Hooray, we all love Tennis!

I can't even begin to think how OTT the press are going to go on this one. I suspect it will be almost unbearable. Not that I want to diminish this great English victory of course, but you can just see it can't you? Wall to wall coverage of our greatest son, etc etc. Yawn. I mean, yes, excellent, well done, well done, but it's going to be our finest hour, a historic moment, the greatest achievement in the universe and so on. I guarantee at least one newspaper leads with Magnificent Murray, and another with Murray Rewrites History. I made it home for the final game, which to be fair I did watch, but when Sue Barker became utterly unbearable (i.e. after about three seconds) I switched it off. The best moment (apart from Andy rewriting history) was the grace of Novak Djokovic in defeat; he can come again.

I have been making history today as well. By seeing (with great skill) London's third Bonaparte's Gull. Actually more likely to be London's first or second Bonaparte's Gull, but for the second time, but this is semantics. Somehow I managed to stick it out for about five hours in baking heat, watching as this dainty gull picked little pieces of crap from a big slick of, well, crap. Mmmmm. Very smart indeed, the sixth I've seen in the UK, but the first adult summer bird, which is the whole reason I went, rather than just to get it on my Kent list, ahem. Photographically a big fat zero; with the bird close you were pointing right down at it, further away and it was, well, too far away. Go figure. Still, good to catch up with a few people, meet Steve A from Kent, and generally have a good old natter. Also saw Crofty for the first time in ages, after all it's not like I bird Wanstead any more is it? Gave him a lift back home, enjoying a brief Woolwich pelagic en route, before we settled briefly in the Park so that I could year tick Common Tern. I've been meaning to get to the Park to snaffle the Tern for approximately six weeks, but somehow have been completely unable to get my shit together. In the event it was sitting on its favoured branch as soon as I turned up, and was all a bit anticlimactic. 104 for the year, with a few easy ones remaining, but only if I can pull my finger out and actually go birding locally before work which is proving nigh on impossible at the moment. So, here a few photos of today's Gull. To be honest it was nice to stand around and have nothing to do for a while, my hectic schedule is beginning to catch up with me.

Clearly showing the size difference

I like this nice clean background, just what I was after

Approaching OK