Faint signs of life in the blog yet...

2nd February 2016 - Somewhere in the Midlands

It's symptomatic of the state of the birding around here right now that not only is this my first post of 2016 but that I had to travel a couple of hundred miles to find anything I felt like writing about.

Tuesday found myself and Martin Elliott in Tring talking with Hadoram Shirihai about our Tubenoses/Seabirds books projects. On Wednesday we spent several hours standing in a hedge by the A5 in Leicstershire; HGVs belting along behind us and a few hundred LWHGs on a pool in front of us. The occasional sleet shower wasn't too bad but the standing still was chilling - at least that's one excuse for the poor photos.

Highlights were at least two 1st winter Caspians but a couple of Yellow-legs and hundreds of argentatus Herring Gulls would have made it all worth while on their own.

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - typically bolshy with the other gulls, almost a classic ID feature.

Caspian Gull 1W - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - a real beauty but the first bird was even smarter.

Herring Gull argentatus - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - classic primary pattern.

Herring Gull argentatus - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - with Lesser Black-backed intermedius.

Herring Gull argentatus - Shawell, Leics. 3/2/2016 - maybe my photo processing has made these darker than necessary but they really did look strikingly different to typical argenteus, some approaching graellsii in shade. Rarer than Caspian in Devon but is that just observer bias?

Away with the gulls again

26th November 2015 - Topsham

 

Gulls never let you down. When there's nothing else about there's always a few gulls to look through and, not surprisingly, the more you look, the more you see. Certainly, having just a handful of regular species to scan through does tend to concentrate the mind, even one as prone to wander as mine.

So, today I made my usual low tide visit to Topsham Rec and as usual there's a couple of hundred Black-heads, fifty or so Herring, a dozen Common, a handful of Lesser Black-backed and single Great Black-backed. After a superficial scan for anything really obviously unusual. i.e. rare, I picked out an adult Med Gull, a colour-ringed bird (white 34K4) with a long history (see previous post). It landed near another adult, this one did not co-operate but spent all the time sleeping (Med Gulls tend to be rather inactive I've noticed). While checking my photos later I noticed it too was colour-ringed - red, right tarsus (so probably a Polish bird) - and this has been around on and off for a week though I've yet to read the code.

Mediterranean Gull 34K4 >17cy - 26/11/2015 Topsham

Mediterranean Gull 34K4 >17cy - 26/11/2015 Topsham

Mediterranean Gulls - 34K4 at back, red c-r taking it easy - 26/11/2015 Topsham

Now, folks, it's time for my occasional feature - the Topsham Mystery Gull - no prizes, in fact probably no definite solutions.

Further up the river the big gulls have their own bathing and loafing area. A quick scan produced nothing but the usual Herring Gulls and four LBB but then I noticed this slightly different individual. Light conditions were not great and the bird was not close - the usual excuses, I know - but the main points are obvious.

Larus sp. ad (it's the one at the back) - 26/11/2015 Topsham

 It's clearly darker grey than the 'normal' argenteus HG and the legs look a bit different too, not quite so pink maybe. I started thinking nominate argentatus but the mantle looks a little too dark and the tone is odd, it should be a bluer grey. A view of the spread primaries would help so I waited for it to fly.

Larus sp. ad - 26/11/2015 Topsham

Larus sp. ad - 26/11/2015 Topsham

Not looking too good now, is it? The white mirrors on P9 and P10 are just about OK for argentatus (also fine for argenteus) but the amount of black is not ideal. Another odd thing is irregular shape of the black areas plus they seem to be a little paler on P8-10, almost like something went wrong in pigment production, like the bird couldn't decide quite what it wanted to be. Maybe it's an odd argentatus, maybe it'll have to go down as another hybrid?

As ever, comments welcome.

Another Yellow-leg

19th July 2015 - Weymouth

At the risk of overdoing the gulls, here's another juv michahellis, this time from Dorset. We briefly popped into Radipole yesterday (we were dropping Carolyn's brother at Dorchester station so I suggested a quick detour to Weymouth). I thought there might be the odd one around, but this was practically the first bird I saw as we pulled into the car park. At this time of year, when the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls are just fledging, birds as smart as this stand out a mile.

Yellow-legged Gull - 19/7/2015 Weymouth, Dorset

Yellow-legged Gull - 19/7/2015 Weymouth, Dorset

Yellow-legged Gull - 19/7/2015 Weymouth, Dorset

Yellow-legged Gull - 19/7/2015 Weymouth, Dorset

And here's a juv Herring Gull looking rather less impressive in comparison.

Herring Gull - 19/7/2015 Weymouth, Dorset

Why I really went to Finland

Baltic Yellow-legged Herring Gulls and the 'omissus' question

OK, I may not have come back with any cracking photos of owls but admit it, this is what you've all been waiting for - my yellow-legged 'Herring Gulls' from the Baltic.

Even occasional visitors to this blog will have noticed a regular feature - the mystery 'yellow-legged' gull challenge. This is when I post a photo of an adult gull with a medium grey mantle and yellow legs and proceed to convince myself at least that it's not Larus michahellis but a hybrid, probably argenteus x graellsii. So as I'm quite accustomed to seeing non-michahellis gulls with yellow legs, I felt comfortably at home in Helsinki recently when faced with a whole freakish series of yellow- (or yellowish-) legged argentatus types and their alarming progeny. No surprise really, the Finnish gulls with their yellow legs have been the subject of much head-scratching for many years; they even have name - 'omissus' -  which appears to have been originally applied to a different population and, since no proper description was published, is invalid anyway.

The taxonomic status and origin of these birds has been discussed since at least the early 20th Century and is seemingly no nearer resolution; if you really want to give your brain a workout, I recommend Jonsson 1998, also Panov & Monzikov 1998 for a Russian perspective, and Voipio 1993 for a historical review, the name 'omissus' first appears in Pleske 1928. Be warned, though, it's all a bit of a car crash. [Edit: should have mentioned, but forgot, Mierauskas & Greimas 1992].

Meanwhile, it's time for the gulls themselves; I spent a few hours over two days by the quay in Helsinki getting to know a small group of about 30, mostly 2nd cal.yr./1st cycle birds with about 10 adults and just one 3rd cal.yr./2nd cycle (which never came close enough to photograph). I'll start with adults.

Larus sp. adult - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. adult - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. adult - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. adult - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. adults - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Admittedly it's a small sample but a few things stood out:

None had the obviously pink legs I would associate with either British argenteus or Scandinavian argentatus Herring Gulls. The leg colour ranged from a pale, washed out pinkish-yellow to a bright michahellis yellow. Mantle shade was consistent and darker than British argenteus, typical of nominate argentatus in fact, the primary pattern was also typical of argentatus - all birds had much white on P10, either a large white tip or a large mirror with just a small black band before the feather tip, there was little or no black on P5, the orbital ring and gape appeared to be consistently red.

Now a selection of 1st winter birds and these were, if anything, even odder.

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland (same bird as above)

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland (same bird as above)

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland (same bird as above)

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 14/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yrs - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

Larus sp. 1st cycle/2nd cal yr - 17/3/2015 Helsinki, Finland

There's some variation in the base colour of the head and underparts as well as the degree of wing covert barring, not unlike what you'd expect in a Herring Gull at this time of year. Many have fairly dark coverts with thin simple fringes not unlike michahellis or cachinnans. The commonest scapular pattern seemed to be a thin sub-terminal anchor mark, often against a brownish background although many were pale. I could no sign of any moult in the wing coverts and some had retained a few juvenile scapulars. The big surprise was when these birds flew, showing little sign of Herring Gull type pale inner primaries - they were more or less all dark, like a Lesser Black-backed or a Yellow-legged Gull. The tail consistently showed a blackish band beyond a heavily black-barred white base, likewise the upper tail coverts were well marked.

Given that these birds are often alleged to originate from hybridisation between argentatus and cachinnans, I've got to admit I could see little sign of the latter other than the bare part colour in the adults and the primaries of the 1W.

So what are they? Well, what about the argentatus x cachinnans hybridisation theory? It seems to be accepted that numbers of pink-legged coast-nesting argentatus increased in the Baltic during the 20th Century, while at the same time yellow-legged colony-nesting cachinnans have spread northwest from the Caspian area. However, it appears that yellow-legged gulls were already nesting on the bogs and lakes of the eastern Baltic region at least 200 years ago, whether these were actually cachinnans or something else entirely remains to be proven. Pleske's original 'omissus' actually refers to birds collected on the Arctic coast of the Kola Peninsula and islands in the White Sea. Confused? You should be. As I said earlier - car crash.

References

Jonsson, L. 1998: Yellow-legged gulls and yellow-legged Herring Gulls in the Baltic. Alula 3:1998

Mierauskas, P. & Greimas, E. 1992: Taxonomic status of yellow-legged Herring Gulls in eastern Baltic. Dutch Birding 14: 91-94

Panov, E.N. & Monzikov, D.G. 1999: Intergradation between the Herring Gull Larus argentatus and the Southern Herring Gull Larus cachinnans in European Russia. Russian Journal of Zoology 3:129-141

Pleske, T. 1928: Birds of the Eurasian tundra. Mem. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 6: 1-485

Voipio, P. 1993: Differences in ecological properties in the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) as a basis for explaining and predicting colonization events - A case history in retrospect. Ann. Zool. Fennici 30: 3-15

Scandinavian Herring Gull, mystery gull, and a Pallid Harrier in Somerset

2nd November 2014 - Topsham

Carolyn and I took a trip to Steart in Somerset on Saturday to look over the new reserve and fortunately jammed into the long -staying Pallid Harrier; fine bird but photos rather poor so I won't dwell on that.

Meanwhile, back home I had the pleasure of finding this individual at the Rec.

Herring Gull argentatus 2/11/2014 - Topsham

Herring Gull argentatus 2/11/2014 - Topsham

The most obvious feature was the darker grey mantle compared with nearby argenteus Herring Gulls. Yellow-legged Gull was never an option due to its pink legs and heavily marked head and neck (not to mention its structure). In fact the best fit is nominate argentatus Herring Gull. Before too long the gulls all took flight and I got a good look at the primaries.

Herring Gull argentatus 2/11/2014 - Topsham

Herring Gull argentatus 2/11/2014 - Topsham

It's a 4th winter bird - a few dark spots on tail and dark marks on primary coverts - and so probably shows a little more black in the primaries than it will when fully adult (this may also explain why it's rather advanced in its moult - P10 fully grown or nearly so). Even so, it has a large mirror on P10 (the black band is broken so not far off a complete white tip), a decent mirror on P9 and very little black on P5. All consistent with both argentatus and our local argenteus but, given the darker mantle, argentatus is the best fit; certainly no need to bring out the hybrid hypothesis.

Meanwhile, here's a puzzle from Exmouth a month ago - any suggestions?

Larus sp. 6/10/2014 - Exmouth

Herring Gull in front of course, but what about the one behind? Here are a couple of flight shots.

Larus sp. 6/10/2014 - Exmouth

Larus sp. 6/10/2014 - Exmouth

I'm still not sure what to make of this bird - though I have suspicions - and any comments would be most welcome.

Before I forget, here's the best I could manage of the Pallid Harrier at Steart on Saturday. We'd spent a few hours wandering around the fantastic new reserve and I'd more or less given up on seeing this bird when it flew in from the west, across the marshes and disappeared over the Parrett.

Pallid Harrier 1/11/2014 - Steart, Somerset

How many species of gull in this photo?

30th August 2014 - Topsham

I took this photo at Topsham Recreation Ground yesterday. Three adult gulls, clearly three different 'types' but are there three species involved or just two?

OK that was clearly a leading question and regular readers of this blog will know where this is going. Those who, inexplicably, find gulls uninteresting might want to skip to the end of this post for a photo of a Tree Pipit.

Larus spp. 30/8/2014 Topsham

The middle and right hand birds should present no problems - Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull - but what about the bird on the left? Medium grey mantle - good for Yellow-legged Gull if perhaps a little 'blue' - but pink legs? I think it's clear we're looking at another hybrid, the parents presumably being Herring and Lesser Black-backed.

Here's some photos showing the primaries more clearly. As you'd expect in late August it's in moult but the relevant feathers are all present. P1-5 are new and fully grown, P6 is nearly so, the old P7 has been shed and the replaced feather is not yet visible, P8-10 are old. There are good sized mirrors on P9 and P10 with a fair amount of black on the outer three primaries and, unlike many apparent hybrids, there is a complete black band on P5 - the overall pattern suggesting michahellis or graellsii rather than argenteus.

Larus hybrid 30/8/2014 Topsham

Larus hybrid 30/8/2014 Topsham

So my answer is: three gulls, two species, presumably one and a half Herring and one and a half Lesser Black-backed (I do realise it may not be that simple since it can't be ruled out that there's also some michahellis mixed up in there and of course it might not be a first generation cross). Never a dull moment with gulls or, to quote a good friend of mine: "welcome to the wonderful world of Larids!"

Meanwhile, here's the Tree Pipit (one of two) taken from the back door a couple of days ago. It's not a garden tick - I've had a few flyovers before - but it is the first one actually in the garden.

Tree Pipit - 29/8/2014 Topsham