A quiet weekend

All in all, a fairly low-key weekend. On Friday I joined Peter Alfrey at Beddington for a couple of hours. We enjoyed the (very white) juvenile Glaucous, the regular juvenile Iceland and a chunky first-winter Caspian among the large numbers of gulls using the (for now) still-active landfill site. I also glimpsed a Mediterranean Gull, which I think gripped Pete off a bit as they've gone very scarce here in winter.

Glaucous Gull flies in front of the Beddington 'Death Star' - much more on this obscenity at Pete's blog.

On Sunday I popped over to see the Horned Lark at Staines, but it was favouring the south side of the causeway and, on a bright morning, was therefore into the sun all the time. The drake Greater Scaup was on show at the north-west end of the South Basin. Then, in the afternoon, I headed over to the WWT, which was pretty quiet - a 2cy Yellow-legged Gull was as good as it got.

The only thing I photographed at Staines on Sunday - A380 aircraft always look impressive in the air!

April arrives - yet I'm still looking at gulls

I managed to get out a fair bit over the weekend and logged a few migrants, but once again it was the gulls that provided the bulk of the entertainment. A leisurely walk around Chiswick House & Gardens on Saturday morning produced a Nuthatch and my first Swallow of the year zipping over, as well as the usuals. I've recently bought the Canon 100-400 ii zoom, and I must say image stabilisation has changed my life - my hands aren't very steady and I was amazed at how good the IS is at minimising my wobble! It seems pretty sharp too.

Mistle Thrush, Chiswick, 1 April 2017

The river produced the usual assortment of gulls as well as four Shelducks along the Fulham stretch and a Meadow Pipit over. A mid-afternoon visit to London Wetland Centre failed to produced G0UT (which had been seen in the morning) but a white-winged gull was picked up in flight at 15:30. It was distant and high up, but I managed to get it in the scope and confirm it was the Iceland rather than the regular Glaucous Gull that has been knocking around. The Iceland had been seen here again on Thursday and was presumably making the most of the warm conditions of Saturday to drift around West London after having been seen at Beddington that morning.

Juvenile Iceland Gull over London Wetland Centre, 1 April 2017

One each of Fieldfare and Redwing were the highlights of another early traipse around Chiswick House on Sunday morning, although it was clear that there had been an increase in singing Blackcaps overnight - in fact that species seemed to be very common everywhere on Sunday.

After brunch I saw a BirdGuides message that the Glaucous was back at the WWT for the first time since Thursday, so I cycled down there and finally enjoyed prolonged views of this bird - my second local white-winged gull in as many days. The sharp contrast between the pale head/upper neck and darker body seems to suggest that it is Beddington bird #2 (see Pete's blog). I wonder why it's suddenly decided to change its behaviour and spend most of its time around the river?

Juvenile Glaucous Gull, London Wetland Centre, 2 April 2017

In the afternoon I went to watch the boat race with my housemates, only for the Glauc to come steaming up the Thames by the Old Ship pub at 16:45 in hot pursuit of the women's event - my third sighting of this monster in a week. And then, on Monday morning, it was back at the WWT, performing well but generally being lazy - seems hard to avoid it at present. Who'd have thought white-winged gulls would routinely figure among my early-spring birding highlights in West London? Not me!

From white to black ... I was almost as excited by this Rook, which flew over the WWT at 10:15 on Monday morning. For those living outside the capital, seeing a Rook inside Zone 4 (i.e. Central London and the 'inner' suburbs) is a genuine challenge, and you have to hope for the occasional flyover like this. Needless to say it was a first for me here.

Mega! Rook over London Wetland Centre, 3 April 2017

Day at the dump

Abhorrent weather conditions on Saturday and I very nearly got back in to bed at 6am having had little more than four hours' sleep and hearing the rain splattering against my window. Glad I gritted my teeth and got through it though. Steve Arlow kindly invited me along with him and Rich Bonser for a new experience for me - actually spending time on a dump looking at gulls.

Despite the absolutely disgusting conditions it turned out to be a successful few hours until a puncture curtailed our efforts. Highlight was a juvenile Glaucous Gull which unfortunately didn't perform closely for the camera, but three Caspian Gulls (two first-winters and a third-winter) showed at point-blank range and we also had a few Yellow-legged Gulls. Light was terrible for photos though.

 Big juvenile Glaucous having just swallowed something large and nasty.

 2cy cachinnans with pale, almost whitish scaps.

A pathetically small 2cy cachinnans with tiny bill.

A couple of leucistic birds concerned a Herring and a returning Norwegian-ringed Great Black-backed that had Richard unnecessarily excited, having first seen it on the dump last year. Also a couple of presumed Glaucous x Herrings (or perhaps just pale Herrings).

Showy Glaucous Gulls in Peterborough

Several thousand gulls at Dogsthorpe on New Year's Eve including the second-winter Iceland Gull again and two juvenile Glaucous Gulls. I was photographing one thinking it looked a bit more robust than the previous day's bird, not noticing the second in the images until I reviewed a few of the shots. A quick look through the 'scope and there they were, side by side - quite amazing!

Post-Christmas wingers

After a visit to Dogsthorpe on Saturday morning with little more than brief views of a 2cy cachinnans to show for the effort, I was surprised (and a little gripped!) to hear that Jonathan Taylor had scored both Iceland and Glaucous Gulls on the tip yesterday. Popped over this morning and was pleased to find both were behaving extremely well on the predominately frozen Star Pit. It's been a while since I've seen any gulls on the pit there, let alone good ones, and so it had a rather pleasant 'old school' feel to it - I remember ticking Caspian Gull here about ten years ago!

I've seen quite a few white-winged gulls in Peterborough over the years, but this is the first time that I actually had two in the same 'scope/camera view. I've had two on the same pit before, but never side-by-side!

Juvenile Glaucous

2cy Iceland

Glaucous + Iceland

Not much else today save for a confiding pair of Stonechats at Baston Fen, where there was also a Barn Owl hunting (but not SEOs). 85 (eighty-five!) Red-crested Pochards and 23 Shoveler on my patch. Another glorious winter's day.

Back at the dump

It's approaching that time of year where the days are so short that it rarely seems to get properly light and, to boot, the temperature is abnormally low for so early in the winter season. With a calm day forecast, I decided to seize the opportunity for my first visit to Rainham since the summer, mainly to see what the deal was with tipping activity and where the gull numbers were at.

Gull numbers were fairly low to be honest, though this might be explained by the fact it was a Monday morning. I had 5-10 michahellis of various ages arsing around on the Thames, but no Casps. Bird of the day was a pretty smart 1cy that, to me, can be labelled a Glaucous x Herring Gull:

I'm pretty aware that argentatus can come pretty big and pale - indeed, I see such birds each winter (here's one from Peterborough). However, there's enough to suggest a hybrid in this bird beside its overall paleness:

• large size and overall bulk (compared to Herring)
• tertial pattern
• tail patten: just visible in the bottom photo, a lack of any sort of clear-cut dark band is obvious
• primary pattern: broad pale chevrons as well as arrow-shaped internal patterning typical of Glaucous Gull (e.g. here and here)

Apocalypse Gulls

Gulls galore at Tanholt

No sign of the end of the world in Peterborough yesterday. There were, however, a lot of large gulls. I remember moaning quite extensively about the demise of Peterborough gulling as the tips appeared to be closing. Not the case, it seems! The new cell at Tanholt is attracting thousands of birds, and I estimated as many as 5,000 large (mostly Herring) in the area both yesterday and today.

Yesterday was great. Got things under way with a first-winter Caspian Gull among at least 1,000 large gulls in fields on the south side of Dogsthorpe Tip - a welcome return to birds loafing here, where they give really good views. Despite searching, couldn't find much else here.

For the first time in a good few years, large numbers of gulls are also using the fields either side of Willow Hall Lane - no doubt because the new landfill cell at Tanholt lies adjacent. Soon picked up a massive juvenile Glaucous Gull in one of the closest flocks - presumably one of the two seen here earlier in the week (the other was an adult). This is quite clearly a different juvenile to that I had at Dogsthorpe in November.

There were yet more gulls on the tip and pits at Tanholt itself. Scanning the birds around the new pit, a smart second-winter Iceland Gull soon appeared from among the Herrings on the banks at the far side. Shortly after, the birds spooked and I lost the Iceland in the melee although had a really smart adult Caspian Gull in flight and later in the field opposite, which was a nice way to end the session.

Had a couple of hours spare this afternoon, but couldn't locate any white-winged gulls. A second-winter Yellow-legged Gull was a surprise on the new pit at Tanholt but I didn't register anything else significant. Still thousands of gulls in the fields at Willow Hall Lane after 15:30 approached - I figured that they must be roosting on the Nene Washes rather than at CEGB Reservoir, so didn't bother going over there for dusk.

The past 24 hours have forced me to eat humble pie - this is Peterborough gulling at its best, made more ridiculous by the fact no one checks the flocks regularly. It seems really dynamic at the moment with lots of turnover and lots of northern gulls. What worries me is that a Slaty-backed or something similar will inevitably slip through the net here.

Juvenile Glaucous Gull

I've been pretty fortunate in that almost every time I've popped home to Lincs this year I've managed to find some decent birds on my old stomping grounds. On Saturday, the best thing I could manage on my old patch at Baston & Langtoft Pits was a vocal Water Pipit, with a Short-eared Owl seen at nearby Baston Fen late afternoon.

But the highlight of the day was a fine juvenile Glaucous Gull on the pool at Dogsthorpe Tip during the late morning. This is the earliest juvenile I've seen in the Peterborough area (previous 9th Dec 2007), although I did have a second-winter in late October last year. As you'd expect for the date, it was a particularly fresh-looking and well-marked individual. The relatively small size (not much bigger than a Herring Gull), cute face and demure bill perhaps suggest it was of the fairer sex.

Perhaps not totally unexpected given the recent northerly airflow, although a pleasing start to the winter gulling season nonetheless. Apparently still present this morning too, seen by Mike Weedon at around 10:30.