Gulls in Flight at Walpole Park, Gosport

This morning a team of us went to Walpole Park in the hope of catching some Black-headed Gulls. From my previous posts about the site you may have gathered that the gulls there are very tame, and so we have decided to try and catch and colour-ring some birds. Rather than setting up our own scheme, we are piggy-backing of another scheme in Hampshire for Black-headed Gulls, but also have a handful of Mediterranean and Common Gull colour rings, just in case we manage to catch any of them. Today we failed to catch any gulls, although a Herring Gull toyed with us for a while, before flying off. We did however ring three Mute Swans, a ringing tick for each of the three trainees present.

Whilst hanging around at the site I decided to have another play with my new camera, and in particular try it out on birds in flight. When using my camera I tend to use it on manual and use auto ISO. For all of the images below I used 1/500th of a second shutter speed and an aperture of 5.6, wide open on my Canon 400 f5.6. This morning it was overcast and dull and the camera was selecting an ISO of between 200 and 800. There were four species of gull present, but as I mentioned earlier the Herring Gull was hanging around by the net and so I didn't get a chance to photograph that one; the others were Common Gull, Black-headed Gull and of course the ever present Ring-billed Gull.

Ring-billed Gull
This adult winter Ring-billed Gull has always been very approachable, so much so that I don't think I have taken many flight shots of it. The series of shots below shows very clearly the small white window in the black wing tip, which is one of the ID features.

I know, not a flight shot but thought I would include it anyway, this must be the most photographed Ring-billed Gull in the country.

Common Gull
Another adult winter bird, note the size of the white window on this bird, and how much larger it is than the Ring-billed it is.

Black-headed Gull
The images below are all again adult winter birds, hopefully I will have some pictures of these in the hand soon.

A blizzard of gulls as the flood water recedes - February 2014

The water level on the River Meon has been steadily receding over the last couple of days and this has resulted in meadows being transformed into large areas of exposed mud. The wetland habitat left looks ideal for visiting waders and with reports of Green Sandpipers on other river valleys in the county, I have been checking the fields regularly in the hope of adding one to the patch list. 

Mixed flock of Black-headed, Common and Mediterranean Gulls

There has not been much of note most days, but today was different. As I approached the river I noticed a large flock of gulls feeding on the newly exposed mud, many more than the usual 30 or so. Quickly scanning through the flock it appeared that it consisted of mainly Black-headed and Common Gulls, but then I heard the distinctive mewing call of a Mediterranean Gull. Scanning through the flock again it was not long before I had picked up four Med Gulls in with an estimated 500+ Black-headed and around 100 Common Gulls.

Two Med Gulls with Common and Black-heads

The Meds gulls were starting to come into breeding plumage and so were exhibiting nearly full jet black hoods. By contrast most of the Black-heads were still in winter plumage, and where they were not, their dark brown hoods and smaller size made the meds stand out. The whole flock was quite jumpy and would occasionally take flight, the mewing call of the Meds stood out from the cacophony produced by the whole flock. The Meds stood out again in flight due to there all white wing tips, can you see the one in the picture below?

Can you see the Med Gull?

I did not have my scope with me and so was unable to work my way through the flock in detail but hopefully the birds will hang around for a few days. Before heading off I had a quick scan of the nearby pond and was pleased to see a pair of Shoveler. These birds were not present yesterday so it looks like birds are starting to move around.

The pair of Shoveler on the Pond 

So two new species for the patch year list and hopefully as spring approaches there will be more surprises to come.

The Tide was High.....Curbridge February 2014

It was too windy for ringing this morning so after a very leisurely start I headed to Curbridge for a spot of patch listing. This was my first visit to this site this year so I was hoping to add a few wader species to the patch list. Heavy overnight rain meant the river was high and being within two hours of high tide meant there was not much mud remaining, but there was enough. A couple of Common Redshanks were feeding in the creek, with a couple of Mallard and I could hear Eurasian Curlews calling in the distance. I headed to the entrance of the creek and my usual watch point, but access was more tricky than usual due to a fallen tree. A Kingfisher was feeding at the creek entrance and a flock of 35 curlew were feeding on an adjacent field. I could hear some geese but couldn’t see them so I headed further down the estuary to get a more distant but better overall view of the area. A mixed flock of Black-headed and Common Gulls were roosting and bathing on the water.

Two Common Gulls and a Black-headed part of a flock of over 340 birds

A flock of 39 Canada Geese were feeding/roosting on the edge of the same field as the curlew along with a single Greylag Goose. Despite being more distant from my new vantage point I had a better view of the field and was able to study the feeding curlew. One of the birds seemed very small, almost Whimbrel size and appeared to show a central crown stripe and faint supercilium. I watched the bird for a while but was not really getting those clinching views. Despite being very small, and appearing to show the typical Whimbrel head striping, the bill on this bird was too long for Whimbrel. It then vanished over the brow of the hill and I could not find it again.

Part of the Flock of 35 Curlew

I scanned the flock for a while and whilst doing so had a couple of Common Sandpipers land on the creek edge, another new year tick for the patch. I then decided to head back in the hope of a closer view of the curlews. By now it was nearly high tide and a combination of spring tides, strong winds and the recent rain meant the water was very high now. The curlew were out of sight from my vantage point, but were at one point flushed, flying around briefly before settling back down out of sight. There was not much more to report bird wise, I had recorded 41 species with several new additions to the patch year list which now stands at 65. The small curlew was frustrating but hopefully it will hang around and give me some decent views over the next few weeks. 

High Tide at Curbridge Feb 2014

The tide was now very high and if it wasn't for the boardwalks getting back would have been difficult. The Jetty at Curbridge was totally submerged but did not deter a few winter kayakers from landing.

The Submerged Jetty and High Tide Line

As well as the birds there was evidence that spring was just around the corner, Hazel catkins were fully out, and Snowdrops were flowering on the edge of the tide line. New shoots of Lesser Celandine and Bluebell were also evident.

Snowdrops living on the Edge of the Tide Line