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Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull
I visited Cotesbach landfill site late yesterday afternoon and many gulls were loafing about in the quarry. Searching through them, I had found nothing of particular interest until I got to the very...
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Leicestershire & Rutland Annual Bird Report
I picked up my copy of the 2011 Annual Report on Saturday at the Rutland Water Birdfair. I didn't, however, spend a great deal of time reading it, as one of the joys of being Editor is not wanting to...
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Tricky Juveniles
My previous posting about a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at Cotesbach landfill site seems to have been popular. As such I thought I'd waffle on a bit more about large white headed gulls in their...
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3rd Year Caspian Gull
The gulls were gathered at Cotesbach landfill site in their thousands again today. The weather wasn't quite as bad as the forecast suggested, so the visibility was reasonable. The working face of the...
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More Juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls and Stuff
Hasn't the weather been good this summer? After moaning about the constant rain, wind and hail storms last year it has been really good to keep waking up to another bright day. There have been plenty...
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Mediterranean Gull
Below is a short video of a juvenile Mediterranean Gull that I found at Shawell A5 Lagoons, Leicestershire on August 31st:Black-headed Gull numbers had increased since my last visit and amongst them...
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Keep an Open Mind
Adey Baker and I did our regular Sunday morning walk at Croft Hill & Quarry today. We had Redstarts and the like in our sights, but we have learnt over the years that you need to keep an open mind....
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First-winter Yellow-legged Gull
It doesn't seem five minutes since I spotted the first juvenile Yellow-legged Gull for the year at Shawell. It was actually July 27th and the bird was in fresh juvenile plumage. Things have progressed...
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More Gulls
I spent sometime at Shawell again last Saturday for a change and once more first-winter Yellow-legged Gulls were the highlight.The first bird was most likely a female as it was a petite individual. I...
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Second-winter Caspian Gull
Half an hour at Shawell A5 Lagoons today rewarded me with great views of a second-winter Caspian Gull. As long as the local Buzzards give the gulls long enough to settle they leave the safety of the...
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Portugal
I've just returned from an excellent trip to Portugal, based in the Algarve.The birding was great with many highlights including somewhere in the region of 100 Booted Eagles and other raptors circling...
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Portugal Trip Report
I jumped at my good ladies suggestion that we should try Portugal for a late summer holiday. A few Jedi mind tricks helped her choose the destination, which as look had it was close to some renowned...
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Yellow-legged Gulls in Southern Portugal
As I've already mentioned, while I was in Portugal I wanted to take a good look at the Yellow-legged Gulls. These gulls should look similar to the ones we see in Leicestershire, but I was expecting to...
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Gallery of CR Gulls From Portugal
As I've already mentioned, during my trip to Portugal I read the plastic colour rings on 60 gulls.Below is a selection of photos of some of these birds starting with my favourite image:Lesser...
View ArticleSecond-winter Caspian Gulls
Three different second-winter Caspian Gulls have graced Shawell A5 Lagoons over the past couple of weeks. Each bird had a different bill pattern and slightly different plumage. Photography was...
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Azorean Gull in Portugal
Last year I found a Yellow-legged Gull at Shawell A5 Lagoons, Leicestershire, which showed extensive head streaking and a primary pattern that resembled that of an Azorean Gull Larus michahellis...
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A Couple of Interesting Immature Yellow-legged Gulls
During my trip to Portugal in late September and early October I photographed a couple of immature colour-ringed Yellow-legged Gulls, which I identified correctly. However, I had a few lingering...
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Azorean Gull Again
I'm still working through my gull photos from Portugal and researching the gull I consider to be an Azorean Gull. The experienced gull watchers that I've asked have either energetically or cautiously...
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Small Female Caspian Gull
A smallish gull caught my eye on Saturday at Shawell A5 lagoons. Its clean white and grey plumage had me thinking Caspian Gull, but I wasn't fully convinced. Not all Caspian Gulls exhibit the full...
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Caspian Gull Review (Not for the Faint-Hearted)
I've just carried out a review of all of the Caspian Gulls I've seen at Shawell this year. I found two amongst them that I no longer consider proven, but I'm happy to say that the others were...
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