Another visit to Llys-y-fran started off a bit slow with the few early gulls settling way up the reservoir opposite the bird hide. Still it gave me chance to check the top end for duck (of which there were none) while I waited for more gulls to come down to roost. Getting back to the first inlet around 3pm I started to scan the couple of hundred mostly small gulls and picked out a couple of adult Meds, as it was slow I zoomed up the scopes magnification to 50 to have a good look at one of my favourite gulls, they really are smart. Continuing to scan I soon came across a preening 1w BH gull that looked a bit different, a bit smaller and subtly a shade greyer than the surrounding BH gulls, and best of all a small jet black bill – surely a first winter Bonaparte’s gull. It continued to preen quite vigorously while I tried to check for plumage details. All was looking good. Just as I was thinking of getting the phonescope sorted it suddenly lifted off and disappeared before I could follow it. Checking through the gulls and not refinding it I was beginning to panic. More gulls were arriving now and concentrating higher up the reservoir so having looked through those immediately in front back up the reservoir I went and thankfully at 3:45pm I managed to refind it, despite its subtleties it was distinctive, this time I watched it for 2-3minutes until it lifted off and this time I was able to follow it as it flew down to where I’d first seen it as it gave excellent flight views clinching it as indeed a first-winter Bonaparte. We know Llys-y-fran is a great place, not many spots you have 1,000s of birds to look at and in them always the chance for a gem. 

Didn’t really check the rest of the roost but the Kittiwake was still here, at least 2 adult YLG, 5 Meds (3 adult, 1 3cy, 1 1w). Golden plover calling over head or in fields to the east. Rosebush earlier: 7 Goldeneye (3m), 3 Tufties (2m), GC grebe and a Little grebe.