Thursday 23 February 2017

Beddington Farmlands, 21st and 23rd February 2017

first-winter Caspian Gull this morning
A gull-watching session at the main lake at Beddington on Tuesday was rewarded with single juveniles of Glaucous and Iceland Gulls, as well as a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull with an abnormally coloured bill, seen earlier this winter at the London Wetland Centre and along the Thames further east. There was also a rather peculiar bird which I took to be a Herring x Caspian.

juvenile Glaucous Gull (right) on Tuesday, being a bit of a d*ck
With nothing else to do while Storm Doris ravaged the land, I thought I'd return for more this morning and took shelter in the hide with Kevin G. Frustratingly, the wind was regularly gusting strong enough to practically lift the gulls up off both the island and water's surface without any notice and I only managed to photograph one of the decent gulls seen, a first-winter Caspian Gull, the other two notables being the juvenile Glaucous Gull again and a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull.
presumed hybrid Herring x Caspian Gull, first-winter, on Tuesday
first-winter Caspian Gull this morning
juvenile Iceland Gull on Tuesday
abberant first-winter Yellow-legged Gull
A Kestrel was at home in Belmont on 22nd.