Bonaparte's Gull

Tuesday afternoon my father and I twitched the Bonaparte's Gull in Hirtshals Harbour. The bird was found by local birder Lars Pedersen (LP) who actually also found the last Bonaparte's Gull in Denmark in the same harbour in 2004. Bonaparte's Gull was actually the 207th species that LP recorded from his  apartment. The species list includes rare birds like Balearic Shearwater, several European Storm Petrels, European Shag, several White-billed Divers, Iceland Gull, several Sabine's Gulls, Siberian Stonechat, Pallas Warbler and Barred Warbler.

This record constitutes the 4th danish record of which all have been from Northern Jutland. The first danish record is from Skagen Harbour in August 1988. The three following records are all from Hirtshals Harbour although one of the birds subsequently was seen in Skagen Harbour.

The bird of today was only my second ever Bonaparte's Gull almost exactly 16 years after I saw my previous Bonaparte's Gull the same place.

Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia), adult in transitional plumage, Hirtshals Havn, 15/11-2011.