A day full of Birding

I had managed to wangle a day off on Friday 8th May and so decided to start early with another seawatch down at Stokes Bay. It was an overcast morning, and was fairly calm, with a southerly wind gradually veering round to south-east. It was difficult to tell if there was an air of anticipation about the conditions because most of the talk was about the previous days General Election, and the disbelief that the Conservatives had once again got into government, and with a majority. There has to be a genuine fear for Britain's wildlife with them back in.

Sea watching soon took centre stage and a steady trickle of Common, Sandwich and Little Terns drifted by. A winter plumage Red-throated Diver was the first species on note, followed by a couple of Whimbrel. It was pretty slow going with good numbers of Barn Swallows and the occasional Swift coming in, and then Mark Rolfe, who was one of the assembled crowd, picked out a Roseate Tern amongst and small flock of Commons. It took me a while to get on to the bird, but eventually I was on it. I was following the bird east and it had just gone out of sight when Mark called out Hoopoe!!! Amazingly, a Hoopoe was flying along the beach towards us, flew over our shelter heading inland, and then veered west and continued to fly inland. That made up for the bird I missed a few weeks ago in Crawley, when I was in Cornwall. The sea watch continued as it had before the Roseate and the Hoopoe, with a steady trickle of terns and swallows and by 10am, when we finished, the only other species of note were two Mediterranean Gulls, and a Wheatear that landed on the beach in front of us.

I left Stokes Bay and headed to the Haven to pick up some bird food, to keep the parakeet fed. I had a quick scan from the sea front before heading home; there were three Dunlin and a Bar-tailed Godwit feeding on the Meon, several Swifts, House Martins and Swallows feeding over the reserve, but that was all of note.

Bar-tailed Godwit - Titchfield Haven

My next stop was Bunny Meadows. Bunny Meadows is known for it's wading birds and so at this time of year, there isn't likely to be much around, unless some migrants drop in. The tide was pushing up towards high and so there was very little mud left exposed, but five Whimbrel were making the most of what was there.

One of five Whimbrel at Bunny Meadows.

The reed bed was showing little evidence of spring, but there were still plenty of Reed Warblers singing, as was a male Reed Bunting. A couple of House Sparrows were tucked into a dense bit of bramble mid-way along the causeway, which seemed to be an odd location for them, and a Wheatear was feeding on the causeway.

Wheatear - Bunny Meadows

Oystercatchers were the most common wader species, seven in all and two Ringed Plovers and a single Dunlin were flushed off a roost next to the causeway by an off-the-lead dog. Three of the Oystercatchers were colour-ringed, I suspect they will be birds that I have seen before, but noted the combinations anyway. The rings on one bird were very discoloured but hopefully it will be possible to figure it out.

Colour-ringed Oystercatcher - Bunny Meadows

I was just about to head home when news came through that the 2nd CY Bonaparte's Gull was once again back at Riverside Park on the River Itchen at Bitterne. Although I had seen this bird on Monday at Weston Shore, my views were quite distant so I was keen to see it again, and also get some pictures. It has been frequenting the area between Cobden Bridge and a small reed bed to the north, opposite a sewage works, occasionally going into the sewage works and being lost from view. When I arrived it was showing very well but was regularly flying up and down the river, and only occasionally settling down to bathe.

The views were so much better, with the bird on occasion down to 10 metres. There were also around 30 Black-headed Gulls present so it was really nice to compare the two species. The Bonaparte's was so much smaller, and had a more dainty flight than the black-heads, as such it was very easy to pick out as it flew around. Being so close it was easy to pick out the key features, such as the small, all black bill, the grey nape, 'bubble-gum' pink legs and the neat trailing edge to the primaries and secondaries and all white underwing.

Bonaparte's Gull - Riverside Park

Bonaparte's Gull - Riverside Park

Bonaparte's Gull - Riverside Park

Bonaparte's Gull - Riverside Park

Bonaparte's Gull, with Black-headed Gull behind - Riverside Park

Whilst at the Bonaparte's I bumped into a couple of birding mates, and after a quick beer to celebrate with a work colleague, I headed home. What a cracking day it turned out be, starting with Roseate Tern and Hoopoe and ending with a Bonaparte's Gull.

Gullfest at Bowling Green Marsh - June 2014

Whilst I was away in Canada new broke of a Ross's Gull at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon. This is a species that I had not seen before in the UK, in fact it was a species that I had never seen before. I have often thought about making a trip to Churchill on one of my trips to Canada, but have not got around to it yet. With the Ross's Gull at Bowling Green Marsh apparently showing daily, and the news of other good birds, Bonaparte's Gull and Eurasian Spoonbill, also being seen it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.

I had a day booked off on Friday 20th June and teamed up with Simon Colenutt (the desk bound birder) for the trip. I arrived at Simon's at 6am, and we set off on the two hour drive to the site. Neither of us have been to Bowling Green Marsh before and I have to say that when we arrived we were met with what can only be described as a truly uninspiring site. As we looked out across the scrape we were greeted by a few mallards and Coots, two Black-tailed Godwits and single sleeping Little Egret and Spoonbill.

Bowling Green Marsh with Sleeping Little Egret and Spoonbill

As we sat looking out across the water a local volunteer warden arrived. He informed us that the Ross's Gull usually came in a couple of hours before high tide so we had a long time to wait. But at least we had a sleeping and occasionally waking and stretching Spoonbill to keep us occupied.

Stretching Eurasian Spoonbill

By now it was 8:30 and there was not much going on, but then suddenly we heard a Spotted Redshank call. A summer plumaged bird dropped in and landed next to the Black-tailed Godwits, only to be immediately joined by another. We waited for another half an hour, but with not much going on we decided to walk down the road and look over the Exe Estuary. The tide was a long way out and there were good numbers of gulls on the intertidal, unfortunately none were the gulls we wanted. Black-headed Gulls were the most numerous, with Herring, Great black-backed Gull and Mediterranean Gull also present. There were also family flocks of Shelduck, Eurasian Curlew and Whimbrel present.

Two Summer plumaged Spotted Redshanks and Black-tailed Godwits

On returning to the hide the numbers of birds in front of the hide had increased significantly, as had the numbers of birders in it. There were now around 100 Black-headed Gulls, and handful of Common Gulls, and the Black-tailed Godwit flock had increased to 79 birds. The spoonbill had also woken up and was now feeding in the channel outside the hide.

Adult Eurasian Spoonbill

Eurasian Spoonbill showing its typical spoon shaped Bill

The numbers of gulls present continued to increase and there was now around 300 birds, if not more. They were again mainly Black-headed Gulls but also Common, and Lesser Black-backed and about eight Mediterranean Gulls of various ages. Simon picked up a first-winter Little Gull, but just as I got onto it, it took off and did not come back. 

First Summer Mediterranean Gull

By now the numbers of gulls had really increased, and it was difficult to keep up with what was coming and going, fortunately there were plenty of pairs of eyes present. Another Little Gull was picked up, quickly followed by another, more Mediterranean and Common Gulls. Suddenly the shout went up that the Ross's Gull had arrived, and after a brief panic trying to figure out where it was, I got on to it. It was the closest bird to us but was giving tantalisingly brief glimpses as it fed beneath a bank. Eventually though it appeared and flew around giving some great views. The bird was in first winter plumage, and fairly tatty and so not the summer plumaged adult I had dreamed of, but it was a Ross's Gull, and my first.

Gulls at Bowling Green Marsh

The reported Bonaparte's Gull had not been seen regularly so we were not expecting to see that. But when some asked what the gull was in front of us were were pleantly surprised to see it was the Bonaparte's Gull. I have seen several of these in the UK, including Hampshire, and hundreds on my trips to America and Canada, but it was still nice to see another.

First winter Bonaparte's Gull (front) and Black-headed Gull

The bird was a first winter and despite my poor quality photo it is possible to make out the distinctive features; small size, small black bill and grey nape.

Bonaparte's Gull

By the time we left we had seen nine species of gull (Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Herring, Mediterranean, Common, Ross's, Black-headed, Bonaparte's and Little) all from the same seat in a small hide overlooking a pool in Devon. Our initial thought of an uninspiring site now well and truly pushed to the back of our minds, and all we could think of was what a great days birding we had had. 

If the Ross's Gull hangs around and you are consider going to see it be sure to check on the tides and make sure you arrive about three hours before high tide.