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