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Black-headed Gulls
So the Black-headed Gulls arriving in Leicestershire are not necessarily local breeding birds despite the fact it is still July.At Shawell there has been a steady build up of Black-headed Gulls. At the...
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Update on the Breeding Gulls in Leicester
As you know, I have been keeping an eye on the gulls breeding at the old British Shoe warehouse in Leicester. I've also been worrying about the threat of the building being demolished during July. Well...
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The Return of Caspian Gull PADZ
I decided to try Cotesbach Landfill Site again yesterday evening in the hope of bagging a 'classic' juvenile Caspian Gull. I didn't get what I went for, but I did spot an old friend. The gulls were...
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Just Can't get Enough
Another season this evening at Shawell netted me another adult Caspian Gull. This one has a very distinct look about its head and its bill, so much so that I think I may have seen it before. It was...
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Pied Flycatcher
Its funny how things turn out, I was due to pick my daughter up from work at 5 o'clock today, but I managed to mis-read the time on my phone. I arrived at 4 o'clock and only realised my mistake when I...
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Weekend Report
What a great weekend, unless you're an Australian Cricket fan! I enjoyed Saturday morning sat in my deckchair at Shawell enjoying the cricket and watching the resident pair of Red Kites and the...
View ArticleA First For SW LEICS and the 200th Species
I had recently predicted that the 200th bird for the south-west Leicestershire list would be Cetti's Warbler. Well on Sunday morning I got a call from my wife saying there was a Cetti's Warbler at...
View Article201st For SW Leicestershire
After the excitement of adding the 200th species to the South-west Leicestershire list I settled down to do the office work. Whilst looking up some information in 'The Birds of Leicestershire &...
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Shawell Update
Juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls (Larus michahellis) are still occurring at Shawell although many of them are well on their way to attaining their first-winter plumage. This summer the influx of juveniles...
View ArticleBlack-tailed Godwits
Steve Nichols and I were at Shawell A5 Lagoons this afternoon and a group of 11 Black-tailed Godwits flew in. Only minutes before we were discussing the lack of wading birds. They were quite nervous,...
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Adult Baltic Gull?
Yesterday morning at Cotesbach landfill site I came across a gull that looked good for a Baltic Gull. It was an adult, it was jet black and its jizz seemed spot on. Unfortunately one of the machine...
View ArticleAnother Video of the Possible Baltic Gull
Going through the video of the adult Baltic Gull candidate I found on Saturday, I noticed this section of video. As you can see a couple of intermedius LBB Gulls sail past it on the water and you can...
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First-Winter Already
I have been working hard this summer at Shawell to pick out a juvenile Caspian Gull, but it has not gone to plan! In July I thought I'd got one, but that one turned out to be most likely a hybrid....
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Caspian Gull
I spent a short while at Shawell at lunchtime today and amongst several thousand gulls was a nice second-winter Caspian Gull. As normal the falconer was there so the gulls were quite distant. Taking...
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Another good day at Shawell
A clear blue sky greeted me yesterday morning as I set off to Shawell, but mist soon hampered my progress. By the time I arrived at Shawell the morning mist had thickened considerably leaving me no...
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First year Caspian Gull
The timing of my arrival at Shawell mid-week was spot on. I always enjoy it if I get the opportunity to time my lunch break to co-incide with me being near Shawell. This week a massive wave of gulls...
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Autumn in the Algarve
I have been away on my annual pilgrimage to the Algarve. The weather was fantastic, so was the local beverage - Sagres larger. Oh and the birding was excellent too.It will take me a while to catch up...
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Another Azores Gull
After finding what I considered to be an adult Azores Gull (Larus michahellis atlantis) at the fish harbour in Portimao, Portugal I have been very keen to find another. In 2014 I drew a blank, but...
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Another Update From Shawell
Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I have been busy working and trying to catch up with all the paperwork generated by my trip to Portugal.The highlight at Shawell last month was a female...
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Caspian Gull Red 10P6
This morning I received a reply from the POLRING website (thank-you) about the colour-ringed first-winter Caspian Gull that was at Shawell on Saturday. They confirmed that the colour-ring reading was...
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