January 13, 2006
East Anglia Ross's Gull and other goodies
No sooner had my train come back through the Channel Tunnel when I had a text message from Neil to see if I was free to chase the Lowestoft Ross's Gull early the next morning! I of course agreed, and off we headed at 5:30am. The bird is presumably roosting in the docks, and had been disappearing within the first hour of daylight, making a dawn visit essential. In fact, we first had the bird in the harbour lights way before the sun came up!
Perhaps due to the chilly start to the day, the bird lingered a little later than usual, giving good views both in flight and on the water, albeit in less than ideal light.
The bird was in a much tattier condition to the lovely rosy-hued bird I saw in Plymouth many moons ago, and its secondaries in particular were incredibly worn.
This was our last view of the bird before it vanished over the sea wall - note the red legs and distinctive diamond-shaped tail.
There were many other distractions in the docks that morning, including this lovely drake Red-breasted Merganser,
a pristine-plumaged Herring Gull,
and a Common Seal.
Unfortunately this Shag was a little camera-shy!
Just around the corner at Ness Point, we had great views of 3 Purple Sandpipers.
Amazing how well they blend in with the rocks when they're roosting.
Ruddy Turnstones were obliging as ever, though I dread to think that the latter bird is eating!
Nearby at Herringfleet, we wandered down the the marshes and had excellent views of 5 Tundra Bean Geese.
Two Egyptian Geese provided an exotic splash of colour.
After a few wrong turns we found ourselves in the Horsey area dipping a Rough-legged Buzzard, but we did have flight views of 30 distant Cranes, a few Marsh Harriers and this lone (presumably injured?) Pink-footed Goose by the roadside.
We thought about walking out to watch thousands of geese, swans, raptors and cranes come in to roost, but decided it was far too chilly - guess I haven't totally reacclimatised yet!
Posted by rjhall at January 13, 2006 1:18 PM