Bonaparte's Gull

 

Wednesday saw Dave and I over at Chichester Gravel Pits looking for the reported Bonaparte's Gull. Initially it didn't look promising. Birders we talked to had not seen it and some were leaving the site thinking that it had moved on. 

We decided to give it an hour of "looking" and eventually were rewarded with sightings but it was not easy. There were a lot of Black-headed Gulls flying mostly at some distance and whilst you could get scope views if they landed on the water, it was difficult to track individual birds whilst flying.

We had an idea of what to look for, a slightly smaller and paler gull with a neat black edge to the wings and a black bill. It's flight was also meant to be different, more like a Little Gull, but this was not so obvious when scanning the Black-headed Gull flock. You often picked up on a bird exhibiting Little Gull like actions only to follow it and realise that it was a Black-headed Gull.

Eventually we picked up on a distant, brighter looking bird and managed to get a couple of pictures showing the features we were looking for, in particular the black bill. Unfortunately it did not come closer during the time we were there but better pictures were obtained later in the day.

I have taken better pictures myself in the past, with the much more obliging bird at Princes Park in Eastbourne back in January 2013 and the 2CY bird at Southampton Riverside Park in 2015.

Bonaparte's Gull - Princes Park Eastbourne 2013 (it is a colour picture)

2CY Bonaparte's Gull - Riverside Park Southampton 2015

Success on the gull proved to be the start of a good days birding. We found the Red-crested Pochards on Ivy Lake, although these again were distant and tucked in under the bank so pictures were not good. 

Garganey

We then went down to Pagham Harbour and saw the Garganey pair on the Severals, picked up Linnets and Sandwich Terns which I hadn't seen yet this year and ended up on the North Wall with Marsh Harriers and a Short-eared Owl.

From a photographic point of view I have had better days but with Spring breaking through and some good birds about we went home happy that evening.

Bonaparte's Gull

I went down to Southampton today to look for the second calendar year Bonaparte's Gull that has been frequenting Riverside Park. Habit suggested that it would turn up early afternoon on the rising tide but, hopeful as ever, I was down there by about half past nine walking the river bank. I should have stayed in bed, true to form it turned up just after one o'clock and joined the Black-headed Gulls on the river.

Bonaparte's Gull

It is similar to the Black-headed Gulls and can be a bit difficult to isolate when flying with them. However, once settled on the water the slightly smaller size, the black bill and white underwing, when shown, are easy to identify.

Black bill and white underwing are key identifiers

Black bill and white underwing are key identifiers

With Black-headed Gull for size comparison

A very dainty bird for a gull, very reminiscent of the Little Gull or of terns in flight.

I filled in the waiting time by taking pictures of the Black-headed  and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

These two second calendar year Black-headed Gulls  below at different stages of gaining their chocolate brown hoods.

Black- headed  Gull  -  Second calendar year

Black- headed  Gull  -  Second calendar year

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

I had to leave mid-afternoon but given the choppy water and the wind I was reasonably pleased with the pictures I came away with. That was until I got home and found that late afternoon the Boaparte's had been sitting out on the jetty giving easy photo opportunities.

Fulmars and Barn Owls

A day of two halves yesterday with some "nearly" great shots in fading light at the end of the day.

We started by heading over to Eastbourne so that Dave could pick up the Boneparte's Gull and were already feeling a little disappointed as the promised day of sunshine was not materialising. The gull was obliging and we soon had a few shots in the bag although as with my previous visit the overcast sky did not make for a very colourful picture.

Bonaparte's Gull

We then worked our way back along the coast in a westerly direction through Beachy Head, Birling Gap, Seaford, and Tide Mills. All great birding locations, but with showers and overcast sky very little appeared to be flying or visible and the day was looking increasingly disappointing.

Fortunately as we arrived at Newhaven West Beach the sun came out briefly and we found Fulmars inspecting the nesting sites on the cliffs.

 

Fulmars - pairing up

Guarding their territory

Having had some lunch and feeling more positive we headed off to Arlington reservoir in the hope of seeing the Slavonian Grebe that had been present there for a couple of weeks. Scanning from the picnic area by the car park we spotted what looked like a red headed Smew but our hopes were quickly dashed when the telescope revealed it to a rusty buoy sitting low in the water.

Fortunately the Slavonian Grebe was still present if somewhat distant. We did consider getting closer to get a picture but were already sinking into the mud in what appeared to be one of the drier sections of the footpath. Thinking better of it and still with some hope of a sunny evening we decided to finish the day at Waltham Brooks looking for Barn Owls.

Two Barn Owls did made an appearance at about 3.45 quartering the brooks but some distance away. A third joined later. We managed to get closer but the light was poor and even at ISO1600 I was only getting around 1/50 sec. Not much use when you are trying to hold a 500mm lens and lens hood steady in a gusting wind. The following pictures are all heavily cropped

ISO 1600  f8  1/60 sec

This is where you pretend you were not after quality portrait shots but were really looking for blurry artistic pictures.

And finally, I had to include the lost opportunity of the day. As we watched one of the Barn Owls hunting, a Ring Tailed Hen Harrier appeared to dispute the territory. Nice aerobatics but no contact and this is the best of about forty pictures.

If only the forecast of a sunny evening had been correct - but then I will probably be going back late this afternoon for another go.

Seven Life Ticks in a Day

Seven life ticks in a day. That's good even for someone that has only been birding for a year.

Had a great day out with Dave yesterday. We went down to Dungeness arriving early and having the ARC hide to ourselves for a couple of hours. Birds were distant so photography was not so good but we still managed to get some good record shots.  We had at least ten sightings of Marsh Harriers and at one point there were four in the air at the same time.

Marsh Harrier

We also had distant views of two bittern and a Great White Egret.

Bittern - hiding in the reeds as usual but at least still visible

Great White Egret

I did manage to get some closer pictures of the GWE but in the bright sunlight they were burnt out and I could not rescue them.

My seven life ticks for the day were - Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret, Ruff, Cetti's Warbler, Goldeneye, Barnacle Goose, and Tree Sparrow. I had seen the first four previously but not to my satisfaction for positive identification. They had either been too distant or in the case of the Cetti's disappeared into the reeds too quickly leaving me with a fleeting glimpse of a rear end.

The Cetti's in particular was good to see as this had always been one of my target birds. Unfortunately I could not get an angle for a picture and whilst I felt like elbowing Dave out of the way I did manage to keep control. So, half a success on this one, but it's good to have something left for another day - I think.

The Tree Sparrows at Boulderwall Farm were the real surprise of the day. I had not realised how colourful they looked compared to the more common House Sparrow.

Tree Sparrow

 I would like to go back and have another go at photographing these.

Our next stop was at Scotney Pit. The number of birds spread out over the water and on the grass banks was truly stunning. We spent a pleasant hour birding from the comfort of the car but could not find any rarities. Dave did, however, spot a Ruff, and three Redshanks together and I managed to get a distant shot of the Ruff confirming my life tick.

Scotney also has a resident flock of Barnacle Geese and these flew in just before we left. There were probably thirty plus in the flock but other than for a record shot they did not offer photographic opportunities.

On the way home we called in at Princess Park in Eastbourne to give Dave a chance to see the Bonaparte's Gull that had been reported there earlier in the day. Unfortunately we dipped out on that one but I have included another picture of it, that I had taken earlier in the week, so Dave does not feel too disappointed at missing it!

Bonaparte's Gull

A great days birding and lots of pictures to work through when I got home.

Bonaparte's Gull

Gulls should be easy. I live by the sea, they are all around me and I see them every day. Yet still I struggle to make even simple identifications. Adult Herring, and the Lesser and Greater Black-backed are OK and I think I can now identify adult Common and Ring-billed Gulls but juveniles and anything outside of this group and I am reaching for the guide book. So when I saw a report of a Bonaparte's Gull in Princes Park Eastbourne I decided to head off for a quick look.

I had great plans for the day, an early start, an hour watching the gull, and then perhaps a visit to the Pevensey Levels or one of the other sites around the east of the county. It's never that easy. I was down at Eastbourne early but the bird was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately I found a Little Grebe fishing in a feeder stream and that kept me occupied for a while.

Caught it

Its not giving up without a fight

The fish did not give in easily escaping twice and having to be recaptured by the grebe.

Dinner is finally ready

The Grebe was a nice diversion and there were a few other birders around to talk to but it was still another three hours until the Gull finally turned up at around 12.30. I was lucky, I had just decided to go off and find a bacon sandwich but was called back by a couple of the others.

The weather had started to turn and it looked like rain but the Gull was very obliging and a number of close up shots were possible. These may look like black and white but they were all taken in colour format.

Bonaparte's Gull

Just to prove the pictures were taken in colour

And coloured legs

A grey bird on grey water on a grey day but I was very happy to have gone home having seen and photographed it.