A tale of two twitches - part two

After dipping on the Ross's gull on Friday, it was still around over the weekend and was starting to try a new routine. Still showing intermittently it had now discovered Radipole Lake. This is in the centre of Weymouth, about equidistant between Lodmoor and Ferrybridge, it's other two haunts. It could also be seen fishing in the bay but normally only late evening and at great distance. Monday, being my day off, was therefore decided as another trip to Weymouth. I initially set the alarm a bit later than normal as Judith was doing an airport trip. I woke up though about 4.15 and decided to just go so I flung on my clothes and headed off.
Same problem as before though, where to go. On Sunday it had appeared at Lodmoor early doors and had stopped going to Ferrybridge. Radipole seemed to be its stop after having a feed when it took a bit of a bathe in the fresh water there. Lodmoor it was then.
I got there at first light and it was real groundhog day time. Andy and Mr charity shop coat were both already there having also dipped on Friday. A few more arrived by 7.30, including some familiar faces from the Staines reservoir regulars, and we had camped out near the sea-end of the reserve as the scrape was frozen over. There were probably 100 or more black-headed gulls all fresh off their overnight roost having a good bathe. We scanned through and looked up expectantly every time a new bird arrived but nothing. Then I spotted a small bird drop into the throng. Two others saw it as well and we alerted the throng "probably just dropped in, left hand end". A few frantic seconds of searching and we got onto it - the Ross's gull had indeed landed!!!!!

This was the challenge though, as you see this photo. It is one gull and a small one at that, in the midst of a lot of other ones, all moving around. It was really tricky and we all kept losing it then refinding it. Lots of "anyone on it?", "I can see its legs" and, helpfully, "its just behind another gull"!!!
What were we looking for though?

In these two above, and they are all heavily cropped in so not brilliant photos, you can see it. A smaller gull than those around it. It's head stands out and being pure white (they turn pink in full breeding plumage!) and it has really short legs. Unfortunately with the wind from our backs the gulls were mainly facing away from us so it was hard to get side on views.

Especially in the last one of these you can see its short little legs, which actually were quite good for picking it out from the crowd.
After only about 10 minutes I suppose if lifted off with about 10 other gulls, did one circle and then headed off towards Weymouth.

These snatched flight shots show it's pearly white trailing edges to the wings and that hood starting to form. Some observers think they can see a bit of pink but I'm not sure, looks clear white to me. 

Still, a brilliant 10 minutes and lots of very happy birders. We all broke out the coffee flasks and most of us headed back to Radipole to hopefully catch it later, where it might show really close.

Things didn't work out the way though. I spent another 3 hours standing waiting for it but no show. Again a few members of the supporting cast tried to keep us amused including a lovely kingfisher and an almost breeding plumage cormorant but no star.

I gave up about 12. It did pop in very briefly much later in the day. On the way back I tried for the stilt sandpiper at Stanpit but missed it by about 5 minutes. Still, I'd much rather have it that way round than miss the Ross's again. First lifer of the year and what a beautiful bird to boot. Really happy with that. Now, with the "beast from the east" arriving this week perhaps a few more Arctic specialists might drop in - ivory gull or a Stellers eider anyone??

A tale of two twitches - part one

A snap of cold weather across the country has certainly made it feel more like Winter. To make it even better the weather has brought down with it a real cold weather specialist in the form of a Ross's gull. These are real high Arctic birds, normally associated with northern USA and Siberia in Summer  and wintering in the Bering Sea on the edge of the pack ice. They are not known as long distance  migrants but a very few have reached our shores. This bird rocked up in Dorset mid week, initially at Ferrybridge then also at Lodmoor and fishing out in the bay at Weymouth. It's a lifer for me, and the first one truly on offer this year. So, it had to be done. Friday was a 4.20 alarm call and on the road straight away.
The gull had, over two days to be fair so not much of a routine, shown just after dawn when it came out of its roost, then would disappear out to sea to feed. So, I wanted to be in Dorset at first light, which I was. The problem was, where to go. On the Thursday night it had shown really well at Lodmoor, but had been at Ferrybridge in the morning. For those who don't know Weymouth, they are about 5 miles apart, but the drive takes you through the town so it's a good 15 minute drive, though much more with traffic.
I elected to try Lodmoor first. Early doors there were two other birders on site. One, Andy, from Portsmouth, the other, Moira, had driven down from Glasgow overnight!!! There were a few gulls around but no sign of the Ross's as we looked out over the west scrape.

The Ross's is a small gull, about 2/3 the size of our black-headed gull so should stand out well. What did stand out in the early light was a stinking great glaucous gull that dropped in for a preen - a real white brute of a bird.

By 8 we were getting cold but the crowd had swelled to about 20 and we were expectant. Then my phone pinged - "Ross's gull on the mud at Ferrybridge". In the words of the Clash "should I stay or should I go". I stayed. For 10 minutes anyway, till the alert went off again. Still on the mud. About half of us decamped and drove off. Trouble was two schools, traffic lights and roadworks were all between us and Ferybridge so it took almost 40 minutes to get there. As I drove into the car park I could see there were no birders on site. I found out later from RBA it had flown off about 5 minutes before I got there and everyone was chasing it down to Bowleaze cove. I checked the mud for a bit but disconsolately got back in my car and went back to Lodmoor - through the same traffic jams.
I resumed watch again on the scrape with my friends - including one who had forgotten his coat and had to stop off in a charity stop to buy one before he froze. Then of course it happened again - "on the mud at Ferrybridge". We all agreed though not to risk it again and so we stuck it out. Gradually a few others birders arrived who had seen it earlier, and were very pleased to show us their photos of it. Why do they think that helps? We know what it bloody looks like and we don't need you gloating thank you. Even Lee Evans turned up having done the same as us - missing it both times though due to the traffic.
Although it was sunny it was perishingly cold standing around but there was nothing else for it. A few other birds tried to keep us entertained including a beast of a greater black-backed gull, a small murmuration of lapwings and good numbers of Mediterranean gulls.

No sign of our bird though. After lunch came and went the crowd had grown to about 50 or 60, spread out along the path. A heavily ringed spoonbill did come past us, busily feeding in the icy water.

Apparently in was ringed in Holland, but why quite so many I don't know. As ever on Lodmoor there were a lot of snipe in the reedy margins and a few came out into the open in the weak Winter sun.

No sign of the Ross's gull though, either here or anywhere else. I finally gave up about 3 headed home slightly, no very, despondent. Not only did I dip on the bird, it was there and it was my bad choices not to go to Ferrybridge first up and then to not stay for a bit longer which caused the dip. Definitely unfinished business there though.

Much standing in the marsh

Although the year started off pretty well I've been having a bit of a shocker recently, missing more stuff than I've been seeing and my year list has stalled quite dramatically. So, with a day off in lieu from last week I headed for two targets on the south coast. One was in theory easy, the other was promising to be a bit tricky.

The first target was a black guillemot which has taken up winter residence in Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne. These are birds you normally associate with rugged cliffs or edgy working harbours in the far north of Scotland. Occasionally though one decides to glam it up a bit down south and this one had certainly gone all out for luxury. For a few weeks now it has been living in the very upmarket  harbour at Eastbourne, surrounded by expensive yachts, even more expensive apartments and waterside brasseries!

The traffic was good and I got to the harbour just after dawn. No one was around apart from a few dog walkers. I walked up and down the assembled boats for about 15 minutes without seeing anything apart from a few cormorants. Eventually I spotted a smaller bird fishing near one of the yachts.

This was the black guillemot. For most of the winter it has been in a juvenile spotty grey plumage but it is now starting to get into its breeding finery, with a bold white wing bar.

You can just a out make this out here, along with it's breakfast which it has just caught. Apparently if you hang around it does come ridiculously close but I had other fish to fry and the word on the web was this could a long wait so I headed off.
My second stop was only 10 minutes drive away, a small wetland, marshy area on the outskirts of Eastbourne. A bluethroat had been spotted there a couple of weeks back. All the info on the web said two things though. One, you absolutely needed wellingtons to get to see it. Two, it was very shy bird and a long wait could ensue. Well, on the first bit they were not wrong. It was only about a 15 minute walk to the designated area of the reed bed but you were up to your ankles in mud most of the way! When I got there two other birders were already there. One was a very rare sight at twitches - a woman and not only that under 40 years old! She was relatively new to birding but lived locally and so had taken a day off to twitch the bluethroat. The three of us staked out what we thought was the right area and waited.

I became very familiar with this view over the rest of the day. It was really quiet, nothing much else around apart from a couple of reed buntings and stonechats. By about 10.30, and I got there at 9, four more birders had turned up who confirmed we were in the right place. Of the bluethroat though, no sign. They are gorgeous birds, roughly robin sized or a bit bigger, with a lovely blue throat patch with in this case a white spot in the middle.
About 11 one of our group called out "its showing, edge of the reeds". By the time we turned round though it had gone back in! Only the one bloke saw it, but at least it was there. By 12 our numbers had swollen to about a dozen and we had spread out a bit to cover other bits of the marsh. Some came and went and the crowd thinned a bit. The original bloke had cleared off but the female birder was sticking it out. I tried down the side of the marsh and got a bit excited by a couple of stonechats but saw nothing like the bluethroat. With me about 100 yards way I saw the group all move together and point their bins at one patch. I scarpered down but got the same message. One bloke had seen it and then it disappeared again. I was starting to get a bit depressed now but I was determined to keep positive and to stick it out. I stood with the group and we all chatted about exploits past!
Finally, at about 1.40, so almost 5 hours after I got there it decided to play ball. It hopped almost out into the open on the right of the photo above. It only stayed out though for I guess two minutes, not helped by two guys rushing round to get a better view and spooking it back in. Still, we all had a good enough to see the eye-stripe and the colouration on its throat to make it a definite view.
I stuck it out till about 2.30 but it hadn't shown again so I called it day and headed off.
The journey home was a nightmare. First the M23 was closed so I kept going down the coast and looped up to Guildford. Then they closed the A3 for a fuel spillage so I had to keep going sideways to pick up the M3. By the time I got to the M25 it was a car park. It took me just under two hours to get there and almost 4 hours to get back!! Still, a good day and at least it wasn't raining. Year list back under way but I still have a lot of catching up to do if I'm to beat last years total.

Winter gull-fest

This winter is still carrying on being really flat as far as birding is concerned. The weather is not bringing anything new in, so another Friday off was dedicated to catching up with some Winter specials I've not got to yet. I've not been to Kent yet this year, so another early start got me to Dungeness just after dawn.
In some ways it is a very bleak place - a nuclear power station and a long shingle beach. It is also really atmospheric and is a great migrant trap for birds. At this time of year it is really good for gulls which hang around the fishing boats. The boats are there because of the fish, which are encouraged to hang around because of the hot water pouring out of the nuclear power station at "the patch". This attracts thousands of gulls at the right time. Today though there were a few hundred gulls hanging about at the overflow.

This was my first stop because a glaucous gull has been hanging around here. They are classic winter gulls. Breeding in the arctic they move down south in the winter and a small number make their way to the south coast. They are big brutes of a bird - as large as a greater black-backed gull but with a washed out plumage. When I walked down to the hide overlooking the outflow there were a lot of birds around, on the sea, on the beach and in the nuclear power station as well. What could have been a long job though was made quite easy as the glaucous was mooching around on the beach below me.

Even in this long range shot you can see it stands out - large and almost lacking any distinct plumage compared to the gulls around it.

As I got a bit closer you can see what makes it different. It is a member of what are called "white-winged" gulls. Look at the other gulls and the end of their wings (primaries) have dark feathers. The glaucous doesn't, it is pale all the way through, as is the rest of its plumage. For a large gull it also has a delicate look to it, unlike the greater black-backs who look a bit aggressive....

After that I moved onto an even trickier target in the gull world - a caspian gull. These are closely related to herring gulls and are a bit of a specialist subject. In many plumages they are VERY difficult to separate. Dungeness though has a 1st winter bird hanging around and they are a bit easier to pull out. You are still poking for subtle differences amongst many other birds. Fortunately when I was at the glaucous one of the locals turned up and gave me some pointers for where I could find it. So, I headed for the beach and the fishing boats pulled up on it. A few turnstones were around to keep me interested initially.

Problem though was that one of the boats was just off the beach cleaning their catch and all the gulls were around them not on the beach where you could study them.

 The boat did come into the beach to land its catch and the gulls dispersed inland to clean and have a rest. As the flock came together you could study them and try and find the caspian. You are looking for a juvenile large gull, so brownish overall and there were quite a few of them.

Flying around is too much for me to identify them though so I waited till they came to ground. Finally I found what I wanted.

This is the madness of laridology. In the photo above the caspian stands out if you know what you are looking for. Only one of them is a juvenile gull that has a stand-out totally white head.

Unlike the glaucous gull this has dark primaries but look at that head. No colour on it at all.

Occasionally it stood up and you can see another key feature - it has REALLY long legs. Also you need to look at that almost shawl-like plumage on its neck.

It has very long wings as well, and better people than me could comment on other plumage features here but I've had it confirmed that this is the real-deal.

One thing for certain it that is has a very large gape!!!
After that I moved to move to the RSPB reserve and got two more nice birds. The first was a slavonian grebe on the pit by the main road. Unfortunately you can't stop there so I couldn't get any photos!! The tree sparrows on the feeders at Boulderwall farm though were a bit easier to photograph.

Finally I went down to Scotney gravel pits, about a couple of miles away. There is a large flock of feral barnacle geese there

but what I was after was a pair of bean geese.  They were really tricky though, as they were in the greylag goose flock, and all of them were asleep. I waited about 45 minutes and got a couple of decent views of them - dark beak , orange-legs but not enough for a photo.
Finally gave up on a better view and headed home. Six new year ticks in closing peregrine in the power station. I'd still like to get a sniff of a lifer soon though but I'm not complaining, well, not too much!!!