With the number of large gulls increasing and a few Caspian Gulls being reported again at Minsmere Myself and Craig headed over to give the scrape a look to see what we could find and perhaps learn a thing or two. It soon became apparent that the turnover of gulls was minimal with most birds just loafing around or asleep. Several Herring and Greater black-backed were present with 3 or 4 Lesser black-backs, 2 Meds, 1 Common and plenty of Black-heads making up the rest of those present. It took us well over an hour to identify our first Caspain after a couple of false starts. 5 Yellow-legged Gulls of various ages were found and spurred us on. In the end, after almost 3 hours we found 3 Caspians, and 5+ Yellow-legged were identified and I think we both learned a bit more. Its good to try and put what you read into practise but I think just studying birds is more helpful in forwarding your knowledge.
A Lesser White-fronted Goose which flew in from the west was a couple of Barnacles was a very smart individual but had about as much credentials as the White-cheeked Pintail also on the scrape.
A Herring Gull was also found which had probably been rung in Texel, am awaiting details.
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| Caspians and Yellow-legged |
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| 2 more Yellow-legged Gulls, note difference in leg tone. | |
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| Texel ringed Herring Gull |
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| The Lesser White-fronted Goose, no rings and fully winged - must be wild! |
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