I decided to stay in today to relax for work tomorrow.
At about 4pm I got a call from my friend up north telling me he had a 1st winter Glaucous Gull in Ramsey and he had been trying to phone me for 2 hrs!
arhghghghg. and he wasnt able to relocate it after it flew.
double arghghghghgh!
I haven’t seen a Glaucous Gull for well over 10 years so to have not been able to see this bird was a major downer.
With me being back at work tomorrow the next time I can get to Ramsey in daylight is Saturday the 8th. Its extremely unlikely this bird will stay till then.
Ramsey is doing well for scarcities at the moment though.
Glaucous gull today
Scaup yesterday
Black throated Diver the day before that.
over 100 Waxwings the week before.
2 Black Redstarts staying for the winter.
and possibly the only 2 Kingfishers on the entire Isle of Man.
It’s certainly putting the rest of the island to shame at the moment.

The day before, my friend from the north of the Isle of Man had told me of a 1st winter male Scaup which was in a boating lake in Ramsey. He said it was showing well but I didnt realise just how well till I saw his photographs.
So I decided to try for it today. I got up early and went the 20 ish miles northwards for first light.
I got to the lake and scanned near the cafe as I was told to but couldnt spot anything. I tried all the other bits of the lake but nothing. A bit glum I went off to the harbour to wait for the wintering Black Redstart.
About 30 minutes later I got a call from my friend telling me the Scaup was still there!
I went back and there it was sitting right next to a marker buoy! (Im claiming that from my viewpoint the Scaup was hidden by the buoy )
The Scaup was associating itself with a white farm duck so we managed to bring that duck close by using bread and the Scaup came with it. Down to 10ft range! Unfortunately the light was harsh, low and from about 2 o clock. So the majority of my photos came out dark but I did manage a few when the bird had the light side on. This was one of those.

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I also attempted some shots when I was lieing down, to try and get that loverly blurred foreground and background effect but the results werent as hoped. As the body of the bird was always half covered by a small wave.
Still happy with the shots I got ( I took about 90 and ended with about 4 or 5 good ones) we moved around the park trying to photography Mistle Thrush . These birds were very wary though and pics were impossible. The reason for them being wary could have been the Sparrowhawk we saw blasting through the trees.
I then went back for the Black Redstart but again it wasnt showing. With the tide being out I decided to see if I could find where the Kingfisher hides during this state of the tide. The normal place to see it on the Sulby Rivers final corner before meeting the harbour was all mudbanks so I walked further up river. I was hoping to also see the Little Grebes that winter on this section but they weren’t to be found. I got to the furthest allowable place up river (which was not far, probably about half a mile) and hadnt spotted or heard a Kingfisher. Turning back, I spotted a Hooded Crow quite close having a drink. I managed to approach quite close and get a half decent photo.

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The walk up the river was fruitless with no Kingfisher or Little Grebe and with no Waxwings left in Ramsey I headed home.

My local patch is at Langness & Derbyhaven on the Isle of Man.
Due to the recent strong winds I went to check Derbyhaven bay to see if any Divers or Grebes had been sheltering there.
The only birds in the bay were a couple of Shag
A bit disappointing but during this winter the bay hasnt produced any Divers or Grebes so far which is a bit strange.
I was heading home when I spotted 7 Chough feeding on the beach. They dont usually feed on this side of the peninsula but I think due to the very strong westerly winds they were feeding in a more sheltered area.
I parked up and they flew off as usual but after about 30 minutes they plucked up the courage and started coming back. A one point I had a Chough about 12ft from my car and I was able to get my best shot to date of a Chough.
I sent the record of the colour rings into our recorder and he told me that the bird was rung in the nest in May 2003 and was from a nest about 5 miles up the coast.

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Pretty happy with this, I then noticed all the birds go up. Assuming there was a Peregrine around somewhere I starting looking for it and spotted the big female coming in low from the breakwater area. She didnt catch anything and then headed over the golf course to try her luck at Langness.
I then was going home but took a detour to Scarlett which is on west side of Castletown bay ( Langness is on the east side )
Here were 3 female Goldeneye and not much else. The amount of Goldeneye wintering here seems to be dropping ever year. I hope that trend stops soon or I will have no Goldeneye to watch soon.
Also here was another Peregrine, this one came in over my head and stooped on a Redshank, making it take evasive action and it sploshed itself in the sea!
The Peregrine never tried to pick it up and the Redshank luckily wasnt overcome by the waves and flew off.
Not bad for the first day of the year 2 Peregrine sightings. There was not much else of any note here so I headed home.