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Iceland Gull
This morning I spotted a juvenile Iceland Gull on the southernmost lagoon at Shawell A5 Lagoons. The video below shows the bird, but as you can see the bright sunlight has bleached it. It was darker in...
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Iceland Gull Again
Learning about and identifying gulls takes a great deal of time and patience. Ideally you need to travel to where the gulls are common. I've done that with quite a few species, but not yet for Iceland...
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Another Glaucous Gull Makes it a Record Year
I was quite surprised to find a snowed in Cotesbach landfill site yesterday morning. We had seen a little snow on Boxing day at home, but not as much as was around Lutterworth.I had a bit of fun trying...
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Hawfinch
Despite the Hawfinches at Burbage Common Extension being right on my doorstep, I had not really got any photos worth showing. That hasn't really changed, but I did manage to get a reasonable record...
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The First White-Winger at Shawell of 2018
Last weekend's mission to find some gulls failed due to flooding and some very sticky mud. I lost a welly and nearly myself and my scope. So with new wellies and a can do spirit I returned hoping for...
View ArticleGlaucous Gull
A brute of a Glaucous Gull was at Shawell today, which kicked off my tally for this species for 2018. It's one a piece for Glaucous and Iceland so far.Early on the tip was smothered in gulls, but there...
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Caspian Gulls
It was raw at Shawell today. It rained or sleeted all day and the temperature struggled to climb above zero. However, my viewing spot at the tip is closer to the gulls than ever before. I was able to...
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Glaucous Gull
After the gulls had deserted the restaurant many headed into the sand quarry. I altered my viewing spot to Gibbett Lane where I picked up what at first looked like a juvenile Glaucous Gull. However, as...
View ArticleFirst-Winter Gulls
I have been trying to get some good quality video of the gulls recently. Here is a comparison of first-winter gulls. These are filmed using an adapter that connects my DSLR to my Swarovski spotting...
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Juvenile Glaucous Gull Again
I had a short while at Shawell again today and I concentrated my efforts on the gulls loafing around in the sand quarry off Gibbet Lane.The Glaucous Gull I first picked out last Saturday was there...
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Juvenile Iceland Gull
It was bitter cold at Shawell this morning and very damp.I persevered until just after lunch, but I was on my last pair of dry gloves by then and the gulls were dispersing, so I gave it best.There was...
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Watermead
On Sunday I went over to Watermead to take some photos of any gulls present. My luck was really in, as I managed to photograph a Norwegian ringed Common Gull and a Danish Lesser Black-backed...
View ArticleA New Glaucous Gull and Some More Caspian Gulls
First of all can I make a complaint - why does it have to rain every Saturday?Despite the weather I was not put off and after arranging a passage through the massive plant machinery, operating by my...
View ArticleBattle of the Giants
I managed to capture yesterday's Glaucous Gull at Shawell doing battle with two Great Black-backed Gulls.Enjoy...
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International Gull Meeting, Ruse, Bulgaria
Apologies, I have been neglecting my blog lately for one reason or another. Back in February I participated in the International Gull Meeting (IGM) that was held in Ruse, Bulgaria. Unfortunately I had...
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Juvenile Iceland Gull
During my protracted absence from Shawell I've missed some Iceland Gulls. On 21/02/18 Steve Nichols had an adult and second-winter and on 07/03/18 David Scott and Rod Baker had a juvenile and a...
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Southern Portugal Birding
Dawn and I made our eighth trip to Southern Portugal last week. We were hoping for some winter sun, but it was in short supply. The first few days weren't actually that bad, but after that strong to...
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Iceland Gulls at Shawell
It was very cold today at Shawell. I was staring straight into the jaws of a very cold easterly wind. My access to view the landfill site is coming into question at present due to the condition of the...
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Colour-Ring Readings
I have recently read colour-rings on a couple of exciting birds.The first one was in Portugal at the Portimao Fish Harbour. I mentioned in a previous blog that I had see nine Caspian Terns arrive and...
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