How many Caspian Gulls?

Well the winters gulling is drawing to a close, I do have a final post to do on it once they are gone but March can be a very good month. On Twitter I have recently been asked how myself and others are being so sure we are seeing different Caspian Gulls on Teesmouth, I think that is a very good and positive question. For which we have an answer, however in this post this is just the definitive separate birds I have seen.

I usually go gull watching on a Saturday and when not busy with university I go on a Friday most of the time, as a result most of my sightings are of birds over two consecutive days. Other times there is gaps of a week or more over sightings, this can be risky (for obvious reasons) and as such this post outlines definitive different individuals. I could also provide a very conservative estimate of how many I have seen, but I will wait till the end of this post and how I feel as to if I shall do this.

Bird 1

This bird was a non photographed 2nd winter on the 21st of November last year. Quite a distinctive individual and very white headed.

Bird 2

Easily the most impressive Caspian Gull I have ever seen, an almost dead cert male with its overall bulk being reminiscent of GBBGull. If I had seen this bird again over subsequent weeks I would have known about it, as such it was never seen again by myself. I saw this bird on the 23rd of November last year.

(1st winter Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

Bird 3

Seen the same day as bird 2, another nice 1st winter and this one I presumed to be a female. Seen at the same time when the bird 1 was sitting, removing absolutely any doubt it was another bird. 

Bird 4

A very nicely marked Caspian Gull, my first of 2013 on the 5th of January!

(2nd winter Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(2nd winter Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(2nd winter Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

Bird 5

This bird was not photographed, it was the same day as bird 4 and was at the Cowpen Bewley site rather than Seaton Common. This one is a credit as to why note taking is so useful and important in birding, from my notes in my notebook; "noted as being not quite as obvious as the previous Caspian Gull, so definitely a different bird."

Bird 6

The 12th of January is a memorable gulling day for me down on Teesmouth, I named it the '4 Casp say'. The day started with a 2nd winter (same as bird 4) and then not 1 but 2 adults! This adult is bird 6.

 (Adult Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Adult Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

Bird 7

After finding the above bird Dave Foster scanned some 15ft to the right and found another adult, both birds sitting in the same flock on the tip face. Very cool!

 (Adult Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Adult Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

Bird 8

This one is a very distinctive 1st winter, another one of those birds that I'd know for definite if I saw it again. See pic HERE.

_____________________________

(juvenile Glaucous Gull here with 2nd winter Caspian Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

I think the bird from last weekend gone (2nd winter - above with Glaucous Gull) may have been a new individual but its quite hard to say for sure. All I can say with confidence is I have seen at least 8 separate Caspian Gulls so far this winter.

Until next time, Foghorn out!

North Uist

Been very busy with university with impending deadlines, but I have to have some form of free time and so I have decided to dedicate some of this to catching up on my blogging!

Since my last post I've been out gulling (as expected) but had nothing out of the ordinary, except a Glaucous Gull which spent around 5 hours on Seaton Common, during its stay the bird must have walked approaching 20 mile around the common. Quite entertaining.

However I crumbled and ended up on North Uist for the Harlequin Duck. The trip started off amazingly with a Golden Eagle being picked up from the port in Uig, Skye. The bird was then joined by an immature White-tailed Eagle and a second Golden Eagle! They put on quite a show, these were my first Golden Eagles for approaching 3 years I believe, but I'd have to check my records. We then got onto the ship for the crossing to North Uist, the expected specialities seen on the crossing over as well during the visit; Black Guillemot and Great Northern Diver all in good attendance.

(White-tailed and Golden Eagle - Andrew Kinghorn)

We arrived on site and we soon walked out to the location of the bird, the Glaucous Gull was showing extremely well and helped me record from withdrawal symptoms from seaton landfill. It wasn't long until we were watching the stunning immature drake Harlequin Duck, wow what a bird! We scrambled out onto the rocks to get a better view and we were not disappointed.  A truly stunning bird.

(Glaucous Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Glaucous Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Harlequin Duck - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Harlequin Duck - Andrew Kinghorn)

After the Harlequin Duck it was time for some gulls! Oh yes, you cannot whack a bit of outer hebs gulling! A presumed hybrid Glaucous x Herring was evident and also a 1st winter Kumlien's  Gull. This bird is a cracking candidate and looks absolutely superb, I am sure when we learn more about variation in Iceland Gull I'll be more settled in my own mind on Kumlien's Gulls. The paleness of some birds compared to Newfoundland causes some concern though, but that's a total other blog post on which I ain't educated enough to comment.

(Kumlien's Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Kumlien's Gull - Andrew Kinghorn)

From here a peek at the Ring-necked Duck wasn't to be missed, I had never seen a female before so this was a bit of a treat and a learning curve, far more distinctive than I was expecting. Crossing the road saw a drake Mandarin Duck (yes!) and also a Richardson's Canada Goose. From here a peek at the two Cat C Snow Geese was good, at least I can be pretty safe these are at least Cat C! The next day was basically a repeat of the first day, however far better views of the Kumlien's Gull were had, in fact I would even add we had amazing views of the bird.

(Richardson's Canada Goose - Andrew Kinghorn)

(Richardson's Canada Goose - Andrew Kinghorn)

The boat trip back was one to be remembered with at least 4 Golden Eagles and a single very distant White-tailed Eagle. Pulling into port at Uig saw another cracking Golden Eagle over the hillside, a cracking bird to finish of a cracking twitch. A one I will cherish for a long time.

Until next time, Foghorn out!

Shetland and Back

Wow, what a twitch. Left the house at 09.30AM on Friday morning and back home for around 13.30 on Sunday afternoon. An absolutely fantastic twitch to Shetland. The total trip list was around 66 birds in the finish, with the highlight being the Pine Grosbeak, then easily followed by the Ring-billed Gull. I haven’t seen a Ring-billed Gull since 2008 and so it was more than welcome to see another and this time a 1^st winter!

The ferry onto Shetland on the cold but exciting Saturday morning: 

Some 'twitching' types: 

AGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MEGA!!!!!

(Pine Grosbeak - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pine Grosbeak - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Pine Grosbeak - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

Just so I wasn't too deprived of gulls this beaut decided to stay so we could take it in:

(Ring-billed Gull - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(Ring-billed Gull - copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

After the Ring-billed Gull we went looking for gulls in the harbour, then we spotted a recycle plant with gulls present, so here's the tip:

And finally Mr Screenwash (new nickname) kips peacefully, note the bright jacket for flushing gulls off Seaton Common landfill: 

We ate a lot, bird'ed a lot, saw a lot, slept a lot, and had an amazing time. 

Until next time, Foghorn out!

4 Glaucous Gull Weekend!

This weekend was a 4 Glaucous Gull weekend. I had 1 Glaucous Gull on Seaton Common tip, another 1 on the Zinc Works road (pale bird), then found a bird off Hartlepool Headland battery. Then on Sunday there was a bird of Newburn which I'd heard about on Saturday.

(1 of the Glaucous Gulls - copyright Andrew Kingorn)

Also on Saturday I had a 1st winter Caspian Gull, bill causing some confusion as had an appearance of age, however the plumage was typical 1st winter Caspian Gull. Lesson learnt for me right there. Still no Iceland Gull or what appears to be a 2nd winter Kumlien's Gull, however I did see the ever present Mediterranean Gull.

(Caspian Gull- copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(The Mediterranean Gull- copyright Andrew Kinghorn)

(The Mediterranean Gull- copyright Andrew Kingorn)

Now, I wonder if the Grosbeak will be there later on in the week? Hmmmmm. No sign today as of writing this post....