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Iceland Gulls at Shawell
It seems bad weather on a Saturday is set in for the year. One of the landfill workers commented that it was the best Saturday of the year because it was only drizzling!The day started poor with no...
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A Caspian Gull at Stoney Cove
Most mornings I have a quick look if there is anything on the water or cliffs at Stoney Cove. During the winter there are always Black-headed and Common Gulls on the water and occasionally a few Lesser...
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Caspian Gull
I was surprised to see the first-winter Caspian Gull was still at Stoney Cove this morning. It was also there at lunchtime. His nickname is Larry. Why? Well I was asked what it was and I answered 'a...
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More Iceland Gulls at Shawell
I didn't really know what to expect today with it being a Bank Holiday weekend and also the forecast was for another rainy day - we wouldn't like to spoil the run of rain or snow every Saturday this...
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Arrival Times of White-Wingers at Shawell
It been another good year for White-Wingers at Shawell and I was thinking when are the best times for finding one. Below is a graph showing the finding month of all the Glaucous and Iceland Gulls...
View ArticleCaspian Gull Score at Shawell 2018
After reaching a total of 101 different birds last year, I have decided to just record day counts from now on. It was becoming increasingly difficult to separate individuals especially amongst the...
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More Fun at Shawell
Steve Lister saw a juvenile Iceland Gull at Shawell on Thursday , which we  initially thought was one of the birds that had been around for a while. However, yesterday lunchtime I was passing, so I had...
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Spring Weather with a Little Ice
Already this has been the best 'white-winger' season ever at Shawell. Five Glaucous and 13 Iceland Gulls, but could I add to the list today?The gulls had already assembled in the sandpit off Gibbet...
View ArticleCaspian Gull x Herring Gull Hybrid
I spotted this beast yesterday. Its plumage is OK for a Caspian Gull, but structurally it seems to be a bit mixed up. Its short legs, chunky body and largish head hint at Herring Gull, but equally...
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This morning I tried a few sites close to home. At Brascote Pits one of the male Ring Ouzels was still lingering and it showed well but briefly in an Ivy covered tree close to the double gate that...
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Glaucous Gull
A few posts back I predicted that the latest date for a 'white-winger' at Shawell would be beaten this year. April 15th 2017 was the latest sighting to date. Steve Nichols and I recorded two Iceland...
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Catch Up.
I've had a few good few days since my last post: highlights being the arrival of many spring migrants including a singing Grasshopper Warbler near Huncote. This species is very scarce in my local area,...
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Garganey
I soon gave up at Shawell this morning, as there was no tipping, the gulls were mobile and the weather was awful.I decided to head off towards home and have a quick look at Brascote Pits. Despite the...
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Iceland Gull
I was most surprised to spot an Iceland Gull today. The previous latest spring record for Leicestershire & Rutland was May 2nd 1999 - an adult at Rutland Water seen by Andy Forryan.Steve Nichols...
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Sanderlings at Brascote Pits
I have seen a few Sanderlings in the SW Leics area over the years and most of them occurred during bad weather. The weather was very bad on Friday and I had booked the day off work to enjoy a long Bank...
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Sanderling
After finding a couple of Sanderling at Brascote Pits on Friday/Saturday I enjoyed about 18 of them on the beach at Titchwell in splendid sunshine.There was quite a variety and some looked a little...
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German Ringed Gull Improving With Age
Last weekend I saw a colour-ringed gull from the German mixed colonies. I first saw this bird as a juvenile back in 2017 when it didn't look anything like a Caspian Gull. However, last week it looked...
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Osprey at Brascote Pits
There has only been three previous accepted records of Osprey in the south-west Leicestershire area. Whilst at Brascote Pits today Adey Baker and I bumped into Colin Green. Whilst we were chatting we...
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Summertime
It's a good time for insects at the moment as far as the weather is concerned. I added a dragonfly to my life list on Saturday. I took a drive up to Kegworth in the north of Leicestershire where the...
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Small Red-eyed Damselflies
My only previous sighting of a Small Red-eyed Damselfly (SRED) in Leicestershire was of a male and female at Brascote Pits. However, that pit has been out of bounds for two years. With all this lovely...
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