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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Farnboro John" data-source="post: 1830069" data-attributes="member: 36432">I was coming back from a dip trip to Mullion Cove for Ross's Gull, and approaching Plymouth suggested to my Mum and Barry Wright who made up the day's crew (in fact Mum did all the driving) that we should drop in on the 1w Spotted Sandpiper on the Plym estuary so at least we'd scored a BB during what had turned out to be a duff trip.  They agreed.We stopped in a lay-by by the estuary and as we set off to cross the railway for the spot sand, we met about thirty birders all running back the other way.  Our enquiry about the sandpiper was met with a yell of: "The Ross's Gull is further down the estuary!" and we turned about and legged it.  A whiz down to another lay-by where birders were pouring out of cars and running round a sloping concrete seawall studded with rocks resulted in us arriving just as about a thousand gulls took off and circled.  By some miracle of coherent concise loud directions Barry and I got on the bird and had good views of its first-winter plumage.Mum arrived a little later (age-related) and couldn't follow the directions.  I started giving my own, and other people were getting on the bird from them, but not Mum who finally had to give up as the whole flock departed southwards past the next bridge.Barry and I were exultant but Mum went into a massive sulk and attempted to blame me for her dip.It was Mother's Day.JohnPS: Eventually she got the Fraserburgh pink adult - all's well that ends well.</blockquote>

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