Potential American Herring Gull and others at Shoreham (09-13 March)

Saturday 13 March. Over an hour at Widewater in a gale force westerly produced just 3 Brent Geese (E) and a Whimbrel (W). Optimistically I'd hoped for more. Megan and I then took Cookie to Brooklands where we saw 13 Teal and single Little Grebe, Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest. A final check of the gulls roosting between the airport and Cuckoos Corner before dusk produced at least 1000 Black-headed, 10 Mediterranean, 700 Common and 600 Herring Gulls but but no colour-rings or anything amongst them that caught my eye. Low tide tomorrow is after sunset so that is probably it for a week or so. 

almost second-summer Mediterranean Gull

with an adult

another adult still pretty much in winter plumage

Friday 12 March. I took Cookie to Beeding Hill and we walked along the Monarch's Way, up to Truleigh Hill and back along the top of Room Bottom. It was unsurprisingly quiet in a strong SW wind and we were caught in a couple of heavy showers. Highlights were Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzards, 2 Ravens, 31 Sky Larks and a very impressive flock of at least 300 Corn Buntings. Late afternoon I spent two hours along the Adur looking for yesterday's potential American Herring Gull with no success. A different Channel Islands colour-ringed Lesser Black-back along with 7 Mediterranean Gulls were some compensation and I also saw Sparrowhawk, 4 Redwings, 70 roosting House Sparrows and 2 Reed Buntings.

a small part of the very mobile Corn Bunting flock

about half the flock, I counted 153 birds

most gulls being flushed from the Adur

Lesser Black-backed Gull 6AP9 on the Adur. A bird ringed on ALDERNEY in July 2012 and seen in PORTUGAL March and May 2013; Northern FRANCE in August 2013; ALDERNEY in July 2015; Mimizan-plage, FRANCE in March 2016; ALDERNEY July 2017 and July 2018; Camarinas, A Coruna, SPAIN on in January 2019 and ALDERNEY in July and August 2019

Sparrowhawk and Herring Gull over the old Toll Bridge

Thursday 11 March. Megan and I took Cookie to Dacre Gardens and walked up to Beeding and back along the Downslink. It was very quiet with only 2 Long-tailed Tits and 14 Meadow Pipits noted. Later I went to the Adur for low tide, walking up to Cuckoos Corner to check the gull roost. There and opposite the airport were 3 Dunlin, 800+ Black-headed, 21 Mediterranean, 700+ Common, 20 Lesser Black-backed and 600+ Herring Gulls. The Mediterraneans were mostly adults but included 2 second and 3 third calendar-years while one of the Lesser Black-backs wore a Guernsey colour-ring. Best of all though was a potential American Herring Gull. Despite watching it in the roost for 20 minutes to dusk it barely moved and I now rather wish I'd been more proactive in addressing that! I've not seen one in the UK and haven't paid enough attention to the few I've seen in the USA but this bird seemed to tick many, but not all, of the expected boxes. Images do follow ... 

gulls at Cuckoos Corner including two Mediterraneans

and another two, a second-winter and a metal ringed adult

a first-winter Mediterranean Gull at Cuckoos Corner

two more adult Mediterranean Gulls

and another two adult Mediterranean Gulls

they looked as if they were already a pair

the same birds a few minutes later

Mediterranean Gulls and others on the Adur

Lesser Black-backed Gull 2CF3 on the Adur. It has a long history! It was ringed on GUERNSEY in May 2014 and seen at Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendee, FRANCE in October 2014 and September 2015; ALDERNEY in August and September 2016; Axe Estuary, Devon later in September 2016; Mimizan-plage, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, FRANCE in November 2016; ALDERNEY in June 2017; Mimizan-plage in December 2017; ALDERNEY in June and August 2018 and February 2019; GUERNSEY in July 2019; ALDERNEY on 26 August 2019; Dawlish Warren on 31 August 2019;  Les Sables-d'Olonne on 09 September 2019 and Saint Geogres de Rex, Deux Sevres, FRANCE on 19 February 2021

Checking the larger gulls on the Adur (mainly for colour-rings) this dark bodied first-winter Herring type caught my eye with its mainly uniform gingery plumage and smooth, dare I say velvety, underparts. Could it be an American Herring Gull? How likely is that? 

it had an all dark tail but the barring on the rump and undertail appeared to be more white than black which rather deflated my thoughts that it might be an American Herring Gull

it looked a very solid bird with thick feathering on the underparts

I moved a bit closer hoping it would stretch it wings to give a better view of them and its rump. The Herring behind it obliged but it resolutely did not

it did reveal its rump while preening showing a brown ground colour in this image

it had a pink-based bill (the colour barely discernable from this image) with a distinct black tip

the uniformity of its plumage was most striking with little contrast on its coverts or scapulars and the mantle similar to tits underparts 

the visible underwing appeared quite dark 

in some ways it reminded me of a Bonxie, due to its colour and bulk

its uniform plumage and paler head made it a very distinctive bird 

an interesting bird and quite unlike any Herring Gull I've seen before but that may be due in part to the lighting. It is a pity it didn't at least stretch its wings but I guess the rump and undertail were just too pale?

The above images of it were taken over a period of 20 minutes, the first at 17:27 and the last at 17:58 by which time the light was going fast and it started to rain 

this bird has a very similar feel to the Adur bird with its dense ginger-biscuit coloured underparts although it appears distinctly darker on the vent (from p194 of Klaus Malling Olsen's GULLS of the World a Photographic Guide)

undertail closer to the Adur bird with brown and white bars equally spaced (from p194 of Klaus Malling Olsen's GULLS of the World a Photographic Guide)

Wednesday 10 March. An hour and a half watching from Widewater in a moderate to strong SW produced 41 Brent Geese, 2 Common Scoter and an unidentified diver flying east and 2 Brent Geese, 8 Kittiwakes, an adult Little and 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Razorbills, 39 other auks and 3 Fulmars flying west. Seven Great Crested Grebes were on the sea and 16 Gannets off-shore. At low tide I walked up the Adur to Cuckoos Corner seeing just a second-winter Mediterranean and an unreadable North Thames colour-ringed Herring Gull.

Mediterranean Gull at Cuckoos Corner coming into second-summer plumage

Tuesday 09 March. I seawatched from Widewater for an hour seeing just 6 Great Crested Grebes on the sea before being joined by Megan and Cookie and walking along to Lancing Beach Green. A Black Redstart on one of the rock groynes half-way along Widewater had me momentarily thinking I'd seen my earliest Sussex Wheatear and I was somewhat disappointed it wasn't. The Black Redstart was on the same groyne on our return, but being ready for it I appreciated it more. At low tide I walked up the Adur to Cuckoos Corner seeing 5 Mediterranean and 2 Norwegian colour-ringed Common Gulls but little else.

Black Redstart posing at Widewater

and then it wasn't

first-winter Mediterranean Gull at Cuckoos Corner

adult Mediterranean Gull at Cuckoos Corner

looking for a partner

maybe found one

Common Gull JP037 at Cuckoos Corner

an adult ringed at Tveitevannet, Bergen, NORWAY on 31 August 2019. I'd probably seen it poorly on the Adur on 23 February and misread its ring number

Common Gull JE64 on the Adur

ringed as adult at Kongsgård, Kristiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway in April 2006, it was next reported at Dawlish Warren in February 2014 and had been on the Adur on 06 February 2021