Friday 23rd February

Ross`s Gull

Andy Bond and myself made the trip up to Dorset today to look for a reported adult Ross`s Gull that has been seen in a couple of different locations . So our first stop was at Ferrybridge as the bird had been seen earlier but it had flow off before we got there and all we got was a few Common Ringed Plover and freezing cold as the wind was bitterly cold there .
So we then had a look at Radipole Lake in Weymouth but not much luck there either as we only saw 4 Mediterranean Gull and a Brown Rat lol , so we then went on the Lodmoor as the bird had been seen there for the last 2 days , there was quite a lot of birders already there and it was nice to catch up with some from yesteryear . There was a few birds on show with 2 Eurasian Spoonbill , a male and female Western Marsh Harrier , 5 Ruff , numerous Common Snipe , another 12 Mediterranean Gull and then a huge 2nd winter Glaucous Gull dropped in with them causing a ripple of excitement but there was still no sign of the bird that we had all come for .
Then news broke at just gone 4 pm that the Ross`s Gull was right up at the other end of Weymouth sat on the sea at Bowleaze Cove so it was a mad dash for everyone to get there , we drove right up over the hill and down into the holiday complex where some people already had their scopes up looking at the sea so we nipped out to join them and after a bit of begging one of them let us look through his scope . And after a bit of searching in the rough sea there it was the adult Ross`s Gull that we had spent the whole day looking for , at around half past four the bird decided to fly and we all watched it fly off to the east until it was lost from view around the headland . This was only my 5th different Ross`s Gull that I have seen in this country , the last one being on my local patch Bowling Green Marsh back in Devon .