I had just finished eating after a day volunteering on the DWT Brownsea reserve, when I got a phone call about a probable Bonaparte's Gull on the River Piddle floodplain by Wareham hospital. I arrived about fifteen minutes later, to hear that the Gull had already flown down the Piddle and been lost to sight. A few of us tried to unsuccessfully relocate it that evening.
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer. Note, the small and delicate black bill, small head and small black ear covert spot
The following morning, I received an early morning call to say it was back in the same area. I headed up after breakfast to find it was still on the open water on the floodplain and visible from the car park next to the hospital. However, it quickly flew to the far side of the floodplain close to the bypass, where it started feeding. It had been feeding in that area, before it flew to land on the water in the middle of the floodplain. As it was distant, I walked along the bypass pavement, where I watched it feeding for the next hour & a half. Apart from one brief period where it flew off & landed about a hundred metres away, it spent all its time feeding about thirty or forty metres from the bypass. During this time, I was bemused why other observers insisted on watching from the hospital at two or three hundred metres away. It was totally unworried about my presence or the occasional passing cyclist.
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer. This Black-headed Gull provides a useful comparison of how small and compact Bonaparte's Gulls are
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer. This was an excellent find by local patch watcher Adam Day
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer. Bonaparte's Gull was described by George Ord in 1815 and named after Charles Lucien Bonaparte who lived and worked in the US for eight years as a well-known naturalist. Charles Bonaparte was the nephew of Napolean Bonaparte
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer
This is only the third Bonaparte's Gull in Poole Harbour with one on Brownsea in late July & August 17 and one at Lytchett Bay in Feb 22. For the next few weeks, this individual hung around on the River Piddle, albeit within a few days it had moved to close to the wet fields where the River Piddle meets the Wareham Channel. As a consequence, it carried on teasing the Purbeck Birders, as it remained close to, but outside of, the Historic Isle of Purbeck.
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer
When I had given up all hope of it being relocated in the Historic Isle of Purbeck, I had a call from Purbeck stalwart James Leaver to say he had relocated with a group of Black-headed Gulls on the Holmebridge floodplain on 14 May 24. I arrived about fifteen minutes later, to hear that it was still present, but out of sight on the wet fields. After a few minutes, I picked it out with the scope & saw it briefly fly up, before dropping back onto the fields. It showed on one final occasion, a few minutes later when Rob Johnson & James saw it fly upriver and outside of the boundary. We stayed for another couple of hours, but it failed to return.
Bonaparte's Gull: First Summer
