Gullable

It's been a busy few days with a visit to Kent (to see friends not Pond Herons) returning to Dorset via various south coast sites. Yesterday, after staying with extended family in Hampshire, the children and their mum wanted to go to Paulton's Park. I was given the choice of joining them, or going birding before picking them up at the end of the day. Hmm, a tricky one. A whole day birding versus a whole day at a theme park. Just give me a minute to think about that...In the end I forsook the log flume and thought I would see if I could see 10 species of Gull in 24 hours. The results:

Glaucous Gull, Littlehampton. A 2nd winter bird - a striking plumage. This bird dwarfed everything around it and even when distant among hundreds of other large gulls on the breakwater by the River Arun could be picked out by its gleaming rear end.

Kumlien's Gull, Littlehampton - generally regarded as a sub-species of Iceland Gull, this bird has been present for a couple of weeks. Infamously variable in juvenile plumage, the wing-tips could look very dusky when at rest but came into their own as the bird took flight.



Herring Gull was easy enough, as were Black-headed, Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Common Gull - also easy enough, this one was at Walpole Park, Gosport, also the home of...

...the long-staying Ring-billed Gull, which was looking good. Or perhaps Gosport just made it look good.

Med Gull - quite a few of these at various south coast sites

Well I managed 9 species on Wednesday, but first thing this morning this Little Gull at Cogden made it 10 - technically still within 24 hrs of my gull quest starting yesterday morning.

Kittiwake at Cogden was a bonus 11th species for my 24 hours. I ran out of time to get back to Middlebere for Yellow-legged Gull and a round dozen!

With plenty of other white-winged gulls around, a Bonaparte's in Devon and a Laughing Gull in Cornwall, I reckon it would have been possible to see 14 species of Gull in a day on the south coast this week - 15 if you were fortunate enough to come up with a Caspian. There have also been 5 more species in Britain and Ireland since the turn of the year (Ivory, Franklin's, Ross's, Slaty-backed and American Herring) so for big listers with a Tardis it's theoretically possible to have seen 20 gull species in 2014 alone. Fancy that.

Lost and found in Oban

With a few hours to kill in Oban before catching the ferry to Mull for a week's holiday, I checked the harbour for Black Guillemots which were breeding in a hole in the wall the last time I was there. The same hole contained only feral pigeons unfortunately but I was distracted by an unusual gull call and turned around to find an adult Ring-billed on the shore just below the harbour wall.

For a few minutes I experienced the buzz of finding a rare bird but then it gradually dawned that in fact I was probably re-finding a bird which had been around for so long it was no longer being reported by the information services. I had only found it in the sense that my shockingly bad short-term memory had forgotten it was there in the first place. Still, a good re-find and a promising start to the holiday.

Morden Bog in March

A singing Woodlark at Morden Bog today provided further evidence of spring's arrival. This bird sang from the top of a pine and then came surprisingly close after dropping to the ground. With family waiting in the car I was unable to locate the Great Grey Shrike reported near the Decoy Pond from some distance in a brief search. A Dartford Warbler was singing, and male Stonechat were also very vocal. We returned to Poole via Knoll Beach, where winter-plumaged Slavonian Grebes, summer-plumaged Black-Necked Grebes and a pair of Velvet Scoter were present. Taking the short cut home through Poole Park we saw the Ring-billed Gull close the road and couldn't resist a few more pictures in the evening light.

Last of the Park Life

A few more pictures of the Ring-billed Gull in Poole Park, taken in better light than on the day of its arrival:

Poole Park...

...more like Central Park today, with a 1st winter Ring-billed Gull joining the Long-billed Dowitcher present all week and attracting a crowd of admirers. Both birds were viewable from the same spot at times, and both were excellent additions to the list of birds I have been able to see within a short walk from home. With the children and their mum safely despatched to 'Gus Gorrillas' playland/cafe (sorry Walpole Park, Gosport - you may have an RBG but you can't offer that kind of luxury) I had an hour to photograph these confiding birds. The Gull didn't look too well in truth, but the Dowitcher continued to feed very well despite very strong winds - and water levels seem to be rising in the lake, pushing it even closer to the shore. An elderly lady told me that there was a whole flock of Dowitchers further along the shore. I politely dismissed them as Black-tailed Godwits, though on second thoughts, perhaps I should have checked...