Gull Tuition

After long process of trying to get together these past few weeks (hampered by the extreme weather we have been having), I finally managed to catch up with Martin Elliot for some one to one tuition on Gull Identification.  We started the day off with a coffee and Martin giving an explanation of the importance for the need to age larger gulls to enable full identification, this was accompanied with his sketches and some excellent photographs.

By midday, we were ready to go into the field and headed to an area near Wellingborough where the gulls loaf around after feeding on the nearby tip.  Almost straight away, Martin found a 1st winter Caspian Gull, a beautiful specimen, smaller than I had imagined, possibly a female.  During the rest of the afternoon, Martin pointed Herring x Glaucous Gulls, some bizarre hybrids along with two other 1st winter Caspian Gulls and a smashing 2nd winter Caspian Gull.  Right at the end of afternoon, Martin found an adult Glaucous Gull, which has been residing in the area for some weeks.

An excellent and informative day with the adding bonus of a Merlin chasing a Pied Wagtail right over our heads.  What have I learnt? Probably to be more cautious when trying to identify Caspian Gulls and learn more about ageing and to look at the whole bird not just certain features that some birders only hone in on (like the eye, beak and head shape).  What else have I learnt? That I need a lot practise on larger gulls - hey ho!!