Bonaparte's Gull, Oare Marshes Kent

Limited time today, so opted for a trip to Oare Marshes in Kent. Leaving at 5am we arrived shortly after 6am.

Yesterday saw the report of a Bonaparte's Gull on East flood, On arrival the tide was in so we parked up at the first pull in but after a quick scan of the flood we failed to locate the bird.

A Barn Owl was hunting low over the marshes and then it headed towards the hide. Brian did the same while dad and I stayed behind and started another scan of the flood.

Again with no sign of the bird, we decided to head towards the hide. The Barn Owl was still hunting and flew straight across the path in front of us and headed for the sea wall.

A message from Brian saying he had found the Bonaparte's Gull saw us quickly join him in the hide. The bird was quite distant and would regularly disappear behind one of the islands only to reappear a short time later. Great scope views were had but photo's were proving almost impossible! A couple of distant record shots is all I could manage.

Bonaparte's Gull

A large flock of Black-tailed Godwits were also present and some even began feeding a little closer.

Black-tailed Godwit

On the way home we dropped into Elmley and drove the entrance track to the car park. Bird numbers were well down from our last visit. Although numbers were down, There was still a nice selection seen. Marsh Harrier, Hobby, Buzzard, Yellow Wagtail, Skylark, Redshank, Lapwing among them.

Buzzard

As we pulled out of the reserve we found small groups of Linnets and Swallows visiting puddles by the side of the road.