Bonaparte's gull, Topsham

I wasn't expecting to go too far today. The weather was miserable yet again, good for seawatching but little else. Never-the-less I ended up trying for the adult summer Bonaparte's gull with Dave Helliar, which has been frequenting the Topsham/Exminster area for quite some time and is strongly believed to be the same bird that was present at Dawlish Warren towards the end of 2012 (see older post). The conditions being what they were though (very windy with rain showers), we really weren't expecting to see it and there had been no reports of it been seen since early in the morning. However, we were both very happy to learn it was still there from another birder as we were trying to find a parking space. Not only that, the 1st summer little gull that has appeared recently too, was also showing on and off before finally disappearing. The Bonaparte's never came closer than about 50 metres but it was great to see it again in its full black hood:

Bonaparte's and black-headed gulls: D. Helliar

Bonaparte's gull: D. Helliar

Bonaparte's gull: D. Helliar

Bonaparte's gull, Topsham: R. Harris

Little gull: R. Harris

Little gull: R. Harris

Little gull with black-headed gull: R. Harris

Boy, was that wind blowing!