Thursday 21 December 2017

Gulls in the Gloom!

In the very gloomy conditions this morning the islands on Burrowes were barely visible, those that were visible were avian free. 
As I had been meaning to have a walk along The Midrips and Wick's while there was no firing on the ranges, I thought today would be a good time to go there. Parking at Jury's Gap clambering over the sea wall and hopping from rock to rock until I reached the green wall. I walked to within a kilometer of Galloways and back and didn't record a single passerine nor a another human, the highlight being 12 Shelduck, c100 Wigeon, c30 Teal a few Redshank and Oystercatchers and a single Curlew.
Late morning back at the reserve the fog was marginally better allowing me to spot a 3w Caspian Gull and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, also the Long-eared Owl which is really difficult to see even when you know exactly where to look. 
A lunchtime visit to the fishing boats found a 1w and 3w Caspian Gull, both of which showed well (see images below if you like Gulls otherwise don't bother).
Late afternoon back at the reserve more Gull watching another new 3rd or 4th cal yr Caspian Gull came in, unfortunately it was on the far islands as I have not one like this before, it was near adult but had retained it's shawl, a superb bird if you like Gulls, as dark fell a 1w and an adult came in and several colour rings were obtained.
 1w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
  1w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
  1w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
  1w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
  1w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats
 3w Caspian Gull by the fishing boats

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