That was the Cas that wasn't!

Female Merlin - Pilling Lane Ends on Sunday. I digiscoped about 40 shots of this bird and in every one that came out reasonable she has her head around her back, under her wing, up her arse...
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A Peregrine was also perched on a tussock at the edge of the marsh. For the fourth time this winter I dipped on the Bean Geese but I did catch up with the Hawfinches at S Res. Anyway 5000 Pink-footed Geese swirling over your head is always an awesome sight.
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I got a bit excited when I arrived at HGF this evening and saw large numbers of gulls on the water for the first time in weeks. Every one however was a BHG - then I noticed this one. In the field, through the bins, I immediately thought it looks like a Caspian Gull. Head shape and bill shape looked good so I got out the scope. The first thing I saw through the scope was the bird flying away from a dog that had swum into the pool - I got the scope clearly on the underwing pattern and low and behold the P5/P10 formula looked ideal for Cas.
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At this point I ran round the far side of the pool for better views - and all the excitement evaporated. The eye was pale and not dark, in better oight conditions the mantle is clearly too pale and is typical argenteus, the wings don't look long enough and the bill has a slightly bulbous end.
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Oh well - I tried! I suspected this bird must have some Cas genes in it (hence the P5/P10 formula) so maybe it is a hybrid Herring/Caspian from eastern Europe? However Mr Mckercher thought there were few pro-Caspian features in this bird so I clearly have a lot to learn!
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A recent trip to Downholland Moss revealed 5 Pink-footed Geese with neck rings. I have just got back the info on these birds.
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FVL was ringed as an adult female in Mannabeinafla, A-Huna, Iceland on 25/07/2000. The bird was next located in Aberdeenshire (Loch of Strathbeg) in the following year and has since flitted between the Lancashire mosses and Aberdeenshire with the odd foray into Perthshire (Loch Leven) and Norfolk.
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IJF was ringed as an adult male in Round-up Hill, Thjorsarver, Arness, Iceland on 27/07/2000. This bird was observed in East Lothian and Dumfrieshire in 2002 and then Norfolk in the same year. He was then spotted at Martin Mere in 2004 and then no records until mine 2 weeks ago.
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IZU was ringed as an adult male in Oddkelsalda, Thjorsarver, Arness on 29/07/2000. Since then it has been a regular visitor to the Lancashire mosses but has not been recorded elsewhere.
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LNJ was first ringed in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire on 2nd April 2006 as a juvenile male. This bird also appears to be flitting regularly between Aberdeenshire and the Lancashire mosses with an odd foray into South Lanarkshire.
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LPB was first ringed in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire on 2nd April 2006 as a juvenile (sex not recorded). This bird also appears to be flitting regularly between Aberdeenshire and the Lancashire mosses with an odd foray into South Lanarkshire and Midlothian.
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Yesterday on the way home I popped into the feeding station at HGF for a quick butchers. A pair of Grey Partridges were present, engaged in courtship display. A second pair then appeared, the male of which chased the male from the first pair. The female of the second pair then chased the female of the first pair before a third male appeared and all then settled down feeding. Occasional disputes occurred - it was clear that the belly patch on the second male was much larger and darker than those on the other 2 males. The lone male then walked off just before a third pair appeared and pandemonium ensued with partridges chasing each other all over the place.
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The usual covey of four birds (definitely separate from the above birds) has been present in the garden for the last 2 days. Also yesterday on a quick lunch break I spotted a finch flock numbering over 250 birds in the air above the tip at Rixton but I couldn't get near them for ID.