No Bonaparte's

A try for the Bonaparte's Gull in north Northumberland. This bird gave me the run around a couple of years ago, so I wasn't that confident. No Black-headed Gulls in the Seahouses area or at Monk's House, so I headed up to Stag Rocks. Good numbers of Black-heads were feeding on the sea and moving through, but unfortunately no sign of the Bonaparte's.

There were however plenty of good birds, with perfect light and a flat sea. Over a couple of hours I picked up Great Northern Diver, Black-throated Diver, 2 Red-throated Diver, Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, 2 Red-breasted Merganser and a handful of Common Scoter. Roosting on the rocks were 161 Purple Sandpiper, by far the largest number that I've seen.