A Gull-a-part

Not often do I twitch but every now and then an opportunity arises that one shouldn't miss ... today one of those came along.

Working in an office in Lancaster has many downsides but occasionally there is an upside, the repeated news of a rare North American gull at a nearby birding hotspot was enough to convince myself and a couple of colleagues to make a short trip.

Ten minutes out of the office door and I'd arrived at the end of an unadopted road leading to the "Ocean Edge Leisure Park" which to the untrained ear sounds delightful but is actually right next door to Heysham Nuclear Power Plant!

Strangely reminiscent of my (true) home patch in the north east, it instantly filled me with hope of weird and wonderful birds from far flung lands.

After a brisk walk through a decent looking scrub area (maybe a visit in the spring is in order) we arrived on the sea front immeadiately in front of the power station where several birders where already present.

Several med gulls were present roosting amongst the massed black-headed gulls and the tide was slowly rising.  Curlews, oystercatchers and redshank fidgeted and shuffled for the best spot.

Luckliy for me a felow birder made the magical call, oft longed for by many a twitcher ... "I've got it!"

And doubly lucky for me another colleague of mine had the bird in his scope.  Easy tick you would think?  But thats when this easy twitch became a challenge ...

Short of time (or commited to my job!) I hadn't done my homework ... do you know the difference between a black-headed gull and a Bonaparte's gull???

Apparantely they should be like a smaller version of a black-headed gull with a true black head and pink legs.  But in the field in strong light and with lots of birds sleeping and shuffling in front of each other its not as simple as some would think.

With a lot of help I finally got the hang of it and relocated it using my binoculars and even saw the pale primaries as the massed gulls were given a spook by a marrauding large gull. 

Job done and home to St Helens with a view of more carefully checking the local gull flocks!

For another account of this trip and some photos please read http://birdingaldcliffe.blogspot.co.uk/ which also details another ad hoc twitch for a melodious warbler with no binoculars!!!