30/03/13
I had been looking forward to seeing my first summer migrants of the year, and on the Saturday evening following the gardening job we headed down to Upton Warren flashes in the hope of catching up with the first few LRP in the county this year.
We arrived, and it wasnt long after that i spotted two brown waders scurrying about on the mud, my first Little-ringed Plovers. I always love my first occurance with summer migrants, it just amazes me to think that these tiny birds, only around the size of a Chaffinch have flew thousands of miles to grace that small bit of mud in the middle of Worcestershire! It just amazes me. 4 Avocets were also 'new' for me.
25 Curlew, 1 OYC and a single Common Snipe were all showing.
Around 6pm, a birder in the hide called out that a Mediterranean Gull had just dropped into the roost, and on 'getting on' the bird i was treated to views of a stunning adult summer plumaged bird! This is seriously one belter of a bird!
This is the first view i got of the bird after it had just landed on one of the islands.
And it then moved slightly revealing those stunning bright white primarys!
We initially assumed the bird was the previous nights adult, as i had not personally seen the photos of the bird, but we attempted to read the code in the falling light. The red ring already indicative of a Polish origin, as can be seen though, the other BHG around the bird somewhat hindered viewing though!
Eventually i got a clear view of the ring, and upon inquiring about the ring number, indicated that this bird was a 'new one'. Red PNU4
It later emerged that PNU4 was previously seen at the Moors Pool a week or so previously, but had disappeared and had gone completely off the radar before returning back to UW.
MB
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