After far too long away from the gulls (aside from a brief look at an impressive 2,400 large on the Buildwas floods on 13th which included the 1w Casp again and 6 michs (2 ads, 4cy, 3cy, 2 2cy)), it was time for a proper look for once. Unfortunately the River Severn has dropped and the floods have receded, meaning there is no reason for the gulls to use Buildwas any more, and even the tip itself was quiet. A steady trickle of gulls overhead, however, led me to a flock of c700 in a random grassy field nearby, but after only a couple of quick scans something spooked them and they dispersed. A single ad mich was my only reward.
Deciding on a drive around, I checked Horsehay and Priorslee but both were gull-free, and so I decided to drive down to Granville on the off chance. An adult Glauc had roosted at Belvide last night, which would have been nice. The sight of several hundred gulls greeted me, but an attempt at gaining permission to watch them was denied. A bit of sniffing around nearby fields followed, and I soon came across c1,200 large gulls loafing in a couple of fields by the crematorium off the A5. They were close, but views were tricky through the hedges, and it never quite felt like everything could be checked.
Eventually however a smart character materialised at the front of the flock - a new 2cy Caspian Gull. A nice bird, but there was something just not quite right about the head, and the greater coverts were a little more barred than you might like. However nothing put it outside the boundaries of what we increasingly realise to be a variable beast, just like all other large gulls. The silvery scaps with fine brown anchors, the worn brown coverts and tertials, the clean white underparts and hanging belly, and the long slender bill with a paler base all fitted the model, and a brief flight (alas captured only on my iPhone) revealed a perfect tail and an underwing that was certainly pale.
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