Caspian Gull

Didn't feel like going out this morning-it was dull and drizzly and I didn't feel all that great either so apart from a bit of shopping I stayed in, hoping to do a bit of gardening in the afternoon. 

I was just getting to the end of a bit of lunch, when I got a tweet from Tom Spellar about a Caspian Gull at Fairlands-a ringed bird that has been seen at Amwell and on the Thames earlier in the year. Five minutes later I was there and saw it distantly on a bouy, but it then dropped into the water so I got a few shots while Tom came over to me. We had a bit of a chat keeping an eye on it as it flew around with several Lesser Black Backs and it eventually came down near the cafe to the piles of bread.

We walked over but unfortunately it was flushed by a dog, and appeared to fly off to the west. Mike Illett then arrived so we gave him the bad news. However there was a bird on the boat jetty which looked promising so few went over to check-confirmed that it was the Caspian which immediately flew off and spent the next hour or so either on the water or flying around, taking bread from the ducks occasionally. Several lesser Black Backs and a 1w/1s Herring Gull made a nice contrast.

We think its probably the first for the Stevenage area.