New Iceland Gull at Shawell

This new Iceland Gull was spotted by Steve Lister at Shawell yesterday and luckily it was still present today when I sneaked over.

It's quite a large bird, equal in size to many Herring Gulls and just like many 'white-wingers' it sits high on the water. It is most likely a third-winter based on its plumage and its very pale eyes. However, its bill is more second-winter like. Ageing gulls can be tricky and is often more of an educated guess. Colour-ringed birds show how difficult it can be. Some age fast and others slowly.

Its round head, long primary projection and greenish bill rule out Glaucous Gull.

Kumlien's Gull at Shawell Again

Another lunchtime at Shawell once again produced the goods. Lots of gulls were loafing on the steep banks and so I began harvesting colour-rings. Twenty in the notebook in the first half an hour was a great result, but then something created panic and the birds left the banks and huddled together in a noisy mass  on the water. I scanned the flock and struck lucky when I spotted the long staying third-winter Kumlien's Gull. It is looking a fair bit paler than when I first saw it on December 28th 2019.

There was no sign of the third-winter Glaucous Gull whilst I was there, but a couple of Caspian Gulls were amongst the gulls, which were mainly Herring Gulls.

Glaucous Gull

After a poor show on Saturday due to no tipping I was compelled to go to work early in order to get over to Shawell again at Lunchtime.

The first interesting gull I spotted was a giant of a Caspian Gull, which I first saw a few weeks back. It matched the Great Black-backed Gulls in size.

Next was a large Herring Gull that I have seen a few times recently. Apparently it was identified as a Glaucous Gull today, but it is most likely a Herring Gull with faded bleached primaries; certainly not a Glaucous Gull. The primary projection  is too long for a Glauc to start with.

Anyway, the pièce de résistance was a new Glaucous Gull. A tricky one to age, but the obviously pale eyes, faded black tip to bill and the amount of adult like grey feathering on the mantle, scapulars and some coverts led me to conclude it is probably a third-winter.

Third-winter Kumlien's Gull Reappears at Shawell

After a few days absence the third-winter Kumlien's Gull reappeared at Shawell today. However, before its reappearance the adult Glaucous Gull I first spotted on January 4th put in an appearance. It was only seen by one other though and many visitors left empty handed. It can be difficult for people to pick up the birds amongst the flock on the water.

An impressive total of 18 Caspian Gulls kept things ticking over and many of the visitors at least saw one of those.

The Kumlien's Gull appeared around lunchtime and stayed for a good while. The bright sun light made viewing the primary pattern difficult and it looked much paler today than on other occasions.

A New Kumlien's Gull at Shawell

I went to work early today, so I could spend a little time at Shawell at lunchtime. Very soon after arriving I spotted what I initially thought was the regular Kumlien's Gull, but on close inspection I realised that it was a different bird. It is more heavily streaked on the head and breast than the other bird. At first glance it looks good for a third-winter with the amount of adult like grey mantle and scapular feathers, however, the extensive streaking on the head, breast and flanks plus the markings on the tertials suggests it's probably an advanced second-winter. Also the bill is very like a second-winter although there are examples of third-winters with bills like this. It had a similar looking primary pattern on the closed wing to the regular Kumlien's.

So, regardless of age this looks like a good Kumlien's Gull - That primary pattern of darker outers is obvious whereas a 'dark end' Iceland would show the same shading on inner prims too, probably even darker on the inner primaries.

Also note that the adult grey tones are similar to the Herring Gull whereas Iceland Gull glaucoides tend to be paler.

All said Kumlien's Gull is classed along with Thayer's Gull as an Iceland Gull.

Kumlien's Gull, Shawell 15th January 2020

Kumlien's Gull, Shawell 15th January 2020

Compare it with the regular bird:

IF YOU DO VISIT SHAWELL, PLEASE PARK SENSIBLY FOR YOUR OWN GOOD AND DO NOT CLIMB OVER FENCES.