Swillington Ings twitching Franklin's Gull

Because I was in Brazil last autumn I missed the Franklins Gull when it spent a week in the fields not far from Soil Hill. It then spent just two nights at Anglers CP in November once I was back, before it headed to the continent. As a result I never got the chance to catch up with it.

Until today!

The bird arrived at Swillington Ings two days ago but because of my covid jab I was not in a position to go and see it until today. I arrived early and had to wait a couple of hours before I finally saw it, but once I had connected it showed very nicely and for an extended period, something the Scaling Dam bird in 2018 did not do. It was a fantastic bird and well worth the trip out to see.

The reserve was buzzing as always. The Black-necked Grebes were not super showy today but I still saw a couple of adults with chicks. A cracking male Bearded Tit flew across the path in front of me, while the sky was full of Swifts and House Martins, raising the question; where are these birds in Halifax? 

-Franklin's Gull

Species List:
Swillington Ings: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Common Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Franklin's Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Bittern, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Red Kite, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Bearded Reedling, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, European Rabbit, 

Scaling Dam twitching Franklin's Gull

Somehow I found myself with a day off, and this helpfully coincided with the reappearance of a Franklin's Gull in Cleveland. With nothing else on the cards I decided to head up with IS and RJS. We set off at around 7.30, but had we set off any later we would certainly have missed the bird. When we arrived it was still sitting in front of the hide, but was asleep and largely obscured by Black-headed Gulls.

Once it did finally wake up, it flew to the front of the hide, where it had a quick drink and a preen, before then flying over the hide not to reappear again. In total we probably saw the bird for less than 15 minutes, and of those most of the time it was poor views. 

-Franklin's Gull

Given its behaviour the previous day, we decided it probably wasn't worth waiting around for, so we headed off back towards Spurn. On the way back we called in at Wykeham for honey buzzards but sadly drew a blank there. A cracking singing male Crossbill was the highlight of the hour or so that we spent there.

Species List:

Scaling Dam: Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Franklin's Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Ringed Plover, Willow Warbler, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Rook, Woodpigeon,