return of the Oare Marsh Bonaparte's Gull

So the Bonny Gull has returned to Oare Marsh in Kent and this helped us decide on todays trip. Being quite local and having a decent bird we opted for Kent against Norfolk and the possibility of Marsh Warbler and White-rumped Sandpiper. Leaving home at 5am we pulled into Oare at 6.05am and watched a Barn Owl hunting over the marsh. With no sign of the gull I left the Jims and walked to the hide where I quickly located the Bonaparte's Gull on East Flood and after putting news out and calling the Jim's I sat back and enjoyed first the Barn Owl and then a Marsh Harrier along with the Gull and the large number of waders on the flood.
Godwits and Avocets were present in decent numbers with the odd Curlew, Ostercatcher and Redshank out on the mud.

Barn Owl 

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harrier

Bonaparte's Gull always distant but showed well in the scope

Black-tailed Godwit

We visited Elmley on the way home where we had Hobby, Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Yellow Wag, Stock Dove and Skylark to mention a few. Lapwings and Redshank are still present but in very small numbers as the fields are now very dry moving most waders out onto the estuary. We encountered an entertaining group of Linnets and Swallows visiting a puddle on the way out of the reserve so stopped to grab a few images before making our way home.

Linnet

Linnet

Linnet

Stock Dove

Swallow

Swallow

Young Swallow

A decent day in Kent with the weather being grey windy and very cold for the end of June but the year list has trickled up to 239 now