Buildwas and Candles, 3rd Jan 2014

Delicious but distant - "field views photos"

More time had passed than intended since my last visit to the local tip, but that's Christmas for you. During the intervening time it had rained seemingly continually, and so as I hurried down the Severn valley, expansive floods opened out on my right, and I had a sudden sense of deja vu, back to this day exactly a year ago. Just like then, c300 large gulls were loafing opposite Buildwas, and amongst them was a Caspian! This time though it was a stonking 1st-winter with a gleaming white head and long skinny bill. Superb. After a few minutes the flock was flushed by nearby shots, and swirled north, towards the tip.

Up the hill there were only c300 gulls on the tip in the wind, but they included a super-smart ad mich and the recent "poor man's Ivory Gull" -a pure white leucistic LBBG. First time I'd seen it, and it was a belter. Later on the Casp appeared, but never settled. It looked fantastic in flight, pot-bellied and long-necked with dazzling underwings, and added itself to the list of such birds that made me wish I had a DSLR over my shoulder...

Another go the following day was frustrating, but the tip produced 3 michs (ad, nr-ad and 2cy).