I have not stepped out the house brandishing a pair of
binoculars since I returned from Dorset. House matters and the glorious news
that competitive soccer is back has had me focusing my time on other pursuits.
Today’s weather looked interesting with showers forecast
though-out the day. I had to be out the house for part of the day so ventured
out early to Beddington Farm to make up for some lost time. There were LRP and
a couple of Common Sandpiper on the North Lake before I ventured along the path
to cover the hides.
The proposed area of wet grassland holds good numbers of
gulls and I set about the task of sifting through them. One particular gull
grabbed my attention as it swam along one of the narrow channels. The black bill
and dark mask on a whitish face had me deploying the camera as the gulls can
easily spook leaving behind no record of what was in view. The black outer primaries
and dark tertials with white edging and the patterning through the mantle had
me thinking of a possible Yellow Legged Gull!
Now adult versions of this species are straight forward with
the chesty appearance, large red gonys spot, the shade darker grey mantle than
in Herring Gull and the obvious yellow legs. No problem with that one but the
younger birds I find tricky to say the least!
The bird made it to land proudly posing for the camera
before the security staff (crows!) moved in to shoo it along. The bird had
fleshy long legs and the white around the bill and neck was more obvious. The
underwing was pale and views of the tail band also looked good!
There were
features I did not get to see before the gulls shuffled round as a result of a mischievous
young Peregrines low flying antics but most gulls were not troubled by its
presence shrugging their wings as if to say “Not you again!”
Whatever the outcome it was an interesting exercise in photographing some but not all features of the bird in question!
A Green Sandpiper was heard and later stopped on the first
pool in front of the hide. I made several return visits during the day to check
on the gulls but I did not see the candidate again.
A good day with 58 species recorded including the above gull! Thanks for the feedback guys! For the latest sightings see Beddington Farm ebird hotspot HERE
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