As usual, my New Years Eve was spent working. I had to perform a gig (DJing) at the Elephant & Castle public house in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire. It was a ticket entry and by 9.00pm some 200 or so sweaty bodies had amassed in the dimly lit, low-roofed venue. They ranged in age from 11 to 85, with a ratio of about three females to one male. As it was New Year, they were all in festive mood and what a party we had. I managed to keep them on the dance floor from 9.15pm until midnight, playing a mixture of nostalgia music from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s. Thinking I would be let off the hook soon after playing ‘Auld Lang Syne’, I had visions of getting a few hours sleep before the new birding year started. The young discolites had other ideas however and kept me playing non-stop hits from midnight until 4.00am. At the end of the night I was absolutely shattered and hit the sack at about 5.00am.

I had arranged with Garry Bagnell to get the New Year off to a good start with an attempt at the January 1st record. This soon went out the window though when Garry rang at about 7.00am to say he was totally knackered (he’d also been out partying) and I failed to notice the pager alarm going off at 6.00am.

After talking to Garry I forced my way out of bed at 8.10am and arranged to meet him at Junction 18 of the M25 at about 10.00am. I decided to make the most of the two hours I had spare by checking out the local sites within an 8-mile radius of my house.

It was a very cold morning with an overnight frost, with much of the lake frozen over. The best birding was to be had in the overflow stream and river by the canal and in the few patches of water that were still open. I was very pleased with my first spell of 2002 birding, with Water Rail, Goosander, Smew and Red-crested Pochard all being important birds to see on the first day of the year.

In just over 20 minutes I managed 27 species including Sinensis Cormorant, Mute Swan, Atlantic Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Common Teal, Moorhen, Coot, Common Pheasant, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Common Gull, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackbird, Redwing, European Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook and Common Greenfinch.

Garry Bagnell eventually appeared nearer to 10.30am and to make the most of the day, I decided to head for Suffolk in an attempt to rescue what was left of January 1st.

As we drove around the M25, I made a whistle-stop tour of Bowyer’s Farm maize fields. Although largely frozen, they yielded the target bird TREE SPARROW (with 15 of them easily seen), as well as 135 Skylarks, 3 Yellowhammers, Meadow Pipit and 15 Fieldfares. A stop well worth it and 5 new species for the year in the bargain – total now 52.

The first Common Kestrel⁵³ of the year was seen hovering by the A12 at Margaretting (Essex).

The Suffolk border was crossed at 11.30am, and our first destination (the River Orwell by the A45 bridge) produced our first estuarine species, in the form of Common Shelduck⁵⁴, Great Crested Grebe⁵⁵, Common Redshank⁵⁶ and Northern Dunlin⁵⁷.

The fields produced a single Fallow Deer, Common Pheasant, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush⁵⁸, Jay, Lapwing and Stock Dove⁵⁹, but far more importantly the wintering flock of CORN BUNTINGS – a local rarity. Some 50 or so were present in the fields.

The last two hours of daylight were spent at the reserve, with our main targets being the two Tundra Bean Geese and the female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. In the end, neither was seen – the goose flock being selfishly flushed off by a dogwalker and the Lesser Spot last visiting the Woodland Hide nut feeders ten minutes before we sat down in the hide. We did however amass a further 11 species, although a Little Auk present offshore there briefly prior to our arrival would have been an extremely valuable bonus. The scrape was largely frozen.

The following species were recorded :-

Red-throated Diver⁷⁶: 2 offshore

Greylag Goose

European White-fronted Goose⁷⁷: a party of 7 flew north along the beach.

Mute Swa

Bewick’s Swan: 2 adults on the ice at Island Mere⁷⁸

Whooper Swan: 2 adults on the ice at Island Mere⁷⁹.

Mallard, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler⁸⁰, Common Teal & Tufted Duck.

Marsh Harrier: 1 over the reedbed at Island Mere⁸¹.

Common Kestrel

Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits⁸²: 6 flew north, with 1 feeding on the scrape.

PURPLE SANDPIPER⁸³: excellent views were obtained of one feeding on the jetty opposite the sluice.

Great Spotted Woodpecker: 2 were visiting the bird feeders.

Green Woodpecker⁸⁴: 2 in the dunes.

Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch and Linnets

Blue, Great & Coal Tits⁸⁵ on the feeders, with a Marsh Tit⁸⁶ by the toilet block.

The last 15 minutes of daylight were spent overlooking the marshes. Some 7 Marsh and 2 (male & ringtail) HEN HARRIERS⁸⁸ flew in to roost and a Green Woodpecker was seen.

Andy Brett took this superb photograph of the Great Grey Shrike. Wintering birds have appeared at Thursley Common intermittently for the past 30 years and tend to favour the area east of the Moat car park. Like most individuals, this bird is particularly mobile and wide-ranging.

Apart from the shrike, birds were sparse at Thursley Common, with the walk from the Moat car park to the end of the boardwalk yielding just Green Woodpecker, Meadow Pipit, Goldcrest, Siskin and Stonechat.

A superb Little Owl⁹⁰ was noted nearby perched in a tree by Keepers Cattery, just south of Puttenham village. It was my first owl species of the year.

With many of the reservoirs and pits in the London area still frozen, I was surprised to see so few wildfowl present. However, I did record my highest ever count of Ruddy Ducks at the site.

In addition to relatively good numbers of Mallard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Common Teal and Eurasian Wigeon, a female Northern Pintail was present, 92 Common Goldeneye, 4 redhead SMEW and a record 396 Ruddy Ducks⁽⁹²⁾. Little Grebe⁹³ and Meadow Pipit were also noted.

John Sawyer arrived at my place at 5.00am. Our flight from Luton to Aberdeen was at 7.05am, and Carmel kindly drove us to the airport. EasiJet were up to their normal high standards – the flight being on time and their security checks being first class. John being John meant that he had no form of identification on him and it was a stressful 17 minutes before they finally agreed to let him travel (if only John had a credit card or carried his passport or at least had a shred of evidence suggesting who he was!). The flight took just 70 minutes and my first impressions of Scotland as I glanced out of the window were of a frozen wasteland with the River Don being largely frozen over and deep snow predominating. After collecting our luggage, we entered the main lounge and soon met John Pegden.

John had already been in Scotland for two days and had notched up both Ivory Gull and Snowy Egret. He kindly agreed to take us back the 60 miles to Montrose Basin in his Vauxhall Corsa.

We arrived at the site at 9.30am and immediately drove down the small lane towards the viaduct. My first highlight of the trip was meeting Paul Holt and his new Chinese partner – the first time I had seen him in over a year. I was totally astonished to see him there, but then he explained that he now lived in Edinburgh and that this was merely a two-hour trip for him. I was pleased to hear that his back problems were easing and that his Far East ‘sunbird’ trips were doing so well. Paul is an excellent field birder – one of the best – and it was heartening to see his keeness still shining through. His knowledge of Asiatic birds and his perception of calls is truly impeccable, and I have benefitted greatly from many of his finds in Southern India, especially the owls. We chatted for a little while before sharing great views of the first-winter IVORY GULL.

It was feeding on a dead carcass about 50 yards from the viaduct along the upper tideline of the beach. We approached it to within 40 yards and then ‘scoped it. It was a beautiful bird, with predominantly white plumage and finely spotted upper wing coverts. It had the typical ‘dirty grey’ face pattern, with the smudging around the front of the head, on the forehead and on the chin and lores.

The bill was very pale lime-green or grey, with a blackish subterminal band and a paler tip. It continued to feed on the carcass for about seven minutes before flying away from us and out of view back towards the river mouth.

Ayrshire birder Brian Orr took these excellent pictures of the Montrose Basin Ivory Gull. Note the pattern of the underwing and the tail band.

In flight, the bird was intricately patterned. The primary tips were marked by neat black crescentic spots (decreasing in size from the outer towards the inner), with this pattern being mirrored on the secondaries and lesser, median and greater primary coverts. The spotting was also prominent on the tertials and alula. The underwing was gleaming white, except for the exposed black tips of the primaries and secondaries. The tail was white, with a black subterminal bar forming a tail band.

There was a hint of a white eye-ring at the front of the eye, the eye itself being brown in colour. The legs and feet were grey.

This was to be its last but one day at the site as it flew off strongly early morning on 4th. It was eventually admired by over 130 birders, mostly from Scotland.

As John Pegden had already seen the Ivory Gull, John Sawyer and I happily agreed to move on following our views. During the hour or so we were present at the site, I was also pleased to see Angus Hogg and Bob McCurley – two good Scottish friends of mine.

Before we departed the site, I had a good scan of the Basin and recorded several new species for the year. In addition to two Great Crested Grebes, two Red-throated Divers were feeding in the channel, Atlantic Great Cormorants were commonplace, several Eurasian Shags⁹⁶ were feeding and 40 Pink-footed Geese⁹⁷ were on the far saltmarsh.

From Montrose Basin, we headed north to the Ythan Estuary, where a Rough-legged Buzzard had been present since late October. As we drove away from the main A96 towards Newburgh, the snow was piled high on the verges, perhaps 4 feet in places. Many Chaffinches and Redwings were taking advantage of the meltwater on the roads, and unfortunately because many were weak, road casualties were fairly commonplace. We stopped for one such Redwing that had just been hit but was still alive, and I placed it in a sheltered corner by the golf clubhouse. The wind had now gathered strength and it was becoming bitterly cold and we spent the next hour scanning the dunes on the north side of the estuary.

Our next and one of the main targets was the GREATER SNOW GOOSE at Little Ednie, SW of St Fergus. This was merely a short distance away from the Ythan, but the atrocious road conditions meant that the six miles took the best part of half an hour to cover. As we approached the farm, the geese flocks were soon located, and amongst the vast hordes of Pink-footed Geese (at least 1,000), the Snow Goose was soon picked out. It was feeding at the far side of the field at about NK 083 505 and afforded excellent ‘scope views and was presumably the regular returning bird that had wintered at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB since at least 1999. It represented my 104th species of the year and was welcome bonus as I had failed to record the species in 2001.

A single Barnacle Goose¹⁰⁵ was also located amongst the Pink-footed Geese, with some 60 or more Fieldfares feeding in the area. Nearby in Ednie village, a flock of 43 TREE SPARROWS were encountered (feeding around farm buildings and flying to adjacent hedgerows to hide) and two CORN BUNTINGS.

A covey of 4 Red-legged Partridges were seen by the A950 at Tillypestle.

Our next target birds were Glaucous and Iceland Gulls, both of which had been present recently on the Lossie Estuary. Although the snow had only layered thinly in this area, the real problem here was ice. The roads were literally an ice-rink and extremely hazardous. It was virtually impossible to come to a standstill without sliding 20-40 yards (and that was at 20 mph!). It was just as difficult on foot as it was to drive and with my legendary footwear, hardly a surprise that I was slipping and sliding all over the place.

The estuary mouth was absolutely alive with birds, with well over 1,000 Eurasian Wigeon present (and as such nigh on impossible to allow detection of the drake American Wigeon reported on one occasion during the last month), large numbers of Common Eider and thousands upon thousands of roosting gulls. I scanned through them the best that I could but failed to locate any ‘white-wingers’. Scandinavian Herring Gulls were very much in evidence, with some 60+ noted, as well as good numbers of Common Gulls.

Common Teal were represented well, with 40+ Common Snipe¹⁰⁷ at the river edge, 30 Turnstone, 40 Common Redshank, Oystercatchers and a frenzied group of 82 feeding Red Knot.

The undoubted highlight was the presence of 40 SNOW BUNTINGS and 30 TWITE feeding in the riverside vegetation and reeds on the east side (numbers 108-109 for the year). Several Hooded Crows were also seen.

A flock of 12 Icelandic Greylag Geese were feeding in deep snow by the B9103 at Calcots, and in millpond-like conditions in the Moray Firth, we spent the last 3 hours of daylight searching Burghead Bay for sea-duck. The ridiculously icy and dangerous track down to Roseisle car park provided me with my first GREY PARTRIDGE of the year – a covey of 7 birds¹¹⁰.

Burghead Bay offered large numbers of Common¹¹¹ & VELVET SCOTERS¹¹² and LONG-TAILED DUCKS¹¹³ but failed to produce the drake AMERICAN BLACK SCOTER last reported by Garry Bagnell at the east end of the bay on Christmas Eve. We searched the area east to Burghead town and the scoter flocks just east of the Findhorn Bay East Dunes car park.

A quick check of the River Spey revealed the resident pair of DIPPERS¹¹⁴ feeding beneath the bridge, and 1 drake 8 female GOOSANDERS and numerous Common Goldeneye. A large number of wild Mallard were also feeding on the river.

We attempted to search the Caledonian Forest for Capercaillie but were beaten back by snow and ice. The tracks into the wood were like nevee and try as I could, I could not keep a footing. I was spending more time on my backside than looking up and it soon became apparent that searching for forest species was a lost cause. In any case the woods were birdless barring the sound of a few calling Coal Tits and Redwings.

My first Eurasian Sparrowhawk¹¹⁵ of the year dashed across the road at Coylumbridge (where the gardens failed to produce the expected Crested Tits at the feeders), whilst Common Buzzard and two Hooded Crow hybrids were seen nearby.

Thousands of skiers and deep snow were against us at Cairngorm, with 6 very confiding Snow Buntings in the chairlift car park being the highlight.

We arrived at the site late morning and were pleased to see the sea state like a millpond. The light conditions were superb (clear blue sky with bright winter sunshine) and it was decided to split into three and check the entire 7-mile length of the bay. John Pegden dropped John Sawyer off at the Findhorn East Dunes car park and he walked east. I was dropped off at Roseisle and checked firstly two miles to the west then east as far as Burghead, whilst JS checked from Burghead. Although several hundred scoter were outside the power of my ‘scope, the remaining 600 or so birds were all checked individually. Without doubt, there was no sign of the American Black Scoter that had been first sighted by Dave Pullan on 27th October 2001 (see his account in Birding Scotland 5: 88-89).

Of the 600 or so scoter that we checked, only 125 were Common and these were extremely close in. The remainder were all Velvets. Most interesting was an aberrant Common Scoter with an all yellow-orange bill. This could be separated from Black Scoter by the shape of the bill (less swollen at the base) and because it completely lacked any black at the bill tip and along the cutting edge of the bill. Furthermore, the head war rounded and not square-headed and flat-crowned like Black. 1-2 aberrant Common Scoters have been amongst the Moray flock for several years and can be a major pitfall to the untrained eye.

Such a wide sweep of the bay resulted in several year-ticks, notably GREAT NORTHERN DIVER¹¹⁶, SLAVONIAN GREBE (2 birds)¹¹⁷ and BLACK GUILLEMOT¹¹⁸. Fantastic views were obtained of both VELVET SCOTER and LONG-TAILED DUCK (over 800 of the latter species in the bay and most in beautiful plumage), with smaller numbers of Common Eider and Red-breasted Merganser noted. Up to 10 Razorbills¹¹⁹ were also encountered, and a lone European Golden Plover on the sandy beach.

It was 3.00pm when we finally finished searching Burghead Bay, with the remainder of the day spent driving west (to Inverness) then north to Alness Bay, near Tain. Up to 3 Lapland Buntings had been reported here, and despite a thorough search up until dark, we could not locate any of them (Ringed Plover¹²⁰ and 4 Rock Pipits¹²¹ were noted though).

We arrived at the site early morning and after nearly an hour of fruitless searching of the saltmarsh and adjacent shoreline, I eventually heard a LAPLAND BUNTING calling from the cornfield on the opposite side of the A9. I followed up the call and soon flushed two birds at very close range from within the field. They landed about 25 yards away and I was able to enjoy excellent views before they both flew up and continued over the road to the saltmarsh. One bird was a winter-plumaged male. Although standing on the road, JS was able to get reasonable views as the two birds flew over his head and called loudly. They represented my first ever records in the region and my 122nd species of the year.

The beautiful fine weather continued so I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to check for eagles. It took about an hour and ten minutes to get to the layby overlooking Gruinard Island, our arrival time being 10.30am.

Scanning the island with the ‘scope, I soon came across a couple of eagles. One bird was standing on top of the large rock in the centre and top of the island sentinel-fashion and was clearly an adult WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE. A second bird was flying overhead and mobbing it. It was a smaller bird, with prominent white flashes on the bases of the outer wings and large white patches on the underwings. The white tail also had a distinctive black terminal band and was clearly a first or second-winter GOLDEN EAGLE.

The two birds ‘argued’ for a while before the Golden Eagle drifted to the left hand end of the island and slowly gained height above the spit at the south end and drifted back towards the mainland. I followed it for over 15 minutes and was afforded excellent flight views in the ‘scope. The White-tailed Sea Eagle meanwhile stood on the rock being mobbed by four Hooded Crows. At about 10.55am it too took flight, and floated above the ridge for several minutes before being persued by the crows and chased over the other side of the island. Its long, broad wings, long neck and fairly short, bluntly wedge-shaped pure white tail were diagnostic, the ‘scope views also revealing a heavy bill and distinctly ‘fingered’ primaries.

Seeing both species of eagle at such a remote site was a wonderful experience, and in such perfect weather at that. It was the first time that I had ever encountered Golden Eagles on the island (even though they are a regular winter visitor) and only the 4th time that I had seen the two species side by side (after sightings on North Uist in the 80’s and on Skye). They represented my 123rd & 124th species of the year.

Gruinard Island and Bay also produced 7 GREAT NORTHERN DIVERS, 50+ Shags, Common Buzzard, ROCK DOVE¹²⁵, Common Guillemot¹²⁶, 6 BLACK GUILLEMOTS and 2 Common Ravens¹²⁷.

Although the light was fading, I had a go at finding the long-staying drake Green-winged Teal. We found a small number of Common Teal and a small flock of Eurasian Wigeon, but no carolinensis. In the Firth were a flock of at least 80 GREATER SCAUP and 100 Common Goldeneye.

The target bird here was SURF SCOTER and within ten minutes of arriving (in relatively slack sea conditions and dry weather), I had located all three of the wintering adult drakes. As usual, they were widely scattered, with only one drake within 400 yards of the point. They were loosely attached to flocks of Velvet Scoters, and were easily recognised by the bold white patches on the forecrown and nape and the brightly coloured bills. Steve Arlow obtained the record shots reproduced above. They represented my 128th species of the year, and continued my success at the site for the 17th year in succession.

We arrived on site late morning and met up with Angus Murray of Birdline Scotland. He kindly offered to be my guide for the afternoon, and with his knowledge of the local area, we could ask for no better. Together we searched the harbour for the wintering AMERICAN WIGEON (132), and after five minutes I located it sleeping amongst a small group of Eurasian Wigeon on the mud bank by the far harbour wall. It was a first-winter male, with a less well-developed head pattern and shorter tertials, and although largely obscured by other birds, showed well intermittently. After about half an hour, it woke up and began feeding, and then afforded excellent views. Brian Orr and Dave Hatton obtained some excellent photographs of the bird.

We then travelled the short distance north to Ardrossan Harbour, where in creeks on the north side we immediately found the long-staying and wintering SNOWY EGRET¹³³ – the first record for the UK. Just as it performed at Balvicar in November 2001, it could be approached to within a few feet, and fed unconcerned in the shallow water as we observed it. Gary Bellingham was busy taking photographs of the bird, securing several shots as it successfully captured small prey. Jim Duncan and Brian Orr also obtained a selection of images (see below).

Seamills Harbour - Ayrshire

Angus took us to see the long-staying wintering adult GLAUCOUS GULL in Saltcoats. It was frequenting the playing fields in the middle of a suburban housing estate and after throwing out some bread, it instantly appeared on the rooftops overlooking the grass in Kerr Avenue. It afforded superb views and represented my 135th species of the year.

Jim Duncan obtained this photograph of the bird as it roosted on the mud in the harbour.

We then spent over an hour searching a nearby rubbish tip for an adult Iceland Gull but to no avail. Large numbers of other large gulls were noted however, including 20 or so Scandinavian Herring Gulls. The last hour of daylight was then spent checking through gull flocks, with a colour-ringed adult winter MEDITERRANEAN GULL¹³⁶ present amongst Black-headed Gulls on Barassie Beach, Irvine, and a SHORT-EARED OWL¹³⁷ an added bonus as it hunted for rodents in the rough ground at the north end of Bogside Flats.

The cold weather had disappeared and been replaced by damp, overcast and very murky weather. I spent the day in the company of Harpenden birder Adrian Riley, our targets for the day being some of the scarcer species in Essex and Suffolk, in particular Long-eared Owl, Eurasian Bittern and Tundra Bean Goose. I was very pleased with the results.

A Water Rail was also seen in front of the hide, as well as Little Grebe and Northern Pochard. Kingfishers were not to be found anywhere however.

We arrived at Abberton at midday to find most of the reservoir still frozen. To the west of the Layer Breton causeway, a superb EURASIAN BITTERN was walking out in the open on the ice in front of the reeds. On the other side, 22 TUNDRA BEAN GEESE¹⁴¹ were amongst 350 Greylag Geese and 2 Barnacle Geese squeezed into a restricted area of open water. After a short while, the 22 Tundra Beans flew off towards the adjacent fields.

We drove around to Billett’s Farm (on the road towards Layer Marney causeway) and relocated the 22 TUNDRA BEAN GEESE feeding in the field. They afforded excellent views and showed distinct variation in the amount of visible orange on the bills. They were smaller than Taiga Beans, with a short dark neck and a rather short, deep-based bill. In general, the birds showed a small orange patch towards the tip of the bill. The legs and feet were bright orange.

For several weeks, a Black Brant had been wintering at this site, but despite exhaustive searching, the bird could not be found. The wintering Jack Snipe were not seen either. The estuarine site did yield four year ticks however.

Great Crested Grebes: 2 on the River Deben.

LITTLE EGRET¹⁴²: one was showing well in a ditch not far from the road.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese¹⁴³; just 36 of the estimated wintering flock of 800 birds was found.

Common Shelducks: 50+

Eurasian Wigeon: 300

Northern Pintail: 2 pairs on the estuary.

Common Teals

A large selection of waders were present including Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover (2), Dunlin, European Golden Plover (170), Eurasian Curlew, Common Redshank, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Black-tailed Godwit and Common Snipe.

A superb SHORT-EARED OWL was flushed from the grass just beyond the pool and flew across the field.

We spent the rest of the day at Woodbridge trying to connect with the rarer wintering waders at the site (Greenshank, Spotted Redshank and both Common & Green Sandpiper) and the long-staying Ring-billed Gull. We were partly successful.

We parked at the end of Lime Kiln Quay Road and explored the river adjacent to the Tide Mill. A lot of mud was showing and whilst watching a very confiding winter-plumaged SPOTTED REDSHANK on Wyllies Pool (145 for the year), Adrian located the RING-BILLED GULL¹⁴⁶. I quickly joined him and briefly saw the gull fly behind the boats. It was feeding with a number of Black-headed Gulls, and was obviously reacting to a member of public that was throwing bread to the Mallards. It soon reappeared and after a brief flight, landed on the mud. It was in 2nd-winter plumage, with an obvious black bill-band, pale lemon bill, pale eye, heavily dappled head and neck and large tracts of brown feathering in the upper wing coverts, secondaries and primaries. It was the same bird that I had seen in 2001 and had been present as a first-winter from February to July. Ipswich birder Peter O’Toole obtained the following images, as the bird fed in the Budgens supermarket car park and roosted on the roofs.

Note the extensive dark in the outer primaries and brown dappling on the upperwing coverts; the white tail was also peppered with brown markings

We spent an hour and a half at Titchwell (from 12.15-1.49pm) recording a total of 50 species, including two target birds – BLACK BRANT and BLACK-WINGED STILT. Our third target bird (SCANDINAVIAN ARCTIC REDPOLL) was nowhere to be found though.

Great Crested Grebes: several offshore

Grey Heron

Mute Swan

Dark-bellied Brent Goose: 100+

BLACK BRANT¹⁵⁰: excellent views were obtained of the adult as it consorted with Dark-bellied Brent Geese on the saltings to the west of the main track. The flock then flew on to the freshwater pool to drink, affording even better views.

Common Shelduck, Mallard, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler, Tufted Duck (1 drake) and Northern Pochard, whilst offshore, Common Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Common Eider and Red-breasted Merganser were seen.

Waders included the long-staying male BLACK-WINGED STILT showing well on the main freshwater pool (151), Grey Plover, European Golden Plover, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Common Redshank, Eurasian Curlew, Turnstone, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe and my first Sanderlings¹⁵² of the year. A wintering SPOTTED REDSHANK flew from the saltmarsh to the freshwater pool.

Both Common Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were seen, as well as Black-headed, Common, Herring, Lesser Black-back & Greater Black-backed Gulls, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker (showing well on the nut feeders by the shop), Skylark and Meadow Pipit.

Further passerines included Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, a male Siskin, Lesser Redpoll¹⁵³ and House Sparrow.

Stopping at various points along Lady Anne’s Drive proved productive, with a covey of 13 GREY PARTRIDGE noted and geese flocks consisting of 112 European White-fronted Geese, two adult Dark-bellied Brent Geese, an adult PALE-BELLIED BRENT GOOSE¹⁵⁵ and two Pink-footed Geese.

We then wandered out on to the saltings to the east of Holkham Gap and soon located the wintering flock of 11 SHORE LARKS and 48 TWITE. Excellent views were obtained of the birds, the larks representing my 156th species of the year.

I then decided to scan the bay where we soon found the single BLACK-NECKED GREBE¹⁵⁷ swimming just offshore, numerous Great Crested Grebes, 20 Common Eider, 10 Red-breasted Mergansers and over 3,000 Common Scoter.

As we returned to the car, skein after skein of Pink-footed Geese flew overhead – perhaps 10,000 in number.

Battling my way through the afternoon traffic, I eventually arrived at the locked gates by the entrance to the sailing club at 2.00pm. Scaling the two gates (the worst being the one closest to the clubhouse and spiked at that), I then ‘scoped through the large number of wintering wildfowl on the reservoir. As I was the only person in there, the ducks were relatively close to the clubhouse and a check through the Common Teal feeding close to the edge soon revealed the presence of the wintering GARGANEY¹⁶⁰.

It did not take long to locate Ring-necked Parakeets¹⁶¹, with five noisy birds being present in the tall trees behind the farm and gardens at the entrance to the lane.

I had a quick check of Wilstone Reservoir from the bank above the car park (noting 5 drake GOOSANDER in the process) before rushing round to Marsworth Reservoir to catch the roost.

Marsworth was surprisingly still largely frozen and at 4.04pm, I picked up one of the wintering EURASIAN BITTERNS flying low over the reeds. It flew about 60 yards before landing in the reeds in the right hand corner. I then stared constantly at the spot where it dropped in and watched it reappear at 4.35pm. It then flew a very short distance towards the front of the reedbed. I was delighted at seeing the bird as the species is extremely difficult to catch up with at the reservoirs. This winter however, 1-2 birds have appeared very regularly at dusk.

The other highlight was the roosting CORN BUNTINGS – 133 eventually flew in at dusk to roost in the reedbed. Prior to roosting, the birds could be counted as they gathered in the elms and tall bushes at the back of the reservoir.

Garry and myself arrived on site at about 7.50am and checked an area of woodland where I had previously encountered Lady Amherst’s Pheasants up until 1998. I could hardly believe my eyes when a male appeared and fed at the edge of the wood for about 15 minutes. It was soon joined by a cock Common Pheasant and then remarkably by two female LADY AMHERST’S PHEASANTS, and the three birds fed quietly before a disturbance on the road sent them all scampering for cover.

Our next stop was at the flooded clay pit at Elstow, where within minutes, the adult female FERRUGINOUS DUCK was being observed. It was loosely attached to the flock of 16 Northern Pochard in the middle of the lake and was showing very well from the access track to the cement works just off of the A6. This bird has been wintering at the site after successfully spending the previous winter in the area (see 2001 Diary Notes: 13th December). It was my 164th species of the year.

The last hour of daylight was spent in the company of Kerry Harrison, John Hopkins, Jane Binstead, and several of the Lowestoft regulars, watching the raptor roost from Stubb Mill. It was certainly impressive.

Up to 3 Barn Owls¹⁷¹ were hunting over the fields in front of the reedbed and were perching on fence posts in the area.

Marsh Harriers were on view almost constantly and eventually twirled in a mass of 21-27 birds just before dropping into the reedbed to roost. Several were adult males. Three HEN HARRIERS also roosted – 1 adult male and 2 ringtails. At least 3 MERLINS were evident, initially hunting over the reedbed before perching in the small bushes.

A flock of 49 BEWICK’S SWANS flew in to Horsey Mere to roost, whilst 6 COMMON CRANES flew in from the north and disappeared into the reedbed to roost.

A total of 3 JACK SNIPE were flushed up from the sedge and reedy area by the main pool in the quarry – my 172nd species of the year.

I made my way over to the zoo to coincide with feeding time at the penguin enclosure. Cliff Tack was present and it wasn’t long before the adult winter CASPIAN GULL¹⁷³, adult winter WESTERN YELLOW-LEGGED GULL¹⁷⁴ (michahellis), an adult Lesser Black-back and an adult argenteus Herring Gull flew in. Good views were obtained of both rarer gulls, the two standing side-by-side on the railings for a short while.

I departed Whipsnade at 3.00pm and made my way towards Berkshire for a 2nd-winter Iceland Gull that Alan Lewis had been watching at Burghfield GP, Reading. I made good progress and eventually arrived on site at 3.40pm. Andy Horscroft was on site and had been searching for some time without success – all of the gulls had departed and presumably gone to Theale GP to roost.

Fortunately, with so few Common Teal on the lake, it did not take long to locate the long-staying drake NORTH AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL¹⁷⁵. It was swimming with five Common Teal at the far side of the lake very close up against the vegetation and could be easily distinguished by its diagnostic vertical white stripe at the front of the breast.

A further bonus came in the form of Green Sandpiper – two birds being flushed from the muddy pool to the left of the hide. Another welcome year-tick – no.176.

It was a gloomy and misty start to the morning with no sun whatsoever on the glade. Steve Lawton, Brian Stoneham and Roy Hargreaves joined me for the morning session and after two hours there was no sign of any birds. Most of the corn had been eaten (possibly by Muntjacs) and I could not locate any birds in the woodland fringe. It was not until 10.38am that the male LADY AMHERST’S PHEASANT eventually appeared, and then only for 16 minutes as it traversed the woodland floor. Two Common Buzzards and two Nuthatches were also seen.

In the afternoon, I met up with Dave Read, Andy Shooter and Doreen Marsh at 3.40pm and within seconds of arriving at the site I picked up the male LADY AMHERST’S PHEASANT. Fortunately, it remained in view on and off for the next 50 minutes before eventually returning to the wood. It afforded absolutely superb views allowing Dave to obtain a number of images, albeit in poor light. Two cock Common Pheasants as well as two females were also present (a male Pheasant also being killed by a car nearby). The following are Dave’s images.

I arrived at Great Budworth at 11.45am and joined Cheshire birder Richard Hargreaves in Dark Lane. The EUROPEAN GREAT WHITE EGRET was showing well in the field adjacent to the ditch between the lane and the main A559. It stood there resting for several minutes before being chased off by a Grey Heron. It then flew west and landed in the ditch much closer to the A559, where I was able to get good views of it again from Marston village. The bird had a bright orange bill and paler areas on the black legs.

Immediately west of Marston village and alongside the A559, I recorded a party of 11 BEWICK’S SWANS (including 1 juvenile) and a lone Mute Swan. The egret represented my 177th species of the year.

Eventually finding Bakeacre Lane, I drove north towards Littleover village, to the SW of Derby town centre. The WHITE STORK¹⁷⁸ was feeding on the rugby pitch immediately south of Littleover and was showing extremely well from the road. It was busy feeding on items that it was catching with some regularity on the wet field and was distinctly wary of our presence. I had met James Eaton there, a very keen young birder that had spent two weeks with me in Goa, India, in winter 2000. I was very pleased to see him and we recollected some of our memories from the trip.

The White Stork was unringed and fully winged and went on to winter at the site until 1st April, frequenting the same general area. It could not be linked to any of the known escaped birds in Britain (eg, the Harewood House birds, Thrigby Hall & the Kent escape) and was considered by LGRE to be a natural vagrant that had been displaced by severe weather on the continent in late December. As such, it was fully accepted by the UK400 Club as a countable bird.

After leaving Littleover, I raced back down the M1 to rendezvous with Dave Read and his party, and following some excellent views of Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, stopped off at Stockgrove Country Park to see the Mandarin Ducks. 34 were present.

I decided to have a few days in the west country to try and clean up on several long-staying rarities and scarce birds in that region. It was also a good excuse to take Carmel to see her sister and so we stayed at her house in Yarnscombe, near Barnstaple, overnight.

I searched in vain for the long-staying drake American Wigeon and American Green-winged Teal, as there was no sign of them from the road. Although 512 Common Teal were in one great roving mass at high tide, the Nearctic visitor did not appear to be among them. I then concentrated on the waders and soon located the first of my target birds – a Common Greenshank¹⁷⁹ roosting on the saltmarsh just in front of Lelant station. An assortment of waders was present, including Eurasian Curlew, Common Redshank, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover and 8 Bar-tailed Godwits, as well as 4 roosting Little Egrets.

As very few Eurasian Wigeon were present on the main estuary, I figured that the flock was feeding at Copperhouse Creek. They were – 543 of them to be exact – and amongst them was the regular wintering adult drake AMERICAN WIGEON. They were feeding on the edge of the saltmarsh at the far east end and I was able to get extremely close views of the flock from the stone bridge at that end. At one point, the American Wigeon was only 40 yards away, the diagnostic head pattern and its flank and underpart colouration being clearly observed.

My next stop was Mounts Bay, where in Little London Bay, my next target bird was on show. Scanning with the ‘scope from the east end of Marazion village, I could clearly see two winter-plumaged BLACK-THROATED DIVERS roll-preening directly off the grounds of the Chymorvah Hotel. This has been a regular site for this species in recent winters, with sometimes as many as 12 birds being present. It is the scarcest and hardest of the regular divers for me to see and I made the most of my opportunity and ‘scoped them on the calm sea for about 20 minutes. It was my 181st species of 2002.

Jubilee Pool is one of the best places in SW Britain to see PURPLE SANDPIPER and at least 24 of them were obligingly feeding on the seaweed-covered rocks below me. They were affording fantastic views in the bright morning sunlight, the glare reflecting off their bright orange legs and feet. Nick Sampford took the superb photograph above.

A flock of 15 Ringed Plovers were also wintering with the sandpipers, and nominate Rock Pipits were also showing well on the rocks and by the swimming pool.

Graham Hobin had seen up to three different Ring-billed Gulls amongst the Black-headed Gull flock on and around Drift Reservoir in the past few days but despite an exhaustive search, all we could locate was an adult and 2nd-winter Mediterranean Gull.

The drake NORTH AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL was seen briefly from the gate overlooking the pool, before it swam off to the north end and could not be relocated. Some 200 Common Teal were present on the pool, and were regularly commuting between here and the Hayle Estuary. Pete Walsh obtained this excellent photograph of the bird as it swam close to the bridge by the main road.

Mush took me to his local park where he had consistently recorded Blackcap and FIRECREST throughout the winter. We walked around for about an hour, where we saw at least 7 Blackcaps (very active and vocal due to the warm afternoon sunshine) (185), 2 Common Chiffchaff, 5 Goldcrests and brief views of a FIRECREST (186).

At about 2.45pm, I dropped MA off at his flat and drove east towards Plymouth.

I arrived at Millbrook Lake at 4.15pm and joined three locals feeding the gulls by the bench a few yards beyond the garage. The adult winter BONAPARTE’S GULL¹⁸⁷ was as usual feeding amongst them and showing down to a few yards.

The Bonaparte’s was markedly smaller than the Black-headed Gulls and was a darker shade of grey on the mantle, back and upperwings. More significantly, the nape and hindneck was uniform grey, whilst this area on Black-headed Gull was gleaming white. The bill was all-black, apart from a very restricted area of dark pink at the base of the lower mandible, and was slimmer and shorter than that of Black-headed Gull. The gape was distinctly reddish. Another very striking difference was the leg colour – bubblegum-pink rather than deep red. The legs were also shorter than those of the Black-headed Gull. The bird also had a dark smudge behind the dark eye, and a dark smudge across the centre of the crown. The rest of the plumage was pure white.

In flight, the white under-primaries could be clearly seen, and this effect resulted in a neat black edge to the primaries being prominently visible.

The Bonaparte’s Gull is a rare vagrant to Britain from North America and has a predominance of records in Cornwall. At the end of 2000, at least 36 had been recorded in Cornwall, with several being long-stayers and reappearing in successive winters : -

My last stop of the day was at Sconner Farm, from where I scanned over the Lynher Estuary just east of St Germans village. The wintering adult EURASIAN SPOONBILL was feeding in the river and affording good views (188th species of the year), with 2 Little Egrets nearby in the creeks. Five Great Crested Grebes were also on the river.

Mike Langman had kindly given me a feeding site for CIRL BUNTING at the back of the Broadsands Ley car park and within seconds of our arrival, a beautiful pair were sitting in the small bush by the gate. The male began singing and his rattling verse echoed around the car park in the gentle calm of the early morning. I carried on watching the two birds for about 15 minutes, before they flew off along the hedge and disappeared. The same area of fields also held a number of Linnet, Greenfinch and Goldfinch.

I then scanned the bay, where I recorded 4 Great Crested Grebes, 13 Northern Fulmars, a Black-legged Kittiwake, 14 Common Scoters and a drake Common Eider.

Offshore of the beach car park were 3 BLACK-NECKED GREBES, 15 Gannets and 2 female Common Eider. A Stonechat was also seen.

The weather greatly detereoted as we travelled eastwards through Devon, with strong winds setting in and intermittent showers. We eventually arrived at Kilmington village at 2.50pm. The entrance to the sewage farm was off Whitford Road and we parked by the factory buildings adjacent to the compound. Despite the wind, the birds were feeding on the filter beds and within a few minutes I soon found the SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF¹⁹⁰. It was feeding on the filter beds with two Common Chiffchaff and was easy to pick out due to its very pale greyish-brown upperparts, silky-white underparts and all-black bill. It reminded me in some ways of a Dusky Warbler and occasionally uttered a very plaintive call-note. It was one of two birds that had been present at the site all winter and was my first personal observation of the species in Devon.

There was no sign of the Rough-legged Buzzard on the cables NW of Haddiscoe Bridge so I decided to check the levels on the east side of the road, known as Somerleyton Marshes. The track down to the car park was very muddy and Jim’s low-bottomed Jaguar slid in all directions as we travelled down and at one stage appeared to head directly for the deep water-filled ditch on the left hand side. We eventually made it to the car park alive, and I set my ‘scope up and scanned all around. What appeared to be the Rough-leg was sitting on a gate post about three quarters of a mile away so I trekked out on the muddy track across the fields towards it. After 800 yards or so, the bird could be seen in detail and was clearly the wintering ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD – my first of the year¹⁹². It remained on the post for a short while before flying left towards the river. It then landed in a grassy field and could be seen feeding on a dead Rabbit.

As the bird flew, the white tail was seen to have a well-defined broad dark subterminal band, each feather showing a very narrow pale tip, indicative of a female (juveniles possess an indistinct dusky tail band that bends gradually into the white inner tail, and adult males show two to four dark bands).

A rather drab and bedraggled ROSE-COLOURED STARLING was seen with Common Starlings in Regent Street in Great Yarmouth. It was perching on the window of the church as well as on the roofs of the shops and houses along the street. It was highly mobile and soon flew towards the centre of town, landing in a tree opposite the main shopping precinct. It then sat there preening for over half an hour and was admired by the crowd of 30 or more birders (including Baz Harding, Justin Lansdell & Dave Holman).

It was a very poorly marked individual, with washed-out pink underparts and rump and black wings and head. The bill was yellowish but with a pinkish base to the lower mandible.

A walk down to the river on the far side of the railway produced a minimum of 3 WILLOW TITS¹⁹⁷. They were feeding in the Dogwood and the dense clumps of birch scrub and were extremely vocal – uttering their distinctive nasal calls. It was the middle track that produced the best views, the birds loosely associating with the Blue and Great Tits. This has proved to be a consistently reliable spot for this sadly now very scarce species.

Jay and Siskin were also seen at the site.

Whilst at the Hawfinch site we heard of a drake King Eider found at Holkham Gap and after a quick stop for Willow Tit we were racing to the north coast. Jim did extremely well with the driving, with us eventually arriving at the end of Lady Annes Drive at 2.30pm. We were met by a number of bemused birders, whom, after spending more than two hours at the site, had not connected with the King Eider.

It was extremely windy (WSW) and most birders had gathered in the dunes about 400 yards south of the ebbing tide. We joined a group of over 100 birders and after a short while, Phil Heath picked up the King Eider swimming amongst 76 Common Eiders some 400 yards east of the Gap. Baz Harding quickly got on to it and he kindly gave me a line on where to look. Although difficult in the choppy sea, the benefit of the raised dunes meant that the bird could be picked out at intermittent periods.

The easiest way of picking out the bird was to home in on its orange bill. It also had the diagnostic white spots at the rear end of the flanks. We stayed at the site for about an hour, attempting to get closer views from the beach.

It was only the second King Eider that I had ever seen in Norfolk, following the eclipse drake off Scolt Head Island in September 1986. It was also my 198th species of the year.

Jeff’Higgott’s superb picture clearly shows the bird to be a moulting first-winter drake. It has a pinkish bill with a pale orange-buff frontal shield and flecks of grey coming through on the crown. The eye is dark with a thin white eye spectacle and parts of the face and neck black. The mantle and back are diagnostically black, and this colouring extends on to the flanks and undertail-coverts. The breast is extensively buffish or pinkish-white, and an area on the chin and throat is white. At the rear end of the body, most conspicuous is the presence of white patches on both sides.

Outside of Northern Scotland and the Shetland Islands, the King Eider is a very rare vagrant. Four have been said to have occurred in Norfolk, with three records in the 19th Century (an immature drake obtained off Hunstanton on 7th January 1888 and now retained at Norwich Castle Museum and single females said to have been obtained off Hunstanton on 3rd and 15th November 1890) and a well-watched drake in eclipse present with moulting Common Eiders off Scolt Head Island from 5th-15th September 1986.

The bird continued at the site throughout the rest of the month but because of constant poor weather was never seen particularly well. It ranged between Wells Harbour mouth and 2-500 yards east of Holkham Gap, often roosting at low tide with Common Eiders on the exposed sandbanks. Views down to 300 yards could occasionally be sought, and during February 2002 Lowestoft birder Tim Brown managed to put together a collage of images he obtained north of the lifeboat station in Wells Harbour on 24th (see below). These perfectly match the views that I had of the bird.

Between 8.00am and 12 noon, there was no sign of the Lady A's and I feared for the worse. Five lads from Barnsley in South Yorkshire seemed disappointed but I offered them the chance at other sites. All three sites drew a blank. I returned to the feeding site at 3.30 pm with Mark Easterbrook from Devon and immediately found the adult male LADY AMHERST’S PHEASANT. It remained in view from 3.30-3.45pm and again from 4.10-4.25pm. The Barnsley crew had fortunately hung around all day and were elated with their views and I too was somewhat relieved.

I tried a new site today for GOLDEN PHEASANT and was very pleased to see four males within 100 yards of the road. They were feeding either side of the trackbut favoured mainly the dense undergrowth on the right hand side just beyond the pond. With birds now getting difficult at Wayland Wood, this was a good backup site. They represented my 201st species of the year.

My first stop was Moreton cress beds where Water Pipit was once a regular wintering species. There was no sign of any birds however, although 2 Green Sandpipers, 12 Pied Wagtails, 5 Grey Wagtails and 8 Meadow Pipits were seen.

As I drove from Dorset to Hampshire, the weather conditions worsened. Heavy rain soon moved in from the west, and I decided to try my luck at Ruff – a species that I had still failed to find this year. I knew that 7 had been recently present at Keyhaven and I was relatively expectant when I arrived at 3.00pm.

A further nine birders joined me today, including David & Pat Wileman (from Norfolk), Paul Murfitt, Les Gardiner, Bob Whatley, Nigel Vodin, Steve Haye, Nick Montigriffo and Lyn Matthews. We were very lucky as after less than 30 minutes of viewing the male LADY AMHERST’S PHEASANT appeared and performed impeccably for well over 40 minutes (8.30-9.15am)

As usual I took the group to Stockgrove, where 29 Mandarin Ducks (17 drakes) were showing.

I stopped by the pumping station at Pymoor, on the east bank of the Washes, and scanned across. There were vast numbers of birds including 85 Bewick’s Swans, 5000 Eurasian Wigeon, 400 Common Teal, at least 400 Pintail, 500 Lapwing and 118 European Black-tailed Godwits.

I spent 90 minutes searching both sides of the road from the Shatterford car park without any success, noting just 2 Green Woodpeckers, Chaffinches, Mistle Thrush, Siskin, Goldcrest and a Red Fox. I then decided to walk the track between the car park and Denny Wood and just after the new bridge I heard the familiar ‘churr’ of the DARTFORD WARBLER. I soon located two birds (one of them a male) loosely associating with two Stonechats. The warbler represented my 206th species of the year.

When I arrived, the weather was gale force southerly with squally heavy rain. I found shelter behind the tea rooms and shop and seawatched for the next hour. There were good numbers of seabirds offshore, including several hundred Northern Gannet, 50 Northern Fulmars, Atlantic Great Cormorants, Shags, 100+ Black-legged Kittiwakes and an assortment of Razorbills and Common Guillemots. Highlight was a flock of 7 PURPLE SANDPIPERS.

The drive from Weymouth to Launceston was dominated by heavy rain, and the 36 further miles to Bude failed to see any improvement. I eventually arrived on site at 2.30pm and found the plover flock (numbering some 4-500) sheltering in groups in thick vegetation from the wind and the rain. Fortunately for me, the first-winter AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER was roosting with European Golden Plovers and Lapwing on the sedge-covered island in the middle of the lake. Despite the rain, it was roosting out in clear view and could be easily picked out by its much greyer plumage, contrasting dark crown, obvious white eye-stripe, longer legs and longer black bill. I was soon joined by Bude taxi driver and birder John Duncan and we both observed the bird between showers until 3.10pm. It was my 207th bird of the year.

A MERLIN was also seen at the site, as well as a few Dunlin, Common Teal and Eurasian Wigeon.

We arrived at Kenfig Pool at 8.00am and began checking the main expanse of water for the Redhead. There were very few Northern Pochards on view, the majority of them sleeping in the reeds, and it was figured that the bird was with them. We approached the sandy bay close to the hide and met up with four birders from Belgium (Mathieu Derome, Nicolas Dutoit, Fabien Ruyshaert and Bensit Gauquie). They had travelled over for the Redhead on the ferry and were keen to see it for their Western Palearctic Lists.

We all had a look from the hide but with no luck – the Pochards were all in the reeds just to the left of the hide. The only ducks on view were Teal, Shoveler and a drake Common Goldeneye, whilst 2 CETTI’S WARBLERS were showing well in the reedy channel to the left of the hide.

I knew from previous experience that there was a small track into the reeds not far along from the hide and that on previous occasions, a Red Fox had caused enough commotion simply by being in there to force the sleeping ducks out into open water. With the Northern Pochard flock mostly partly concealed or totally out of view, I asked Mathieu if he fancied walking round the back. He seemed quite keen, and within a few seconds of him peering through the reeds at the south end, the Pochards came racing out into view. There amongst them was the male REDHEAD²⁰⁸. It swam in view for just two minutes before retreating once again into the reeds. Fortunately this time, it went to sleep just inside the reeds, and although mostly obscured, it could still be seen. It differed from the Pochards in its darker grey rear flanks and back, more extensive black on the breast, its more rounded head and back and its black-nailed very pale blue bill. Its eye was also distinctly orange-yellow.

With little traffic on the roads, John made excellent time and covered the 80 miles to Pembroke in just over an hour. With David Astin’s excellent directions to hand, it didn’t take long to find the wintering LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Taking the footpath from the main road along the south side of the river and castle, we came upon the sluice after 500 yards. The Yellowlegs was feeding with two Common Redshank on the mud literally yards from the sluice and was performing considerably well, at ranges down to just 30 yards. It was busily extracting invertebrates from the wet mud and then carrying them to the open water and washing them. It had a few new black scapular and mantle feathers and much paler edging to the wing coverts. As a dogwalker approached, the two Redshanks and a Greenshank flew up calling but the Yellowlegs just stayed put.

It was in first-winter plumage, with underlying brown feathers on the mantle and back and light streaking and grey suffused patches on the upper sides of the breast and on the upper breast. It also had clearly defined white tips to the greater coverts and prominent white fringes to the secondaries.

In general, it was a slim, fairly tapered and relatively elegant wader, with long and fairly bright yellow legs and a relatively short, straight bill (predominantly black but pale-based on the lower mandible). The iris was dark brown, with an indistinct and ill-defined whitish eye-ring and whitish fore-supercilium. The head was largely streaked brown and this plumage continued down the hindneck on to the mantle, back and upper wings. The wing-coverts were mainly dull greyish-brown but prominently fringed white, whilst the tertials and scapulars were marked with off-white notches. The back colour contrasted with the square white patch on the rump and uppertail-coverts, whilst the white tail was heavily barred brown. The underparts were mainly white, but with the breast and neck-sides lightly washed grey or greyish-brown.

The bird was under observation for half an hour and represented my 209th species of the year. It constituted the 4th record for Pembrokeshire, following a juvenile on Skokholm on 9th-10th October 1961, an adult on Skomer on 7th August 1969 and a long-staying juvenile on Bosherston Pools from 7th-22nd October 1984. Given the low observer coverage in Pembrokeshire it is remarkable that this bird was ever relocated at all. Furthermore, add to this the fact that it was found in Fishguard by ex-Skokholm warden Mike Betts and then relocated in Pembroke by current warden Graham Thompson, we have a number of intriguing coincidences. Neither of these observers actually spend much time birding on the Pembrokeshire mainland.

Broad Haven car park & St Govans Head area - Pembrokeshire

We arrived at the reservoir late afternoon and made our way to the car park by the tower. Jeff Hazell was there – the first time that I had seen him in 10 years. He kindly gave us directions to where the wintering Little Stint was residing and we drove round to the sailing club car park.

The LITTLE STINT was showing extremely well on the muddy spit directly in front of the sailing club and was feeding all alone. It was in first-winter plumage and could be approached to within a few yards. It constituted my 212th species of the year.

Our first target species were the grouse and at 9.40am, we eventually arrived at Langdon Beck. The first BLACK GROUSE²¹³ we encountered were 7 males in the large grassy field to the north of the B6277 just before the right turning to St John’s Chapel at NY 853 318. As we jumped out of the car to ‘scope them, another male appeared literally feet away behind the stone wall behind us. Two more males were opposite the plantation and 12 more males were seen together to the left of the road just beyond the plantation (at NY 847 317), so in total, we recorded 22 males.

At the Alcan Power Station young conifer plantation, the HUME’S LEAF WARBLER and SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF were both showing very well, despite there being over 50 birders inside the small coppice. Both birds were fortunately very vocal, and we joined Alan Wheeldon, Tom Tams, Jimmy Steele, Stef McElwee and many other NE birders in sharing excellent views of the birds between midday and 1.00pm. The humei was a very bright individual, with greyish legs, all dark bill and broad lemon-yellow eye-stripe. It had one very obvious wing-bar, with a less prominent one across the inner coverts. The green on the upperparts was surprisingly rich, although the crown and nape were more typically grey-toned.

I decided to spend the day in Suffolk and left my house in Little Chalfont at 6.00am.

Once again, there was no sign of the wintering Glaucous Gull. Over 60 Kittiwakes were present on the walls, and a small group of 14 Sanderling and 2 Turnstone were frequenting the jetties.

We arrived at the Sainsbury’s car park on the Marsh Mills roundabout at Plymouth at 1.10pm, the journey from Junction 18 of the M25 taking just under 4 hours. We followed the track under the A38 and alongside the river to the Blaxton Meadows Pool and joined Paul Gale photographing the ROSS’S GULL at a distance of about 50 yards. Wow! What a bird. It was absolutely stunning. It was an adult that had appeared to have suspended its moult and was brilliant pink on the underparts and head – in fact one of the brightest individuals I had ever seen. It also had an almost complete thin black neck collar and deep red legs. The bill was all black and the upperparts pearly grey.

In flight, the Ross’s Gull was typified by its rich pink underparts and its all-white wedge-shaped tail. It had a dark underwing and the inner primaries and secondaries could clearly be seen to be heavily abraded. In Paul Gale’s beautiful image above, it is apparent that the outermost secondaries are broken and that the innermost primaries are heavily abraded. This suggests that the bird has retained its pink summer plumage since the previous year and not as generally assumed that it was attaining it.

Lee enjoyed crippling views of the bird with Paul Gale and Devon birder Mark Bailey for over an hour (to 2.35pm). At one stage, it was in the same field of view as a drake Mandarin Duck – a somewhat unique duo! The Ross’s Gull was constantly foot-paddling in the shallows in an attempt to stir up food items and on several occasions plunged forward with its body and raised its wings in an upward arc and put its neck and head underwater as if attempting to dive. It spent long periods sitting on the water as well as flying gracefully over the pool.

Description

It was very similar in body size to the first-winter Little Gull alongside, but was distinctly longer-winged and longer-tailed. In flight, the wing-tips were pointed and the end of the tail was diagnostically wedge-shaped, with the central pair of feathers more elongated and projecting farther than the rest. The flight was buoyant and graceful, and often reminiscent of the Little Gull. When swimming, it often pecked at insects in the same manner as a Grey Phalarope.

The small head was predominantly white with a small black eye and a small, short, all-black bill. It had an almost complete thin black neck-ring around the nape and the sides of the neck and a soft grey-washed crown and neck shawl. The underparts from the chin and throat to the belly were strikingly flushed bright pink. The upperwings were uniform pale grey except for a black outer web, with white tips to the inner primaries increasing in extent towards the outer feathers and merging with the white secondaries. This formed a triangular wedge of white on the trailing edge of the wing. The inner primaries and secondaries had very slight notches or nicks on the tips giving the bird the false appearance of some wing moult. As it banked over the pool, the underwing coverts and underwing feathers were seen to be pale grey. The rump and tail were white. The short legs were bright red.

As the afternoon progressed, over 40 birders gathered at the site, including Mike & Jane Malpass from Lancashire. The bird flew from the pool just after 3.00pm and was later seen on the main estuary off the rowing club and towards dusk with Black-headed Gulls at the west end of Cattewater, viewed from the Mountbatten Slipway.

On Wednesday 30th January, the bird continued its regular visits to the Blaxton Meadows Pool, but due to the blustery conditions and overcast weather was difficult to observe. Adrian Webb was amongst the 40 or so birders that visited during the day and as usual, Adrian managed to obtain a selection of beautiful images. George Reszeter was also present, and his collection of photographs are equally as stunning (log on to www.rarebirdphotography.co.uk). A similar pattern of occurrence followed on 31st, but the calmer conditions ensured that Tristan Folland was able to secure some extremely impressive shots, including the following images.

On Friday 1st February, gale force SW winds and heavy rain once again lashed the Southwest making observation of the River Plym difficult and unpleasant. Martin Elliott and Mashuq Ahmad were able to observe the bird for long periods on their own, with less than 20 birders visiting the site throughout the whole day. It made sporadic visits to the pool.

Over the weekend, the Ross’s Gull continued to show well on the Blaxton Meadows Pool, with well over 400 birders visiting the site. Many more tremendous images were taken.

This occurrence represents the 4th for Devon following the first-winter on the Plym Estuary from 13th-29th March 1988 (and also seen at Bere Ferrers on 26th) (Birding World 1: 83-85), the very confiding adult at Slapton Ley on 18th-19th February 1995 (photograph in Birding World 8: 46) (Rare Birds 1: 46) and an adult at Cattedown, Plymouth Harbour, from 13th-24th March 1996 (Rare Birds 2: 70; photograph in Birding World 9: 86).

Both Ross’s Gull and Little Gull were additions to my 2002 year list taking it to 219. Other species we encountered at the River Plym included a wintering Common Sandpiper, a superb male Common Kingfisher, a Grey Wagtail and a Little Egret.