Friday 14th April 2023.
I knew there was another ‘Lazee Birder’ meeting at Gilkicker for today as the winds were blowing from the South-east, though the weather for the day looked awful. Heavy rain for most of the day was forecast and this time, the Meteorologists excelled themselves for a change! Though one had the comfort of the shelter at Gilkicker from the worst of the rain, I had forgotten my gloves and bloody froze!
To round it off, it was packed within the Shelter with hardened (or simply mad!) birders hoped for Skua’s and the such, but were rewarded with virtually hardly anything going through. Some poor soul had been there since 6.30am and with just a few Common Terns and Sandwich Terns going through and the occasional Oystercatcher, it was a pretty glum affair. Thankfully, there was a bit of excitement when the shout went up ‘Iceland Gull’, which had us ‘toggers’ (slang for photographers) rushing out to grab a half decent photo.
Somebody checked Andy Friend’s photos of the bird and on closer inspection, the bird actually looked good for a probable Kumlien’s Gull, a sub-species of Iceland Gull, as it was showing some dark feathering on the primaries and also sporting a dark eye. It being an adult bird as well was most certainly not something to be scoffed at, for it has been a number of years that I have seen an adult Iceland Gull. The bird, however, decided to fly back west along the beach and settled about a third of a mile away near the tide line and so Andy Friend and a few others went off to see if they could get a better photo. They didn't and took a damn good soaking for their efforts!
Despite the squally showers (very heavy at times), the banter was always good and also listening to some of the sightings of late is always good. Other sightings were far and few this morning, though a flock of 20+ Meadow Pipits heading west and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull fairly close in over the sea really made up all the sightings. I left at 10am and got a damn good soaking just getting back to the car, leaving behind some determined and dare I say it, optimistic birders in my wake to thrash out the next few hours of a near empty sea! Nigel Crook did have a Swallow actually heading SOUTH over the sea though Andy’s Friends scope. Better weather tomorrow is forecast, thankfully. I just might catch up with some of these migrants being reported.
Earlier today, I had the moth box on overnight and was rewarded with my first Common Quaker moth of the year and also the micro moth, Tachystola acroxantha. Other moths present included 2 Early Grey and a Common Plume.
Later this afternoon, one of the birders present this morning in the Gilkicker Shelter refound the Iceland Gull around the Hill Head area and confirmed with some excellent photographs that the Gull was in fact a Kumlien's Gull. Well done that man.
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