The Bonaparte’s Gull is the American equivalent of the Black-headed Gull. The shape of the dark hood and the white leading edge to the primaries are both strongly reminiscent of Black-headed Gull but the hood is actually sooty-black rather than brown, the legs are ‘bubble-gum’ pink and the underwing is much whiter, especially under the primaries. To spot a Bonaparte’s Gull in your local gull roost, look through the Black-headeds for a bird which is smaller, more delicate-looking, with a smaller, finer, all-black bill.
An adult summer-plumaged bird had been found at Crinan on Wednesday 1st August 2012, so myself and Bob Grove decided to travel down to Crinan on Sunday afternoon to see if we could find this rare American gull. Unfortunately we arrived at high tide just after the bird had been seen flying west. Not to be deterred we returned this morning to retest our ID skills. After much searching and checking every gull in the Add Estuary at Crinan, we finally found the bird in Loch Crinan near Duntrune Castle. We managed to tick off all the ID features and we both happily added this rare bird to our Argyll lists.
We were also rewarded with excellent views of female Hen Harrier (ring-tail) and an Osprey all within the hour and in the same area.
Location : Loch Crinan (SE), Grid Ref :-NR 8094.
Date & Time : Tuesday 7th August 2012, 10:00 hours.