Albert Village Lake, 9th & 16th July 2015

It's the same every summer, I never mean to stop gulling, but work gets busier and takes me to laridly less-trodden places. Therefore a smart 2cy Caspian Gull at Roos, East Yorkshire, in the bright shimmer of a late April afternoon was a nice surprise, and the last decent gull for a few months.

And so to July, and the end of the main thrust of breeding bird surveys, and a chance to check in on a gull site or two. The 9th was a frustratingly sunny affair at Albert Village Lake, but c800 LBBs were present, and accompanied by not one but two 2cy Caspian Gulls. There were also a dozen michs, including at least 3 cracking juvs, that would have been my first of the year were it not for a wholly unexpected flyby at South Gare the day before!

A week later I was back, better light but alas fewer and flightier birds. The more distinctive of the two Casps was present throughout, and remarkably a 3cy made an all too brief visit. Again the michs provided much of the entertainment though, with probably 15 birds during the session, at least 5 of them juvs. But already there were a handful of juv LBBs and 2 juv Herrings present.