12th Jul 2015

I waited till just after the 'cloud burst' and a long period of heavy rain had passed before I made my visit this afternoon. I was again hoping the rain would drive down any passing birds, but again it wasn't meant to be.

The usual birds of recent visits were present with two Common Terns and a Common Sandpiper the main interest. A group of Black-headed Gulls loafing on the western bank had another larger immature bird with them. I flagged it up as being of worthy of a closer look but couldn't make any details out from where I was so took a quick couple of photos and made my way round. However, it flew before I got anywhere near it. I must have had Yellow-legged Gull fever from my earlier visit to Farmoor, and convinced myself that was what it must have been. Looking at the photos I got, although not the best quality, I think show it to be a 2cy Lesser Black-backed Gull, which is not as special as I had hoped but still of some interest as it is the first non-adult I have seen here for a few months.