Iceland Gull at Harbour Way, Shoreham |
first views had me thinking of an albino it was so white but I remembered the bird seen here a five or six weeks earlier had been too |
small-billed and round headed compared to nearby Herring Gulls |
aged as a second-winter (3CY) due to very white plumage (above and below), pale yellowish eye and reduced black on the bill tip |
its legs really were short although this image is a little misleading in that respect |
it had a few browner tones to the upper-wing coverts and under-tail but otherwise it was clean white enough for a washing powder advert |
no Kumlien's influence in its primaries |
digiscoped images of the same bird came out much browner but did show its short legs |
metal ring on a Herring Gull at Harbour Way. If it had a colour ring it had been lost |
Purple Sandpiper at Shoreham Fort |
Norwegian Common Gull JE304 on the Adur. It was ringed as a chick at Husoy, Karmoy, Rogland in southern Norway on 7 July 2017. |
more interesting, in the same flock was Estonian Common Gull P8S7 |
she was ringed as an adult in a colony in Matsalu Nature Reserve (SW of Tallinn) in July 2011 and has been seen in the colony every year since. |
P8S7 history, all the way from Estonia by return of email |
Herring Gull NA8Z on the Adur. It looked like a North Thames ring but with the final letter Z rather than T. |
a pair of Shelduck on the Adur |
Sunday 25th. Nessa was home and we went to Kingley Vale. We arrived late and it was surprisingly busy. Although 100 Hawfinches had been seen earlier in the day I saw just 6. In any other year 6 Hawfinches would have been brilliant but I was somewhat disappointed!
Megan and Cookie at the Bow Hill Trig Point |
part of the big Brent Goose flock approaching Splash Point |
Eider passing Splash Point, Seaford |
Purple Sandpiper on Newhaven Pier |
Turnstone |
Oystercatchers on the Adur |
my first Wheatear of the year was a bit of a disappointment |
Cookie is not that keen on visiting Shoreham Harbour |
First-winter (2CY) Iceland Gull at Goring Gap, it flew almost immediately after I arrived |
someone was throwing out bread, fortunately Cookie was in the car or she'd have been there first |
it had quite dark underparts and coarse undertail coverts |
High Down in the background |
Barn Owl at the Burgh |
by the lower dew pool |
very much one of my favourites |