On Wednesday (08/08/12) I stopped off for 1/2 hour at Shawell on my way to Northampton. Initially there were few gulls on the lagoon, but then they began to arrive from the nearby landfill site. Amongst the newcomers was a 1st-summer (2CY) Yellow-legged Gull and an adult, plus a 3rd-summer / 4th winter Caspian Gull. This bird exhibited a classic range of features, which can be seen in the photo below - small headed with a gently sloping forehead; dark forward set eyes; a long slim dull yellow bill with dark markings on both mandibles; faint 'pencil' markings on the back of the neck and it was distinctly long bodied and long winged despite it having one of its longest primary feathers missing.
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Caspian Gull
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| Caspian Gull |
Another session on Saturday 11th August failed to produce any Caspian Gulls, but Steve Lister and I found another five Yellow-legged Gulls including a juvenile and another 1st-summer.
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| 1st-summer Yellow-legged Gull, 11/08/2012 (the one at the back) |
Cheers Carl an interesting article.
ReplyDeleteCheers Colin, I'm pleased you enjoyed reading it. I hope to see you at Shawell or Brascote soon maybe.
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