Photos:
Second winter Iceland Gull and redhead Smew at Ditchford GP's
25th January
Working away again today and I managed to nip over to Ditchford Gravel Pits. I was disappointed by my last visit but thought I would give it another go. Lots of gulls were around on the water sports pit when I arrived and soon a second winter Iceland Gull appeared. It was difficult to see properly as there is no public access to this water. The bird flew off and headed off over the far side towards a ploughed field where there was a gull roost. Scanning this from distance didn’t give me an idea of what gulls were present, however I did pick up a Peregrine perched on a nearby pylon.
I then decided to drive round a few roads and see if I could get nearer to the gull roost and ten minutes later I found a nice spot. There were only a couple of hundred gulls present – I soon re-found the second winter Iceland Gull. Interestingly four Red Kites appeared and two of them started annoying the gulls, constantly buzzing them. Consequently the gulls left and headed back to the tip.
I went back to my viewpoint of the water sports pit and was soon rewarded when I found a red-headed Smew. This appears to be the first reported here this winter. No other gulls put in an appearance so I headed off to my hotel.
Working away again today and I managed to nip over to Ditchford Gravel Pits. I was disappointed by my last visit but thought I would give it another go. Lots of gulls were around on the water sports pit when I arrived and soon a second winter Iceland Gull appeared. It was difficult to see properly as there is no public access to this water. The bird flew off and headed off over the far side towards a ploughed field where there was a gull roost. Scanning this from distance didn’t give me an idea of what gulls were present, however I did pick up a Peregrine perched on a nearby pylon.
I then decided to drive round a few roads and see if I could get nearer to the gull roost and ten minutes later I found a nice spot. There were only a couple of hundred gulls present – I soon re-found the second winter Iceland Gull. Interestingly four Red Kites appeared and two of them started annoying the gulls, constantly buzzing them. Consequently the gulls left and headed back to the tip.
I went back to my viewpoint of the water sports pit and was soon rewarded when I found a red-headed Smew. This appears to be the first reported here this winter. No other gulls put in an appearance so I headed off to my hotel.
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