After setting off at 07:45am I drove SW into Cornwall to Dozmary 'Pool' (in fact a fairly sizable lake!) on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Here, a drake Lesser Scaup had been lingering for a few weeks and was a species I've been wanting to catch up with for ages! I started scanning and found a fair few ducks, with several Goldeneye, Pochard and Teal. Scanning the middle of the lake I located a few Tufted Duck and to my utter surprise, associating with them was a female Ring Necked Duck! What a great self find! After taking in the bird for a short while, I scanned a little right to be greeted with my main quarrel, the drake Lesser Scaup. Brilliant! At one point I even had them in the same view! Sadly though, they were rather distant and therefore the photos aren't anything to shout about (RN Duck top & L Scaup bottom). But wow, what a cracking start to the day!
On a bit of a high, I left at about 09:45am. Next on my radar was a c.60 mile journey east to Dawlish Warren in Devon. Here, an adult Bonaparte's Gull had been lingering for much of the winter. This was another potential long-awaited lifer having been away when one turned up in Northants back in 2012. Also I'd been down to Devon twice this particular winter, however I could never quite find the time to get over to Dawlish. Thankfully, I now had much of the day to try and locate it.
I arrived at 11am and headed straight for the seawall and Langstone Rock. Sadly no sign initially. Several yearticks here though, consisting of several Shag, a couple of flyby Oystercatcher, c.15 very distant Common Scoter and best of all of Langstone Rock, a group of at least 5 female type Velvet Scoter.
I then headed back along to the beach, dodging the hoardes of dog walkers! Came across a Great Northern Diver offshore, as well as one or two Great Crested Grebe. I then saw something pretty close in just off the beach. Closer inspection revealed it to be a nice Long Tailed Duck, swiftly followed by another. I stopped briefly for a few snaps before noticing something rather small and gull-like sitting on the water a little beyond...
...ahhhh Bonaparte's Gull!!!! YES! The little guy was just chilling, bobbing up and down on the waves slightly beyond the ducks. Was dead chuffed, thank god for those LT Ducks! I watched the bird for about 10 minutes rattling off a fair few photos and a decent video. It then took flight, revealing the white underneath of the primaries, before zooming straight off out to sea. I watched it very distantly feeding before eventually losing it.
Again, not for the first time during the day, I was rather chuffed. I gave the sea a bit more of a scan and added a further Great Northern Diver, however nothing else of note.
I finished the day a few miles down the coast at Labrador Bay, a small RSPB reserve just beyond Teignmouth. I arrived there about 14:00pm. It took a while, but I was soon connecting with a flock of at least 30 Cirl Bunting. This is such a reliable site for the species and you can view the birds a very short distance from the car park too. The birds were a little more tricky to get good views of than previously, spending most of the time on the deck out of view in the field. However the whole flock did suddenly decide to land in the hedge right next to me! Views were restricted though and no chance for any decent photos really. A lovely end to a perfect day really, connecting with two new birds and finding my own yank vagrant too!
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