How About This For Gull Watching

Guess the gull species?

Let me have your suggestions for a caption for this image, which by the way isn't a fake.

A Complete Gulling Season at Shawell

Having developed a keen interest in watching gulls at Shawell A5 Lagoons, Leicestershire during the early months of 2012, I decided that I would try and visit the area as often as possible. Between July 2012 and the end of April 2013, which is essentially the main gulling season, I tried to visit at least once a week. Initially my efforts were restricted to the A5 Lagoons, but more recently I have divided my attention between the Cotesbach landfill site (also known by birders as the Shawell landfill site) and the A5 lagoons. Please note that access to the landfill site is only available with permission from the land owners - do not trespass.

The plan was to improve my knowledge of both Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls, especially the immature ones, and read as many colour rings as possible.

This was quite a challenge especially during the coldest days of winter. I stuck it out despite loosing feeling in my feet several times. On one occasion I just had to pack up, as the snow was falling too heavily to see through my scope.

I recorded ten species of gull, of these six were seen on most visits.

Where possible, I have photographed the more interesting birds. This is quite challenging, as most of the time the distance between the subject and the camera is 100 metres plus. I tried basic digi-scoping by holding the camera against my scope, but this was frustrating to do and the results were generally poor. Recently I have attached a DSLR to my scope via an adapter. The results have improved, but not yet to my full satisfaction - getting closer is the challenge.

Below are accounts of each of the species recorded:

Oh So Pretty

Before heading off to Melton Mowbray, I had to get my fix of big gulls at Shawell. I went to the landfill site, where over 400 gulls were gathered. Mostly Lesser Black-backs, but amongst them were two 1st winter/summer Caspian Gulls. One of them was a small female and she was a stunner. She showed all the text book features, which really stood out due to her dainty frame. What's more she put on a real show. The photo below shows just how pretty she was although the subtle 'pencil markings' on the nape are not so obvious as in the field or is the slenderness of the bill. The differences between 1st-summer Herring Gull and Caspian Gull are poles apart - there were plenty of the former to compare with. That said, it is much easier to separate Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls from Herring Gulls than it is to rule out the presence of any hybrid genes in individual birds. 

Digiscoping her was difficult as it was very windy, but I did at least get one reasonable record shot. I previously questioned in my 'Challenging Gulls' posting  the origin of these 2nd calendar-year birds at this time of year and I'm even more intrigued now.

2CY Caspian Gull

First-Summer Ring-billed Gull

1st-summer Ring-billed Gull

Favourable Winds

Spring migrants have been in short supply until last week when the strong south to south-westerly winds provided the ideal catalyst for mass migration. The highlight was the high number of White Wagtails that were grounded from mid-week until Friday night. Quite a few sites in Leicestershire & Rutland recorded large groups with the highest being 54 at Rutland Water. At Brascote Pits I counted 11 on Friday night. As well as the White Wags, good numbers of Yellow Wags and Wheatears were also seen.

Northern Wheatear, Croft Quarry