Cape Gull (1st for Britain) Grafham Water

 Cape Gull 

All along the watchtower

Looking down on things

Gull line up

Common Tern

Getting tired of being watched

Little Egret

YouTube video

I was out playing golf in the Cotswolds on Sunday when I received an alert of a possible "first for Britain" at Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire. My first thought was to let the big guns go and debate the ID before I'd casually drive over midweek. However, the identification seemed very confident from early visitors and there were some cracking photos emerging.

There was zero chance of me having enough enthusiasm to go on Sunday evening, so I planned a possible dawn raid, being very confident the bird would still be in residence. photos

Postive news emerged early and being only 90 miles it took less than ninety minutes with the roads free from commuters.

The car park was closed on my arrival therefore I took the last space on the verge (no verge parking is now allowed, but, car park is open early). I'd never been to this site before a couple of weeks ago, so I knew exactly where to head. Toilets and a cafe are always a great benefit to any site.

The actual twitch was very routine, casual walk, scope bird, take a few photos & walk back. The bird never changed location and the only exercise it did was to stretch it's neck and wings.

I know you should be mega excited about a first for Britain but this really didn't feel like it. The bird was very similar to a Great Black-backed in structure but had longer legs and beak.

Cape Gulls are a sub-species of Kelp Gull and are generally found in south African countries. The first record for the Western Palearctic was in Paris in 1995, so the hard core gullers have certainly been looking hard for a possible Cape Gull.

Other highlights included 2 Yellow-legged Gull, a Caspain Gull, 12 Common Tern, Little Egret and an abundundance of Yellow Wagtails.