It's Amazing the Difference a Few Days Make

Last month I was tripping over Caspian Gulls, but whatever attracted them to Shawell is not working at the moment. Watching a site regularly is fascinating as you can actually witness the passage of gulls through the site. Herring Gull numbers had built up today compared to last month and there appears to be more LBB Gulls. However, most of the Yellow-legged Gulls had disappeared today. I saw at least ten different first calendar-year YLG's on Saturday, but just one this evening. 19 different YLG's of various ages were present on Saturday, but just three were there tonight amongst around 2000 LBBG's.

1CY Yellow-legged Gull

The 1CY Yellow-legged Gulls I saw on Saturday varied in their state of advancement towards first-winter plumage. Some were still very juvenile like, but most were similar to the one in the photos above and below.

1CY YLG

I saw a few colour-ringed LBBG's tonight including Dutch ringed NP, which I have now seen on nine different occasions since 2012. NP seems to hang around Leicestershire until late in the year and then spends the cold months in Spain - can't fault him. I also saw single colour-ringed gulls from Germany and Norway.