Gulling in May? It must be quiet

Well, that was a non-event. Back in the day when I was a pager-toting teen, I was positively salivating at the prospect of a bank holiday weekend in May - heading south from my home in Cheshire to feast my eyes on a load of European scarce in the southern half of England. Now I live down here, the birds are gone. Bank holiday birding excitement is no more. At least this weekend didn't do it. It felt more like early June locally than it did early May. Spring really had died on its arse, though hopefully just momentarily, as the quality from the northern isles still awaits us cheque book birders.

Crossness highlights first thing were a paultry Dunlin and 2 Curlew. A bit of sunburn, a Red Kite and nine Crossbills were all rural Essex had to offfer. It's not a good sign that when you live in Central London, bird of the day is actually within a couple of hundred metres of my flat in Rotherhithe. A showy 1st-summer Yellow-legged Gull - not a good month for the species even in London, so here are a few photos. Thought it might be a lusitanicus-type, but they're not meant to be as leggy as this bird: -

Anyway, while chilling out trying to pap the mich, Greenland Dock was a (comparative) hub of bird activity - 2 Common Buzzards over, a couple of Sand Martins, a pair of Egyptian Geese and two Common Terns. Just hope that next weekend is better.