Thursday 28 February 2013

Priorslee and Candles, 28th Feb 2013

An early return from work under annoyingly sunny skies meant a quick look at Priorslee Lake, and I was shocked to see c500 large gulls on the water. A scan with bins located the uglier 3cy Iceland Gull, and then a closer look revealed a 2cy Caspian Gull. The particularly silvery mantle and plain brown coverts got me thinking, and on closer examination of scapular pattern it was obvious that it was a new bird - 2cy number 6 and Caspian number 12 for me!

It flew to the jetties at the far end to preen amongst the Black-heads, showing off its long neck and much white underparts than last week's bird (which it otherwise quite closely resembled). The Iceland then landed on the jetties briefly before everything flushed back onto the water.
Another scan (adding the resident drake Scaup to the list) and there were two wingers at the far end of the lake - the 3cy Iceland and the 3cy Glauc, side by side! Very nice.
Despite all this activity, like a moth to the flame I was drawn to Candles, and I arrived to find the tip-face edging ever closer to the viewpoint, and the views were superb. Unfortunately the numbers were not, and an adult and smart 2cy michs were the best I could muster.

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