Defo not richmond bank,and more likely Runcorn district than Warrington
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Mar 14 9:58 PM, 2011
Still not Richmond Bank though
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Mar 14 9:17 PM, 2011
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Thanks Mike, I only ask for my own clarification but Richmond Bank does refer only to the area of mudflats by Gatewarth. I really don't know the area of any of the sites you mention very well I'm afraid
The area Mike is refering to is almost opposite the power station on the south side of the mersey-it is a cracking little area-I have seen Gull Billed Tern there once in the early 1990's and also I have seen many a washed up salmon being dragged out by herons along there after a spring high tide-once one was almost 2 feet long. Peregines used to rest up on the banks there,ready for when the lapwings were pushed off at high tide.Its probably about 1 and half mile west of richmond bank where there is a large bend in the river
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Mar 14 8:25 PM, 2011
Thanks Mike, I only ask for my own clarification but Richmond Bank does refer only to the area of mudflats by Gatewarth. I really don't know the area of any of the sites you mention very well I'm afraid
Mike Mulholland said
Mon Mar 14 8:14 PM, 2011
Hi Ian, the gull was seen on the Mersey west of Norton Marsh from whats become known as Halfway House which is the watching area beween the ship canal and the Mersey, roughly north of Randle Sluices and about 100m east of Wigg Island, Owens Wood is next to it. In spring and autumn the area is good for migrants - avocet bonxie, redstart, cettis and firecrest last year for example.I've had Harbour porpoise and grey seal in the river there, the area has over the years produced quite a few raries. I suppose HWH sightings could be included in the river mersey section.
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Mar 14 5:31 PM, 2011
Mike Mulholland wrote:
The yellow legged argentatus was with a few hundred gulls at HWH yesterday, first I've come across. Also Chiffchaff in Owens Wood and Little Owl UMS.
Mike, are these sightings Richmond Bank or Moore NR?
Mike Mulholland said
Mon Mar 14 4:24 PM, 2011
The yellow legged argentatus was with a few hundred gulls at HWH yesterday, first I've come across. Also Chiffchaff in Owens Wood and Little Owl UMS.
Pete Kinsella said
Sun Mar 13 9:04 AM, 2011
Over four hours on Saturday 12th produced three Caspian Gulls( 2x1stw and 2ndw), three Iceland Gulls ( 2x 1stw and 2ndw), three Yellow-legged Gulls( 1stw, 2ndw, ad) and 60+ Argentatus including a yellow legged adult.Big increase in LBBs as to be expected.Superb light conditions.
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Mar 9 5:38 PM, 2011
Five hours with Pete Berry today yielded:
7 Yellow-legged Gulls (5 adult, 1 3W and 1 4W) 2 juvenile Iceland Gulls Single Grey Plover flew onto the bank Single Siskin over Atleast 20 or so Curlew through heading east inland along the river
Pete Kinsella said
Sun Mar 6 9:16 AM, 2011
Just an update on y`days stuff. The 1stw Casp found by Gav Thomas was clearly a new individual and not the one from 25th Feb as first thought.
Pete Kinsella said
Sat Mar 5 8:43 PM, 2011
A rather disappointing trip up to Arpley Tip took place today.Unfortunately the tipping area had moved to a spot that was almost totally out of view, so only a tiny percentage of the huge numbers present could be scrutinised.However ,a close, but brief adult Caspian Gull was seen as were a juv and 2ndw Iceland Gulls. Richmond Bank was also checked and a total of three Icelands( the two above and another juv) and the 1stw Caspian Gull first seen on 25 Feb were present( per G.Thomas).At least five Yellow-legged Gulls were also seen here. There is another tip visit planned for the 19th March, providing that the tipping area has moved to a more visible spot.Details will apparently be posted to confirm this on the Moore NR website.
pete berry said
Thu Mar 3 4:42 PM, 2011
A session with Tom McK and Alyn 3+ Iceland Gulls-at least 2 1st w. and a 2nd w. 7 ad.Yellow Legged Gulls
Four hours today with Pete Berry, 'our Jack' and for a short period Mike Baron:
Beautiful first-winter Caspian Gull showed pre-midday at just about the furthest point of the bank then departed to the tip all too soon. Some half decent record shots were obtained and I'll put them on the galleries when I get home from work tomorrow!
Usual juvenile Glaucous Gull showed very well indeed for a prolonged period.
Juvenile Iceland Gull
3 adult Yellow-legged Gull
The very pale first-winter Herring Gull also put in an appearance.
Single Raven over.
Several Curlew through.
pete berry said
Wed Feb 16 4:19 PM, 2011
A few hours today with Tom McKinney and Mike Baron 1st.w. Iceland 8 Yellow Legged Gulls ad. Med Gull and a Peregrine over
pete berry said
Tue Feb 15 4:47 PM, 2011
A few hours with Phil in less than ideal conditions due to the strong south/south easterly wind and rain in our faces. 10 ad Yellow Legged Gulls 1st w. Iceland and a probable 4th w. Caspian Gull,structually looked good for Caspian,but as we didn't get any views of the underwing,its on the one that got away list.
Pete Kinsella said
Sat Feb 12 8:30 PM, 2011
Excellent stuff! This bird was also present on the 8th Jan and 5th Feb.
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Feb 12 8:25 PM, 2011
Nice footage Tom, well worth waiting for. Same bird as still present today and I believe the same as from the 2nd December. Certain particular features plus the perfect overall look are identical.
-- Edited by Tom McKinney on Saturday 12th of February 2011 08:19:33 PM
Pete Kinsella said
Sat Feb 12 4:09 PM, 2011
Five hours here today in rather( too) sunny conditions, pleasant though!
Three Caspian Gulls ( two adults, one much brighter billed than t`other and 4thw), very pale juv Glaucous Gull, juv and 2ndw Iceland Gulls, 8 Yellow-legged Gulls( 5ad and 3 2cy) and one adult Med Gull.Also the Russian ringed Argentatus again, managed to get some of the ring details this time!!
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Feb 12 1:34 PM, 2011
Short morning visit today still produced two Iceland Gulls (a juvenile first seen on the 1st February and the now usual 2nd winter bird) and the juvenile Glaucous Gull once again but only a single Yellow-legged Gull for me. Furthermore a beautiful adult Caspian Gull which was almost certainly the classic bird from the 2nd December 2010!
Still birders present on site so probably much more to come.
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Feb 11 6:32 PM, 2011
But you keep going back for more Jason and that's what counts
jason atkinson said
Fri Feb 11 6:10 PM, 2011
I agree Ian. I was constantly scanning waiting to to spot 1 with a glowing halo on a space hopper! Maybe not quite but it needs to like you say have the WOW factor. This small bird was interesting if not a lot distracting at times. Bloody gulls.
cheers jason
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Feb 11 6:03 PM, 2011
Unfortunately Jason (or on the other hand, fortunately as they make the most interesting ones!) there are several very interesting such gulls present in any one sitting at Richmond currently. We had what was possibly the same bird as you on Tuesday just gone and it was something of a puzzler. Potentially easy to (mis)identify as a Caspian it showed very intruiging features but appears to have been a small argentatus with yellowish legs and an underside of p10 any self respecting Caspian would have been proud of. Of course it's not uncommon (in fact regular) for argentatus to display the same sort of outer primary markings as Caspian (both under and upperside) which combined with their increasingly nice white headed look and long wings can be an easy trap for the unwary. We also see a very small handful of birds on each visit which appear to display yellow legs either way. These things don't get any easier!
My simple advise is that (along with Cheshire Rarity Team's view) Caspians should really fit the bill and the full suite of features should apply. If they don't make you go "wow" straight away (which they really ought to) then consider all the options. Of all the many hundreds I've seen near annually for the past decade or so (the vast majority abroad of course!) whilst theres always a handful with less than one or two perfect features (show me two Herring Gulls the same!) they have all still struck me as Caspians. Sure, there'll always be those that attempt to defy identification and indeed may do, certainly in the UK and especially given the seemingly increasing hybridisation problem. With that in mind I think we should always air on the side of caution and wait until those "wow" individuals come along.
Ruth, it's on the north bank of the Mersey at Penketh, just west of Warrington, Cheshire. Scroll down this thread and there are directions how to get there should you need them.
Found it......thanks very much Ian!
Pete Kinsella said
Fri Feb 11 11:53 AM, 2011
Hi Ian, Tom, Pete etc...
how many adult/near adult Casps have you seen so far this winter.?..it would be interesting to have a running total of individuals to compare with the previous years, especially the mega winter of 2008/9 when the grand total came to c14 individuals(of mixed ages).
cheers, Pete
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Feb 11 9:47 AM, 2011
Ruth, it's on the north bank of the Mersey at Penketh, just west of Warrington, Cheshire. Scroll down this thread and there are directions how to get there should you need them.
Ruth Daniels said
Fri Feb 11 9:40 AM, 2011
Could someone tell me where Richmond Bank actually is please? I've looked on the main forum but can't find any details? Thanks in advance.
Tom McKinney said
Fri Feb 11 9:31 AM, 2011
I'll be uploading some video of Wednesday's first Caspian later today, including a pop-shot hardcore spread wing slow-mo sequence showing p5 band, long white tip to p10 and pale tongues on outer primaries - PHWOAR!!! It was a smallish bird, presumably a female, and was textbook perfect.
The second bird was much larger and a couple of things concerned us. The bill colour seemed a deeper yellow (slightly orange) and the legs were pretty short for a Caspian. There was a narrow, but obvious, black band on the bill smudging the gonys, but upperwing in flight showed no traces of immaturity. Upperwing pattern was perfect, though we were still worried about the bill colour and short legs. Thankfully it hung around long enough to eventually start screaming its head off in true Fleetwood Mac fashion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Viqr6KHwJjc
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Feb 10 4:27 PM, 2011
Four hours along with Pete Berry, Colin Bushell and Tony Conway today:
Sub-adult Caspian Gull, same individual as on Tuesday, 4th winter type bird (black on primary coverts and two black 'spots' in the tail).
Usual 2nd winter Iceland Gull
Juvenile Glaucous Gull (very pale bird, including the head)
11 Yellow-legged Gull, all adults apart from one 2nd winter
Atleast 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls, with 3/4 hoods paired up and displaying
Single Pink-footed Goose headed low west calling.
Single Oystercatcher.
4 Bullfinch
A nice total of 10 gull species on the bank today.
pete berry said
Wed Feb 9 5:26 PM, 2011
A four hour stint with Tom McKinney today
2 Ad. Caspian Gulls(1 with grey/pinkish legs and one with olivey green/yellow legs) 9 Yellow Legged Gulls 2nd w. Iceland gull ad Med Gull plus a bird we saw yesterday with a very pale mantle,as pale as argenteus, and yellow legs(not a y.l. gull)and a bird with michaelis mantle colour,yellow legs,but with a extremely streaky head(not a y.l.gull either) No doubt Tom will be posting some pics of the birds in the near future.
Ian McKerchar said
Tue Feb 8 5:12 PM, 2011
Another nice day today, along with Pete Berry, Tony Disley and Phil Rhodes:
11 Yellow-legged Gulls (all adults except for a single first winter) Adult Caspian Gull (normal sized) 2nd winter (3rd calendar year) Iceland Gull First winter Mediterranean Gull (green colour ringed with white digits too distant to read, metal ring on right tibia) A few Siskin and Skylark over 7 Bullfinch in one flock Single Curlew on the bank
Pete Kinsella said
Sat Feb 5 4:34 PM, 2011
Three hours here today in truly dreadful weather, constant heavy rain but at least the gulling was good. An adult Caspian Gull was seen just before the tide came in.A smallish but aggressive individual, it chased away nearby gulls and called often.Interestingly it had probably the most pronounced darker mantle grey shade than any of the other adults I`ve seen here this winter.Paler than YLG and argentatus but clearly a shade darker than argenteus.No black markings on the bill, just a small red gonys spot.All white tip to p10 and a nice band across p5 with obvious grey tongues too. A small 2CY Iceland Gull was present for most of the session.Really dinky and short-legged with a dusky head and breast contrasting with much paler wing coverts. Ten Yellow-legged Gulls were picked out( 9adults and a single 2CY).One of the adults had an orange or red darvic ring on its left leg.It was too distant however to read the black lettering on the ring. The leucistic Herring Gull was also present. At least three Bullfinches were in the bushes.
Pete Kinsella said
Fri Feb 4 5:47 PM, 2011
Indeed, but if they are heading north, where are their breeding areas?
Mike Duckham said
Fri Feb 4 12:53 PM, 2011
Some good gulling there. I guess that, given that YLGs breed fairly early, some of them could be moving through on their way to breeding areas, rather like white wingers peak in a few weeks time.
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Feb 3 9:43 PM, 2011
Cheers Pete, it's not something I'd seen or atleast noticed before. Intriguing!
Pete Kinsella said
Thu Feb 3 7:48 PM, 2011
The ring on the tibia would certainly suggest a bird ringed in Europe and not in the UK( by mistake!!).I know that YLG`s ringed in Germany for example always have a metal ring on the tibia, similarly of course with a lot of Med Gulls.
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Feb 3 7:35 PM, 2011
Even with our relatively poor numbers of Yellow-legged Gulls in Greater Manchester we noticed exactly that several years ago. Indeed, our highest from Richmond Bank last year was 13 on the 18th of February. Back in the mid-90's (and no doubt well before) ringing recoveries of summering and breeding birds in our region were found largely wintering in the southern Spain/Portugal area, so it's perhaps no surprise that on their way back north they drag a few Yellow-legged Gulls with them but as you say, where do they go thereafter?
I'd certainly agree that you'd think it not too long before one or two are found in a breeding colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls (has there been such a record at Walney before now?). Roll on more hybrids
The colour-ringed bird today was unusual in that the metal ring on the right leg was on the tibia, not something I'd noticed before as they usually seem ringed on the tarsus
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 07:43:19 PM
Pete Kinsella said
Thu Feb 3 6:48 PM, 2011
Hi Ian, this increase in late winter/early spring Yellow-legged Gulls has been noted here over the last couple of years and is clearly related to a movement of LBB`s.It`s interesting to speculate where these birds are coming from and perhaps more pertinently where they are going to.The ringed birds are tantalising, lets hope we get a readable colour-ringed one soon! I just wonder if one or two might be summering in the big LBB colonies in the NW.
Ian McKerchar said
Thu Feb 3 4:12 PM, 2011
Another five hours with Pete Berry today in excellent conditions and numbers of gulls:
16 Yellow-legged Gulls consisted of only a single first-winter and the rest all adults. Each individual had particular features (yellow leg hue, variation in bill size and/or black subterminal marks, occasional remnants of streaking, overall size etc etc) and certainly no cross counting occurred. Atleast 3 other adults were left as we couldn't be sure we hadn't already counted them! One adult was colour-ringed but the actual code could not be read.
Single adult argentatus Herring Gull with definate yellow legs.
Lots more adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls present.
Leucistic adult Herring Gull present again.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 04:23:07 PM
Ian McKerchar said
Tue Feb 1 4:36 PM, 2011
Five hours today with Pete Berry and Phil Rhodes in excellent conditions:
Cracking, absolute classic first winter Caspian Gull late morning and then not seen again (photos to follow).
11 Yellow-legged Gulls, all adults except from a single first winter and two of the adults bore metal rings!
Single juvenile Iceland Gull, a fresh looking and lovely marked bird.
Completely leucistic adult Herring Gull, a beltin' looking bird.
pete berry said
Tue Jan 25 5:53 PM, 2011
A four hour stint with Phil & Tony todaywas well worth getting a bit damp for:- 10 Yellow Legged Gulls(9ads & a 2nd w. bird) a leucistic Herring Gull(probably 3rd w) good numbers of gulls throughout,although quite difficult for the first couple of hours as most birds were face on until the wind changed direction after lunchtime.
Pete Welch said
Wed Jan 19 6:19 PM, 2011
If it was shotgunners with a couple of Labs I saw them there once before - and was told by a dog walker that it was council land and therefore not permitted - plus that whole stretch of bank must be within 50m of the top footpath and I thought that was a no no. One of them drives a gold 4x4 and old shogun I think?
pete berry said
Wed Jan 19 11:36 AM, 2011
A couple of hours yesterday with Phil & Andy was disapointing with not a single gull landing on the sandbank till early afternoon due to a couple of w*****S with shotguns and dogs disturbing all the birds.Eventually a few birds did come in after the afternoon after they had gone and we found ---3 Yellow Legged gulls which was pretty good considering the very small number of gulls present compared to the numbers we usually get.
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Jan 14 4:22 PM, 2011
Four and a half hours today with Pete Berry and Phil Rhodes in remarkably variable weather and lighting conditions!
6 Yellow-legged Gulls (5 adult and a single first-winter) 1 juvenile Iceland Gull, the same individual first seen on the 6th January 9+ Tufted Duck 81 Coot
Pete Kinsella said
Tue Jan 11 6:31 PM, 2011
Hi Pete, somehow managed to miss you here today, I was sat amongst the bushes towards the bend in the river, didn`t move for 3+ hours though! I had an adult type ( maybe your 4thw?) Caspian(again distantly) and a nice 1stw bird too.Saw the rather pale juv Iceland and also had a 2ndw rather briefly.Four adult and a 1stw Yellow-legged Gulls were also picked out but the most interesting bird was a really dark 1stw Herring Gull with an all dark tail and very dense barring on the under and uppertail coverts.It had a dull pinkish base to the bill as well.Certainly a good Smithsonianus candidate and well worth searching for again, if only to get decent pics of, mine being very poor, distant efforts. I`ll check for any other birders present next time I go!
cheers, Pete.
pete berry said
Tue Jan 11 5:13 PM, 2011
A 4hr stint with Phil Rhodes got us the following with all birds(apart from the 2nd sighting of the Iceland)in first 2 hours. 4th w. Caspian Gull 1st w. Iceland Gull(seen twice,same bird as Ian and I had last week) 6 ad. Y.L. Gulls ad Med Gull(with large white plastic ring on leg,unfortunately too far away to read lettering on it) Good numbers of gulls throughout with a small increase of LBB Gulls than previous.
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jan 8 6:38 PM, 2011
Pete Kinsella wrote:
Five hours here today.Well over 20,000 Gulls present in the area, quite an amazing sight, in fact there were too many Gulls here today!, with often 5-6000 on the mud at any one time, making sifting through them very difficult. Ian McK`s lovely white headed, bright billed Caspian Gull showed, although rather distantly.Eight Yellow-legged Gulls were also picked out ( 4 adults, 3 1stw and a 2ndw). No sign of any Iceland Gulls despite extensive searching, but a juv Glaucous x Herring hybrid( very Glauc-like with just the outer 2 or three primaries with a light brown wash) and a probable 1stw Casp x Herring hybrid too. Lots of argentatus Herring Gulls including a white ringed adult( too far away to get the letters unfortunately). For anyone interested, the first visit up onto the tip is on Saturday 22nd January. Meet at the viewing screen overlooking the SW end of Birchwood pool at 08.30.The number of people allowed up is normally limited to about 12 , so first come first served, as it were.From previous experience it is always absolutely freezing up on the tip, so wrap up warm if you`re intending to go.
nowt late pm arrived at high tide,no richmond bank to viewhave to remember the tides. 6 wigeon 20 linnets a few redwing
4 Yellow-legged Gulls (2 ads, 2.1w's)
10+ argentatus Herring Gulls
many migrant Lesser Black-backed Gulls
Defo not richmond bank,and more likely Runcorn district than Warrington
The area Mike is refering to is almost opposite the power station on the south side of the mersey-it is a cracking little area-I have seen Gull Billed Tern there once in the early 1990's and also I have seen many a washed up salmon being dragged out by herons along there after a spring high tide-once one was almost 2 feet long.
Peregines used to rest up on the banks there,ready for when the lapwings were pushed off at high tide.Its probably about 1 and half mile west of richmond bank where there is a large bend in the river
I suppose HWH sightings could be included in the river mersey section.
Mike, are these sightings Richmond Bank or Moore NR?
Also Chiffchaff in Owens Wood and Little Owl UMS.
7 Yellow-legged Gulls (5 adult, 1 3W and 1 4W)
2 juvenile Iceland Gulls
Single Grey Plover flew onto the bank
Single Siskin over
Atleast 20 or so Curlew through heading east inland along the river
Richmond Bank was also checked and a total of three Icelands( the two above and another juv) and the 1stw Caspian Gull first seen on 25 Feb were present( per G.Thomas).At least five Yellow-legged Gulls were also seen here.
There is another tip visit planned for the 19th March, providing that the tipping area has moved to a more visible spot.Details will apparently be posted to confirm this on the Moore NR website.
3+ Iceland Gulls-at least 2 1st w. and a 2nd w.
7 ad.Yellow Legged Gulls
9 adult Yellow-legged Gulls
Adult Mediterranean Gull (2/3 breeding plumage)
Beautiful first-winter Caspian Gull showed pre-midday at just about the furthest point of the bank then departed to the tip all too soon. Some half decent record shots were obtained and I'll put them on the galleries when I get home from work tomorrow!
Usual juvenile Glaucous Gull showed very well indeed for a prolonged period.
Juvenile Iceland Gull
3 adult Yellow-legged Gull
The very pale first-winter Herring Gull also put in an appearance.
Single Raven over.
Several Curlew through.
1st.w. Iceland
8 Yellow Legged Gulls
ad. Med Gull
and a Peregrine over
10 ad Yellow Legged Gulls
1st w. Iceland
and a probable 4th w. Caspian Gull,structually looked good for Caspian,but as we didn't get any views of the underwing,its on the one that got away list.
adult Caspian Gull
I'll upload the other bird later.
-- Edited by Tom McKinney on Saturday 12th of February 2011 08:19:33 PM
Three Caspian Gulls ( two adults, one much brighter billed than t`other and 4thw), very pale juv Glaucous Gull, juv and 2ndw Iceland Gulls, 8 Yellow-legged Gulls( 5ad and 3 2cy) and one adult Med Gull.Also the Russian ringed Argentatus again, managed to get some of the ring details this time!!
Still birders present on site so probably much more to come.
cheers
jason
My simple advise is that (along with Cheshire Rarity Team's view) Caspians should really fit the bill and the full suite of features should apply. If they don't make you go "wow" straight away (which they really ought to) then consider all the options. Of all the many hundreds I've seen near annually for the past decade or so (the vast majority abroad of course!) whilst theres always a handful with less than one or two perfect features (show me two Herring Gulls the same!) they have all still struck me as Caspians. Sure, there'll always be those that attempt to defy identification and indeed may do, certainly in the UK and especially given the seemingly increasing hybridisation problem. With that in mind I think we should always air on the side of caution and wait until those "wow" individuals come along.
1w Glaucous Gull
2w Iceland Gull
1w Iceland Gull
5 Adult YL Gulls
1 Adult Med Gull
A small Herring/Caspian type! Very limited knowledge, could have done with a guru.
Pictures here
cheers
jason
Found it......thanks very much Ian!
how many adult/near adult Casps have you seen so far this winter.?..it would be interesting to have a running total of individuals to compare with the previous years, especially the mega winter of 2008/9 when the grand total came to c14 individuals(of mixed ages).
cheers, Pete
I've looked on the main forum but can't find any details?
Thanks in advance.
The second bird was much larger and a couple of things concerned us. The bill colour seemed a deeper yellow (slightly orange) and the legs were pretty short for a Caspian. There was a narrow, but obvious, black band on the bill smudging the gonys, but upperwing in flight showed no traces of immaturity. Upperwing pattern was perfect, though we were still worried about the bill colour and short legs. Thankfully it hung around long enough to eventually start screaming its head off in true Fleetwood Mac fashion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Viqr6KHwJjc
Sub-adult Caspian Gull, same individual as on Tuesday, 4th winter type bird (black on primary coverts and two black 'spots' in the tail).
Usual 2nd winter Iceland Gull
Juvenile Glaucous Gull (very pale bird, including the head)
11 Yellow-legged Gull, all adults apart from one 2nd winter
Atleast 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls, with 3/4 hoods paired up and displaying
Single Pink-footed Goose headed low west calling.
Single Oystercatcher.
4 Bullfinch
A nice total of 10 gull species on the bank today.
2 Ad. Caspian Gulls(1 with grey/pinkish legs and one with olivey green/yellow legs)
9 Yellow Legged Gulls
2nd w. Iceland gull
ad Med Gull
plus a bird we saw yesterday with a very pale mantle,as pale as argenteus, and yellow legs(not a y.l. gull)and a bird with michaelis mantle colour,yellow legs,but with a extremely streaky head(not a y.l.gull either)
No doubt Tom will be posting some pics of the birds in the near future.
11 Yellow-legged Gulls (all adults except for a single first winter)
Adult Caspian Gull (normal sized)
2nd winter (3rd calendar year) Iceland Gull
First winter Mediterranean Gull (green colour ringed with white digits too distant to read, metal ring on right tibia)
A few Siskin and Skylark over
7 Bullfinch in one flock
Single Curlew on the bank
An adult Caspian Gull was seen just before the tide came in.A smallish but aggressive individual, it chased away nearby gulls and called often.Interestingly it had probably the most pronounced darker mantle grey shade than any of the other adults I`ve seen here this winter.Paler than YLG and argentatus but clearly a shade darker than argenteus.No black markings on the bill, just a small red gonys spot.All white tip to p10 and a nice band across p5 with obvious grey tongues too.
A small 2CY Iceland Gull was present for most of the session.Really dinky and short-legged with a dusky head and breast contrasting with much paler wing coverts.
Ten Yellow-legged Gulls were picked out( 9adults and a single 2CY).One of the adults had an orange or red darvic ring on its left leg.It was too distant however to read the black lettering on the ring.
The leucistic Herring Gull was also present.
At least three Bullfinches were in the bushes.
I'd certainly agree that you'd think it not too long before one or two are found in a breeding colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls (has there been such a record at Walney before now?). Roll on more hybrids
The colour-ringed bird today was unusual in that the metal ring on the right leg was on the tibia, not something I'd noticed before as they usually seem ringed on the tarsus
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 07:43:19 PM
16 Yellow-legged Gulls consisted of only a single first-winter and the rest all adults. Each individual had particular features (yellow leg hue, variation in bill size and/or black subterminal marks, occasional remnants of streaking, overall size etc etc) and certainly no cross counting occurred. Atleast 3 other adults were left as we couldn't be sure we hadn't already counted them! One adult was colour-ringed but the actual code could not be read.
Single adult argentatus Herring Gull with definate yellow legs.
Lots more adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls present.
Leucistic adult Herring Gull present again.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 04:23:07 PM
Cracking, absolute classic first winter Caspian Gull late morning and then not seen again (photos to follow).
11 Yellow-legged Gulls, all adults except from a single first winter and two of the adults bore metal rings!
Single juvenile Iceland Gull, a fresh looking and lovely marked bird.
Completely leucistic adult Herring Gull, a beltin' looking bird.
10 Yellow Legged Gulls(9ads & a 2nd w. bird)
a leucistic Herring Gull(probably 3rd w)
good numbers of gulls throughout,although quite difficult for the first couple of hours as most birds were face on until the wind changed direction after lunchtime.
6 Yellow-legged Gulls (5 adult and a single first-winter)
1 juvenile Iceland Gull, the same individual first seen on the 6th January
9+ Tufted Duck
81 Coot
I had an adult type ( maybe your 4thw?) Caspian(again distantly) and a nice 1stw bird too.Saw the rather pale juv Iceland and also had a 2ndw rather briefly.Four adult and a 1stw Yellow-legged Gulls were also picked out but the most interesting bird was a really dark 1stw Herring Gull with an all dark tail and very dense barring on the under and uppertail coverts.It had a dull pinkish base to the bill as well.Certainly a good Smithsonianus candidate and well worth searching for again, if only to get decent pics of, mine being very poor, distant efforts.
I`ll check for any other birders present next time I go!
cheers, Pete.
4th w. Caspian Gull
1st w. Iceland Gull(seen twice,same bird as Ian and I had last week)
6 ad. Y.L. Gulls
ad Med Gull(with large white plastic ring on leg,unfortunately too far away to read
lettering on it)
Good numbers of gulls throughout with a small increase of LBB Gulls than previous.
nowt late pm arrived at high tide,no richmond bank to view
6 wigeon
20 linnets
a few redwing