Just doing the rounds

29th March 2014 - Topsham

Sometimes the light is so good I'll photograph just about any bird. After an early breakfast I cycled to down to Goosemoor and Bowling Green Marsh. Hardly anyone about, mist burning off in the low sun. Curlews, Godwits, Redshanks and Greenshanks, plenty of ducks - which as usual I barely noticed. The light was perfect, flat with no harsh shadows or flaring highlights, even the Dunnocks looked good.

Dunnock - Topsham 29/3/2014

Dunnock - Topsham 29/3/2014

After a stop at the market I went home and walked the dog to The Rec. The Slavonian Grebe was still there, still a little wary and still looking splendid.

Slavonian Grebe - Topsham 29/3/2014

Very few gulls as usual this early but it was good to find a 1st Winter (or is it 1st Summer yet), definitely 2nd calendar year - perhaps better to call it a 1st cycle - Yellow-legged Gull. This looks darker on the primaries than my last bird so I'm thinking it must be different.

Yellow-legged Gull - Topsham 29/3/2014

An hour later I'm back home in the garden watching a Blackcap, a couple of Chiffchaffs and at least three Willow Warblers feeding, and occasionally singing, in the plum trees.

Willow Warbler - Topsham 29/3/2014

Willow Warbler - Topsham 29/3/2014

Spring's definitely here.

One Year Old

26th March 2014 - Topsham

The Two Bird Theory is now one year old, and what better way to celebrate this minor milestone than with a nice gull?

But before I get to that here's one of my better photos of a Curlew and an action shot of a Little Egret, both taken yesterday at The Rec while I was waiting for a certain gull to fly.

Curlew - 26/3/2014 Topsham

Little Egret - 26/3/2014 Topsham

Now down to the real business of the day - a first winter/2nd calendar year* Yellow-legged Gull. I've seen this individual a couple of times over the last two days, it immediately got my interest but views were distant and brief, only this morning was I able to see it well enough to pin it down as a michahellis.

Yellow-legged Gull - 26/3/2014 Topsham

 On this view alone it already looks a good michahellis candidate, white-headed with dark eye-patch, hefty dark bill and long legs. It's now a question of checking the rest of the bird.

Yellow-legged Gull - 26/3/2014 Topsham

 Finely streaked neck, whitish body with sparse dark markings. Tertials dark centred without apparent barring or notching but very worn and faded. Scapulars broadly pale-tipped with the remains of fine dark anchor marks. No obvious replaced tertials or coverts but if present, these may by now be indistinguishable from juvenile feathers at this distance.

Yellow-legged Gull - 26/3/2014 Topsham

 Upper wing with moderately dark inner primaries, looking pale on some views but at least the outer webs are dark. Underwing quite dark and no obvious pale primary window. Upper and under tail coverts are a little heavily barred and the outer tail feathers are a little dark for classic michahellis but within the range. Taken as a whole this can't be anything else.

Yellow-legged Gull - 26/3/2014 Topsham

Yellow-legged Gull - 26/3/2014 Topsham

* Just when does a 1st Winter become a 1st Summer? I'm seriously considering adopting the plumage cycle terminology as advocated by Steve Howell. This bird would then be a first cycle Yellow-legged Gull. More on this at a later date, no doubt.

Slavonian Grebe and a geographical digression

25th March 2014 - Topsham

As a break from exciting gull photos, here's a rather nice Slavonian Grebe from the Rec today. Found by Martin Elcoate a couple of days ago, it had eluded me until this morning, when I found it loafing and occasionally feeding among the buoys at the southern end of The Rec. It's not quite in breeding dress - there's still a few white feathers on the throat and the ear-tufts are not fully grown - but it's near enough.

While they're common enough in winter at the other end of the estuary, this is only the third I've seen at The Rec in 15 years, all have been in, or nearly in, breeding plumage.

Slavonian Grebe - Topsham Rec 25/3/2014

Slavonian Grebe - Topsham Rec 25/3/2014

Slavonian Grebe - Topsham Rec 25/3/2014

Slavonian Grebe - Topsham Rec 25/3/2014

Slavonian Grebe - Topsham Rec 25/3/2014

So hands up if you've ever wondered why 'Slavonian', and just where is Slavonia anyway? Never willingly missing a chance to wander off at a tangent, I thought I'd try to find out. Well, it turns out Slavonia is a region of eastern Croatia in the Balkans. This isn't an area you'd expect to find Slavonian Grebes these days but maybe it was in the 19th Century, when I'm guessing the name was coined? If anyone knows more about the origins of the 'Slavonian' bit, I'd love to know.

It may not be particularly appropriate but it's memorable and I I like the name, I have no desire to start using the transatlantic 'Horned Grebe'. Funny thing is, the scientific name Podiceps auritus actually means 'eared', which is what Americans call Podiceps nigricollis, our Black-eared Grebe!

Glaucous Gull

23rd March 2014 - Exmouth

 

Sorry but it's gulls again, but at least it's a proper white-winger. It's nearing the end of March and until today I hadn't seen a white-winged gull all winter. So when it seemed that a Glaucous Gull might be frequenting Exmouth Harbour I took a chance and got lucky. After a couple of hours, a few Sandwich Terns and a Little Gull, the Glauc flew in, had a good scout around and settled on a roof top. Here are a few photos.

Glaucous Gull - Exmouth 23/3/2014

Glaucous Gull - Exmouth 23/3/2014

Glaucous Gull - Exmouth 23/3/2014

Glaucous Gull - Exmouth 23/3/2014

Glaucous Gull - Exmouth 23/3/2014

Looks like it's been in a fight, the primaries are broken at the tips on both wings and there is an injury to the bill. So what age is it, a juvenile/1st winter or a 2nd winter? Or should that be 2nd or 3rd calendar year? Or maybe 1st cycle or 2nd cycle would be more useful? I'm still undecided and may feel the need to have a rant about age terminology at some point.

To get back to the question at hand, the mantle and coverts are so faded as to be little use, at least on these views. The bill has a nice dark patch but it's not perhaps as clear cut as on a typical 1st winter and there is an obvious pale tip, suggesting a 2nd winter. I think the real clincher is the iris, it's hard to make out but on some shots it's obvious pale, or at least not dark, and so this must be a 2nd winter bird.

Glaucous Gull - Exmouth 23/3/2014

Thanks to Matt Knott for finding it and getting the news out.

More fun with gulls

17th March 2014 - Topsham

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any proper michahellis out there. Here's another two birds from Topsham Rec a few days ago. Darker mantle than nearby argenteus - though still considerably paler than graellsii, dark red orbital and gape and at at least one of the two had nice yellow legs. The only problem is the primary pattern - on the one bird I got spread wing shots of at least - large white mirror on P9, restricted black on P7 and P6 but with long black tongue on outer web and much white between the black and grey, also P5 has only two tiny black marks not a complete black band.

Hybrid or Yellow-legged Gulls - Topsham 17/3/2014

Hybrid or Yellow-legged Gulls - Topsham 17/3/2014

Hybrid or Yellow-legged Gulls - Topsham 17/3/2014

Hybrid or Yellow-legged Gulls - Topsham 17/3/2014

I don't know what these are, they may be genuine michahellis, they may be argenteus x graellsii hybrids and there may be real michahellis genes in there as well. If they are michahellis, then where are they coming from? And why do I see so many 'yellow-legs' that just don't quite match the classic type? Anyone else seeing these?

Meanwhile on a less controversial note, here's a Mediterranean Gull from the next day: a 2nd summer/3rd calendar year with a lot of black in the primaries - at the extreme end of the range?

Mediterranean Gull 3cy - 18/3/2014 Topsham

Mediterranean Gull 3cy - 18/3/2014 Topsham

Another not-quite Yellow-legged Gull

7th March 2014 - Topsham

Here's an interesting gull from this afternoon at the Rec. It stood out immediately from the usual Herring Gulls by its darker mantle. The light, looking into low sun, was poor but the difference is clear enough I think. It bathed for a few minutes showing extensively black outer primaries before walking onto the shingle when I could see it had yellow legs and feet.

Presumed hybrid gull - 7/3/2014 Topsham

 So presumably an adult Yellow-legged Gull then? Well no, to be honest, it didn't look quite right from the moment I first saw it. The primary projection looks a little short, as do the legs, in fact structurally it's most like a typical Herring Gull. The legs are certainly yellow, but not deep yellow and sometimes and from some angles showed a pinkish tinge. The orbital and gape are very hard to see but don't appear red at least. Here's what I got of the primary pattern.

Presumed hybrid gull - 7/3/2014 Topsham

Presumed hybrid gull - 7/3/2014 Topsham

There's a lot of black on P8-10 and a complete black band on P5, a large mirror on P10 and a tiny one on P9. All fine for michahellis but what's odd is the pale outer web on P9 on the left wing only. I've seen an aberration like that before, on this bird from last June.

Presumed hybrid gull - 24/6/2014 Topsham

This seems a big coincidence so I presume this is the same bird. Of course it will now have renewed all those primaries, so whatever pigmentation anomaly it has, it's to do with how the feather is grown rather than the feather itself.

It's got a lot of features of michahellis, but it doesn't feel quite right - largely the structure and the leg colour - I'll put this down as a presumed hybrid.

Here it's interacting with another, presumably female, gull - a pair? I wonder what the next generation will look like.

Presumed hybrid gull - 7/3/2014 Topsham

OK, that's enough poor photos of dodgy gulls for the time being, a few spring migrants are in order now, I think.

Short-eared Owls

3rd March 2014 - Steart, Somerset

 

Short-eared Owls have been thin on the ground locally this winter with no regular birds on the Exminster Marshes. As my brother Chris needed a lift to Bristol Airport I thought a small detour on the way back was in order. So, brother promptly deposited at departures, I parked at Combwich and headed along the Parrett Trail towards Steart in search of owls. I walked about ten miles (so good exercise value), only got wet once (in spite of the black clouds to east and west) and found at least three and possibly five Short-eared Owls, photographs were taken, of course.

Short-eared Owl - Steart 3/3/2014

Short-eared Owl - Steart 3/3/2014

Short-eared Owl - Steart 3/3/2014

Short-eared Owl - Steart 3/3/2014

Short-eared Owl - Steart 3/3/2014

Due to a malfunction - of the photographer, not the camera - I missed a lot of good shots (must remember to check autofocus is not in continuous mode). Although it's not saying much, these are the best photos I've ever got of SE Owl. The next is my favourite, a bird flushed from the embankment just in front of me and circled past with what's just got to be a look of annoyance.

Short-eared Owl - Steart 3/3/2014

Med Gulls

2nd March 2014 - Topsham

 

 I haven't seen a Med Gull at The Rec since mid December - today I found two. They're always a pleasure to photograph, especially when close and approachable. I first picked up an adult across the river, it soon flew over with a party of Black-headed and Common Gulls to hunt for worms on the partly flooded field.

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

 It was joined by another, a first winter, a little less striking than the clown-faced, white-winged adult but actually still pretty obvious even at a distance with it's long legs and eye-patch.

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

Now, just to go back to that adult for a minute. I managed a few flight shots and something interesting showed up when I looked at the pictures later.

Mediterranean Gull - 2/3/2014 Topsham

The small thin black mark on P9 makes this a 3rd winter bird, such marks are found in a quarter of males and half of females in their 3rd winter/summer (Olsen & Larsson 2004).

Reference

Olsen, K.M. & Larsson, H. 2004. Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. A & C Black.