quality photos included herein, all are phone-scoped using my Samsung mobile!

January
A fairly quiet start to the year with nothing unusual found during the first couple of weeks, but a fellow birder did see three Egyptian Geese fly over one morning, there was no sign by the time I got to the reservoir after work! One evening visit produced sixteen Mediterranean Gulls in the roost and a Stonechat near West Pool was a nice find. Wigeon numbers just about tipped the one hundred mark, with Teal numbering slightly higher. Amazingly the 23 January produced a massive count of sixty-one Mediterranean Gulls, the highest single count ever recorded at the reservoir, in fact in the whole of Somerset! The end of the month produced three Barnacle Geese amongst the flock of Canada Geese, whilst hard to prove if these were genuine wild birds they didn’t hang around and were gone after a stay of just four days. 51 species of bird had been recorded by the months end.

Barnacle Geese – 28 January 15

February
A Little Egret early in the month was somewhat unseasonal and a fly-over Peregrine was seen on the same day. A pair of Reed Buntings were also new for the year and a Chiffchaff was seen near the Water Treatment Works. Another good count of Mediterranean Gulls mid-month with fifty birds being seen one evening and a count of one hundred and fifty Common Gulls was exceptional. A drake Gadwall was seen on West pool and was present for just a day. The reservoir year list had grown to 63 species by the month’s end.

March
A pair of Mandarin were present on 11 March and added a welcome splash of colour whilst Wigeon and Teal numbers started to drop off. A drake Shoveler was present for a couple of days, whilst a drake Gadwall and Tufted Duck were also brief visitors. Chiffchaffs were in song by the end of the month and my first Swallow of the year was seen on the 30 March, with the first Sand Martins a day later. The year list had risen to 69 species.

Mediterranean Gull – 1 March 15

 
April
The end of the first week of April saw a flock of twenty-one Tufted Duck off the Canoe Club, the highest total for a few years, a further four were also on West Pool. A real rarity on April 10 with a female Merlin seen whizzing through, only my third sighting at the reservoir. The first Common Sandpiper of the year was recorded on the same day. Little Egrets were noted all month, with the highest count being ten birds. A single Great Black-backed Gull was a good find. I missed a couple of Whimbrel that flew through but did find three Oystercatchers! April turned in to a very good month as on 22 April I found a Great White Egret in trees opposite the Canoe Club, and twenty-four hours later I located two Little Terns (a personal first for the reservoir). Unfortunately, the Little Terns simply flew through the and Great White Egret was only present for a day. Three Green Sandpipers were also noted and the commoner warblers returned to the site at the end of the month. A hybrid aythya duck produced a little interest, looking quite like a female Ferruginous Duck at a first glance, it soon became apparent that it had some Pochard or even Red-crested Pochard influence somewhere in its DNA! A busy and productive month with the total of species having risen to 83.

Great White Egret – 22 April 15

May
The month started on a bit of a high with a very smart Arctic Tern on 2 May. A little bit more excitement on 14 May with a Hobby causing a bit of a stir over West Pool, my first (and amazingly only) Swifts of the year were seen the same evening. All in all May turned out to be a rather quiet month with the total rising to 87 species.

Arctic Tern – 2 May 16

 
June
A real surprise on 4 June when I found a Knot feeding on the northern causeway, just my second record for the reservoir. Feeling rather pleased with this it paled in to insignificance two days later when an early morning stop on my way to work produced a Black-crowned Night Heron! Having missed a couple whilst on the Isles of Scilly a couple of weeks earlier this was a real unexpected find and the first record for Sutton Bingham to boot. The bird went AWOL all day before reappearing in the evening just before 9.00pm. The rest of the month was pretty quiet though two Lapwing passed overhead on 19 June. The month ended with two Common Terns off the dam and a Great Black-backed Gull at the Sailing Club. Steadily approaching the century, the year list was at 93 at the end of the month.

Knot – 4 June 15 and Great Black-backed Gull – 30 June 15

July
The Great Black-backed Gull present at the end of June was seen a few times in early July and juveniles of both Mediterranean Gull and Yellow-legged Gull were also seen early in the month. A couple of Redshank were seen on 9 July, an unexpected year tick, and then as the month drew to a close there was a spate of wader passage, somewhat surprising given the fact the water level was still pretty high. Common Sandpipers began passing through in varying numbers and then some quality in the form of three Little Ringed Plovers, another Redshank and a fly-over Greenshank. This little run of birds brought up the total to 96 species for the year.

Little Ringed Plover – 29 July 15 and Redshank – 30 July 15

 
August
Another juvenile Mediterranean Gull was present at the start of the month and a notable flock of twenty-two Common Terns passed through on 8 August. A Dunlin was present a few days later, but I missed it! However, I did strike lucky mid-month as in heavy rain a flock of eleven Arctic Terns dropped in and were joined by a Black Tern before they all flew south. A Common Tern was present a day later. As the month progressed more Common Sandpipers passed through and with just a few days left in the month I found a Whinchat on the fence line near West Pool with another two present a few days later. More wader action in the form of five Black-tailed Godwits that were present for a short while on the northern causeway and a Spotted Flycatcher was also noted. A bit more bad luck as I missed two Ospreys and a Wheatear at the tail end of the month, the patch year list had now risen to 99 species.

Black-tailed Godwits – 27 August 15

September
After failing on several visits I finally connected with Marsh Tit early in the month at the southern end of the reservoir. A juvenile Hobby was seen and another five Whinchats plus a couple of Stonechats were also present during the month. A drake Shoveler was a brief visitor whilst a few Siskin and White Wagtails were noted around the site. Highlight of the month was a fly-through Honey Buzzard on 13 September. The first returning Wigeon of the winter arrived on 27 September, the same day as a very smart Yellow Wagtail was present. A few species were added over the month bringing the total up to 102.

Whinchat – 20 September 15 and Yellow Wagtail – 27 September 15


 
October
A Stonechat was present around West Pool mid-month and a drake Pochard dropped in mid-afternoon on 11 October, the only one of the year, and just the third in the last three years. A nice flock of thirty Linnets was nice to see and a couple of Mandarin were also noted during the month. The gull roost started to gain numbers as the month progressed, with the pick being an adult Yellow-legged Gull on 16 October. Wigeon numbers rose at the end of October and the first Fieldfares and Redwings of the winter arrived. Not a lot added and the list was up to 103.

Pochard – 11 October 15

November
A couple of Pintail were a good start to the month with a sub-adult male and a female off the dam one morning, they took flight and headed south and were not seen again! A total of three Stonechats were present throughout the month and a few Snipe were back at the reservoir for the winter. The biggest shock of the month, and arguably the year, was the corpse of an auk (most likely a Guillemot) found on the water’s edge on 15 November. With the head and feet missing it made identification of the species impossible, such a shame it was not seen alive as it would have been a first for the reservoir. A flock of twenty Lapwing passed through with a further three birds a couple of days later with three Skylarks also moving overhead. Wigeon numbers peaked at over a hundred birds. The year list ended up on 104 species, just one added during the month.

December
The final month of the year and it was pretty much like November. The month started well when I found a Scaup amongst the Wigeon off the dam on a very windy evening. This was to be the last addition to the 2015 year list. Another flock of Lapwing passed through, this time some thirty-one birds and a drake Pintail was present on 14 November. A single Barnacle Goose was at the southern end of the reservoir on 20 December before relocating to the dam a couple of days later. This was the last quality bird of what was a very productive year at Sutton Bingham.

The final patch year list was a respectable 105 species, three species short of the 2014 total but six points higher!

Sutton Bingham Reservoir 2014 - Tim Farr

Having come across Patchwork Challenge too late in 2013 (though I did keep a score for my own benefit and recorded 102 species and would’ve scored 120 points) I made sure I was signed up for 2014. Having a young family had curtailed much travelling for birds so instead I took the opportunity to concentrate on Sutton Bingham Reservoir (SBR), my local patch for over fifteen years. SBR has attracted some cracking birds over the years, especially in the 70’s and early 80’s…before it became my patch I hasten to add, but nowadays high water levels year round have put pay to wader passage and wildfowl numbers have dramatically reduced over the past decade.

January

The year started off much better than I could ever have imagined when during my first visit of the year, on 3rd, I found a Yellow-browed Warbler! This was only the second patch record, I had found the first in October 2013 in a private area of the reservoir. This bird though would be accessible to all, and attracted a fair few local birders over the following month. Amazingly, alongside the YBW I also found a Siberian Chiffchaff, though this proved to be a much more elusive Phyllosc! The good start to the year continued when, just five days later, an evening visit to check the gull roost produced an Iceland Gull. This was a patch tick for me and only the third patch record…the first for thirty years. It would be fair to say I was enjoying this Patchwork Challenge! The remainder of the month could no way live up to the first eight days,, but passing flocks of Lapwing added a bit of interest and three Gadwall dropped in for an evening mid-month. My final visit of the month added a few more species, with a drake Mandarin adding a splash of colour and a Peregrine keeping an eye out for wildfowl and Woodpigeons. I had seen 58 species by the end of the month.

February

Somehow I didn’t manage many trips to SBR during the course of the month, but a few species were added to the list. A Grey Wagtail was an expected addition and the January Yellow-browed Warbler remained until the 2nd. The gull roost produced adult Mediterranean Gulls on two dates, a welcome two-pointer. Other species added included, somewhat belatedly, House Sparrow plus three Siskin which are by no means annual at the site. Just seven species had been added to the list over the course of the month!

March

The start of the month had me away with the family for a week and then a trip to the Forest of Dean to see the Two-barred Crossbills, so it was mid-month before I returned to the patch. Almost a patch tick on my first visit, I located a Red-legged Partridge, a species I had heard once at SBR, but had never actually seen, so common as muck but it gave me a real buzz! A somewhat less welcome first for the patch was a Mink, but as that does not get points for PWC I won’t dwell on that. A single Marsh Tit was seen, this species is just hanging on at SBR. The first Sand Martin of the year was seen on 16th, my earliest record for this species and a sign, perhaps, that Spring was on the way. However, a major disappoint when an out of order mobile resulted in me missing a phone call to tell me about a first-winter Little Gull put a bit of a dampener on things. I’d seen Little Gull on the patch before, but years ago and it would have been a great patch year tick…but that’s birding! March had brought the year list up to 71 species and migration was underway.

April

After January, April was to prove to be my best month with regard to adding species to the year list, which of course is no surprise as Summer migrants begin to arrive and passage birds pass through. The first Common Sandpipers arrived during the first week of the month as did the first Swallows. Linnet is another species I never consider a given, so finding a nice male amongst a flock of Goldfinches was a bonus. A bit of a surprise in the form of a first-year Yellow-legged Gull brought about another couple of points, and the first Willow Warbler arrived on patch on 13th. With both Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat added mid-month another surprise find came on 20th when a heavy rain storm tempted me to the patch and the hunch played off as an Arctic Tern showed up briefly. The next day a Common Tern dropped in and to complete the hat trick an amazingly brilliant Black Tern spent a day hawking over the water. The month was completed with yet another shock visitor, as a pair of Shelduck appeared. The year list was now up to 87 species, but more importantly I had hit the 100 mark with regard to PWC points.

May

The first patch Swifts were seen on 5th and a Greylag Goose flew in the same day, and was gone 24 hours later. A Hobby was a nice addition to the list but probably the most unexpected bird of the month was a summer-plumaged Dunlin that flew in from the north and passed over my head before continuing south. With nowhere for it to pitch down, that pretty much sums up waders at SBR! A flying visit on my way in to work added Osprey to the year list, I would’ve thought the bird dropped in the previous night but it didn’t hang around as it was harried constantly by gulls and corvids. Towards the end of the month nothing new arrived and I knew it was going to be tough to add anything for a few weeks at least.

June

A week away and a little bit of twitching (I just had to go and see that Short-toed Eagle!) meant I didn’t spend any quality time on the patch until mid-way through the month. A female Mandarin with three juvenile birds would indicate the species bred successfully this year and on 29th two Common Sandpipers were present, presumably failed breeders heading back to Africa. The month ended with me being unable to add anything to the patch year list!

July

Another frustrating start to the month, heavy rain one afternoon and I decided against popping in to SBR on my way home…big mistake! I got a text saying a Redshank and three Green Sandpipers had dropped in, but two glasses of wine meant I had no chance of getting to see them, and no sign of them the following morning. However, on 7th I did find a pair of Common Scoters, an excellent tick for an inland reservoir. It remained fairly quiet for a couple of weeks and then a monster Great Black-backed Gull was found, another decent patch tick considering the site’s location. The end of the month produced a few more Common Sandpipers passing through and a patch year list now at 95 species, edging closer to the magic 100.

August

A few visits to the patch over the month failed to produce much at all, and certainly no new year ticks, until 24th when a scan of the barbed wire fence that runs along West Pool produced a Whinchat (my first here for a couple of years) and a Redstart (which was only my 3rd patch record, though the second in two years). So a couple of really good additions to the list. A couple of days later an early morning visit produced an Osprey and the month finished on a high when a Greenshank flew in, circled for a while trying to find somewhere to land and then headed on south, much in the same

way as the Dunlin back in May. A Tawny Owl was another nice sighting (only the second time I’d actually seen one on patch, when driving home one evening after a visit to the Isle of Wight Bee-eaters). Four species added to the year list this month.

September

A flurry of activity in September started with another Osprey on 3rd, the third record of the year, and amazingly four Whinchats and three Hobbies, some great birds all in one day…but none of them patch year ticks. Possibly the same, maybe a different Osprey and two more Whinchats on 6th and then on the afternoon of the 7th a fly-over Yellow Wagtail marked my 100th species of the year at Sutton Bingham Reservoir. A day later, four Garganey dropped in to West Pool briefly until spooked by a Buzzard and heading off, a White Wagtail was found but didn’t get me any points, and a Spotted Flycatcher passed through. A week later and another Osprey turned up, this time a juvenile bird that stayed for several weeks and a female Shoveler that dropped in to West Pool, the latter being another year tick for the patch. The highlight of the month came in the form of a long overdue patch tick, a fly-over Tree Pipit! Unbelievably, two days later a second Tree Pipit flew though and a juvenile Hobby put in a brief appearance. The first returning Wigeon arrived in the final week of the month and a Common Sandpiper also paid a visit. The patch year list was now at 104 species, I had beaten my 2013 total with three months to go!

October

The juvenile Osprey was last seen on 10th after staying at SBR for around seven weeks. Another year tick came in the form of a Skylark, with a small number passing through during the month and a few days later Stonechat was also added to the year list. A bit of non-avian interest partway through the month as I stumbled upon an Otter with two kits, an amazing site I was very privileged to have witnessed. The month ended with another Yellow-legged Gull.

November

Hardly surprisingly it all started to go really quiet again as the winter months set in, though a calling Water Rail provided a bit of interest and a Blackcap was located halfway through the month. A drake Pochard on 23rd was a patch year tick though, only my second in two years of a species that was once numerous at SBR.

December

The final month of a really enjoyable year on the patch and it provided a couple of bits and pieces. My final year tick came in the form of a male Pintail, present for just a single day with Wigeon and three Gadwall. December was notable for the number of Mediterranean Gulls I found on the patch, my highest total was 23 birds one evening, but at least 24 different individuals visited over the course of the month. The total of 23 was a site record and the second highest total ever recorded in Somerset. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was in the roost at the end of the year, a couple more Water Rail turned up, as did another Stonechat and three more Shoveler. I ended the year on 108 species and 124 points, of the species I saw, I had found them all. Nowhere near the totals seen in some of the UK’s hotspots, but the joy of patch birding is in the finding of birds. I had added two species to my patch life list during the year and spent countless enjoyable hours at Sutton Bingham Reservoir. Roll on 2015!