Saturday 31 December 2016

Beddington Farm - Gulls Galore!

I was up before the crack of dawn and the area was not fog bound (unlike the day before) so off I trotted to the Farm in the hope that the previous days Glaucous Gull would make an appearance before the landfill shut down at mid-day.


In fact I was there so early that I had a 45min wait for daybreak which was delayed due to fog that was rolling in! I was joined by ex school classmate Frank Prater and the sifting through the gulls began. The search paused for a coffee break accompanied by some nonsense talk which was interrupted by my words “There it is?” Frank looked at me blankly for a split second and it was hands on the camera to seize the Glaucous Gull moment as it flew from the North towards the South Lake.

That seemed easy enough but it was not until the heavy gull artillery arrived in the form of Pete Alfrey that the gull action turned red hot! A juv Iceland Gull was first up in Pete’s scope and what I fine individual it was right up until all the gulls went skyward and I lost sight of it in the melee in the skies above the sand martin bank! 
Pictures will be on Pete’s blog. http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/

A 1st and 2nd winter Caspian type Gulls were next to be spied on the lake which increased the chances of a Farm full set of gulls by the close of play! Matt and I decided to go to the lagoons to see if the Glaucous Gull had relocated where it had been found by Devilbirder the previous day. The short expedition soon became four but unfortunately all that could be relocated was the 2w Caspian type Gull.

I returned to my corner and Bulldog had a Yellow Legged Gull on the North lake. All we required now was a Med Gull which seem to be as rare as rocking horse.... these days!

Tomorrow a New Year begins and the listers will surely turn up something to feast eyes upon. 2017 will be an European Campaign for me starting in Bulgaria!


A very prosperous Birding New Year to you all. 2016 was not bad at all!!

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