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Saturday, 19 January 2019

This Gulls In Love




20 years ago it was a lot of hard work to tease apart the identification features of Caspian and Yellow-Legged Gulls.  The great paper in British Birds by Martin Garner and David Quinn was the start of a generation of birders journey into a love-hate relationship with Large White Headed Gulls, (LWHG's)
Last Sunday I perambulated the lake at Cambridge Research Park and enjoyed close views of a small (so presumably female), smart adult Yellow-legged Gull.  At the other end of our journey to the in-laws in Walthamstow a near-adult Caspian Gull put on a show at a roadside pond in Snaresbrook.  This one straight out of the field guides, a great bird to enjoy at close quarters.  The open wing shot shows the characteristic long, grey tongues on the inner webs of the outer primaries and some black markings on the primary coverts which would suggest this is a 5CY bird.





On my return to the car a gorgeous male Kestrel swung up into the branches of the Oak right next to me and we shared a nervous minute not quite sure what the other was going to do.  Eventually, or typically, a bounding mutt broke the spell and the tiercel sprung to the air and away.



  

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