11th August 2016

A decent morning birding locally today. First had a look at the openspace and decided to start by watching the 'migant hotspot'; the vegetation on the west side of the stream, and come 8:00, in flew a female Pied Flycatcher! It was very flighty however and flew back east after about 30 seconds afterwhich I didn't manage to relocate it. A great local record, only my 2nd in Yeovil following a male in the same bushes back in 2008. Otherwise, it was pretty quiet, with just 2 Bullfinches, 1 Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaffs and 7 Blackcaps.

Pied Flycatcher - Yeovil Openspace
The only shot I could manage before it flew.

Also had a quick look in the field west of Brimsmore Garden Centre but saw nothing of note. A couple years ago this area was well vegetated and was the only site in Yeovil I knew about where whitethroats bred, but the vegetation has since been cut back. A real shame as this also happened on the openspace a few years back, especially as common whitethroat is suprisingly difficult to find in Yeovil on passage, or at least not at any of the sites I check.

Got a text from Tim about a couple of Oystercatchers at SBR while I was walking home so decided to give it a go. There was no sign of the birds when I arrived, but I quickly picked up the Shelduck. I also heard a few short bursts of what may have been a grasshopper warbler reeling on west pool but I didn't hear it well enough to be sure. Also of note from the northern causeway were 2 Kingfishers, and singles of Lesser Whitethroat, Great Black-Backed Gull, Little Egret and Common Sandpiper.

Shelduck - Sutton Bingham Res

Great Black-Backed Gull - Sutton Bingham Res

Common Sandpiper - Sutton Bingham Res