Andrew
wibble wibble
Here is today's diary entry for a brief look at Shobrooke Lake with a two star rarity showing . . .
16-02-03
Location : Shobrooke Lake, Devon. SS855015
On the way to some relatives I popped into Shobrooke Park to scan the lake with my scope. It had been a very long time since I last came here to fish and I was disappointed to see the platforms had been removed. I set up on what I thought was the deepest end of the lake and immediately found 2 Great Crested Grebes and a charming Little Grebe in the margins of the island on the right. In the islands’ trees were 4 Cormorants roosting, I could understand the attraction of this lake as there used to be plenty of silver Roach when I used to fish here. There were some Mallards too but the majority of the birds seemed to be on the right hand bank so I scanned some trees there before going round and casually sighted a Treecreeper without trying at all. I soon picked up my scope and headed closer to the other birds setting up on the concrete overflow. 4 Canada Geese soon came over to me with a very confusing brown ‘Canada’ with an orange bill lined with white around the edges. I was curious about this probable hybrid and wondered what sort of hybrid it could be. Along the short cropped grass bank were 13 Coots, some Mallards, a Jackdaw and 4 Pied Wagtails. On the water close by were a large part of 57 Black Headed Gulls and as usual I examined each gull until one made me stop with excitement. I had found a Gull that was easily comparable to the Black Headeds yet very different in many respects. To start off the mundane differences were the wings being a bit darker than the Black Headed Gulls’ yet still a light grey. The outline of the grey wings differed only slightly but I did not make any note of what the difference was as in my naivety, I did not consider this important. The primaries were very much similar to the Black Headed Gulls’ and the overall size was that it was slightly smaller. It was too large to be a Little Gull. The main clinching differences were that the head was a jet black continuing into a identically clean black bill. The bill was structurally the same as the Black Headed Gulls’. The amount of black on the head was considerably larger with the border being further down the back of the head than the Black Headed Gulls’. Finally there was a white eye ring running round a black eye broken at the rear of the eye. Everything about the bird’s plumage was so clean and fresh as if it had just come off a production line. I knew I had got something special and it was only that I got home and found my field notes and sloppy sketch very useful in identifying an adult summer plumaged Bonaparte’s Gull. My notes seemed to offer a text book description of the bird. When it dawned on me that this was a two star rarity and there was only one in Devon in the last bird report I immediately notified the county recorder. I also discussed it with someone on the internet (Harry Hussey) and feel very sure about this bird. It is a shame I have something planned for tomorrow meaning I cannot revisit it to take more notes possibly with another birder present.
. . . . discussions please about the Bonaparte's Gull.
16-02-03
Location : Shobrooke Lake, Devon. SS855015
On the way to some relatives I popped into Shobrooke Park to scan the lake with my scope. It had been a very long time since I last came here to fish and I was disappointed to see the platforms had been removed. I set up on what I thought was the deepest end of the lake and immediately found 2 Great Crested Grebes and a charming Little Grebe in the margins of the island on the right. In the islands’ trees were 4 Cormorants roosting, I could understand the attraction of this lake as there used to be plenty of silver Roach when I used to fish here. There were some Mallards too but the majority of the birds seemed to be on the right hand bank so I scanned some trees there before going round and casually sighted a Treecreeper without trying at all. I soon picked up my scope and headed closer to the other birds setting up on the concrete overflow. 4 Canada Geese soon came over to me with a very confusing brown ‘Canada’ with an orange bill lined with white around the edges. I was curious about this probable hybrid and wondered what sort of hybrid it could be. Along the short cropped grass bank were 13 Coots, some Mallards, a Jackdaw and 4 Pied Wagtails. On the water close by were a large part of 57 Black Headed Gulls and as usual I examined each gull until one made me stop with excitement. I had found a Gull that was easily comparable to the Black Headeds yet very different in many respects. To start off the mundane differences were the wings being a bit darker than the Black Headed Gulls’ yet still a light grey. The outline of the grey wings differed only slightly but I did not make any note of what the difference was as in my naivety, I did not consider this important. The primaries were very much similar to the Black Headed Gulls’ and the overall size was that it was slightly smaller. It was too large to be a Little Gull. The main clinching differences were that the head was a jet black continuing into a identically clean black bill. The bill was structurally the same as the Black Headed Gulls’. The amount of black on the head was considerably larger with the border being further down the back of the head than the Black Headed Gulls’. Finally there was a white eye ring running round a black eye broken at the rear of the eye. Everything about the bird’s plumage was so clean and fresh as if it had just come off a production line. I knew I had got something special and it was only that I got home and found my field notes and sloppy sketch very useful in identifying an adult summer plumaged Bonaparte’s Gull. My notes seemed to offer a text book description of the bird. When it dawned on me that this was a two star rarity and there was only one in Devon in the last bird report I immediately notified the county recorder. I also discussed it with someone on the internet (Harry Hussey) and feel very sure about this bird. It is a shame I have something planned for tomorrow meaning I cannot revisit it to take more notes possibly with another birder present.
. . . . discussions please about the Bonaparte's Gull.
