Avez-Vous un Cuppa?

A quick trip over to Shawell yesterday produced a good assortment of Gulls. These included the long-staying 3rd winter/near adult Iceland Gull and the  German ringed adult Med Gull . I got some crappy record shots of the Med Gull but the Iceland wasn't playing ball! So below you will see a  couple of shots by Neil Hagley and myself of the Med Gull over the last two years. Also click on the link about the origin of the German Med Gull:  http://www.gull-research.org/papers/...eljuly2011.pdf

Here is a few more shots of the "Probable" Mew Gull at Albert Village Lake. The bird was seen again this morning around 10.30am by Andy Forryan and Ben Croxtall, but I missed it by a few minutes! Other sightings I saw during the morning and early afternoon included a nice looking adult Caspian Gull , one summer plumaged Med Gull, a brief adult Kittiwake and an assortment of well-known faces!?!

Following information from Richard Lowe about an unusual gull at Albert Village Lake late last week, so with my day off from work I spent most of the day at this site. The bird in question was a Common Gull-type which showed characteristics of Mew Gull (the American version of Common Gull).Arriving around 10.15am I met up with Steve Lister and Roger Davis who were already at the site and were slowly scanning the group of gulls. So far there had seen two corking Adult Mediterranean Gulls in the group but not yet the strange gull! Noting the Med Gulls in the flock, I tried to take a few shots of the Med Gulls but as usual just when I was focusing on the Gulls, there flew off towards the tip! Over the period of the morning we were joined by a few birders which included Allen Pocock and Andy Forryan and Richard Lowe, who had found the interesting gull the previous Thursday. The Med Gulls were seen again and a coloured ringed Common Gull was also noted on the island, but it wasn't un

It's mid-week again so off I went to Shawell GPs to check out the gulls. The motive behind this was because of a 1st winter/Juvenile Glaucous Gull had been reported at Draycote Water, Warwickshire the previous day and as most of the gulls which roost at Draycote Water feed just across the county border at Shawell tip, so you can see the reason behind this. So arriving at the A5 pool at around 10.15am I was soon scanning the gulls by the busy roadside. Almost immediately I noticed the long-staying 2nd winter Med Gull and then the prize of the morning the Juvenile Glaucous Gull feeding and bathing by the shoreline. GET IN!!! Although it wasn't a first for the site, this sighting was probably the first at this site for over ten years!? ( 14/3/10: Actually having a better looked at my photos I now think the bird is a large Juvenile Iceland Gull!! and I made a basic mistake and jumped to the wrong conclusion ). As usual I made a few phone calls to let people know about the sight

Here is a couple of more shots of the adult Mediterranean Gull at Albert Village Lake I saw on Thursday morning. The bird is now coming into summer plumage...

Adult Med Gull coming into Summer plumage. Adult Caspian Gull. With my day off yesterday I spent most of the day at Albert Village Lake to watch the gulls coming and going from the lake to the nearby tip. Over the few hours I was at this site I noted at least one adult Caspian Gull and the long-staying adult Mediterranean Gull (which is now coming into summer plumage).

Two shots of the Adult Med Gull at Albert Village Lake. "Jocky" Scottish-ringed Cormorant. Following information from Raymond Duncan via the Grampian Ringing group the Scottish-ringed Cormorant or "Jocky" for short has returned to Watermead CP for its third winter! Please see the link for the story so far.... Also before returning to work on the Tuesday, I nipped over to Albert Village Lake on the Monday and got a few more shots of the Adult Mediterranean Gull .

Adult Med Gull at Albert Village Lake. Over the last few days I have been spending my time between the Soar Valley, Albert Village Lake and Shawell GPs. As usual with watching the gulls at Albert Village Lake and Shawell it has been a little bit hit or miss. The highlights have included a nice looking Adult Mediterranean Gull at Albert Village on the 3rd and 4th a ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull and an unusually dark-looking gull?! at Shawell on the 3rd. Down on the local patch I had a couple of more ticks in the shape of a female Yellowhammer in the maize fields next to Cossington South GPs and then a Little Egret feeding in the ditches on the tern pool at Cossington Meadows. Seeing these two birds my year list is now on 91 species and probably draws me level with John?

2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull. Adult Med Gull (German ringed). 2nd Winter Med Gull. Meeting up with Neil Hagley again this afternoon at Shawell balancing lake. The gull sightings we had over the afternoon included 2 Mediterranean Gulls (the regular Adult German ringed bird and a 2nd winter bird), an adult Caspian Gull and three Yellow-legged Gulls (2 adult birds and a 2nd winter bird). Talking to Neil about the gulls at this site,the one bird we still hadn't seen yet is Glaucous Gull and looking at the weather from the weekend into next week hopefully one will be pushed down by the northerly winds?