First-winter Caspian Gull

With Caspian Gulls turning up just to the east and west of us over the past month and more (several on the Exe, Otter, in west Dorset, etc), it's been extremely frustrating not to have come across one on the Axe yet this autumn.  However, this afternoon I put that right with an immaculate first-winter on the Estuary near Tower Hide at 14:30.

Unfortunately I wasn't in Tower Hide, I was over a quarter of a mile away on the edge of the Axmouth road scoping across.  As a result my photos really do not do this bird justice, it was quite simply stunning.  I couldn't actually stop watching it, it was only when I had to collect Harry from school that I left it...

Lovely long narrow bill, clean white head and breast, sloping forehead and rounded rear of head, some flank streaking, plenty of grey on mantle and scaps, lovely black greater covert bar and black centered tertials, also note bulging neck giving it the classic Caspian-shape!

This is how white-headed it actually was. Can see from this angle the flank streaking extends across breast and almost forms a breast band. The typical Caspian front heavy-look also evident in this pic

Amazingly an even worse photo, but that white head and small beady black eye was this striking!

A pic of it swimming, that white head and neck so striking, but look how long that neck is!  Another great Casp feature

Managed to get this pic of some of the upper wing

...but guess whos phone decided to lose focus just when it stretched its wings!  Oh well, the underwings still look blurry white

I've got a bit of off patch news today too.  After a lovely breaskfast at The Hidden Oak, Jess and I took a stroll across the East Devon Commons from Four Firs.  Several Skylark and Meadow Pipits went over, but at 11:35 a single Woodlark came tu-lu'ing over east to west, one of my favourite vismig sounds!  Lovely.

Now this is written I just know I will be spending the rest of the evening pondering where to go in the morning.  There's a load of rain coming through overnight from the west, which I think may well drop a few migrants, however the weather is clearing pre-dawn so vismig might be good... 

Axe Cliff isn't great for grounded migrants but it's one of our best spots for vismigging.  Beer Head has much better habitat for grounded migrants but often misses out on alot of the vismig. Hmmmm... All I do know is I'll probably get it wrong whichever one I do choose!