Dad text to ask if I fancied meeting him at Oare marsh today and of course I agreed so I set off at 5am this morning and enjoyed a cracking morning with the Jims doing what we like to do.
We were of course hoping to connect with the Bonaparte's Gull that had returned over a month ago but had been difficult to find until this weekend when it appeared to settle back into a routine of feeding on the mud by the slipway and resting on east flood. We first saw this bird back in 2013 and I think we have seen it every year since. I scanned the gulls on the mud for two hours picking up a bonus year tick with a Little Tern coming in to the estuary to feed for a few minutes before flying back out. The gull wasn't showing so I took a walk down the road to meet up with the Jims.
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| Bearded Tit |
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| Bearded Tit |
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| Bearded Tit |
On the way down I found a smart family party of Bearded Tits and grabbed a few images before walking around the marsh scanning the vast variety of birds on offer which included Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Redshank, Avocet, Dunlin, Blackwit and Oystercatcher. A couple of Turtle Dove sat on the wires in the distance but could be heard calling and the place is alive with the calls of Whitethroat, Sedge, Reed and Cetti's Warblers. As we reached the hide at the far end another birder was scoping and he'd seen the Bonaparte's Gull so we joined him and very quickly had the bird in view for a seventh year running. It's very smart in full summer plumage and once you have your eye in is quite obvious to pick out among the many Blackheads.
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| Bonaparte's Gull |
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| Bonny |
A lovely six hours enjoying the delights of Oare marsh again and a joy to be out and about again.
Year list 227
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| Oare marsh at 5.30am this morning |
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