November 14, 2015, 2:11 pm
Judging by the numbers of Caspian Gulls being reported this week there has been a small arrival of these smart looking gulls. Albert Village Lake and Dungeness seem to be the top spots, but I haven't done too badly at Shawell. I have seen six different ones in a week Including the colour-ringed first-winter I saw last Saturday.![]() |
| Fourth-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, 14/11/15 |
The weather has been a bit challenging, but British 'sea-gulling' is not an activity for lightweights. In the video below you'll see the sort of conditions on offer this week - a far cry from the The Algarve in September. I've had it worse so no point moaning on.
As well as the Caspian Gulls it was nice to record another Norwegian colour-ringed Herring Gull. Winter is on its way judging by the number of Herring Gulls arriving and the Great Black-backed Gull count exceeded fifty today.
Below is a vid
eo of some of the Caspian Gulls seen. Some were quite distant, so you will need to practice your observation skills.
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November 23, 2015, 12:40 pm
I was up an about early on Saturday morning due to my insomniac wife crashing and banging about downstairs. Peeling back the curtains to see what the weather was doing I was quite surprised to see that it was snowing. The snow didn't last long but the freezing weather conditions were in for the day.
I started my adventure at Cotesbach Landfill site, but I was staring into the jaws of a bitter north wind, so I soon retired to the relative shelter of the hedge near to Shawell A5 Lagoons.
The main highlight was seeing the same small female Caspian Gull that I first saw on November 14th. All of the regular features of a Caspian Gull were on show but in miniature.
Seeing the pattern of the primary feathers on a Caspian Gull is often quite difficult, which is why good photographs are essential when trying to persuade a records committee that your identification is sound. I was lucky to get a photo of the upperwing of this one which is never easy at Shawell.
As you can see the longest primary on its right wing has a nice white tong on the inner side of the feather and a large white tip. There is still a little black near the tip of P10, but this should disappear as it reaches full adulthood. A few other dark markings on its wing reveal that it isn't quite fully mature.![]() |
| Sub-adult Female Caspian Gull |
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| Sub-adult Female Caspian Gull |
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nother highlight this week was the re-sighting of a Herring Gull I first saw in December 2013. It was colour ringed in north-west Norway and as well as visiting Shawell it has also been recorded at Vardo at the very top of Norway.
Lets hope it warms up a bit for next weekend, but maybe a ''white-winger might just have arrived on the north wind and be heading for Shawell.
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November 28, 2015, 10:13 am
Once again it was bitter cold at Cotesbach Landfill site, as the wind was cold and it had gained momentum over the open spaces of the quarry. One of the first birds I saw this morning was the wing-tagged Red Kite that was present at the site during the summer. He looked much smarter now that his old worn out feathers have been replaced with a new set.
I positioned myself in a spot that overlooks a mound of earth that the gulls like to rest on and I wasn't to be disappointed. I managed to read 12 colour-rings mostly on Herring Gulls. Much to my surprise, I re-found the Finnish colour-ringed Herring Gull that I first saw in 2014 was back in the area. I can't remember noticing that it had yellow legs last time, but it legs were very yellow compared to the pink legs of the other Herring Gulls close by. It also had a large white tip to its longest primary - another feature of omissus.![]() |
Herring Gull C02CN, Cotesbach Landfill Site - Ringed at Ruovesi, Pirkanmaa (61°51'N 23°52'E)
Finland as an Adult on 29/05/2007 |
Amongst the gulls at the tip were a couple of Caspian Gulls, a fourth-winter seen previously and a new first-winter. At the A5 Lagoons a splendid third-winter graced the bank between the lagoons.![]() |
| Third-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, 28/11/15 |
Digiscoping can be difficult at the landfill site due to the wind and the gulls can be distant. The gulls are spread out across a wide area as the site is a massive sand quarry and a landfill site. I can get close to the gulls near the tipping area, but on sunny days I am staring straight into the sun and it was quite sunny first thing. That said I usually manage to at least get a record shot. What I can't do is compete with the super pictures Michael Southcott and the boys are getting down at Dungeness in Kent.
I have seen two new first-winters this week plus the red colour-ringed first winter (10P6) that I saw earlier in the month. The un-ringed ones had differences in the greater coverts, so I am confident they are different gulls. Caspian Gull are real shape changers - one minute they can look sleek, long winged, long legged, small headed and long narrow billed, but the next dumpy, shorter winged etc.![]() |
| First-Winter Caspian Gull, Cotesbach LF Site, 28/11/15 |
As you can see this one has nice dark brown Greater Coverts with pale tips to just the outer ones. Compare this to the one below that I saw on 25/11/15. That one had more white in the Greater Coverts and had replaced more of its Median Coverts. Both smart looking gulls, which sadly the photos don't do justice to. They looked much better through my scope honest.Both images are screen photos from Shacky videos.![]() |
| First-winter Caspian Gull, Cotesbach LF Site, 25/11/15 |
The sub-adult below appears to be a new one, as I've compared it to the others I've seen lately and it appears to be different. The only suggestion it isn't an adult was a small dark mark on one of the tertials and its coverts didn't quite look right for a full adult.![]() |
| Sub-Adult Caspian Gull, Cotesbach LF Site, 28/11/15 |
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December 31, 2015, 1:09 pm
I finished work at 13:00 today and rather than rush home I tried my luck at Shawell hoping for a 'white-winger'. No 'white-winger', but there was plenty of gulls at the A5 Lagoons including three pristine adult Yellow-legged Gulls and a smart adult Caspian Gulls.
Its been challenging this month at Shawell. The gulls have rarely stayed in one place for long and have often been using the fields near the M1 motorway where they are difficult to view. Hopefully they will settle back in to their normal routine in 2016 and a few 'white-wingers' will arrive.
I managed to grab a few images of one of the adult Caspian Gulls in flight.
Anyway I wish you all a Happy New Year - lets hope it's a good one!
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Amongst the gulls at Shawell today I spotted a third-winter with the look of a Caspian Gull about it. However, it wasn't a classic and its short wings and slightly odd shaped bill left me underwhelmed.
It was having a wash and brush up and every now and then it would flap its wings hard enough to get it airborne for a few seconds. As its legs left the water I noticed it had a German green colour-ring. Eventually it flew to the shore and gave me a few seconds to read its colour-ring before it flew to the bank between the two lagoons.
Its colour ring read XZDX. I emailed Ronald Klien in Germany and he replied quickly (technology is quite amazing as I did that whilst watching the gulls). XZDX was considered to be most likely to be a hybrid and my observations agree with that. It looks like it has a bit of Herring Gull blood in it.
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Hybrid Caspian Gull XZDX
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XZDX is quite a traveller as you can see from its life-history that is displayed below:
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January 9, 2016, 11:49 am
I was fired up this morning and determined to have a good day. The forecast didn't look good, but he who dares and all that.
I started the day scanning through the gulls resting in the massive quarry. I didn't count the Herring Gulls, but there may well have been up to 3000 present. A lone third-winter Caspian Gull was amongst the first group, but surely there must be more? Sure enough by the end of the day my total had reached seven, which may well be a record for Shawell. The adult I saw on Thursday was still present, but pride of place goes to the four first-winters that helped brighten up a dull day. First-winters in January and February can be really smart looking.![]() |
| First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, 09/01/16 |
I pride myself on almost always getting a record shot of my best bird finds, but the record shot I got today stretches the title record shot to the limit. A juvenile Glaucous Gull was resting by one of the distant pools at Cotesbach Landfill site. No problem viewing it through my 70 power scope (some sort of fancy American/Swarovski speak ;-), but photographing it was a different prospect. Who can argue with the result?![]() |
| Juvenile Glaucous Gull, Cotesbach Landfill Site, 09/01/15 |
As well as a record breaking seven Caspian Gulls I also saw another German ringed gull, however, I could only read three of the four letters that made up the code. It was either a hybrid at the Herring Gull end of the scale or a Herring Gull. Hopefully the scheme coordinators can pin point which bird it is.
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All those listed below are considered to be different individuals, however, some duplication is inevitable:
- Second-winter, January 6th (also November 12th & 13th 2015: 2015/35)
- Adult, January 7th, 9th & 15th
- Third-winter, January 7th & 9th
- Second-winter, January 9th
- First-winter, January 9th
- Second-winter, January 9th
- Second-winter, January 9th
- First-winter, January 9th
- Third-winter, January 15th
- Adult, January 15th
- Adult, January 16th
- First-winter, January 16th
- Adult, January 21st & 23rd
- Adult, January 21st
- Second-winter, January 23rd
- Second-winter, January 23rd
- Adult, January 27th
- First-winter, January 27th
- Adult, January 29th (swollen neck)
Hybrids:- Third-winter, January 2nd (German colour ring XZDX)
- Adult, January 7th
- Second-winter, January 9th
- First-winter, January 16th
- Second-winter, January 23rd
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January 16, 2016, 11:35 am
The place I am allowed to view the landfill site is useless in the morning if the sun is out. This morning I arrived just before the sun was above the horizon. Many gulls were already feeding and amongst them a juvenile Glaucous Gull appeared. There wasn't much time, as the sun was starting to make viewing difficult despite still being hidden. It was a smaller individual than last week's and its mantle was noticeably pale. I was able to take a short bit of video to at least record it. John Judge confirmed that out of the two juveniles roosting at Draycote Water one was smaller and paler on the upperparts.
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For best viewing of the video change the setting to HD.
Caspian Gulls were in short supply this weekend: only one adult was present in a field near Shawell Village and a first-winter was in the same field, but that one was most likely to be a hybrid. Its greater coverts were a bit too chequered for my liking and its scapulars were a bit heavily marked too.
Last week I made one visit to Shawell and managed to see three Caspian Gulls, two adults and a third-winter.
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| Third-winter Caspian Gull, 15/01/16 |
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| Female Caspian Gull, 15/01/16 |
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January 17, 2016, 8:58 am
My plan last night was to go into Leicester today to sort out a battery problem with my laptop. This morning when I checked my laptop the battery warning had disappeared and it was working, so I decided to save my money for a bit longer.
I now had time on my hands, so I decided to go over to Brascote Pits. By the time I reached the end of my road I had changed my mind and decided to go and have a look and see if there were any gulls at the old British Shoe factory.
It had snowed over night so it was quite cold. I hadn't been on site more than five minutes when a flock of gulls appeared in the air above the green wall that hides the food waste recycle plant. I was most surprised to see a white-winger amongst them. A quick check through my bins confirmed that it was a juvenile Glaucous Gull - get in there!![]() |
| Juvenile Glaucous Gull |
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| Juvenile Glaucous Gull |
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| Juvenile Glaucous Gull |
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| Juvenile Glaucous Gull |
If one wasn't enough, another 'white-winger' flew over my head from the roof that the gulls nest on and disappeared over the wall into the recycle plant. Luckily I got some photos and, although I originally thought it was an adult Glaucous Gull, it turned out to be a sub-adult, as it bill is still immature looking. I got several more chances to view and savour its pearly white wing tips. Two in one day - not bad! ![]() |
| Fourth-Winter Glaucous Gull |
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| Fourth-Winter Glaucous Gull |
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| Fourth-Winter Glaucous Gull |
Caspian Gull flight photos from here next?
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January 21, 2016, 12:55 pm
I decided to take advantage of the cold snap and go and enjoy a few gulls on the ice at Shawell today.
First though I nipped over to Braunstone to try and get some more pictures of the juvenile Glaucous Gull, as it is still frequenting the Casepak recycle plant. Alas I didn't get any views of it, but I did spot a nice Mediterranean Gull resting on top of the large green cladded fence.![]() |
| Mediterranean Gull, Casepak Recycle Centre 21/01/16 |
The lure of the ice at Shawell soon saw me hurrying away from Leicester. At the A5 lagoons it was standing room only on the ice. A smart adult Caspian Gull was on the bank, but partially hidden by overhanging trees. With lots of legs on the ice it was inevitable that some would have colour rings. In the end I read 17 including the Herring Gull from Finland that I saw before Christmas.
I was hoping for a 'white-winger', but I got two. My total for January is now five different Glaucous Gulls in Leicestershire. I seem to be on a one man mission to de-value the species in the County!
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| Juvenile Glaucous Gull |
Now sit back and enjoy a video of the two Glaucous Gulls that were at Shawell today - much warmer sat in front of your PC. Don't forget to change the quality to HD.
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January 22, 2016, 2:55 pm
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January 23, 2016, 12:52 pm
After all the ice and Glaucous Gulls on Thursday it was back to normal at Shawell today. That said three Caspian Gulls were good to see - an adult, and two second-winters. The adult I saw on Thursday but the second-winters were both new birds.
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Second-Winter Caspian Gull
Second-Winter Caspian Gull (same as above)
Second-Winter Caspian Gull |
Below is a video of the second-winter which is worth a watch as it is such a smart looking gull. Remember best watched on Youtube with the quality setting on HD.
Enjoy!
As always I was entertained looking for colour rings and amongst yesterday's crop was a first-winter Great Black-backed Gull from Norway. It great that these colour rings help us understand where these birds come from.![]() |
| Norwegian Ringed Great Black-backed Gull JJ408 |
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January 27, 2016, 1:04 pm
There wasn't much action initially at Shawell this lunchtime, but a group of around 100 gulls eventually arrived and amongst them were two maybe three Caspian Gulls.
The first was a small adult female, which could easily have been overlooked. Her Caspian Gull features were quite subtle. Luckily she was having a good wash, which is always followed by a wing flap. I managed to capture the underwing primary pattern that, although a bit blurred, shows the typical primary pattern. The long white tip to the longest primary (P10) is visible.![]() |
| Female Caspian Gull |
Shortly after the adult, I spotted a first-winter. The photo doesn't really do her justice. I would be great to be able to get closer to the gulls.As the gulls began to climb out onto the bank I spotted a gull, which had some Caspian Gull like features. Its bill was long and parallel edged, its legs were long and its primary pattern looked OK for Caspian Gull, but structurally I wasn't convinced. It head was a bit bulky and its eyes looked quite large although quite dark. It is probably a hybrid Caspian x Herring Gull, but its difficult to be certain, as it could be just an odd Herring Gull.There are still thousands of gulls in the area, so hopefully some more 'white-wingers' soon.
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January 29, 2016, 2:01 pm
I happened to be at Shawell again at lunchtime today and just had enough time to have a quick look at the gulls on the A5 Lagoons. The first gull I looked at was a first-winter Herring Gull with an orange colour ring. It was ringed by the North Thames Gull Group - quite recently I presume.
Shortly after that I came across an adult Caspian Gull. It had a large bulge in its shoulder area and judging by the way it constantly flexed its neck it must have been quite uncomfortable. This is the nineteenth Caspian Gull that I have seen at Shawell this month, which is easily a record. With a bit of luck tomorrow I should see the twentieth. Over the past few years my annual total has been about 40 at the site, but by the looks of it 2016 is going to be a bumper year. This is perhaps to be expected due to the population increase being recorded in both Germany and Poland.
I guess it won't be much longer until the status of Caspian Gull is the same as Yellow-legged Gull in the UK.![]() |
| Adult Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons - Not the Bulge in its Shoulder |
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February 3, 2016, 1:35 pm
So far this year I've done pretty well with Caspian Gulls and especially first-winter birds, which are my favourites.
Last Saturday I returned to Casepak recycle centre by the old British Shoe site in Braunstone, Leicester. I was hoping to get another chance to photograph the juvenile Glaucous Gull, but alas there was no sign of it. I spotted an immature gull with a very white head and underparts flying between the recycle compound and a nearby roof. I reacted quite quickly and managed to get a series of images of it. As I suspected it was a first-winter bird, but could it be identified from the photos? I placed a series of images on Facebook European Gulls group. I asked if it could be a first-winter Caspian Gull. Initially there were comments in agreement and then another group member asked why it wasn't a Yellow-legged Gull. I posted a better image showing the underwing a bit clearer. He quickly changed his opinion to most probably Caspian Gull. Another comment said he was concerned about the lack of streaking on the neck. I managed to find examples of Caspian Gulls with the same sparse amount of neck streaking. The go to Caspian Gull man said he thought it was most likely a Caspian Gull, but thought the tail was poorly marked.
After going through this process and searching through many photos I personally consider it to be a first-winter Caspian Gull. As I've said before there is a staggering amount of variation amongst immature gulls.
There is a considerable amount of overlap between Caspian Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls. As a rule first-winter Caspian Gulls have whiter underwings, but there are some Yellow-legged Gulls of the same age with equally pale underwings. The combination of a pale window on the inner primaries with pale spots on the outer webs; pale grey mantle; small white head, the shape of the black tail band of the outer tail and the pale underwings all point to Caspian Gull. In some images the bill looks chunky, but in others it looks longish and parallel edged.
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| Presumed First-Winter Caspian Gull |
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| Presumed First-Winter Caspian Gull |
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| Presumed First-Winter Caspian Gull |
At Shawell I get a bit more time to study the gulls and the first-winter Caspian Gull in the video below posed nicely allowing me to record some decent video.
So for all you armchair gull watchers here's something for you to enjoy:
Best watched by clicking on the Youtube logo and switching the quality to HD.
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February 6, 2016, 8:09 am
Regular followers of my waffle will know that I enjoy trips to The Algarve. One of the best sites for birds is the Salgados Lagoons or Pera Marsh. The large lagoon at the site is an Internationally important staging post for migrating birds. The lagoon has had a chequered history. I have heard stories of it being drained to water the nearby golf course and being disturbed by 4x4 enthusiasts.
Recently efforts have been made to make it better for birds and birders, but now planning has been passed to develop the area. The Algarve does not need more hotels or golf courses, as there is already more availability than customers.
If you care about migrating birds please sign the petition:
Bluethroats winter around the perimeter of the lake and everywhere you look wildfowl and herons via for your attention. Scrubland to the west of the lagoons is a magnet to small migrant birds. Sub-alpine Warblers gather there in small numbers during autumn along with flycatchers, shrikes and the increasingly uncommon Turtle Dove.
Where will the Hoopoe feed if this habitat is concreted over?
Video of a Hoopoe at Salgados turning on a six pence:
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February 12, 2016, 10:22 am
I was close to Shawell A5 Lagoons this afternoon and it would have been rude not to have a quick look at the gulls. A quick scan revealed nothing of interest other than a colour-ringed LBBG.
I was just about to leave when I spotted a really smart juvenile Iceland Gull on the water. It must only just have arrived, as it wasn't there during my first sweep through the gulls. It had dark eyes and a more or less black bill so it's a juvenile. The primaries were completely white, so L. g. glaucoides rather than L. g. kumlieni. Kumlien's Gull can have white primaries without obvious markings apparently, but in the UK it's an Iceland Gull.This is the 12th Iceland Gull I've seen at Shawell since I started my long term study back in 2012. I have been lucky enough to have found 10 of them myself.
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February 18, 2016, 1:46 pm
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February 20, 2016, 10:46 am
I have been biding my time waiting for the price of the Cannon 7D mk 2 to come down. Also I was undecided whether or not to change to a compact camera for digiscoping, but in the end I decided to stick with a DSLR as I can use this for both techniques.
I checked the prices and decided, as the mk 2 was now cheaper than I paid for my mk1 in 2010, it was time to purchase.
So what improvements have I experienced? Well the autofocus on birds in flight has improved massively. It grabs the focus instantly and allows me to track the birds in focus much better than the earlier model did. The image quality also appears to have improved. Video quality has also improved, as has the ability to focus using Live View when digiscoping.
This morning I went over to Braunstone Frith to try photographing gulls in flight. Despite the very dull conditions I still managed to get more images in sharp focus than I am used to.
Below are a couple of images from this morning:![]() |
| Common Gull |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull |
After putting the camera through it paces I headed off to Shawell to do the WeBS count. There wasn't that many gulls on the A5 Lagoons, but one of them was the juvenile Glaucous Gull that has been around since January.![]() |
| Juvenile Glaucous Gull |
Another regular also put in appearance. The second-winter Caspian Gull in the photo below has been visiting Shawell since November 2015.
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| Second-Winter Caspian Gull |
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