16:00-17:10: Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes, Hampshire (50.878879, -1.789827)
A very full bird hide this evening anticipated the arrival of a Thayer’s Gull, a distinctive race of Iceland Gull, from North America, considered by some to be a separate species.
During the wait, I located an adult yellow-legged gull in the roost at 16:40. At 16:50, a first-winter Caspian Gull, previously located by another observer, was found to the left of the right-most island in the lake before taking flight. Around 17:05, after information passed from an observer outside the hide, the juvenile Thayer’s Gull appeared right of the left island. Not every observer picked the bird out, and the chaos of fading light, and thousands of birds, meant I missed birds as well, such as an adult ring-billed gull.
A very full bird hide this evening anticipated the arrival of a Thayer’s Gull, a distinctive race of Iceland Gull, from North America, considered by some to be a separate species.
During the wait, I located an adult yellow-legged gull in the roost at 16:40. At 16:50, a first-winter Caspian Gull, previously located by another observer, was found to the left of the right-most island in the lake before taking flight. Around 17:05, after information passed from an observer outside the hide, the juvenile Thayer’s Gull appeared right of the left island. Not every observer picked the bird out, and the chaos of fading light, and thousands of birds, meant I missed birds as well, such as an adult ring-billed gull.
5 POCHARD: RED-CRESTED POCHARDS
12:30: Pit 32, Cotswold Water Park, Gloucestershire (51.661316, -1.961390)
Six Red-crested pochards, including two drakes, were observed here – a prime site for this species.
Six Red-crested pochards, including two drakes, were observed here – a prime site for this species.
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