Monday, January 7, 2008 - Iceland Gull on Frosty Port Meadow
Woke up early yesterday and the rest of the family were asleep so I nipped down to Port Meadow for a quick look. I caught the tail-end of the roost leaving and managed to add GBBG and HG to the gulls from my year list. Thought I saw a possible juv. Caspian though the subtleties of ID'ing this cf. a juv. Yellow-Legged is beyond me. There were the usual ducks (widgeon, shovler, teal and pintail) though I didn't see any Gadwall which I'd seen on New Year's Day. Plenty of lapwings and golden plover as well. There were also some probable ruff about though at the limit of my new but relatively primitive scope's range. Fortunately at that point a more experienced and very helpful birder turned up with his super scope and quickly confirmed the ruff and added some Dunlin. He also then spotted an Iceland Gull amongst a flock of BHG which I'd missed which was a nice find and a first for me.
Apparently it was also a "first" for him though in the sense that it had been initially found by him without anyone else having said that it was already there. This is a new concept for me that I only first came across the previous evening when browsing the web: the idea that anyone can go and twitch someone else's birds that have already been spotted and to find it yourself makes it a better find. Apparently people keep lists of un-aided sightings. I think that I'll just stick to my life and my year list for now.
My year list has now reached the 50 mark.
045 Pheasant
046 Song Thrush
047 Long-tailed Tit
048 Grey-lag Goose
049 Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon
050 Stock Dove
051 Dunlin
052 Herring Gull
053 Greater Black Backed Gull
054 Iceland Gull (LIFER)
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About Me
I used to be a birder in my youth but rather lost interest in my teens as other things became more interesting. However recently I've rediscovered this interest and would like to share my sightings and thoughts in this blog.
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