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Norfolk Trip
Last weekend I was in Norfolk with Dawn, but it was one of those times when nothing quite goes to plan. There was a couple of Caspian Gulls posing all week on the beach at Cromer, but at the weekend...
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More Gulls
I was greatly relieved to find myself back in the hedge at Shawell A5 Lagoons again on Wednesday evening - no noisy bird club outings at this site.Shortly after my arrival I found a first year...
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Black-necked Grebe at Shawell A5 lagoons
Whilst having a mooch about at Shawell yesterday I spotted a small grebe sp. It looked like a Black-necked Grebe, but I only had my bins at the time. I fetched my scope, but the grebe had gone missing....
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I had just enough time to do a circuit of Brascote Pits this morning before work. As I neared the area that is described as the moon scape or the desert, I thought how good it would be for a shrike to...
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First Year Caspian Gull Again
This is probably my last trip to Shawell on a Wednesday evening until next year, as the sun sets too early now to give me much time. I did manage to get a site tick in the form of a couple of...
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Portugal 2014
Dawn and I decided that a second trip to Portugal would give us the chance to visit the sites we missed last year. We once again headed to the Algarve for the last days of September and early...
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Red-veined Darters
Ever since Adey Baker and I found some Red-veined Darters at Huncote, I have been fascinated by them. I have seen them in large numbers in Spain before, but nothing had prepared me for the numbers I...
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The Mystery Unravels
During my trip to Portugal in 2013 I visited the Portimao Fishing Harbour where I found a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull with a yellow colour ring and the code M+C. Initially I thought it might be a...
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Another Colour-ringed Caspian Gull at Shawell
Back to reality - no more wandering amongst the gulls reading colour rings with the naked eye, as I did in Portugal. It was back to extreme 'sea gulling' at Shawell A5 lagoons.The day was going well,...
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A Dragonfly Tick
Whilst I was away in Portugal the weather was extremely warm compared to the same time in 2013. As well as the massive numbers of Red-veined Darters that I have already mentioned, there was also large...
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First-year Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michehellis) Versus First-yearLesser...
Yellow-legged Gulls turn up in Southern England on a regular basis and are readily identified in all their guises by experienced gull watchers. I have made it my mission to learn the complexities of...
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Three Caspian Gull Day at Shawell
The second-winter Caspian Gull with the green colour-ring was back at Shawell A5 lagoons today and once again it was snoozing on the bank between the lagoons. I suggested to Steve Nichols that it was...
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First-winter Yellow-legged Gull at Shawell A5 Lagoons
Since arriving back from Portugal, I have been delighted to find a few smart looking (that's perhaps a matter of opinion) first-winter Yellow-legged Gulls at Shawell. The one in the image below shows...
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Caspian Gull Influx?
I'm not sure if there's been a noticeable influx of Caspian Gulls at other sites, but I've certainly had my fair share at Shawell A5 Lagoons this weekend.  After seeing three yesterday I popped back...
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Sub-adult Yellow-legged Gull with Very Dark Eyes
I have seen the occasional Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) in Britain that appeared to have dark eyes, but the views were often distant, so I may have been mistaken. In Gulls of Europe, Asia and...
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A Three Caspian Gull Lunch Break
I was happy with three in a day at the weekend, but three in my lunch break today is even more impressive (Paul I did ask them to fly south towards Guernsey, but I'm not sure if they were...
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More Caspian Gull Stuff
I had to work all last weekend, but fortunately I was off yesterday, as I needed a change of scenery. I spent the morning holding my car's hand whilst it was serviced and then took it for a test drive...
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Hybrid Caspian Gull
Today was all about searching for my 400th colour-ringed gull at Shawell A5 Lagoons, but my run of finding Caspian Gulls continued. A small female was on the bank between some Great Black-backed Gulls...
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A Rough Day for Counting
It's the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) weekend and my chosen day is Saturday for counting at Shawell. This is the better day to make sure I get the gulls.The weather was dreadful today, even the gulls...
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A Good Day at the Tip
Yesterday afternoon I spent some time at Cotesbach landfill site near to Shawell and I had one of my most successful sessions to date. In all I read 27 colour-rings and had close views of two Caspian...
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