Adult Mediterranean Gull

I had a quick walk around Croft Hill and Quarry this morning. The exercise was good but the much hoped for migrants were in short supply. A singing Blackcap showed well as did a Willow Warbler, but other than that it was quiet.

Colour-ringed gulls at Shawell were next on the agenda, as I still needed two more to bring my total to 300 different colour-ringed gulls at the site (more on that later).

Lots of gulls were in the area, but they were not visiting the A5 lagoons in large numbers.

Amongst a group of Common Gulls was a splendid adult Mediterranean Gull. It stayed only for a short time, but long enough for Steve Nicholls to arrive and get good views of it. The images below were taken using a DSLR camera attached to my scope - not easy as the camera isn't able to auto focus.

Adult Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull with Lesser Black-backed Gull

A second-calender year Caspian Gull appeared on the shore amongst a gathering of 102 Common Gulls. Again it didn't stay long, but it did at least have a wander about on the shore showing off its nice long legs. At this time of year the first-winter birds are less distinctive as the feathers have faded and so the four colour effect is less obvious - white head, grey saddle, brownish coverts and tertials  plus black primaries.