Glaucous Gull

I finally caught up with the juvenile Glaucous Gull late afternoon on Thursday on what was my fourth attempt. Even in a field full of Gulls it was easy to pick out. It is nearly as large as a Great Black-backed Gull and has a very pale white and ochrous-brown mottled effect colouration. The bill is also distinctive being large and pink with just the end being clearly demarcated in a dark brown/black colour.

Glaucous Gull

Size comparison with Black-headed Gulls

Glaucous Gull - as seen for most of the time

See my blog of March 2013 for pictures of an adult Glaucous Gull at Dungeness.

Other birds present on the gull roost in addition to various gulls were Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover.

Dunlin at roost

Dunlin

Ringed Plover

Earlier in the day we had paid a return visit to Rooksbury Mill and Pinglestone Watercress beds. With the weather bright and clear we had hoped to improve on the picture of the Ring-necked Ducks  we had taken on the mill pond early in December. The ducks were still present, the weather was perfect, but unfortunately the ducks were still wary and kept there distance so I came away with no real improvement on the pictures I had taken previously.

Ring-necked Ducks

Ring-necked Ducks

Other ducks on the Mill Pond were more obliging. Male and female Gadwall came close as did an assortment of Tufted ducks.

Gadwall

Gadwall Female

Tufted Duck

All with the ever present Heron keeping a watch over them.

Grey Heron

The visit to the watercress beds also prove a little frustrating. We saw Green Sandpiper and Grey Wagtails along with a lot of Little Egrets but they were all too distant for photographs. The real targets of the visit had been Water Pipits. Did we see them? Well maybe, there were two pipits, light in colour, pinkish legs, white underneath, and at least one with a bright supercilium. They looked good but we couldn't be sure, so this year tick will have to wait for another day.

A good days birding and in nice weather conditions for a change and it was particularly pleasing to finally catch up with the Glaucous Gull.

Redpolls and Siskin

Much against expectations the sun was trying to break through early on and it seemed worth venturing out. I decided to head inland to Warnham LNR in the hope of getting pictures of the Redpolls and Siskin. Big mistake, by the time I got there the light had gone so it was back to the increasingly familiar IS0800 and 1/50 sec exposures.

I should have stayed on the coast which managed to keep some sun for most of the day.

Warnham is one of the better sites for bird photography giving close views of feeders and perches particularly from the Woodpecker hide. Both Redpolls and Siskin were present as well as the usual birds but it was difficult to get a good shot given the low light levels.

Lesser Redpoll

Siskin

 

Siskin

 Artistic shot of a Siskin. I don't like feeders in my pictures but I haven't got around to replacing the metal perch with a branch yet.

Reed Bunting

There were also a few ducks sharing the Mill Pond with the Canada Geese and Black-headed gulls.

Tufted Duck

A good site for those cold bright winter days and a decent cafe in the visitors centre. Just a pity that the site does not open until 10am. You miss the best part of the day.