Shawell

Back at Shawell today searching through the hordes. It was another good day as far as ring reading was concerned and plenty of Caspian Gulls were there again. In total, excluding hybrids, I saw eight Caspian Gulls: 2 adults, 2 second-winters and four first-winters.

Two German ringed gulls reappeared today, X312 which I first saw in April was looking even more hybrid like and I'm not sure about X739 yet, but that one seems a bit chunky.

German Ringed Presumed Hybrid Caspian Gull (X312)

Two adult Caspian Gulls were seen. The first was a real stunner, but that one wouldn't sit still. The other one had pale eyes, however, its primary pattern was spot on for a pure Caspian Gull.

Adult Caspian Gull

First-Winter Caspian Gull

First-Winter Caspian Gulls

By far the most regular age groups of Caspian Gull at Shawell are first and second calendar year. This year juveniles were the most numerous in early autumn and now its mainly first-winters.

Today I saw four first-winters and one second-winter.

As I've probably said before, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls are usually born before Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, so they advance quicker. Basically Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls stand out because they replace their scapulars sooner than the other two species and they have often replaced some coverts before the end of their first calendar-year. The first one below has replaced one of its median coverts on the side visible in the photo. The next two have replaced many coverts including greater coverts.

First-Winter Caspian Gull, Cotesbach Landfill Site, November 4th 2017

First-Winter Caspian Gull, Cotesbach Landfill Site, November 4th 2017

First-Winter Caspian Gull, Cotesbach Landfill Site, November 4th 2017