Cape Gull (Larus dominicanus vetula) Grafham Water

                                           8th August 2022  :  Grafham Water

                                                               

Cape Gull feeding with Gull's.

On Sunday 7th August bird news broke that there was a Cape Gull showing well at Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire !!!!

The Cape Gull (Larus dominicanus Vetula) has never been seen in Britain before and therefore unsurprisingly would be a 1st for Britain.

Arrangements were quickly put into place to head up to Grafham Water on Monday morning , we arrived at 8am and quickly made our way around to the Dam and thankfully had great views of the Cape Gull.

Here are a selection of many photos taken of the superb Cape Gull.

Cape Gull.

Really enjoyed watching the Cape Gull which was somewhere in between LBBG & GBBG in size, it had no 'mirrors' on the primaries , quite long legged (similar to Caspian Gull) which were a blue /  greyish colour , it had a really huge bill and small black eyes.

This bird has been aged as a 2nd summer.

Cape Gull.

Other birds of note were several Yellow-legged Gulls and lots of Yellow Wagtails including a Channel Wagtail.

Recent Kent Birding Highlights

                                     16th July 2022  :  Cliffe Rspb 

                                                            

Stone Curlew at Dungeness in 2016.

A trip to Cliffe Rspb on the 16th July was rewarded with very distant views of  a Stone Curlew on Flamingo Pool, sadly i never managed any photos as the bird was to distant and the heat haze was awful.

However the Stone Curlew spent the whole time sitting down, the yellow bill with black tip & 'gull' like head was easily seen, it also did a couple of wing stretches , this is only my 3rd Stone Curlew in Kent. 

Many thanks to Frank.C. for his info which was very helpful.

                                                      23rd July 2022 :  Oare Marshes

                                                                        

Montagu's Harrier.

A morning walk around the East flood on the 23rd July to try and see the recently reported Curlew Sandpiper was very successful with great views of 2 adult birds.

There are lot's of waders coming into roost and feed on the East flood during high tide and the KWT to their credit are managing the water levels well this year.

Four primary feathers & small white rump.

The highlight of the walk however was very well picked out by AE as we were walking back past the Seawatch hide and half way along the seawall.

All the birds on the East Flood got up in a right old panic !!, AE said ' i have got a Harrier ' and quickly identified it as a male Montagu's Harrier !!!

Montagu's Harrier.

I quickly phoned RR and the rest of the gang to inform them as they were all near Dan's Dock, sadly they could not get onto it.

We eventually caught up with RR & the gang and with the help of SC we aged the Montagu's Harrier as a 2nd summer male bird, another great find by AE.

In heavy moult.

28th July 2022 

Stodmarsh

Juvenile Purple Heron.

An early morning walk at Stodmarsh proved very successful with several flight views of  2 Juvenile Purple Herons.

We saw 1 near the main lake by the Lampen wall and the 2nd one was near the Marsh hide.

We also saw plenty of Green & Common Sandpipers around the reserve plus lot's of Little Egrets on the main lake.

Purple Heron.

Oare Marshes 

Gull-billed Tern.

After a very enjoyable morning at Stodmarsh we headed to Oare Marshes for the afternoon's high tide.

A scan through the waders produced 2+adult Curlew Sandpipers & 2 Turnstone in superb plumage.

The Bonaparte's Gull was roosting among the Black headed Gulls, a quick coffee break back at the car was most pleasant, as we were having our drink break  AE saw a Hobby put everything up on the East flood.

We decided to go back and have another scan through the 1000's of waders on the flood and more or less the first bird i saw was a stonking adult GULL-BILLED TERN !!!!!

I quickly got AE on to it and then called over some nearby birders who hadn't noticed it, we quickly put the news out as the Gull-billed Tern seemed to be roosting, however after about 15 to 20 mins it flew from the East Flood towards the Swale.

Black bill & short tail.

The Gull-billed Tern reappeared back on the flood after about an hour or so, thankfully quite a few birders managed to see it this time.

Grey rump & tail

Gull-billed Tern.

Of Note : The Gull-billed Tern is a first record for Oare Marshes.

                                                                 

Returning Bonaparte's Gull & 200 up for Oare Marshes

                                                7th July 2022  :  Oare Marshes

                                                         

Bonaparte's Gull on East Flood.

On the 7th July i was checking the East Flood and saw the Adult Bonaparte's Gull roosting among Black tailed Godwit's , this is it's 10th Year running it has returned to Oare Marshes , first being seen in 2013.

The Bonaparte's Gull is always in pristine condition when it returns for the summer and this year is no different.

Bonaparte's Gull.

200  Up For Oare Marshes

Night Heron with Little Egret.

First seen on the 6th July late in the evening by Johnathan Boyce Leigh it was then all systems go on the evening of the 7th July and we were all waiting and hoping the Night Heron would do a repeat performance and thankfully it did .

It flew in at about 21.40 landed briefly in the North east corner then walked into the reeds out of sight.

Flying into the North east corner of East Flood.

I went again on the 9th & 11th July as well, on the 9th the Night Heron landed near a Little Egret and had a walk around for approx 5 mins, whereas on the 11th it flew straight in and dropped out of sight behind the reeds straight away, both nights it came in at roughly 21.40-45.

Black-Crowned Night Heron.

The Night Heron is my personal 200th bird species for Oare Marshes.

Of Note : The Night Heron was the 1st record for Oare Marshes so congrats to JBL on his superb find.

 

                                    

Special Visitor to the Garden ....

                                             27th June  to 5th July 2022

                                            Special Visitor to my Garden

                                                             

Juvenile Turtle Dove on my car roof !!!

On the 27th June in the late afternoon we had just had a storm with lot's of thunder and heavy rain , for no particular reason i happen to just look out the back window and noticed a Dove sat on top of my car roof , well i get lot's of Collared Doves visit my garden but very rarely do they sit on my car.

My first thought was it could be unwell or trying to avoid 1 of the 3 'Terror Cats' in the area which i have nicknamed : 

' Killer Cat ',  a fat black & white cat that i have seen chase down Grey Squirrel.

'Wild Cat', a Tabby which seems quite docile but looks very much like a Wild Cat .

'Shadow', a black cat that used to use my garden as a toilet and lurks in the shadows !!

Nothing like an active imagination to make the day go by i guess..... anyhow back to the mystery Dove on my car roof, well i grabbed my camera and took a couple of distant photos and on checking them i realised i was looking at a Juvenile Turtle Dove !!!!

Having a feed on mixed seed.

I only have a very small urban garden and certainly never expected to see such a special bird like a Turtle Dove here.

Waiting for me to put some more seed down

Often spent time sleeping in next doors tree.

Liked this aerial for some reason.

Lovely markings.

Having another snooze.

I feel very privileged to have had this wonderful Turtle Dove make a brief appearance in my garden and share a small part of it's life with me.

I first saw it on the 27th June and last saw it on 5th July , so in total it spent 9 days on & off here, by the time it departed it was beginning to show some neck markings .

Turtle Dove.

 

Wandale Farm & Bempton Cliffs Rspb

                                                         2nd July 2022    

                                                         Wandale Farm

                                                                 

Turkestan Shrike adult ♂

An early morning trip to Yorkshire with RR & AE on Saturday 2nd July was rewarded with superb views of an adult male Turkestan Shrike which was a new bird for all of us.

Initial views were distant as it remained in a distant hedge row but as the day warmed up the Turkestan Shrike become much more active and eventually flew alot closer.

Here are a selection of Digi-scoped photos i took :

Turkestan Shrike.

Really enjoyed seeing this bird to the back drop of Yellowhammer & Corn Bunting which were in great voice, also plenty of Tree Sparrows were in the adjacent fields and a Little Owl put in an appearance for a short while.

Bempton Cliffs Rspb

Black-Browed Albatross with Gannets.

A short walk back to Bempton Cliffs was very rewarding with superb views of the Black-Browed Albatross resting on the Cliff amongst Gannets.

Black-Browed Albatross.

Eventually the Black-Browed Albatross had a fly around often very close to the cliff !!

Black-Browed Albatross 

A truly wonderful experience especially when you factor in the 1000's of seabirds on view including Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot & Fulmar.