Twitch on!

A couple of weeks ago I went on another twitch. This is the third this year, and they have all had one thing in common. Well, two things in common. One, they have all been successful and not dips. And two, they have all been ridiculously straightforward and essentially stress-free. This one was the easiest yet, although as the bird in question was a Gull it was of course totally rubbish. Yes indeed, the Grafham Water Kelp/Cape Gull, a first for the UK. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen many firsts - Eastern Crowned Warbler in South Shields sticks in the memory, but that might be the only one. Oh, hang on a minute - Acadian Flycatcher at Dungeness is probably another. Regardless, it does not happen often, and generally I dislike the air of desperation/madness/grown men losing their shit that accompanies such things and so avoid them. This however was just too easy to pass up.

Yuck

I would not have known about it all had Tony not put out a message on our patch chat group. Whilst I do have BirdGuides I don't know why I do as I hardly ever look at it. All the mega noises it has been making recently have been to do with the Shrike and the Albatross and so I came to ignore it. However the Wanstead messages make a different "bong" and I was on to that straight away - it might have been a Redstart!. But it wasn't.

"Cape Gull anyone?"

You what?! I've seen this species in South Africa, and the nominate Kelp Gull in Argentina, but never in Cambridgeshire..... Anyhow, as we all know this was not a wind-up, and a decision was made within about two minutes. Sunday morning, no plans, Grafham Water under an hour a half away, no traffic issues and a hulking great scabby Gull that was unlikely to move. We could be back mid-afternoon and continue our lazy day as if nothing had happened. And that is exactly what panned out. There is no point stringing it out or trying to build suspense. We drove there, saw it immediately, and came home again. I think I was drinking a Daquiri in the garden before 4pm.

Fulfilling? Well, ish. I mean it is clearly a very rare bird (here) and I do not see very rare birds very often. It was just pleasing to have it all go our way with no drama whatsoever, to snaffle it so quickly and be home almost before we were missed. The bird showed extremely well, and because we were quick off the mark there were no issues with wacky races or with parking, nor a particularly enormous crowd (it was nice to see a few familiar faces from Shetland, including a birder from the SW who got there only marginally after we did!). We were in and out within an hour, within the first parking fee band in fact which was great as I loathe paying for parking. The other day I got picked up at Edinburgh airport and the fee for the short stay was £9!! Highway bloody robbery I tell you. Anyway, so simple, and when the Gull decided to fly further up the reservoir to a reeking trout corpse we decided not to follow it and instead go home for celebratory drinks.

First for the UK = Two drinks. Like I need an excuse.

Ten species of Gull on the patch

Seagull (part of)

This is a post about Gulls. Not in praise of Gulls, just about Gulls. I don't often spend time thinking about Gulls but it has just occured to me that we have had ten species on the patch this year. Ten!  Isn't that amazing? Having just checked the historical records over on the other blog that we collectively contribute to I can see that in fact ten species of Gull is all we have ever had. Incredible therefore to get them all within a few weeks. To save you clicking through (and to flesh out this post - there is only so much I can say about Gulls), here is the relevant extract from our site list. 

Black-headed Gull: Resident, with significant increase in winter.

Counts of 400+ not unusual on the Flats in winter. During flooding caused by heavy rains on Wanstead Flats on 28^th February 2010, an estimated 2000+ birds were present.

Common Gull: Winter visitor.

The commonest Gull on the Flats in winter, with counts of 500+ not unusual.

1000+ present on 28^th February 2010

Kittiwake: Very rare

A bird flying over the Shoulder of Mutton Pond on 19^th August 2011

Wanstead Flats 25^th March 2012 (NC)

Wanstead Flats 13th April 2013 (JL)

An exhausted bird on Wanstead flats on the 7^th January 2014 (NC)

A 1W on Wanstead Flats 9th February 2021 (RR)

Mediterranean Gull: Scarce annual visitor

A regular returning bird was thought to account for annual winter records
2014 had reports of at least 6 birds, so probably increasing

More recently a long-staying bird over the winter 2020/21 (RR), joined briefly by a second bird on 19th December 2021 (JL/TB).

Herring Gull: Regular winter visitor

Regular in small numbers on the Flats in winter, with larger numbers flying over to and from the Chingford Reservoirs.

The largest count was of 82 on February 28^th 2010

Yellow-legged Gull: Scarce visitor

May be found on the Flats, usually in late summer.
2017 was a good year with a number of sightings reported including 2 birds that became resident from September onwards by Alexandra Lake (2w and 3w).

More recently several 2CY birds in early 2021.

Caspian Gull: Rare winter visitor

A bird seen briefly on February 26^th 2011 (JL) 

A 1st winter bird from November 2015 on and off to February 2016 (BV)
A 1st winter bird on Alex 4th-5th November 2018 (NC,JH)

Becoming more regular in recent years, latest record of either a single or two 1W birds on 5th April 2021.

 

Iceland Gull: Extremely rare

A first winter bird toured the Flats 23rd March 2021 and was seen on and off for three days (MH)

Great Black-backed Gull: Scarce winter visitor

Usually as a flyover, most probably to and from the roosts on the Chingford Reservoirs. 
An adult has been regular on the Brick pit in the past few winters
A record of 41 on the Flats on 7^th October 2001 is exceptional

Lesser Black-backed Gull: Resident breeder

A few remain over summer in the Park and Flats, with more coming in during the winter. Peak count of 50 on 1^st October 2010

Small adult winter Seagull

Most of these gulls are regular. I could go out on pretty much any winter day and come home, figuratively speaking, with four species, and quite possibly five or six. Common Gulls are probably the, err, commonest in winter, with many hundreds loafing around on the football pitches, but the Black-headed Gulls give them a run for their money. There are generally always a handful of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls around, and in extremely wet weather these numbers can swell dramatically as they paddle-feed on the saturated short grass. Great Black-backed Gull is most often a flyover although they occasionally come down for a bit, and if we have a Yellow-legged Gull they can quite often be faithful to a particular pond or puddle for a few days. The others are little less predictable. Caspian Gull is probably more regular than Med Gull at the moment, but previously it has been the other way around, and Kittiwake remains a very hard bird to get on the list. And as for Iceland Gull.....

1W large but slim Seagull

There are of course notable gaps on the list. Little Gull would seem to be the most obvious one. They're regularly seen on passage on both the river and the Chingford reservoirs and we sit exactly between them yet have never seen one. I once had a small first winter Gull distantly flying away from me over the Flats with that classic W on the back but I could not safely rule out Kittiwake on the views I got. I suppose that one day someone will simply find one bobbing about next to a Mallard, but for now the wait goes on. 

Small adult Seagull (black-legged morph)

Back in the day I would have said that we stood a decent chance of one of the returning wintering Ring-billed Gulls turning up, especially give the number of Common Gulls we get, but that never happened and now of course all those the regular birds have departed (this life probably) and the species has become rare again. 

I've seen Sabine's Gull on the reservoirs and Bonaparte's Gull on the river, both about five miles away. Is there a slim chance of one of those two? And if we can get an Iceland Gull could we also get a Glaucous Gull? I think we can. We just need to have our eyes open and our wits about us, and one day it will surely happen. 

1W large pale Seagull

Caspo

I would do pretty much anything to avoid looking at Gulls. Sorry Gull lovers. When news of the return of the Snaresbrook Caspian Gull hit my timeline last weekend I immediately took the piss out of people going to see it. Moths to a flame, or words to that effect.... And then, naturally, I toddled straight over there myself. Before breakfast in fact. Gosh it's a smart bird. Assuming that this is the same bird (which given known Gull site fidelity is overwhelmingly likely) this is its fifth winter locally and it is now a spanking adult in every way. I thought it was last year as well but perhaps I was mistaken.

In truth some Gulls are OK. I quite like Laughing Gulls, Med Gulls and Audouin's Gulls for instance, and Heermann's Gull, well now there's a bird for the ages. Many Gulls are of course not OK. Not at all. Particularly ones I can't identify which is of course most of them. Unfortunately there are tons of these everywhere, particularly on Wanstead Flats in the winter where they loaf around daring me to scope them and work out what they are. This is one of the reasons I don't carry a scope locally, it might lead to things....

I do quite like challenging birding though. Digging out a recalcitrant Warbler, scanning through vast flocks of Sea Duck in the hope of pulling out the one that is slightly different, slightly American for instance. Flocks of Gulls should be no different but for some reason - cowardice most likely - I have never really knuckled down and got to grips with them. Which is odd as I found I could very easily pick the Caspo out from all the Black-headed Gulls on Eagle Pond. 

We're all going on a gull hunt

Yesterday Dante found a Ring-billed Gull on the Thames, a pukka adult. The guy is a fiend, seriously good at gulls at such a tender age. Brave too... My Wanstead list would greatly appreciate a Ring-billed Gull, and as such I now have something to do with my mornings before work. 

Yes, you read that right. Before work. It has been getting lighter now for over a month, and the days of being able to sneak a quick bash of the patch are once again upon us. At the start of the year the sun didn't rise until 8.06am, and on overcast days it felt a lot later than that. Now however it is nearly an hour earlier, at 7.20am, and on clear days like today it feels earlier. We're gaining nearly four minutes a day at the moment - every week there is an extra half hour.

I was out early this morning and it was bright and crisp. And carpeted with Common Gulls. You can see where I am going with this. Back in the day there was a Ring-billed Gull regularly at the south end of the Isle of Dogs. I used to nip down there when lunch was still a thing and see it on the mud off Island Gardens. It was my dream however to find it on Wanstead Flats, hiding out amongst the many hundreds of Common Gulls. I never did, though I had a few stringy near misses. I am a better birder now though, and not quite as scared of Gulls as I once was, so I would give myself more of a chance these days. So I had a good old pick through the loafers this morning, and whilst my Yank Gull count is still zero for the patch, it was a good exercise, and also a good excuse to get back birding again.

Here's a photo of the search image. There is more streaking on the head, and the legs and feet are a brighter yellow. Not quite as much white sand on Wanstead Flats as in Florida, but it should still stand out.

Winning on foot

I can only imagine that you are desperate for news of my walking challenge. Well, there is news. BIG news. News of a round number. A LARGE round number. There have been ups and downs, three weeks of failing to make the distance for starters, but there have also been huge successes. One of these was last week, when on holiday I very nearly doubled my distance. This has ensured that whilst there might be bad weeks, that my average daily healthy mileage is above five. If I can keep that up I'll meet the annual goal at least. Anyway, on to the momentous figure - 300 miles. Surpassed at some point this morning whilst walking up and down the garden cleaning up after storm Doris. 

There wasn't much to do - a few big sticks to tidy away, and the re-erection of all my bird feeders, all of which came down. No damage done, but at some point between Thursday and today the local foxes have decided that what the feeders really needed was to be decorated with poo. Why? The bird feeders had no territorial ambitions, they just happened to be blown onto the lawn. Thanks foxes. A nasty job, fox crap is pretty rancid at the best of times, but to be cleaning it off my bird feeders came low down of my list of things I wanted to be doing this weekend. Done now, but honestly. Yuck!

So back to walking, and another victory for foot power. Tony found a Med Gull on Wanstead Flats this morning, a decent bird over here. I trekked out to try and find it a little later, averting my eyes at the increasingly wanton destruction wrought by the Corporation of London. Scanned far more Gulls than is healthy but couldn't find it. Hey ho. Bob, Tony and I converged on the playing fields having collectively looked through nearly every group of Gulls on Wanstead Flats, and as is entirely normal for 9.30am started talking about Gin and Tonic instead. It's the demographic I think. Anyway, I had actually gone out this morning with the intention of buying bread in Leytonstone before being diverted in the opposite direction by larid news, so after a healthy discussion on when the first snifter of the day might occur, I bade farewell to the guys and started to head back.

Bob was incredulous! I had walked to the Alex?? Egad! Naturally he had driven over, and so offered me a lift back to far closer to the bakery. I thought about it I must admit, but I declined in the interests of my waistline and trotted off. A little later the merits of this strategy paid off when I bumped into the Med over on the Western Flats, probably the only spot nobody had checked. I didn't see one last year, so very pleasing, and with the once regular Valentine's Park bird likely playing a harp somewhere they have become far more difficult. I tried to call Bob a couple of times but there was no answer. Probably already back home and on the G&Ts......

So here it is, most lovely. This er "image" was actually taken with my phone through one barrel of my bins, which I didn't think was likely to work but has somehow produced an identifiable record shot. 

I did eventually make it to the bakery, and £3.80 later was the proud owner of a sourdough loaf made with 30% rye. Fantastic. I also found a new fishmongers, so dinner at Chateau L this evening involves fresh shrimp and Red Snapper. I may even break out some white wine, but only after the Gin.

Dare I say it, Gulls?

The ice has driven all the real birds away, so I have resorted to taking photos of Gulls. Well, actually I have mostly been taking pictures of trees and grass in preference, but this weekend given the lack of much else I was forced to swing the lens laridward. There are a lot of Gulls here at the moment, concentrated around the mostly frozen ponds, and it is fair to say that they are not doing much. Loafing. Waiting for handouts. Slipping clumsily on the ice despite their talons. Yes, Gulls have claws. I've not really spent much time studying Gulls, and especially not their feet as feet do not generally sort out ID conundrums, so I was mildly surprised to see claws at the end of the webbing. Not sure that they accomplish much I shouldn't think, but quite interesting actually.

The dominant flavour of Gull on Wanstead Flats is Common at the moment, impressive numbers. I've even been reading a few of the rings, pretty easy to pick out with all the birds stood about. Most seem to be from Norway, or at least to have visited once, with either white or green rings. Amazing to think that they've come all this way to scoff rancid bread and chapatis, but if it keeps them going. There were three different ones that were ringed, which caused momentary excitement until I realised that Tony had seen them all already. They seem to be very site faithful of late, but if there is no pressing need to move I suppose I wouldn't either. Oh, is that a pita? Mmmmmm. 

PS I've included a duck as well, lest you all think I have lost the plot entirely.

LAX stopover

I planned my silly Hawaii trip with a couple of stops to break up the journey. The first of these was a very pleasant evening chez my Aunt in Washington DC, however as that does not involve birds and I am very strict about that on this blog, I don’t propose to spend any time writing about it. The second stop did involve birds, and was the beach at Los Angeles just west of the airport runway. I’d seen this on maps and done a bit of reading, and it suggested that there would be loafing birds and that it was very quick to get there by cab. Or it would have been if the cab driver had any concept of where anything was. I’m not sure he even knew he was in America actually, as “please take me to the beach the other side of the airport” meant nothing to him, and enhancing this with the name of the beach, Dockweiler, also did not help him pinpoint where I wanted to go. Maybe mine was an unusual request and most people want to go to Beverley Hills or Sunset Boulevard or something. Showing him a satellite map of the area was similarly futile, the only thing that would induce him to move was a road name he could put into his satnav and then follow blindly, so in the end I gave him the main road just outside the airport perimeter and once there reverted to “straight over”, “right here” and so on until we got to the beach. He is probably still there now, totally flummoxed as to how to return to LAX for another fare.

Dockweiler State beach was fairly busy at 11am on a Saturday morning, all of the usual California clichés, joggers, people walking designer dogs, rollerblading, cyclists and so on. Scanning the area I could see several groups of birds, mixed Gulls including Heerman’s and Western, and then a few sleeping waders that appeared to be Willet. Willet not being Gulls, I headed towards them, dragging my wheeled camera bag behind me – on reflection the backpack would have been significantly better for this part of my trip, though with so many airports on the route I did come to be thankful for it in the end. There were Willet, and lots of them, but more excitingly there were lots of Marbled Godwit, believe it or not a full-fat world lifer – wooo!

Yes I have a very long bill

Thankfully the weather was cool and overcast, in marked contrast to Washington DC which had been an oven, and which would have completely prevented any bird photography at all. I had banked on the coastal affect in late August, and it was absolutely perfect. I got to work, and in between all the human activity managed to get a few nice ones. A lowlight was a lady with a dog who walked up to near where I was lying, and then took it off its lead and told it to chase the birds. Which it then did with some relish. You could not have made it up. I mean even if had not been there obviously taking photos of them why would you do that? I jumped up and laid into her, the only thing missing was actual physical violence. I held nothing back Lost it. I called her every name under the sun until a nearby lifeguard arrived and threw her off the beach. There was probably cause to throw me off as well, but I am guessing she had seen what happened and realised where the problem lay. That was it really, the Willets, Godwits and a single Long-billed Curlew had flown about a mile (as would I if somebody had released a greyhound at me) and with my bag being somewhat sand-challenged I did not fancy it. That left the Gulls, and much as I dislike them you can’t really argue with adult Heerman’s, even going into winter plumage.

Not too bad for a Gull

Once I tired of these, and with my demeanour somewhat shattered by the dog lady, I decided to leave the beach and go birding at the nearby Ballona Wetlands. Quick spot of lunch at a nearby eco-café and then I headed off inland. I had not bargained on there being no pavements. I know, what was I thinking? This is the US of A, where people walk precisely nowhere. Being wheeled, I had to drag the case along the road for about 20 seconds, and then retreat to the safety of the soft shoulder whilst the cars roared by for a couple of minutes, and then I’d have another 20 seconds, presumably on a lights change, in which to make a bit more progress before diving for cover again. When I eventually made it I discovered that the sodding reserve was closed and probably had been for some time! Thanks LA! I walked the perimeter, birding in the gaps, and in this manner picked up Bushtit, my second lifer of the day. It was overall quite quiet though, mostly I suspect due to the time of day and the coastal murk finally having been burnt off by the sun meaning it was now quite hot. Time to flag a cab and retreat to the cool of the American Airlines lounge – a shower and then a series of cold drinks helped restore my mood, and I started tucking into my Hawaiian field guide in anticipation of the next couple of days.

Regulation Gull

I'm leaving

This morning there were six or seven species of Gull on Wanstead Flats. I can only cope with about three at any one time, so I am leaving. Selling up. Moving. Not sure where to yet, but somewhere that is unattractive to Larids, like, errr. Actually I don't know, now that I think about it the bloody things are everywhere. For someone like me who is scared of Gulls and what they can do to you, the numbers now present and the interest that they are generating is very worrying. More worrying is that I started to take an interest, and this morning rather than stay cosy in bed I toddled off to the Alex looking for a rumoured Caspian Gull. I had thought I'd seen it last weekend in amongst the throngs on the football pitches, but sensibly closed my eyes and declared it all to be a bad dream. When I opened them a madman with a suitcase had scared them all away. Thank heavens for that, and I went and looked at some cardboard boxes instead to calm down.

All this week I've avoided looking but the constant reports have been nagging me because it is a year tick and if I see it I move one species closer to Bob and one step nearer to that coveted second place and a huge cash prize. There were two large Gulls on Alex when I got there, and handily the Caspian was one of them. I rather fancy that the other was a Yellow-legged Gull, but I don't want to get ahead of myself here as somebody will tell me it's just a Herring Gull. But that's the point really - they're all just flavours of Herring and I've been saying for ages that all Gulls should just be lumped. Gull. See, easy. Split into big and small if you're being really pedantic, but one supercline is where I think we're headed.

Gull

Now Caspian Gull is not a patch tick for me, I felt confident enough in one a few years ago to submit a description to the London rarities committee. When Bob first picked up the bird on Jubilee I was motivated to dust off the London Bird Report in question to remind myself of my previous triumph. Leafing through to the Gull section, I confidently read through the Caspo section looking for Wanstead and..... hang on a sec must have missed it. Essex. W....wait a damn minute! It's not there! This is the trouble with committees. Well, and with Gulls. Somehow my description must not have passed muster, absurd though that notion is. Gull. Big. White head. Dark eye. Long Beak. Long Legs. Sticky-out tummy. Wings. Faint aroma of rubbish. Accompanied by the photo I didn't take. Pah! This is why I hate Gulls, they're all basically identical and unless you're mentally unhinged and devote a significant portion of your life to them you don't stand a chance. 

Back to 2015 and admittedly this bird did look good, and I did have a camera this time so that particular demon can be laid to rest. The internet appears to agree that it is one, which is excellent news. Not because it is a rather good bird for here, or because it's a year tick, or even a real tick. But because it means I can stop looking at Gulls now and resume my search for birds that don't cause a gag reflex. 

Washington State - Day 2

Day 2 – Diamond Point, Whale watching from Port Townsend, Crocker Lake and Uncas Road

A Gull of some kind....

The boat trip didn't depart until 10am, but it's light enough to bird at 5am, so it was that very early on Tuesday morning I found myself at Diamond Point pond, east of Port Angeles, looking for new birds. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas, with the famed Pacific Northwest marine layer sitting thick and heavy. So the Tufted Puffins that might have been drifting around Protection Island remained unseen, with only the occasional Pigeon Guillemot or Harelquin appearing out of the mist. I added Horned Grebe at the limits of what was visible, and Ruddy Duck on the pond, but overall it was rather dire, and the weather didn't improve as I arrived in Port Townsend, with heavy rain now falling. The boat however was going anyway, so I grabbed a coffee and prepared for the worst – a dismal five hours of getting soaked and seeing nothing. It turned out better than that, and as we zipped across the Juan de Fuca Strait it appeared to be easing. Boats operate from half a dozen ports around Puget Sound, from Vancouver downwards, and all of them cooperate by sharing news of sightings. So it was that on this day a pod of transient Orcas had been seen in Canadian waters, and in the absence of sightings further south that's where we headed. This meant a long trip, but with clearer skies I spent the whole time birding – my own private pelagic whilst all the other passengers huddled inside with coffee and cake. There wasn't a massive amount of variety, with Rhinocerous Auklet dominating heavily, but I added Common Loon and Marbled Murrulet on the trip out.

Rhinocerous Auklet

Pigeon Guillemot

About two hours later we started to converge on a number of other boats, and it wasn't too long afterwards that I was watching Killer Whales. The pod numbered around six or seven, including at least one calf. I've wanted to see Killer Whales for ages, and keep on hoping that I'll get lucky on Shetland on one of my trips up there, but so far it hasn't happened. No need now though, well and truly done! The calf leapt fully out of the water at one stage, but I wasn't quick enough to grab a photo, but I did manage one of its head a little later. After half an hour of slowly circling to maintain our distance, we reluctantly started the two hour trip back to base – not the best ratio of boat trip to seeing Whales, but I could have missed out, and although I had a reserve day built in I didn't really want to have to take it up.

Once back on land I went and took a few photos of some Gulls I had seen as the boat arrived in the harbour, thinking that distantly some had looked rather dark. Heerman's Gull, I should have guessed, and as Gulls go a pretty decent looking bird. A mixture of adults and second years mixed in with the usual fare of Glaucous-winged and Californian, and they were the only ones I saw on the trip – to be fair I wasn't looking hard. I know some people who would probably miss out on all the decent forest stuff if they came over here, and only look at Gulls – I've done the Varied Thrush so you don't have to lads!

Heerman's Gull

Leaving Port Townsend, I moved inland a short distance and started to bird some scrub and lakeshore habitat at Crocker Lake. All sorts of goodies here, with Common Yellowthroat and Palm Warbler mixing it up with Cedar Waxwing and Hairy Woodpecker. I managed to pish in a smart Wilson's Warbler here before slowing driving the length of West Uncas Road, which added Willow Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. I went back to Port Angeles via Diamond Point again, but the weather on the coast was still lousy and although I could see slightly more there was still no point. Dinner and bed.

White-crowned Sparrow

What was I thinking?

I had a minor fit today, and ended up at Dungeness. I'm going to see a specialist tomorrow, and expect to be declared clinically insane. That said, I can see the attraction, as Dungeness isn't really about Gulls at all. It's about a fat breakfast, and then sitting around in comfy chairs for the rest of the day talking rubbish.

I skipped the breakfast part (my body is a temple), and met the guys at the beach. Parking up, I lifted my camera off the back seat and headed off to the fishing boats. I'd got about half way there when I realised I was on my own, and looked back to find that Mick and Richard were still unloading the car. Oh My God. In my absence, Gull photography has reached a whole new level. It used to be a couple of loaves of bread, but no longer. The ante has been well and truly upped. Armchairs. Buckets of fish. Crates. 8m³ of popcorn, and enough bread to create a floating bridge to France. I watched, bemused - practically speechless in fact - as all of this was loaded onto a massive trolley (itself another new development) which was then hauled across the shingle and down to the shore. At the other end, it was all dutifully unpacked, carefully positioned, and then we all sat down, Mick having been kind enough to bring a third armchair for me. I hadn't realised, but Gull photography at Dungeness merely involves carting a shit-load of crap you don't need down the beach and then doing nothing.

A small proportion of the epic amount of necessary gear

A whole new level. LOWER.

After witnessing the above, a Gull vomits into a sick bucket

It was very pleasant, barring the stench of dead fish, guts, diseased lobsters and the aroma of stale cinema. The Gulls mimicked the photographers by sitting around doing jack all, and so both birds and bird-lovers had a glorious and very relaxing day in the warm sunshine. I did at least give the shutter a bit of a workout, as for quite a lot of the day the light was pretty easy. Highlights were a second year Caspian, which Rich B picked out way ahead of Mick - he really needs to up his game -  and a Dunlin which I missed even though it was there for an hour. I may have been asleep, I can't remember.

Caspo

Soporific is the best way to describe the day. Nothing happened at all. The most exciting part of the day was when I found a nearly round pebble. Whilst I had thought Mick and Richard were suffering from a bit of a lack of imagination, I now know that in fact that they have been very busy indeed. What used to be a bit of a joke, "Oh, Dunge again!", is now a quasi-military operation. Most amusingly, nobody had told the Gulls, and Mick didn't take a single photo all day - he needs help. I'm going to start a Just Giving page I reckon, see if we can raise enough money to send him to a clinic or something.

Yellow-legged Dull

Salvation