Little Gull at Coate Water

With such a change in the weather it seemed like a great opportunity to have a walk around Coate Water and maybe pick up one or two Summer migrants. What I hadn't bargained on was an adult Little Gull in winter plumage feeding on the large expanse of water just in front of the dam. It flew continuously for the hour I watched it and would turn in the air just like a Tern would, before picking off morsels from the surface of the lake.  Its presence didn't go unnoticed as other Gulls like the Black-headed Gulls and Herrings Gulls harried it every time it got close to them.  Dawn and I had walked anti-clockwise around the lake and were on the return leg, having walked along Broome Manor Lane.  As we walked back towards the Nature Reserve Dam, I noticed a smaller Gull in amongst the Black-headed Gulls. Not only was it considerably smaller but the black plumage on the underside of its wings was a bit of a give away, that this wasn't a Black-headed Gull or similar.  Unfortunately it stuck to its feeding ground which was in the centre of the lake where as I mentioned before is at its widest. I'm guessing as this is normally a gull of the open seas and not an inland water bird, it was more at home in this strange environment.

Little Gull

Little Gull

Little Gull

Little Gull

Little Gull

Little Gull

Little Gull being harried by a Black-headed Gull

One of the main reasons for our walk was to see if there were any summer migrants, alas not, other than 3 singing Chiffchaffs on the eastern side of the lake. At Broome Manor Lane I couldn't resist topping up my feeding station on the ivy overhanging the handrails of the bridge, and as on previous visits it wasn't long before a flurry of birds came down to feed, such as Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin and Nuthatch.

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Further on our walk it was good to see that the Aylesbury's were doing very well and that there were a lot of Great Crested Grebes all paired up.

Aylesbury Ducks

Great Crested Grebes

A total of 41 Species plus 2 ferals were recorded between 12:50pm - 2:30pm: Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Mallard, Aylesbury Duck (feral), Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Starling, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Goldcrest, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Siskin and Reed Bunting.