Another Good Day at Shawell

I had a well deserved rest from work today, but there was no time to be idle, as it was off to Shawell for my gull fix. I missed last weekend as I was away working down south.

I started the day at the landfill site and the gulls new the script. The sun was in my eyes looking towards the landfill, so the gulls flew to the quarry and landed with the sun in their eyes rather than mine. I soon came across two Glaucous Gulls resting within a few metres of each other. One was the juvenile I saw a couple of times last month and the other was a new bird. I presume it's a fourth-winter due to the remains of the black tip to the beak being visible.

Juvenile Glaucous Gull

At lunchtime I made my way to the A5 Lagoons and several thousand gulls had beat me to it. As well as the 'white-wingers', I saw a couple of Caspian Gulls and read 27 colour-rings. Many of the colour-ringed gulls today were Black-headed Gulls. It is always pleasing to read the small colour-rings on Black-headed Gulls at a distance of about 150 metres. The two Glaucous Gulls appeared at the lagoons giving me a second opportunity to admire them. A birder arrived just before I had relocated the 'white-wingers', which was very lucky for him. Both of the Glaucous Gulls were probably females as they were quite small.

Fourth-winter Glaucous Gull

First-Winter Caspian Gull

First-Winter Caspian Gull