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BACK TO THE MANCHESTER BIRDING WEBSITE HOMEPAGE -> Manchester Birding Forum -> GREATER MANCHESTER BIRD SIGHTINGS -> PENNINGTON FLASH.
Post Info TOPIC: PENNINGTON FLASH.
Ian McKerchar


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RE: PENNINGTON FLASH.
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Earlier this morning:

 

Male Brambling on the mulch pile at the back of Horrocks Hide

2 Oystercatcher

11 Pochard

 

Info thanks to Bill Harrison

 

 



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Steven Heywood


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Couple of hours' worth of testing my Christmas present gloves 1:40pm 3:40pm. Of note:

  • 2 oystercatchers
  • 1 second-Winter yellow-legged gull
  • 9 goldeneye
  • 14 reed buntings and 2 willow tits on Bunting Hide
  • Kingfisher on the brook as you walk into the car park


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JOHN TYMON


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In the Roost tonight of note 

2 Adult Yellow Legged Gull

2 Adult Mediterranean Gull

Roost was aborted for me as I was fed up of the single boat criss /crossing the flash than came on at 3pm surely there should be some restriction when a site is used by so many gulls ,that boats should stop and hour before dusk ,and I think at one time single boats were not allowed to sail on their own ,as there is no rescue boat on if anything goes wrong,seems there are no rules these days . 



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colin davies


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Two adult Mediterranean gulls in the roost this evening, both with almost full hoods. 



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Ian McKerchar


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500 Jackdaw out of the roost this morning. Also present were 12 Goosander, 2 Shelduck, 56 Gadwall, 3 Pochard, 2 Oystercatcher.

 

Info thanks to  Barry Hulme



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JOHN TYMON


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A Good afternoon at the flash 

firstly on my own

1 Little Egret 

2 Waxwing - 14.55 on the south bank ,flew west towards the boat clubs only my second ever at the flash . 

In the Roost( with Colin Davies and Ray Banks)

2 Adult Yellow Legged Gulls- 1 was the regular 4th Winter/5th CY Bird that has been at the flash in the winter on and off since it was a Juvenile

Iceland Gull- 1 3rd Winter

Mediterranean Gull - 1 Adult

Black Headed Gull - 1 Leucistic bird in the roost

 

Picture the regular 4th W/ 5cy Yellow Legged Gull

 

 



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Ian McKerchar


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The 3rd winter Iceland Gull roosted tonight, along with an adult Mediterranean Gull.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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Craig Higson


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08:00 - 10:30 in Horrocks hide this morning was very quiet. However, the sight of 30 adult Great Black-backed Gulls at the end of the spit is something I don't think I've ever seen before in more than 20 years birding the site. Also nice to see 6 Pochard, which also feels a bit weird to be saying, seeing as not that long ago I'd have been counting into 3 figures.

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Paul Richardson


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Quick stroll for about an hour on the south side of Penny 9.30-10.30 mainly Aspull Common end

Willow Tit - 4 with 2 behaving like a pair

Siskin - 7 in a tall bush on edge of wildflower meadow which has quite a few alders. They were not feeding at the time - kind of roosting and preening, making a pleasant twittering noise! I don't think I'd have spotted them otherwise. They sounded a bit like a rather muted group of House Sparrows!

Goldfinch - charm of about 25 feeding on ash keys.
Treecreeper - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Long Tailed Tit - 5

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Ian McKerchar


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Late news for yesterday evening when a third winter Caspian Gull roosted which appeared to probably be the ringed bird from Redgate, Gorton X106 (though ring not seen).

Also an adult Yellow-legged Gull and Mediterranean Gull.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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Gordon Newman


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Little Egret in Ramsdale's mid morning viewed from canal bank as I was passing on my way to Lightshaw


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JOHN TYMON


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Also this morning 2 little egret in the brook by the golf course brings east of teal hide and 40 redwing in the same area

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Ian McKerchar


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So far this morning:

adult Iceland Gull still present in the roost early this morning, flew off east at 08:10am

1 Woodcock

2 Oystercatcher

4 Pochard

1 Shelduck

67 Gadwall

12 Siskin

7 Lesser Redpoll

9 Goosander

Info thanks to Bill Harrison and Barry Hulme

 



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JOHN TYMON


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Good Gull roost tonight at Pennington Flash with Colin Davies and Phil Rhodes were we managed to find 2 Iceland Gulls ,1 Adult and 1x 3rd Winter an Adult Yellow Legged Gull and a Adult Mediterranean Gull ,so even though it was freezing it was a good afternoon .

pictures the Adult and 3rd winter Iceland Gull digiscoped and a landscape of the roosters



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colin davies


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3rd win Iceland gull in the roost tonight, also adult winter Mediterranean gull and leucistic black-headed gull. A very small roost tonight, and nothing came very close to Green Lane.



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Ian McKerchar


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The 3rd winter Iceland Gull roosted tonight, along with an adult Mediterranean Gull.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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JOHN TYMON


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Massive Gull Roost tonight but only thing of note was 1x adult Yellow Legged Gull and 1x 2nd Winter Yellow Legged Gull.



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steven burke


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I managed to spot the 2 iceland gulls in the roost, I was viewing from next to horrocks hide opposite from Colin & phil.
Also a peregrine falcon was over the flash probably keeping an eye on the lapwings that were flying around.
Sparrowhawk low over the flash also.

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Phil Cunliffe


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11:00 to 13:00 today: Pied Wagtail, Goldeneye, Canada Goose, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Oystercatcher, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lapwing, Cormorant, Carrion Crow, Black Headed Gull, Moorhen, Magpie, Great Crested Grebe, Chaffinch, Shoveler, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Robin, Gadwall, Goosander, Long Tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Wren (heard only), Nuthatch, Willow Tit, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, Stock Dove, Coal Tit, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and last but not least Great Tit.

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colin davies


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Two Iceland gulls currently in roost, adult and 3rd winter. Also little egret in Ramsdales earlier.

With Phil Rhodes at the roost.

Photos of 3rd win Iceland gull.

 



-- Edited by colin davies on Saturday 5th of January 2019 05:12:26 PM

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Ian McKerchar


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Third winter Iceland Gull and an adult Yellow-legged Gull present early this morning, probably left over from the overnight roost.

Info thanks to Bill Harrison



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JOHN TYMON


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PM

Wigeon- 1 male

Pochard- 4

Goldeneye-16

Great Crested Grebe-19

Little Grebe-2

Oystercatcher-2 

In the Gull roost

Yellow Legged Gull - 1 Adult

Iceland Gull - 1 x 3 w came in very late to the roost

Caspian Gull- 1 1st winter (looked like the one from 5 weeks ago)

 

 



-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 1st of January 2019 07:08:58 PM

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Ian McKerchar


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Female Common Scoter present this morning, along with 2 Oystercatcher and 26 Pink-footed Geese over west.

Info thanks to Bill Harrison



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JOHN TYMON


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Of note this morning 1adult Yellow legged gull and 2 Oystercatcher.

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PHIL GREENWOOD


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Sorry for my post getting curtailed. Only the Siskin were at the feeding station hide.

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PHIL GREENWOOD


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Late morning I managed just 1 Oystercatcher. Also a lone Pink foot over the flash.
10 Goldeneye, 20 Goosander, 1 Little Egret, 1 male Pochard and 5+ Siskin at the feeding station hide, or whatever it

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Craig Higson


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Very very quiet this morning. Two Oystercatchers (one the resident bird) best this morning.

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Ian McKerchar


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The third winter Iceland Gull roosted again this evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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Ian McKerchar


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Oystercatcher still knocking about this morning but quiet otherwise on a walk around.



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colin davies


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Third winter Iceland gull in the roost again tonight, also a possible adult yellow-legged gull.

Late on, 20 minutes after sunset, we picked up a very odd looking gull, basically an immature (1st win?) lesser black-back but with a bright white head. Probably just an abberrant lesser black-back but worth a look if anybody is doing the roost in the next few days. Photo attached.

 

 



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JOHN TYMON


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4 Hours round the North bank with Karl Bishop

of note

Reed Bunting - 26

Gadwall - 126 (possibly the largest number ive had at the flash)

Goosander- 21

Great Black Backed Gull -21

Shoveler- 26

Goldeneye- 19

Nuthatch-2

plus the usuals



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Ian McKerchar


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3rd winter Iceland Gull roosted again yesterday evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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Ian McKerchar


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3rd winter Iceland Gull roosted this evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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Ian McKerchar


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Highlights so far this morning:

1 Little Egret

300 Lapwing

65 Gadwall

Info thanks to Barry Hulme



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JOHN TYMON


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roost done with Colin Davies

In the Roost tonight

Iceland Gull - 1 x 3rd Winter

Yellow Legged Gull- 2 Adults   

Mediterranean Gull - 1 Adult 

also of note today

Kingfisher-2

Sparrowhawk-1

Song thrush - 12 on one field on the south side

Buzzard-2

Lapwing-c150

Oystercatcher-1

Goosander 19





-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 20th of December 2018 09:12:32 PM

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Ian McKerchar


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As I see it there is certainly no argument over the identification of this gull, discussion yes, but either way if it evolves any further could it please be continued on a separate thread on the discussion forum where it could be continued at length as necessary smile



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Dave Cropper


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Without wanting to get into the argument over this particular individual bird, for those birders who saw the bird at Sale WP recently, the fact that it was SO white-headed made it easy to locate amongst the other large gulls and then enable a study of all the other features to confirm the identity. (Without the need of photographic evidence).

I have probably seen tens of thousands of Yellow-legged Gulls in range in Europe over the last 20 years but have struggled to get DEFINITE sightings in the UK - they are not as easy as people may now think. 



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Alex Lees


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JOHN TYMON wrote:

 I am happy that its a Yellow Legged Gull ,in fact ive no daupts about it ,I have been watching it for 2 weeks plus ,unfortunately I have been the only one apart from Phil doing the roosts in the main this Winter and I am sure I am capable of identifying adult Yellow Legged Gull and other ages of YLG in the field  , also Caspian as well which I have found the last 3 at least at the flash. Don't always go off the one photograph posted lighting conditions can play tricks I have sent shots of that bird in between LBBG, and Argentatus Herring and its spot on in Mantle colour in the correct light ,Ian has had many more pics of this bird off me and has posted it in the Gallery also as Yellow Legged Gull on the main site ,Phil has also seen it on several occasions without me and its been posted as Yellow legged Gull . It Looks nothing like a Hybrid either to me but I have watched it for hours in the field.  

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Wednesday 19th of December 2018 03:29:17 PM

 Hi John

Please don't take offence at my questioning, and even more importantly please don't stop posting pictures, and more than one for tricky birds - do you have others of this bird? The whole point of internet fora is to promote discussion and our knowledge of the ecology and identification of these birds improves iteratively one bird at a time. I am not a gull guru but see enough of them to know they are very hard and routinely send images to friends to get a second opinion, in your case because if it is a YLGU then I needed to rethink my search image for them. My interest is in understanding the community ecology of gulls and where they are in space and time.  It would be very useful if more rather than less people posted pics of purported YLGUs as we would expect them to be potentially outnumbered by hybrids which superficially resemble YLGulls https://www.flickr.com/photos/fyldebirdclub/28456601856/ sometimes very closely https://www.flickr.com/photos/fyldebirdclub/39426451414 and until we can identify them with some certainty these patterns of occurrence are occluded.  

A cursory glance at images of YLGUs from Iberia in Dec-Jan shows that birds with head streaking would be very unusual - https://ebird.org/media/catalog?bmo=12&taxonCode=yelgul1&mr=MCUSTOM&emo=1&q=Yellow-legged%20Gull%20-%20Larus%20michahellis and your bird also has a domed head which is more typical of LBBG - in addition to the subtleties of primary patterns. Mantle colour may be a good way of finding candidate YLGUs but it isn't a foolproof way of confirming that they are YLGUs. I saw quite a few in the states - see some purported hybrids here - https://ebird.org/media/catalog?bmo=12&taxonCode=x00057&mr=MCUSTOM&emo=1&q=Herring%20x%20Lesser%20Black-backed%20Gull%20(hybrid)%20-%20Larus%20argentatus%20x%20fuscus from the same period all with extensive head streaking.  

Some discussion of Pete's birds - thanks for posting - would be instructive...

best



-- Edited by Alex Lees on Thursday 20th of December 2018 10:40:25 AM

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Pete Kinsella


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Hi folks, I've read with interest this discussion on Yellow-legged Gulls or hybrids. I have visted the Viridor waste management centre at Atherton on a few occasions recently. There have been a few hybrids resembling Yellow-legged Gulls present there. I guess just like the 3rdw Iceland Gull that uses the Viridor site and then roosts at Pennington Flash, then maybe these hybrids may do the same? I've attached a few pics of the hybrids from Atherton. I realise these may be more appropriate on the Atherton thread, but thought they may provide some reference to the discussion on this thread,

                                  All the best,   Pete.



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Ian McKerchar


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A minimum of 71 Gadwall present this morning.

Info thanks to Barry Hulme 



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JOHN TYMON


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pete berry wrote:

Also the head streaking looks a bit too much for this time of year,yl gulls can show a bit of" pencil streaking" but only earlier in the autumn,by now it should really be white headed and the white mirrors look a little too big for yl gull?

 I am happy that its a Yellow Legged Gull ,in fact ive no daupts about it ,I have been watching it for 2 weeks plus ,unfortunately I have been the only one apart from Phil doing the roosts in the main this Winter and I am sure I am capable of identifying adult Yellow Legged Gull and other ages of YLG in the field  , also Caspian as well which I have found the last 3 at least at the flash. Don't always go off the one photograph posted lighting conditions can play tricks I have sent shots of that bird in between LBBG, and Argentatus Herring and its spot on in Mantle colour in the correct light ,Ian has had many more pics of this bird off me and has posted it in the Gallery also as Yellow Legged Gull on the main site ,Phil has also seen it on several occasions without me and its been posted as Yellow legged Gull . It Looks nothing like a Hybrid either to me but I have watched it for hours in the field.  I don't know who Chris Batty is either? probably a Gull Guru ,but I don't know him ,but he may know me ,I don't know everyone by name,same with Alex ,I may have met him but not sure, as I never seem to see anyone but Phil at the roost. ,and I tend to tread my own path and spend my hours in the field normally on my own . So probably best to for me not to post single shots of Yellow legged Gull in a post on here and just send them in with a Rarities form as I normally do,and as everyone else should ,no exceptions as we all make mistakes. I probably won't in future bother adding pics of rare gulls to the forum ,I will just do like everyone else and just post what I see as, I don't see many pics from many of the others claimed . I have seen Yellow Legged Gulls with head streaking at this time of year before.  

p.s

I do know Chris Batty, I  just had to think for a min ,I have spoken to him in the past but if hes had my picture its not come off me ,so someone else must have sent it him,which without my permission is not right.



-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Wednesday 19th of December 2018 03:29:17 PM

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pete berry


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Also the head streaking looks a bit too much for this time of year,yl gulls can show a bit of" pencil streaking" but only earlier in the autumn,by now it should really be white headed and the white mirrors look a little too big for yl gull?

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Alex Lees


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JOHN TYMON wrote:

 and the 2 yellow legged Gulls Digiscoped 

 

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 14th of December 2018 08:07:53 AM

I noticed the middle Yellow-legged Gull pic the other day which looks better for an adult LBBGxHEGU hybrid, given the head pattern and head shape, Chris Batty agreed and added 'long white tip to P10 is rare in michahellis away from the eastern Med' - hybrids seem to be far more abundant (by an order of magnitude) in the NW than actual YLGUs, which is surprising considering how regular YLGU is as close as the Peak District in late summer.

Anyone any thoughts?



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Shannon Llewellyn


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Day spent round here today. Bulk of the gull roost too distant to pick over with bins, but nothing unusual amongst those close enough in. Around the nature reserve and then up to the west bay and back:

3 willow tit
1+ water rail heard
16+ teal
60+ gadwall
15+ shoveler
70+ tufted duck
1 pochard
20+ goldeneye
32 goosander
1 shelduck
2 little grebe
c20 great crested grebe
1 oystercatcher
1 little egret
12+ grey heron
22+ cormorant
1 kestrel

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Ian McKerchar


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The third winter Iceland Gull (photo attached) and an adult Yellow-legged Gull roosted tonight.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

 



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JOHN TYMON


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In the Roost tonight of note

Yellow Legged Gull - 2 Adult

Mediterranean gull - 2 Adult

Iceland Gull - 1 x 3rd Winter- didn't come in until 4.10 pm

 

Picture Mediterranean Gull - Adult , and the 2 yellow legged Gulls Digiscoped 






-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 14th of December 2018 08:07:53 AM

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JOHN TYMON


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Wednesday pm in roost

Yellow Legged Gull - 1 Adult ( same small female type bird from last week)

Iceland Gull - 1 x 3rd Winter 

Mediterranean Gull- 2 Adult ,the regular and a new darker capped bird

 



-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 13th of December 2018 10:12:15 AM

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Ian McKerchar


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An adult Mediterranean Gull and 2 Ravens were present this morning.

Info thanks to Bill Harrison



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Ian McKerchar


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Third winter Iceland Gull roosted again this late afternoon.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes



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Ian McKerchar


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Usual third winter Iceland Gull roosted tonight along with an adult Mediterranean Gull.

Info and image thanks for Phil Rhodes

 



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