Myself and fellow "togger" Peter Morgan decided to have a go for the 1st winter Glaucous Gull found a few days ago by Ceri Jones (great find Ceri) at The Knap in Barry and then on to Cosmeston CP in Penarth for the drake Lesser Scaup which has returned for something like it's 7th year.
We met up at Sarn (Junc 36 on the M4) and were soon rocking up at The Knap at about 8.30am, it was decidedly overcast and the light was not great but on the plus side we found the gull straight away in flight over the beach.
We were soon joined by Steve Hinton and scattered some bread and although reluctant at first the gull eventually came down to feed.......
The bird was quite mobile and we followed it down to the opposite end of the beach where it perched on the rocks for a short while allowing us both to get some shots.....
Just as we were about to leave for Cosmeston we bumped into Paul Denning and the light started to improve as the bird flew over us......
The light had vastly improved by the time we got to Cosmeston, we had hoped that the Lesser Scaup would be close in by the cafe boardwalk but unfortunately it was the other side of the East Lake.
We walked around and got reasonably close to the bird which was with a group of Tufties but from our position we were fighting the light and the glare off the water, still we managed some shots which was better than nothing.........
Having got our two target birds quite easily we had plenty of time left in the day and so decided to head for Gloucester in the hope of connecting with the two male Penduline Tits which are currently favouring Horsebere Pool opposite the Premier Inn on the A417.
I had only seen Penduline Tit once in the UK at Slapton Ley in Devon several years ago and Peter also just once at Newport Wetlands which I annoyingly "dipped on" a couple of years back.
We got to Gloucester by 12.30pm but the two birds had disappeared across the dual carriageway to a thicket that they apparently frequent and so we played the waiting game during which time the light deteriorated and we encountered some hail and rain.
After about an hour though the weather improved and the sun came out and the birds returned to feed in some sallows between the road and the pool, we couldn't believe our luck as the birds showed quite well at times although it was difficult not to get a twig in the way of a shot........
The light if anything was too harsh, you just can't please us "toggers" and I "clipped a few highlights" and lost some pixels although I'm not complaining, the birds then flew to the pool and fed on their staple diet of reedmace.........
The birds fed for about ten minutes and then flew back into the sallows before again disappearing over the dual carriageway and out of sight......
We decided to call it a day both agreeing that we were unlikely to get any better opportunities and also agreed to call in at Aust Warth on our way home in the hope of a Short-eared Owl, it hasn't been a good winter for them at Aust ( I think that they are all on the Welsh side of the Bristol Channel !!) and after about 20 minutes of seeing nothing other than a Kestrel we headed over the bridge for home.
What a cracking day out, all target birds seen well and for once a mainly sunny and dry day just for a change, happy days.
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