With no birds present at Marshside either when I unlocked the hides in the morning or at the end of the day, it’s a good job there was a nearby twitch available. A “1stS/2ndW” Ring-billed Gull had been reported yesterday, and another report at 8am was enough to send me in that direction as soon as I had other obligations discharged.

I pitched up on the south side of Preston Dock at about 10 am, and soon noticed that the row of twitchers was along the rail on the other side. North for gulls, South for Terns. I knew that. Scoping the visible birds, I was soon fairly sure that no Ring-billed gulls were present, and the fact that the hordes over the way were standing around chatting was a clue that I might be right.

Moving around to the other side of the dock, I made enquiries and was just able to hear above the roar of the Green Frog’s generator that the bird in question had last been seen around 9:30, and none of the score or so of hopefuls present had seen it.

There were plenty of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls around, and some of the juveniles were in plumage that was reminiscent of the photos circulated of the Ring-billed Gull last night–streaky, with black bits on the bill–and a few people seemed to be digiscoping those and leaving with pleased expressions on their faces. I was starting to wonder whether the reports from earlier in the day were even reliable, when at about 12:05 a gull plopped down on one of the nearer pontoons to accompanying cries of “there it is!”.

Sure enough, the correct bird was unmistakeable: much smaller than the Herring Gulls, with a rounder head and beady eye like a Common Gull. The bill-ring was very clear, and the mottled pattern on the head very prominent, although its mantle was unmarred silver. I wasn’t sure whether to expect pink or grey-green legs, but it had the latter. The bird soon swam to a further-away pontoon, although still easy binocular range, where it settled in for a nap.

I left after about 45 minutes, pleased with the whole business, and went to see some dragonflies on the way home.