Candles, 27th August 2013

A trip to the tip on 27th was full of anticipation, but on arrival numbers seemed to be down - the result of the bank holiday weekend maybe? However after half an hour or so the juv Caspian Gull flew in again, but then immediately went after a juv LBB with a large piece of rubbish, successfully stole it, and flew off! And that was that. Good to see it's still around, but disappointingly brief.

The feeding birds were showing well though, with at least 8 michs (3 ads, a 2cy and 4+ juvs including one with an almost entirely moulted mantle). Just makes you wonder how many individuals there have been during the month. I also managed to read a white ring on a 2cy LBB: 3JF, but a yellow-ringed juv remained unread due to the heat haze.
But the main feature of the day was hybrids, with the 3cy hybrid first glimpsed on 22nd showing well today - surely a HGxLB? Also on show was an awesome looking bird with a heavily streaked head, neck and upper breast, and a very pronounced brow ridge. There was a bit of an atlantis jizz to it, which made me think it maybe had yellow-legged genes, but it probably can't be proved not to be the more likely HGxLB...

Candles, 22nd-23rd August 2013

A quick visit to the local landfill in the heat on 8th August produced a pleasing total of 8 michs including a remarkable 4 juvs. One bird had a distinctly different jizz, but the views (and pics) weren't great... I made the decision to renew my efforts and get down a bit more freqently.

Beaky...

Work and holidays followed, and it was suddenly a fortnight since that visit. But on 22nd the heat-haze was more bearable, and numbers were up: c1,500 LBBs (and c10 Herrings, mostly juvs), and a conservative count of 9 michs (2 ads, 2 3cy, 2 2cy, 3+ juvs). Around midday, a bird flew through my field of view that made the subconscious kick in, and I panned after it - whitish head, long neck, long languid wings with distinct pale inner primary window, and a stunning tail. A belting juv Caspian Gull! In Shropshire in August! Never have I wished I'd had an SLR more!

After a few circuits it was off over the trees, still not having landed, and I went after it. No sign in the field or on the lake, so I returned to the tip and there it was on the slope. I reached for my camera and it walked behind a container! It soon reappeared though, strutting around on lurid pink legs, before taking flight and vanishing again. I ended the session with the 5th species of juvenile large gull - a surprise GBB!
The following day I got back out for a few hours under a pleasantly grey sky, and on arrival there was the Casp on the slope again. It immediately flew, and apart from another brief appearance later, I didn't see it. Michs were showing well though under the flat light, and with prolonged views and reasonable photographs, it started to become obvious that I was seeing more individuals than I first realised. The final total was probably 13 (3 ads, 4cy, 2 3cy, 2 2cy, 5 juvs!). Some of the juvs in particular were very similar on first impressions, but could be proved different by examination of their replaced scaps. And that beaky one was there again, and seen equally briefly...

Baltic update

As the initial excitement died down, photos were circulated to a variety of knowing souls, and it started to become clear that the simple idea of identifying a 2cy fuscus solely on advanced primary moult as suggested in the Jonsson paper might not always hold true. Bird 1 still seems to fit the bill, being at the ideal state of primary moult, all primaries replaced during last winter and now P1-2 dropped again, and importantly also showing blackish 3rd-gen scaps and coverts, and a very white head and body. The full "suite of characters" that has started to appear to be crucial.

Bird 1 - compare wings and body to the bird to the left

Birds 2 and 3 fit the bill in terms of moult, but at opposite ends of the scale. On closer inspection of videograbs, bird 2 had in fact replaced P1-8 but P9 was missing and P10 juvenile. This is a little too advanced for the other forms, but the ideal fuscus candidate shouldn't show any active moult, and so it stumbles at this hurdle. Add to that the rather-too-pale grey scaps and coverts, and messy head, and it starts to unravel a little. Bird 3 on the other hand had a fully moulted set of primaries, and had even replaced P1-2 with 3rd-gen primaries, making it way out of the range of the other forms. Surely a Baltic then? Again, the grey tones were paler than you'd like, and whilst this might be permissible in Finland, it falls short of that suite of characters needed for a provable British record.

So what are they if they're not Baltic Gulls? That's the bit that was missing from the various experts replies: they were happy to tell me they weren't fuscus, but glossed over the alternatives. Research and discussion followed, and the most likely(?) explanation is the rapidly increasing pool of hybrids that is forming on the Norwegian coast where graellsii and intermedius are moving into the gaps left as fuscus declines. Fuscoides?!

Still, one out of three ain't bad...

Elsham, 30th-31st July 2013

fuscus number 2

With a bit more time on my hands this week, I was able to spend a few hours at the gull field on 30th, with high hopes of getting some better views and photos of last week's fuscus. Gull numbers were lower than last time, but only 40 minutes in, a distinctive set of jet black primaries caught my eye, although the rest of the bird was less familiar. It was small, and a bit messier around the head and breast, whilst the mantle was plainer and the coverts at a very similar state of moult. Closer examination revealed a pale, pointed juvenile P10, but when it flew there didn't seem to be any active primary moult, and the tail looked very fresh, complete with narrow white fringe - another 2cy Baltic Gull!
Having only been on view for 10 minutes, I was keen to see it again, so after a bit of dusk and dawn work, I was back at the field for 7am with good numbers of gulls on the go. Good light and good views meant the totals soon mounted up - at least 13 michs including the same 2 juvs as last week, a handful of Meds including a couple of ringed birds, and then after a couple of hours the Baltic made an appearance, distant again.The distinctive flat, sloping crown and weak bill gave it an odd expression, and in the flat light, a few blacker (3rd-gen?) lower scaps and median coverts stood out. Nice bird.
Whilst watching the Baltic, I suddenly became aware of a distinctive set of scaps and a gleaming white head, and a belting 2cy Caspian Gull stuck its head up for a few seconds. I grabbed a couple of shots, and it was gone, not to be seen again.

2cy cach - never saw more on it than this

Around 11.45 the Baltic Gull made another appearance, slightly closer this time, then disappeared again, and whilst trying to relocate it I picked out the familiar flat crown and bicoloured bill. But then it walked out into the open revealing a few brown marks amongst the otherwise plain mantle, a cleaner white head and a yellowish cast to the bill base. Primaries looked black though, and when it flew closer, the wing could be seen to be entirely 2nd-generation, no juv P10! It landed relatively close, for once, and was seen to be a larger bird with feintly yellow-tinged legs too. The 2nd-gen scaps were a paler grey than might be expected, but a couple of new median coverts and a distinctive new greater covert were much blacker... 2cy Baltic number 3!

fuscus number 3!

It all begs the question - what is going on?! Three excellent candidates in the same field in the space of a week, during which time another turned up not too far away in Lincoln, and a couple of less provable birds in Norfolk too. And under similar climatic conditions as a similar arrival in July 2006...
Coincidentally, the following day (when neither of this week's birds could be found), a large flock of small gulls in a harvested pea field up the road had attracted a handful of LBBs, and this tiny, blackish bird caught the eye. Can't do anything with it, but with such a supporting cast, makes you wonder...

unprovable coincidence...

Elsham, 23rd-24th July 2013

baltische meeuw

Jackpot! In a remarkable re-run of last April, I drove up the A15 early morning on 23rd July and was astounded to see thousands of gulls in the very same field at Elsham, along with the familiar white tanker and green tractor. And finally there was a break in the sunshine and heat-haze, and my disappointment at seeing the Bonby field ploughed in front of my eyes disappeared. I got into position, and amongst the hordes, and the liberal sprinkle of michs (including a couple of smart juvs), a set of fresh black primaries protruding from a 2cy gull caught my eye. It looked up to show a gleaming white head and body, a buff-frosted mantle, fresh-looking tertials, and a worn wing with a few plain, blacker coverts mixed in. The greater coverts were all still one generation, and a flush of the flock caused it to show me a new tail, new secondaries, and complete 2nd-generation primaries with P1-2 missing to make way for 3rd-generation feathers - Baltic Gull!

The usual doubts, emails and internet research followed, and it became apparent I had to be 100% certain the primaries were all new. Day two, misty and murky, but it appeared, closer this time, and every feather tip was visible, all black and rounded and new. Job done. And with a supporting cast of 3cy Caspian Gull, 14 michs and a handful of Meds including a slinky juv.

supporting cach

Best field ever.

Bonby, 17th July 2013

P1-3 new, P4 growing (with black subterminal spot), P5 missing

The heat-wave continues, making gulling virtually impossible after about 7am! A huge number of birds in the usual field this morning held at least 8 michs: 3 adults, a near-adult, a 4cy, 2 3cy and a 2cy. Who knows how many are actually there - the viewing is restricted to say the least.

Bonby, 10th July 2013

Despite hundreds of large gulls using the fields and floods during the spring, it was struggle to pull anything out of any interest. Come July, the start of the traditional gulling season, the first scan of the first group yielded a smart adult mich! That was the first of probably 6 birds: 3 adults, a 4cy, and 2 3cy. No juvs yet.

Things were made easier by the blanket of cloud that sat across the eastern fringe, keeping the light nice and the temperatures (and heat-haze) down. Grey tones were easy to distinguish, and a striking black back on one of the floods stood out a mile. The fact that it was dinky added to the fuscus feel, and a wing-stretch revealed brown coverts mixed into an otherwise adult-looking bird, aging it as a 3cy. But being so advanced is perhaps not quite good enough to consider it proven, and the active primary moult maybe suggests intermedius rather than fuscus... Close, but as always the official line is that it needs to be ringed.

The feeding flock showed nicely in the evening after the tractors had finished, and amongst a couple of michs was another mid-grey mantle but attached to a gleaming white body and small head with a beady eye, snouty colourless bill, and long greyish legs - a 3cy Caspian Gull. Nice.
Back in the home county, and with recent news that LBBs have bred this year for only the second time, the flock of c400 at Candles held a freshly fledged juv! As well as 3 michs (ad, 3cy, 2cy).