Bonapartes Gull.......... At Oare

Bonapartes Gull at Oare.

I paid 2 visits to Oare Marshes today , i called in at approx 9.30am and  a quick scan over the east flood drew a blank , i then ventured along the sea wall and down Faversham creek and finally located the Bonapartes Gull on the flood near the Black Tailed Godwit roost at about 10am , i instantly saw the all black bill and the smaller size was evident , i no sooner set my scope up when it took off and flew down Faversham creek and out of sight . I decided to head back and try again later when the tide was in so i could hopefully get some photos at roost .

You can see the black patch by the ear coverts.

I added several Common Swifts  flying low over the east flood on my return journey plus there were a couple of Common Terns  flying up and down the creek . On my second visit at high tide at approx 12.45pm i parked up by the pull in on the access road and straight away was on the Bonapartes Gull roosting on one of the small islands along side several Black Headed Gulls , it gave a really good size comparison , a couple of times it was spooked and flew around and you could clearly see the white underside of the primaries , this is a really smart looking gull , it stood up at one point and wing streched and you could see the pink coloured legs .

Note pink legs .

I really enjoyed this bird and watched it for about an hour , other birds seen were a close Yellow Wagtail , up to 3 Hobby although another birder had see about 7 birds , there were lots of Little Egrets  around the reserve plus a distant Cuckoo could be heard .

Yellow Wagtail.

Little Egret looking for Marsh Frogs.