The view from my study is of a very snowy scene, the Newland's Farm, traditional flint built, Kent-peg tiled, barn, clearly visible. The most obvious feature in our garden is the Norway Spruce that Gadget & Anne gave Bev and I as a wedding present in 2003. I hope that this explains why Benno & I didn't bother going piking today and why I've not bothered scouring the fields of Newland's Farm.
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| Looking west from our kitchen door, the snow covered roof of the Kent-peg, tiled, barn can be seen in the distance |
I didn't fancy the drive down to the Royal Military Canal, so Benno didn't take much persuasion to give it a miss. My offering today, therefore, is from the archives and revolves around my love of gulls, and their geographic populations, which I have been privileged to encounter during our holidays around the Mediterranean.
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| Adult Yellow-legged Gull - Gran Canaria (January 2004) |
I have been fascinated by the gulls (larids) of our region since I received a copy of the (2nd edition) P.J. Grant - Poyser - Gulls; it was around 1990 - I know that I was still living in Hemel Hempstead and spent many hours looking at the winter gull roosts at Brogborough/Stewartby (Beds) and Wilstone (Herts).Some of the most perceptive birders, I've ever been lucky enough to meet, plied their trade around these inland waters - nameless, yet I have to be thankful for the time I spent within their company.
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| Lesser Black-backed Gulls - but where do they come from? Gran Canaria - Jan 2004 |
Moving to the coast, ensured that my interest was re-kindled, and my focus was again on the subtleties of the plumage phases of year groups within a single species - Herring Gulls being particularly easy to get involved with. It was great to be able use the literature and clinch an id; Herring Gulls being the most numerous species around our area. Being able to use the various components of bare part colouration and plumage features, I became quite comfortable with my ageing skills. However, all of this went to rat-shit when I encountered winter visitors to our area, or travelled to the east, nothing made sense any more! I quickly found that the various populations of "common" gull species all exhibited traits that allowed recognition away from their natal area. I don't mean that I knew where they originated, but I certainly was able to recognise plumage features which meant that they hadn't been from a local breeding colony. I even got into an E-debate with a guy from Northern Ireland about the wing-tip pattern of an adult Herring Gull in Belfast Harbour (it was chasing an Iceland Gull) - how sad is that?
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| An adult C-R Auduoin's Gull - Mallorca June 2007 (The best looking gull in the Western Palearctic?) |
The enjoyment of gull observation is not in what we know, but instead, the realisation of how little we understand this complex group of species. I have encountered many individuals which caused me much head scratching - some have eventually provided answers, others remain in the "pending" file!
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A white-winger - found by Barry Hunt at Joss Bay. Is this a coarsely marked 1st winter Iceland Gull or, as I suspect,
a 1st winter Kumlien's Iceland Gull?
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The most frustrating gull of my time at Ramsgate Harbour. It turned up during a period of cold weather in 2006.
Very obviously a Herring Gull (type) it was the size of a large Common Gull, with bright ,bubble-gum pink legs and a very attenuated horizontal profile. I have seen nothing similar before or since - so just one of those mysteries gull watchers have to be aware of. Not everything will fit neatly into a specific box. |
Re the origins of the Lesser Black-backs in gran Canaria. The ringing recoveries me made in the Gambia back in November were off Netherlands origin, so perhaps yours maybe from the same area. A ringed Sandwich Tern also with the LBBGs was ringed in East Fife Scotland!
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