Thursday 29 May 2014

Goole Fields, 26th May 2104

I never intend to stop gulling in the spring. I still think it's full of larid potential, but work and life and lawn-mowing start to fill the days, and suddenly it's June and I've not been to the tip since March. Maybe it'll be a bit different this year...
An overnight (obviously) Nightjar survey on 25/26th May resulted in a few pleasant nocturnal surprises, and not long after dawn on a beautiful sunny morning I got another - my first mich of the summer. I didn't see it arrive, but suddenly there was a super-smart 3cy Yellow-legged Gull in the field next to me, accompanied by a 2cy LBB. I was looking into the rising sun, and it flew off at 4.55am, but it was great to see - a seasonal milestone in the life of a guller.

iPhone5S struggling into the dawn

Friday 2 May 2014

Solway Moss, 30th April 2014

NE-bound imm Iceland
After a spectacular 29th April that started with a self-found Marsh Sand in East Yorkshire and ended with some awesome Barnacle Goose passage in Cumbria at dusk, 30th dawned dull and grey. Not long in however, a surprise imm Iceland Gull flew through alone, and later in the morning 2 Little Gulls appeared hawking for insects over the local Black-head colony!

ad & 2cy inland Little Gulls

Machrihanish, 24th April 2014

juv Iceland Machrihanish Dunes
Another post-work jaunt down the Mull of Kintyre in search of passage gulls and maybe a spring migrant or two this time produced a couple of juv Icelands, always nice to see. Phonescoping was the order of the day.

juv Iceland Bellochantuy