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Up on the Hill

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Adey Baker and I were hoping that the rough weather might have forced a few birds to take shelter on Croft Hill.

The small woodland area on the hill can attract migrants and a singing Willow Warbler raised our spirits as we climbed the entrance stile. We walked uphill following the edge of the wood and then descended the hill on the other side. A handy viewpoint gave us views of the heart of the wood and we could see that a few birds were sheltering from the wind. A couple of Spotted Flycatchers perched on some exposed branches, but wait a minute isn't that one a Pied Flycatcher? A female/first-winter Pied shared the shelter with three Spotted Flycatchers. Chiffchaffs chased each other around and a smart Lesser Whitethroat vied for our attention. A large warbler refused to show itself well enough to be identified, but that just added to the excitement.

Overhead a group of Swifts were heading for their winter quarters, but they paused to feed over the hill. House Martins were travelling with them, but their arrival hadn't gone un-noticed. An adult Hobby seared the air as it tried hard to catch one of the hirundines. The Hobby was only in view for precious seconds but Adey and I had had our breathe taken away by it - what a bird!

Adult Hobby, Croft Hill, August 21st 2016




Gannet at Thornton Reservoir

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It was too late to go for the Gannet at Thornton Reservoir when I noticed the bird news on Sunday night. It then appeared to be on its last legs last night, but tonight it was reported to be flying about.

After tea Dawn, Georgina and I took a leisurely drive over to Thornton. The ladies walked away from the car park and then rushed back to tell me they had seen it and it was flying. I had visions of it flying away high to the west and me not getting to see it. No fear it was soon back down on the water. Hopefully it will regain its strength and get away although it may need to feed first. It flew around several times whilst we were there.

Gannet, Thornton Reservoir, August 23rd 2016

Colour Ringed Caspian Gulls at Shawell

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I was over at Shawell last night and thousands of gulls were sheltering in the quarry from the strong wind that had built up. The viewing conditions are very good at present and I have read 53 colour rings in two early evening visits this week. Many intermedius Lesser Black-backed Gulls are there at present. I have read 10 Norwegian colour-rings so far this week.

Last night I spotted the regular third-summer Caspian Gull green colour-ring XNDJ and a new Polish one yellow PKXS (awaiting details).

The new Caspian Gull pitched down on the very end of the gull flock which made things easy. However, I didn't have long to view it, as one of the dumper truck drivers on overtime drove straight through the flock!

The photos below are poor quality screen grabs from the videos I made.

Adult or near-Adult Caspian Gull (PKXS), Shawell Quarry, (no general access) August 24th 2016

Third-Summer Caspian Gull (XNDJ), Shawell Quarry, (no general access) August 24th 2016


Croft Hill and Shawell

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I started off this morning with a walk on Croft Hill. I was hoping to find a few migrants. The light was poor, but a few birds were moving about. A pipit flew out of the trees landing briefly n the hawthorn hedge. It looked like a Tree Pipit. Hastily captured pictures, though blurred, showed very fine streaking on its flanks, a white belly and a nicely marked supercilium. This is not the first Tree Pipit I've seen in this part of the wooded area. It reappeared on the flycatcher tree a little while later. Chiffchaffs were flitting about everywhere and at least four Spotted Flycatchers sat low in the hedge. Alas no Redstart - maybe tomorrow?

Spotted Flycatcher, Croft Hill, August 27th 2016
Soon Shawell beckoned. My early evening visits this week had been really successful. I had already read over fifty colour rings this week, so the omens were good for today. At least 4500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were there - my best count since I started visiting regularly in 2012. Amongst them are many intermedius types. I have read 17 Norwegian colour-rings this week. Two of them were juvenile intermedius.

I read 25 colour rings today giving a total for the week of 77.

The Polish ringed Caspian Gull PKXS was amongst the hordes of gulls and the second-summer I saw on the 17th & 18th August was still about today.

PKXS was ringed as a chick in southern Poland on 25th May 2012. There have been previous sightings of this gull in Norfolk, Didcot and at Albion landfill site. The sighting at Albion landfill site was made by Steve Lister. PKXS is a small female Caspian Gull.

Polish Ringed Caspian Gull, PKXS, Shawell A5 Lagoons, August 27th 2016
Second-Summer Caspian Gull, August 27th 2016
The second-summer looks short legged in the photo, but I think some of that is a photographic illusion, as they looked OK through my scope.  It is replacing its longest primaries so it looks short winged.

Colour Ring reading Extravaganza

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A slight repeat of my last post but I am pleased with these latest images. 

Last week saw unprecedented numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Shawell area. At least 5000 were present many of which were intermedius from Norway. I read over 80 colour rings in total including many from Norway.

As well as the LBBGs I also saw a couple of Caspian Gulls with colour-rings - one from Germany and another from Poland.

PDXS put in another visit yesterday and I managed to get some better images. She was ringed as a chick in 2012 in southern Poland. 

Female Caspian Gull PKXS From Poland
Female Caspian Gull PKXS From Poland
German Ringed LBBG HXJ60

Yesterday, because there was no one around I managed to sneak up quite close to the gulls. I am not usually spoiled like this and have to accept that photography is very difficult at the site.

As well as the gulls I enjoyed good views of a Marsh Harrier. Unlike the Buzzards the gulls were not frightened and they gave it a real beating. No photograph but Chris Wiltshier was there to witness the sighting.

Juvenile Caspian Gull at Shawell Sand Quarry

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I'm sure this is beginning to look like its easy, but I'm really pleased that I can spot these beasts amongst the thousands of gull amassing at the site at present. These and other sightings of juvenile Caspian Gulls in England are the result of a great deal of effort over the years by the observers.

With practice the features shown by the juvenile gulls can broken down and most times an identification can be made. Its a bit like cracking a code.

I found this latest one this evening and for once it stayed around.

I'll add some more details over the next few days, but until then please enjoy watching this video. 
Remember, it's best viewed by watching in 720p HD. 




Good Times at Shawell

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I'm sure it looks very simple, but getting good enough views of the gulls to read colour-rings can be quite a challenge. At the moment 'it's fill your boots time' because the gulls are loafing about in the sand quarry close enough to see their legs clearly. It still needs 70x magnification to read the colour rings but trust me they are close. The gulls are viewable from the footpath that runs along Gibbett Lane.

Can You See the Caspian Gull?

Sundays are generally quiet, as the tip is closed, but a sizeable flock was present today. This made up for missing out yesterday due to the torrential rain. I read 31 colour-rings this morning, which is very good.

The highlight was a Norwegian Lesser Black-backed Gull (J61E) that was ringed at Heimlaukøya, Lemmingsvær, Tranøy, Troms, Norway on June 26th 2010. Its first migration was quite an epic as it travelled all the way to Tanji Bird Reserve, Western Division, The Gambia - a distance of 6625 km from its birthplace. I believe this is the furthest south a LBBG seen in Leicestershire has migrated.

First Migration of Lesser Black-backed Gull J61E

The Polish ringed Caspian Gull (PKXS) that I first saw on August 24th was amongst the flock of gulls in the quarry. It looks quite odd at present as it has dropped its longest primaries.


Polish Ringed Caspian Gull PKXS

Careful scrutiny of the gulls revealed a few young Yellow-legged Gulls. It only seems five minutes since the juveniles arrived, but many of them have moulted most of their scapular feathers.


First-Calendar Year Yellow-legged Gull

At the lagoons a few gulls had gathered including a Dutch ringed juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull and a first-winter Mediterranean Gull. The highlight, however, was a juvenile Hobby that put on quite a display as it flew low over the lagoon.


Dutch Ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 || 4) and Juvenile great Black-backed Gull
First-Winter Mediterranean Gull

American Wigeon Plus a Tricky Stint

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I missed out on seeing the American Wigeon at Cossington Meadows on my first visit, as it did a bunk for the full day. Luckily it was still there when I returned at the weekend. I had to drop off family members in Leicester city centre, so it was only a short drive to Cossington. The weather had been better on my first visit, but despite the dull light I soon picked it up. Its grey head with the dark flash was very easy to pick out amongst the Eurasian Wigeon.

Eclipse Drake American Wigeon, Cossington Meadows

After I had had my fill at Cossington I headed south to Shawell. The gull numbers had dropped from the peak earlier in the month. There were still quite a few colour-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gulls to look at plus a tricky juvenile gull that was probably a LBBG, but not a typical one.

Steve Nichols arrived in the afternoon and after a while something disturbed the assembled gulls and Lapwings. Whilst I was searching for the cause of their upset I noticed four small waders coming in from our left. We could see that one was a Ruff and another was a Ringed Plover. They headed to the shore and I kept my eye on the two unidentified waders. I quickly aimed my scope at them and gave directions to Steve. One was an obvious Dunlin and the other was significantly smaller and it was plain grey with a distinct breast band (pec band). Its legs were hidden, as it was crouching down the way waders do when a bird of prey is nearby. I noticed a slight pale supercilium in front of the eye and some faint dark marks on the feather centres of its upperparts. It was obviously a stint and Steve and I thought it was most likely a Temminck's Stint due to its plain grey upperparts and its full breast band. In less than a minute the four waders panicked and flew off very fast northwards.

Thinking about it later that evening I was concerned that the grey lacked any brown hues. I started to research whether a Little Stint could have a full breast band and discovered that some do. Very few photos show this feature on Little Stint, so I would say it is quite rare. It was an adult and adult Little Stints are not that common in Britain during autumn, but neither are Temminck's Stints. It would have helped if we could have seen the colour of its legs, but the cold grey colouration points more towards Little Stint and the fact that some can have a full breast band made us change our minds and conclude that it was actually a Little Stint. The paper by Peter Grant Identification of stints and peeps says that Little Stint can have a full breast band, but that the other similar waders don't share this feature apart from Temminck's Stint. For Temminck's it states plain grey-brown upperparts and this bird lacked any hint of brown, so I believe we ended up coming to the correct identification - it was a Little Stint.

It would have been better if it had stayed around, but that's birding!

Weekly Report From Shawell

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The number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls present at Shawell has fallen from the record breaking highs of earlier in the month. About 1200 were still present. Most of the intermedius LBBGs appear to have moved on although I still recorded three new colour ringed intermedius juveniles.

Adult Caspian Gulls were the feature of the week. The colour-ringed Polish bird first seen on August 20th was still around, plus another one that looked similar but lacked the colour ring and two less than perfect specimens.

Polish Ringed 5CY Caspian Gull, Yellow PKXS
Adult Caspian Gull

The next one is OK from a plumage point of view, but its not a perfect specimen.

Adult Caspian Gull

The last one is the oddest Caspian Gull type that I have seen so far. It is a sub-adult bird with an old 3 or 4cy type longest primary. Other than that it is quite mature. It was wearing a German colour ring and so it comes from a mixed colony. I think it best to add the caveat parentage unknown.





On Saturday afternoon a small influx of Great black-backed Gulls happened. In the morning there was just a single 2CY GBBG, but in the afternoon 20 adults arrived. There was also a noticeable arrival of Black-headed Gulls.

Adult Great Black-backed Gull

There are still plenty of Yellow-legged Gulls around with a best day count of 11 on Saturday.

Second-Winter Yellow-legged Gull

First-winter Caspian Gull at Shawell

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I popped over to Shawell A5 Lagoons after work and there was a good gathering of gulls there. A new 'wave' of gulls arrived from the lagoons at the same time as something upset the ones already there. They all swirled around in front of me for quite a while.


Eventually they all settled back down on the water. Amongst them was a splendid first-winter Caspian Gull. What's more the gulls were fairly close, so I was able to get some decent record shots of it.

First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons
First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons

First-Winter Caspian Gull Still in Residence at Shawell

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The first-winter Caspian Gull I first saw on September 28th was still in the Shawell area yesterday.

First-Winter Caspian Gull - note that a few lesser and median coverts have already been replaced and also the pattern of the tertials

I initially saw it distantly in the sand quarry and then later on it appeared at the A5 Lagoons. Digiscoped shots don't really do it justice, as it is a really smart looking young gull. It is in post juvenile moult at present, but by the time winter arrives it will be one of the really posh looking first-winters which really stand out in a crowd.

First-Winter Caspian Gull - note the 'full nappy', which is typical of this species
First-Winter Caspian Gull - note the plain brown lesser and median coverts

Another First-Winter Caspian Gull

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On my way back from Northampton yesterday I called in at Shawell A5 Lagoons and there was plenty of gulls there. Amongst them was a Caspian Gull in first-winter plumage or probably more accurately in post juvenile moult.

It wasn't the one I've seen on three occasions recently - see previous post. That one had a blacker bill and a different looking set of wing coverts.

The greater coverts are a bit fussier on this one than some examples, but well within the normal variation. Previously the thinking was that they should be very plain muddy brown. However, why would Caspian Gulls be different to the other large gull species, which show a great deal of variation.

First-Winter Caspian Gull
First-Winter Caspian Gull

Siberian Accentor

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What an amazing autumn we are having! Best ever?

Last Friday I ventured out from the safety of my hedge at Shawell and tried to twitch the Eastern Crowned Warbler at Bempton Cliffs. This didn't go well as the bird had disappeared overnight. I had a good day, but I felt well and truly gripped off by being told at least half a dozen times that it showed really well the day before. Perhaps this is normal amongst the new crop of twitchers, but back in the day that wasn't considered good behaviour. You might have had a bit of sport with close friends, but you didn't do it to perfect strangers who hadn't seen the bird, or at least I didn't.

I thought that was it for a while, but I did show an interest in the record of a Siberian Accentor on the far away Shetland Isles. I felt for Colin Green and Dave Gray who had been on Shetlands just prior to the bird being found. A similar event happened to me when I went to Shetland once. That time it was a Caspian Plover.

Well on Thursday afternoon I was amazed when I read that another Siberian Accentor had been found at Easington, East Yorkshire. I couldn't take another Friday off work could I? It was too good a bird to miss, but I was worried that it might have disappeared overnight. I decided to go into work early and hope that I could get the most important things done before the first news broke. In the end good news broke before I was ready. I pulled my finger out and got on the road at 08:00 and I arrived at Easington just before 11:00.

The initial rush for a view was over and I just casually walked up and got a place in the front row. The Siberian Accentor was completely oblivious to its audience. At times it was only a couple of metres away from us. It was picking up small insects from the moss that carpeted the corner of the car park it favoured. The light was quite poor due to overcast skies and the shade of the large trees above it. Luckily my camera works well at high ISO settings. These images were taken at either 1600 ISO or 2000 ISO.

Siberian Accentor, Easington October 14th 2016

Siberian Accentor, Easington October 14th 2016

Siberian Accentor, Easington October 14th 2016

Siberian Accentor, Easington October 14th 2016

Siberian Accentor, Easington October 14th 2016

The Shetland bird was the first for Britain and this one is the second. Amazingly another was found today in Cleveland. The total for Northern Europe this October, up until yesterday, was 35, but that total will surely increase to over 40 if it hasn't already done so. I wouldn't bet on some more being found in Britain.

The area around Easington and Spurn was awash with birders. After following the crowd for a bit I went off on my own. I didn't find any rarities, but I saw some good birds. The highlight was perhaps the Merlin I spotted flying across a field. I was thrilled to see it alight on top of a small bush, which allowed me to eyeball it through my scope.

It was good to see through social media that Colin and Dave had seen the little beauty.

What's next?

Back to Normal

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After the excitement of the Siberian Accentor, my only avian adventure this week was half-an-hour at Shawell on Wednesday lunchtime.

Several thousand gulls were at the A5 Lagoons and more 'waves' were continually arriving. You need to visit Shawell and see a mass arrival of gulls coming from the landfill site to fully appreciate a 'Wave of Gulls'.

Sometimes there are so many gulls on the lagoons that it can be difficult to sort through them. Luckily I spotted a new Caspian Gull amongst the hordes. It is either an advanced third-winter or a third-summer/fourth-winter. The large white mirror/tip on P10 is a useful feature for separating Caspian Gulls of this age from Herring Gulls, as is the white tongue also on P10 just visible near the tertials.


An adult gull caught me eye, but this one was more difficult. It showed, in my opinion, mixed features of both Caspian and Herring Gull. Its longest primaries (P10) was similar to a pure Caspian Gull although a little odd looking. It had pale yellow eyes with no obvious dark specks. Its bill was long, but a bit bulbous near the tip. Its legs work long and it often stood very Caspian Gull like.

Underside of P10
Presumed Caspian Gull x Herring Gull

Presumed Caspian Gull x Herring Gull

1000 and Counting

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For a bit of fun back in January 2015 Steve Lister presented me with a UK 400 type certificate for successfully reading colour rings on 500 gulls at Shawell. He also challenged me to push on and record 1000. Well at the weekend I smashed through that target reaching 1005 by mid-afternoon on Saturday. Just like when I reached 500 it was another Herring Gull. This one had been ringed at Hornøya, Finnmark this year (full details not yet available). It had a data logger fitted to its colour-ring. 


Herring Gull (JX511) at Shawell A5 Lagoons on October 29th 2016

The 1000 gulls were 805 Lesser Black-backed, 110 Herring, 40 Black-headed, 31 Great Black-backed, 8 Caspian (2 hybrids), 3 Common, 1 Baltic (maybe 2), 1 Mediterranean and 1 Herring x Yellow-legged. The gulls came from Belgium, British Isles, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden. It took five years and at least one visit per week to reach this total. In total I made 2080 separate readings during this time, so I have collected quite a bit of data on some of the gulls. At some point I must write up my findings, but for a while longer I will enjoy gathering more information. A Yellow-legged Gull with a colour-ring still alludes me at Shawell, so I must keep going.

I read the first colour-ring with Steve Lister back in January 2012. My strike rate has increased dramatically since those days helped by my Swarovski 70 x scope and the experience I now have in looking hard enough at the gulls legs.

In addition to the colour-rings I've seen three more Caspian Gulls recently. The adult below seen last Wednesday, most likely a female, was a really smart looker. Compare the flesh coloured legs to the bright pink legs of the Herring Gull to its right. Its bill was lovely and slender. Faint streaking is just visible on its lower neck. This is a feature of younger Caspian Gulls, but also shown by some adults in autumn.


Adult Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, October 25th 2016

A new first-winter appeared amongst the Great Black-backed Gulls that were gathered on the shore. It was camera shy and hid behind its larger cousins.


First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, October 29th 2016


More Caspian Gull sightings From Shawell

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I called in at Shawell A5 Lagoons briefly today for my usual Wednesday lunchtime gull fix. On arrival the gull numbers were quite low, but they soon started to arrive on mass. I couldn't believe that amongst several thousand large gulls there were no Caspian Gulls. I was about to leave when I spotted a second-winter Casp. Just then Steve Nichols arrived and I told him what I'd got and gave him directions. As I gave a running commentary to Steve about what my bird was doing it became obvious we were not looking at the same gull. I panned slightly to the left and there was a first-winter Caspian Gull. This one may well be the same one that I first saw on October 12th due to both of them appearing to show quite a lot of white on the median coverts. The Second-winter has some really nice P10 mirrors developing - a feature which should separate Caspian gulls at this age from Herring and Yellow-legged Gulls.

Second-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 2nd 2016
Second-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 2nd 2016
Second-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 2nd 2016
First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 2nd 2016

Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 5th 2016

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It felt like winter yesterday at Shawell. There is no shelter from the wind if its coming from the north, so I just had to put up with it. I'd had enough by half two in the afternoon, but I'd had some good stuff by then.

The second-winter Caspian Gull that I saw mid-week was still hanging about.

Second-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 5th 2016
First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 5th 2016

The cold wind started to chill my bones and my enthusiasm, especially when the gulls were disturbed by a passing buzzard. Many of the gulls headed north towards the landfill site, but some came back down onto the lagoon. Surprisingly a first-winter Caspian Gull that I hadn't already seen appeared amongst them. It was a very distinctive individual and a new one.

First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell A5 Lagoons, November 5th 2016

Watch the video below to see just how smart this one is - remember, best watched by changing the video quality to HD.


And More Caspian Gulls

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I was out working near Shawell this afternoon and noticed the gulls were again using the flattened area on the Gibbett Lane side of Shawell Sand Quarry. It would have been rude not to have had a look at them, so I allowed myself 15 minutes. Herring Gull numbers are building up nicely now and this usually heralds the arrival of more Caspian Gulls. I quickly found a couple of adult Caspian Gulls, which were new ones, but I really struggled to get any photos that weren't completely blurred due to the very poor light.

One of the dumper truck drivers disturbed the gulls, but luckily a new first-winter Caspian Gull was amongst the group that had pitched back down in front of me. It was quite a striking individual and I fared slightly better with the camera with this one.

First-Winter Caspian Gull, Shawell Quarry, November 9th 2016





A Bit of Winter Sunshine

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I was back down in Portugal last week enjoying some warm winter sunshine. It was around 21 degrees C everyday and the air was really clear.

One of the highlights is always first light on the steppe or pseudo-steppe near Castro Verde. I have a site that always produces some great early morning entertainment. In the half light I could already hear Calandra Larks singing and this year a new sound caught my attention. I soon learned that the sound was coming from a group of Black-bellied Sandgrouse and they seemed to be displaying. At least 20 BB Sandgrouse were flying around and doing their strange call. A single Great Bustard flew past and an Iberian Grey Shrike perched close by. A Merlin dashed across the steppe disturbing hundreds of Calandra Larks - phew it was time for some breakfast!

We enjoyed lots of great birds during the week with the wintering Bluethroats winning the bird of the trip prize. Near Faro we visited a great area where Dawn spotted a male Bluethroat perched in the open, but I was looking the wrong way and only saw its backside, as it disappeared into the reeds. On the next visit I spotted another male skulking in a ditch, but this one had colour-rings. I'm still trying to track down where it was ringed. Possibly Spain, but I haven't received a reply yet.

Colour-Ringed White Spotted Bluethroat

The area is called Parque Natural Ria Da Formosa. It is quite close to the area known as Ludo Farms. Dawn always enjoys watching the aeroplanes coming in to land at the nearby Faro airport. Ospreys and Caspian tern were fishing in the lagoons and hundreds of ducks including Pintails were dabbling. Winter plumaged Little Stints were educational and a Short-eared Owl disturbed near the track was a new Portuguese bird for me. On a reedy lake by the golf course were many more ducks and at least a dozen Western Swamphens were looking comical as normal. Little Bitterns were elusive this time, but just before we stood up to leave the hide a splendid male broke cover and posed for a few second on a reed stem.

Western Swamphen

As normal I made Dawn endure a few hours at the Portimao Fish Harbour (not everyday as she claimed when we got home). I targeted flights shots of first year Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls. I will put together a set of those for my next post. As well as the gulls I enjoy looking at the working boats and the old wrecks.




"Were Going to Need a Bigger Boat"
Sunset at Priai Da Rocha


First-winter Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls in Flight

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As I mentioned in my previous post, one of my targets for our trip to The Algarve was flight shots of first-calendar year gulls. This subject is covered quiet poorly in identification guides. Typically Lesser Black-backed Gulls appear slighter than most Yellow-legged Gulls, however, there is much overlap. The tail band of first year birds is usually diagnostic, but again there is variability. The tail band on most Yellow-legged Gulls tapers thinner on the outside edges. Lesser Black-backs generally have a broader tail band with less white on the upper tail and more black markings above the tail band. LBBGs don't usually show an obvious pale window on the inner primaries, but in bright sunshine both species showed some pale areas on the inner primaries. However, a pale window on the inner primaries is obvious on many YLGs although not a distinctive as on first-calendar year Herring Gulls.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls:










Yellow-legged Gulls:






This last one shows a wide tail band, but note it has already replaced one of its central tail feathers. It bulky size large head and short stubby black bill all point towards Yellow-legged Gull.


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