Farmoor Reservoir comes Good 2nd September 2025

Mark (P) and myself spent the morning at an unexpectedly deserted Slimbridge WWT. I suppose the reason being the schools have gone back and rain was predicted.

Certainly the conditions for viewing were less than ideal with a murky gloom sinking over the grounds and the River Severn beyond. We saw a Wood Sandpiper distantly and Mark got very excited about a free flying Black Swan which, while very striking in flight, I informed him he could not count.

Whilst touring the grounds we learned that a juvenile male Garganey had been discovered at our local Farmoor Reservoir  this same morning and with little else to see at Slimbridge we departed the grounds at around noon, intent on heading for Farmoor.

Coming back over the Cotswolds the weather took a turn for the worse with rain manifesting itself as a low lying wet mist, blanketing the hills and limiting visibility. Depressingly it looked set for the day but as we got near to my home in northwest Oxfordshire it lifted and the weather now looked like it would only bring infrequent rain showers interspersed with dry spells and even sunshine

At least there was no wind to speak of.

It was grey but dry when we arrived at the reservoir in early afternoon and knowing the Garganey was at the far western end of the causeway we set off to see it. As we walked a post came on the Oxon Bird Forum about an adult Little Gull being found by Thomas M on the larger  basin of the reservoir but we were unsure of where.Scanning from the central causeway we could see no sign of any gull apart from the regular Yellow legged and Herring Gulls feasting on a dead fish that had washed up at the water's edge

I checked for the Little Stint as we made our way along but that had gone so I suggested to Mark we prioritise the Garganey, then return and look for the Little Gull which we learned was in the company of some Black headed Gulls at the other eastern end of the causeway that we had just left. Frustratingly we had almost walked right past the gull but as we did not know about it that was hardly unexpected

The Garganey was easily discovered, squatting on the concrete shelving by the water,  a noticeably small duck in the company of some larger dozing Mallard and a couple of Canada Geese and not at all phased by our close proximity.It made a brief excursion onto the water but soon returned to land.

A shake of its feathers revealed a blue grey forewing confirming it as a male and judging by the freshness of the rest of its feathers it was a juvenile.

That really was all there was to it. For once everything had gone to plan and after taking the requisite photos and admiring this diminutive summer migrant duck we made haste back to the corner of the larger basin to try our luck with the Little Gull.

We were halfway down the causeway when we noticed an ominous grey cloud that carried an imminent threat of rain and which duly delivered but thankfully both of us had had the presence of mind to don waterproof jackets in anticipation of such when we had arrived. Even so the rain managed to inflict its customary misery on the  exposed causeway but we soldiered on determined to do our best to see the Little Gull.The rain passed as quickly as it arrived and we were now confronted with dazzling sunshine, the  sunlight turning the waters to a shimmering mercury like silver.

Getting to where the Little Gull had been seen earlier I asked another birder if he had seen the gull.

No, was the abrupt reply.

We checked a scattering of Black headed Gulls hunting a shoal of small fish just offshore and which the Little Gull had apparently been  associating with earlier but now we could find no sign of its presence. 

We were on our own and looking into the sun, consequently all I was in fact checking were silhouettes of Black headed Gulls on the water.Not at all satisfactory but it did not matter as none were our prize bird. 

Had it gone in the rain or moved elsewhere on the reservoir?

Then a gull flew above the other gulls sat on the water, it looked markedly small and as it  flew closer, banked, I could see it had diagnostic black underwings. We had found the adult Little Gull. 

Initially the gull  was quite distant and the sun having turned the waters to a very similar colour to the small white gull, made picking it out flying at long range difficult but we were not about to give up. It eventually settled at the back of the other gulls to sit on the water doing very little and becoming even harder to detect.

We could wait 

We lingered for some time and then it flew back alongside the reservoir wall to the concrete hardstanding, somewhat whimsically known as  'the beach' by the causeway and from where they launch the yacht club's sailing dinghys  and here was the opportunity I craved to get some images and admire this most delicate and tern like of gulls.

It showed little fear at my or anyone else's close presence, flying around a large red buoy prospecting the shallow water and every so often crash landing in the water with wings raised to seize a small fish.

It was feisty and if a Black headed Gull threatened it, brooked no nonsense, responding with thrusting open bill and spread wings. Mind you it sometimes went the other way!

It ceased flying around and settled to stand at the edge of the hardstanding for a long time  before flying to a nearby landing stage and going to sleep there with some other gulls.

Little Gulls are regular annual passage migrants at the reservoir in variable small numbers, mainly in Spring and occasionally at other times single birds can and do turn up but rarely if ever come as close as this individual and grant such close views for such a prolonged period.

The Little Gull is the smallest gull in the world and breeds on fresh water lakes and marshes from northern Scandinavia and the eastern Baltic to eastern Siberia. They spend the winter at sea along the coasts of Europe as far south as the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. Exceptionally in 2016, a pair successfully bred at the RSPB's Loch of Strathbeg reserve in Aberdeenshire, Scotland but that is the only breeding record for Britain.

Looking to the southwest we could see another build up of cloud signifying impending rain so we took the sensible option of leaving the exposed reservoir.