Bonaparte's Gull hoodoo and bogey birds

April 14th 2024 was a good day.  I saw my first Bonaparte's Gull at Frampton Marsh.  The bird went missing for hours during the day, but after much waiting and checking of Black-headed Gulls, it was suddenly the closest gull to the waiting crowd.  A great experience, and I took some decidedly rubbish photos and studied the bird to learn it for future reference.  I did this because this level of scarce bird felt to me like many other unusual birds found in Britain - one that is possible every year.  It's a bit more rare than Wryneck and so on, but once I'd seen my first I saw a dozen more in quick succession.  Same with Red-breasted Flycatchers, and Grey Phalaropes, and White-rumped Sandpiper and so on.  I assumed I'd see another Bonaparte's Gull in 2025.

2025 saw no shortage of Bonaparte's Gulls come into the UK.  There were birds at Hornsea Mere and in north Wales at Conwy and I went for both, twice each, and missed them both, by less than half an hour each time.  No matter how I tried, I couldn't see them.  They began to feel like a bogey bird.  I missed the one at Hayle in Cornwall on my various travels last year.  I missed the one at Stag Rocks in Northumberland.  I was starting to get a complex.

Then April 1st 2026 rolls around and a Little Gull at Myerscough Quarry is reidentified as a Bonaparte's Gull.  The news came out at 16.30 and by 17.00 I'm in Kristian's car and on the road.  Two sets of long-wait temporary traffic lights held us up and made a 45 minute journey into a 60 minute drive.  The gull is reported at 17.00 and again at 17.24.  Hopes are high.  We laugh about breaking my hoodoo, my personal Bonaparte's voodoo, but you already know what's coming.  We pulled up at 17.59, 300 metres from the gate to the quarry and the notification from BirdGuides pinged at 18.02.  The gull had flown at 17.58, south with the Black-headed Gulls.

Several friendly and helpful local birders stopped and offered us commiserations and hope: the gulls sometimes go to roost at Preston docks.  It's worth a dusk scan.  We arrive at the docks at 18.50 and the heavens open.  No Bonaparte's.  No gulls, really.  Just rain.  A conversation with a local birder there where I offered the consolation that Bonaparte's Gulls seem to stick for a few days was badly received.  The reply I got was that of the three previous Fylde birds, their combined staying time in the area was in the region of 13 hours in total.  Some birders make a hobby out of pessimism and no amount of information about the long-staying birds in the UK in the early months of 2026 is going to change that.  So I gave up trying, and we left.  Drenched, a little down but mostly laughing at my ridiculous bogey bird, we found a chippy and drowned birding sorrows in salt and vinegar.

April 6th and I spent my morning on the Manchester Mosses, searching (successfully!) for the first Willow Warblers and Swallows of spring for me.  I walked six miles or so, watched a pair of sleepy Mediterranean Gulls, failed to find owls in their known roosts, and returned to the car to go home for a coffee.  14.41 notification of the returned Bonaparte's Gull at Myerscough Quarry!  Bird seen at 14.30.  Thankfully I'd parked on the end of the Moss next to the nexus for the M6 and I was Preston-bound by 14.45.  I pulled up at 15.30 to positive news, and walked into the quarry where ten or so birders were already watching the dainty little Bonaparte's Gull picking flies off the surface of the water.  It was always the closest bird to us on the raised bank 70 metres or so away, and some quality of the light on the water was foxing my camera, so my shots of it swimming have all come out a little soft and hazy.  When it performed some short hopping flights to avoid the attentions of Black-headed Gulls or to pounce on a morsel on the water the wings caught the sun so well and I enjoyed snapping away at this gorgeous and understated little bird.

Bonaparte's always look a little worried, like their eyebrow is fixed in a position of concern.  A bit like watching Gabriel Jesus play for Arsenal, or Cheryl who I used to work with who had overdone it a bit with the botox.  The gorgeous black edges of the tail and wing and the delicately white and grey tones of the plumage are all beautiful features, but that neat, tiny little black bill is the absolute cherry on top.  For an hour in the sun I stood and watched the Bonaparte's feed and then I walked back to my car.  I was driving by 16.45.  At 17.00 the Bonaparte's flew high north west and was gone again.

It's always great to see a rare bird.  It's even better to redeem a rare bird you struggle to see.  It's brilliant to see a bird you've tried for multiple times.  It's satisfying to know you had a limited window and timed it well.  The hoodoo is history; I've seen my second Bonaparte's Gull.  I suppose the moral is to keep looking - it's easy to get frustrated with dips when you're birding, and easy to feel like you're getting it wrong or wasting your time, but, like my joy today with this stunning bird, the successes definitely outweigh the dips.