Andrew
wibble wibble
05-11-05
Location : Radipole Lake. Dorset. SY674800.
A hurricane on the western side of the Atlantic had carried an influx of Laughing Gulls into the south west. Early this morning I met up with Kingfisher at Taunton railway station to board a train for Weymouth to see one that had been there since the middle of the week.
Being a Saturday we were slightly worried not to receive any reports of the gulls as we were travelling. I was quite confident at the time that we would see it. The reason was simple, Kingfisher and I had done this before for a Franklin's Gull in Weymouth last year and came away without seeing it. Surely it could not happen twice.
As soon as the train pulled into Weymouth, we headed for the car park by Radipole Lake and found a few birders around but no sign of the bird. No one had seen it at all today. Not to worry, it will show up eventually we believed. Searching the area including the car park itself, the roosting island by the visitor centre, the lake on both sides of the bridge drew a blank.
On our way back to the car park after a second look around, we were devastated to see a report of a first winter Laughing Gull at Gosport just outside Portsmouth to the east. The bird we were looking for was a first winter so we assumed the worst and thought our bird had left for pastures new. Checking the train services to Gosport proved it would be folly to try and get there and hope to find the park it was in never mind the bird itself.
When the Franklin's Gull was here last year, we left for home too early and the bird came in to roost as we were pulling into Taunton. This meant we assumed there was a very slim chance the Laughing Gull could still be around. Slim was better than nothing at all so we decided to stick around but were not feeling optimistic at all and retired to a decent looking pub.
Things looked better as we entered as they were serving real ale and the Aston Villa versus Liverpool game was showing on the telly! The ale was nice and Liverpool shook off their usual post European game hangovers to play well and record a two nil success.
At half past three we stumbled out of the pub a tad light headed and made for the car park after visiting the local second hand bookshop. A decent number of birders had gathered to watch the roosting island in hope. I started to have a good feeling about this but not enough to take my mind off my 'Flaming Hot' Monster Munch crisps and fish my bins out of my bag.
After twenty minutes and one Mediterranean Gull, one of the birders shouted the bird out and confusion reigned but soon got onto the first winter Laughing Gull preening away on the island in the company of the local Black-headed Gulls. Kingfisher and I were so happy and bemused that the bird was actually still about and that there were now no less than two new birds in the Gosport area!
Having had a few drinks and being so excited with this I failed to take detailed notes but the general impression was of a very bluish grey bird with a black bill and legs and a very messy plumage. The most striking feature for me was the massive broad black terminal band on the retrices.
I managed a few short movie clips of the bird for posterity before we returned to the station to await our train back home. Spirits were high as we enjoyed the rest of the day after the awe of the success had settled down and enjoyed good banter along the way home.
08-11-05
Location : Newquay (Cubert), Davidstow Airfield & Roadford Lake. Cornwall & Devon. SW804572, SX165855 & SX428912.
Another hurricane driven bird, a second winter Franklin's Gull had settled in the Newquay area for the last few days after spending a bit of time in Penzance. This offered a chance to erase the agony of dipping on last year's bird at Radipole. A bizzarre twist of fate considering I had just seen a Laughing Gull at Radipole.
It was surprisingly easy enough to drive down to Newquay in Paul's car for the first time. Passing the usual fishing haunts in the Newquay area brought back good memories.
Our first search at the Gannel estuary was fruitless in the rain. A Pit Bull type dog running through the birds did not help either. The low number of Black-headed Gulls here led us to believe the bird had gone to another site. The gull had been seen regularly in two places, one was here on the estuary and the other was in a ploughed field near Cubert just to the southwest of Newquay.
We found a ploughed field near a crossroads that had some gulls and hundreds of European Golden Plovers. The rain was hammering down on us with strong winds doing their best to make matters unbearable. There was no sign of the bird on the first scan so we walked about to look for other ploughed fields and still no luck.
My trainers were now getting soaked through but that was not enough to put me off a second scan of the field. Half way through the Black-headed Gulls, I shouted "Wahey! I got it!". The dark mantled and winged second winter Franklin's Gull stood out like a sore thumb that had been well and truly whacked with a mallet.
It did not appear as diminutive as I had expected, it was only a tad smaller than the Black-headed Gulls. Like the Laughing Gull, this was a bird of stark contrasts. A really 'feel good' gull to look at. Luckily we had flight views of the bird revealing the largish white spots on the primary tips like a string of pearls. It was rather lazy and sleepy like the Laughing Gull, not surprising considering how far they have been carried by violent winds.
We tolerated the rain for as long as we could to have a good look at the bird before retreating to the car for lunch. That was a super lifer and a really satisfying bird as we had persevered in disgusting rain and wind with no reports coming in at all today. There was no desire to continue to Penzance with nothing new on offer so we headed back north to Davidstow Airfield for a Grey Phalarope.
After putting up with a long drive over a pot holed airfield the control tower appeared closer and I pointed towards it saying "It must be over there somewhere, oh no it's right in front of the car!". The Grey Phalarope was feeding in a flood pool by the dilapidated runway only yards from the car. This had us laughing in bewilderment.
After having our fill of this super bird we continued back home into Devon and called into Roadford Reservoir. Nothing much was on offer here and we resorted to discussing Gadwall plumages.
Back at Exeter, I toasted the Franklin's Gull with some fine ale in The Well House and made my way home a happy chap. Two Yank gulls in a week ain't bad going, both of them lifers to boot!
Location : Radipole Lake. Dorset. SY674800.
A hurricane on the western side of the Atlantic had carried an influx of Laughing Gulls into the south west. Early this morning I met up with Kingfisher at Taunton railway station to board a train for Weymouth to see one that had been there since the middle of the week.
Being a Saturday we were slightly worried not to receive any reports of the gulls as we were travelling. I was quite confident at the time that we would see it. The reason was simple, Kingfisher and I had done this before for a Franklin's Gull in Weymouth last year and came away without seeing it. Surely it could not happen twice.
As soon as the train pulled into Weymouth, we headed for the car park by Radipole Lake and found a few birders around but no sign of the bird. No one had seen it at all today. Not to worry, it will show up eventually we believed. Searching the area including the car park itself, the roosting island by the visitor centre, the lake on both sides of the bridge drew a blank.
On our way back to the car park after a second look around, we were devastated to see a report of a first winter Laughing Gull at Gosport just outside Portsmouth to the east. The bird we were looking for was a first winter so we assumed the worst and thought our bird had left for pastures new. Checking the train services to Gosport proved it would be folly to try and get there and hope to find the park it was in never mind the bird itself.
When the Franklin's Gull was here last year, we left for home too early and the bird came in to roost as we were pulling into Taunton. This meant we assumed there was a very slim chance the Laughing Gull could still be around. Slim was better than nothing at all so we decided to stick around but were not feeling optimistic at all and retired to a decent looking pub.
Things looked better as we entered as they were serving real ale and the Aston Villa versus Liverpool game was showing on the telly! The ale was nice and Liverpool shook off their usual post European game hangovers to play well and record a two nil success.
At half past three we stumbled out of the pub a tad light headed and made for the car park after visiting the local second hand bookshop. A decent number of birders had gathered to watch the roosting island in hope. I started to have a good feeling about this but not enough to take my mind off my 'Flaming Hot' Monster Munch crisps and fish my bins out of my bag.
After twenty minutes and one Mediterranean Gull, one of the birders shouted the bird out and confusion reigned but soon got onto the first winter Laughing Gull preening away on the island in the company of the local Black-headed Gulls. Kingfisher and I were so happy and bemused that the bird was actually still about and that there were now no less than two new birds in the Gosport area!
Having had a few drinks and being so excited with this I failed to take detailed notes but the general impression was of a very bluish grey bird with a black bill and legs and a very messy plumage. The most striking feature for me was the massive broad black terminal band on the retrices.
I managed a few short movie clips of the bird for posterity before we returned to the station to await our train back home. Spirits were high as we enjoyed the rest of the day after the awe of the success had settled down and enjoyed good banter along the way home.
08-11-05
Location : Newquay (Cubert), Davidstow Airfield & Roadford Lake. Cornwall & Devon. SW804572, SX165855 & SX428912.
Another hurricane driven bird, a second winter Franklin's Gull had settled in the Newquay area for the last few days after spending a bit of time in Penzance. This offered a chance to erase the agony of dipping on last year's bird at Radipole. A bizzarre twist of fate considering I had just seen a Laughing Gull at Radipole.
It was surprisingly easy enough to drive down to Newquay in Paul's car for the first time. Passing the usual fishing haunts in the Newquay area brought back good memories.
Our first search at the Gannel estuary was fruitless in the rain. A Pit Bull type dog running through the birds did not help either. The low number of Black-headed Gulls here led us to believe the bird had gone to another site. The gull had been seen regularly in two places, one was here on the estuary and the other was in a ploughed field near Cubert just to the southwest of Newquay.
We found a ploughed field near a crossroads that had some gulls and hundreds of European Golden Plovers. The rain was hammering down on us with strong winds doing their best to make matters unbearable. There was no sign of the bird on the first scan so we walked about to look for other ploughed fields and still no luck.
My trainers were now getting soaked through but that was not enough to put me off a second scan of the field. Half way through the Black-headed Gulls, I shouted "Wahey! I got it!". The dark mantled and winged second winter Franklin's Gull stood out like a sore thumb that had been well and truly whacked with a mallet.
It did not appear as diminutive as I had expected, it was only a tad smaller than the Black-headed Gulls. Like the Laughing Gull, this was a bird of stark contrasts. A really 'feel good' gull to look at. Luckily we had flight views of the bird revealing the largish white spots on the primary tips like a string of pearls. It was rather lazy and sleepy like the Laughing Gull, not surprising considering how far they have been carried by violent winds.
We tolerated the rain for as long as we could to have a good look at the bird before retreating to the car for lunch. That was a super lifer and a really satisfying bird as we had persevered in disgusting rain and wind with no reports coming in at all today. There was no desire to continue to Penzance with nothing new on offer so we headed back north to Davidstow Airfield for a Grey Phalarope.
After putting up with a long drive over a pot holed airfield the control tower appeared closer and I pointed towards it saying "It must be over there somewhere, oh no it's right in front of the car!". The Grey Phalarope was feeding in a flood pool by the dilapidated runway only yards from the car. This had us laughing in bewilderment.
After having our fill of this super bird we continued back home into Devon and called into Roadford Reservoir. Nothing much was on offer here and we resorted to discussing Gadwall plumages.
Back at Exeter, I toasted the Franklin's Gull with some fine ale in The Well House and made my way home a happy chap. Two Yank gulls in a week ain't bad going, both of them lifers to boot!
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