Ring-billed Gull OMFL!!!
Meeting up with Neil Hagley this afternoon at Shawell Balancing Lake almost the first gull I looked at was an Adult Ring-Billed Gull. Just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating I ask Neil to have a look at this gull in my scope and he came to the same conclusion. GET IN!!!
So over the next half an hour we ticked off all the salient features of the bird and then phoned out the news.
As this was probably only the sixth record for Leicestershire and Rutland as you can imagine I took quite a few digishots of the gull.
Joined later by the Groby crew (Allen, Andy F and Paul) just before the Ring-billed Gull flew off towards the tip, it wasn't long before the group picked at least 3 Yellow-legged Gulls and 3 Caspian Gulls (2 Adults and 1 2nd-winter bird) in the large gull flock.
So to put this sighting of the Ring-billed Gull in context, it's probably only the sixth time it has been recorded in the county.It was a county tick for myself, Neil and the Groby crew and Ring-billed Gulls are still quite a rare bird in Midlands, so you can realise that everybody who saw it had a big grin across there face!?!
Comments
Do you watch the A5 pools from the road verge or is better access available? I always very vulnerable in this area due to the heavy traffic.
http://diaryofabirdingmedic.blogspot.com/
I would imagine a few more people being at this site in the next few days?!
ps...Andy...i think most keen-heads saw the rutty lag one bird didn't they? I know that 'that' bird played silly bugers with a few folks but eventually most, if not all, caught up with it...
Beast...
Me n Chris were doin what gulls there were at ebr late afternoon yesterday...fuck all m'lud!
Apart from 9 smew and single goosander all we saw of note was a bloke who appeared to be talking to a hedge..!!! He wasn't talking to the hedge as it transpired...he was talking thru the hedge to his fucking rampant shit machine of a dog on the other side...cunt!
Beast...
Bloody hell Dave where I come from that would be classed as supression!
Nice find Dave. About as rare as one of John's jokes being funny in these parts
My aim is now to find an Ivory Gull in Shetland so Rob has to eat his hats!