It's been a while.....

Thirty-seven years, four months and 19 days to be precise, since I saw my last Franklin's gull at Martin Mere. That was an adult winter bird, we waited all day in a freezing hide for it to fly in which it duly did, but only at dusk to roost, so not the greatest view in the world. Today's bird was on the reserve formerly known as Swillington Ings, or St Aidens RSPB as it is named these days, and it was a much pleasanter experience in the May sunshine, with great views of a stunning summer plumage adult which at times was even calling and displaying in the middle of the black-headed gull colony.

It led me a bit of a merry dance though, I headed first to the area known as Ridge and Furrow, itself a decent trek, only to be told that it had just flown off in the direction of the western reedbed which was nearly twice as far. Twenty minutes later I arrived at the distant reedbed to be told that it was now back at Ridge and Furrow! So I headed back and fortunately the bird was still present when I arrived. Its was in amongst the black-headed gulls at a distance of about 50m. A couple of times it flew around but then landed again, but finally it headed off back in the direction of the western reedbed and I decided that was my cue to go. Five minutes later though, as I walked back to the car, the bird flew past me again hawking insects and flew off towards the main lake. It's a big reserve and chasing it is a mugs game. My advice would be go to Ridge and Furrow and wait 

It really is a beautiful gull though, and well worth the effort.

Spot the Franklin's gull.

Video: Franklin's gull,
taken the following day in the rain.

It's been nearly as long since I saw my last UK Savi's warbler, 34 years (and two days) in fact, so I also called in at Heslington near York for a look at a bird which has been present for around a week and intermittently shows very well. Although my records show that I've previously seen three Savi's warblers in the UK, I'm pretty sure that one of those records was actually a heard not seen bird, and the Savi's that I have seen I have no memories of, so it was nice to finally get a decent view.

St Aidens is a large and impressive reserve, with a decent selection of birds including bitterns and black-necked grebes.