Caspian Gull ~ 3rd. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 12.10.14

After being set-up at the puddles near the fishing boats at Dungeness for well over an hour the only bird of note to come in was a 1st.w. YLG ..

The gulls would come in to feed then some would return to the roost 200m's away at the wooden tower, the feeding frenzy kicks off and we'd drag the gulls back to the puddles only for them to go back to the roost ..

DW seemed to have something interesting in the roost so we went over, parking infront then a quick scan revealed this beast ...

Caspian Gull ~ 3rd. W

 1/60 ~ F4 ~ iso 640

Not once did this bird venture over to the puddles for a feed ..

Flight shots at 1/80 are set to fail !!

I would like another go at this bird in better light, so hopefully it will do the right thing and show up again at the weekend ...

Audouin's Gull ~ 2nd. W ~ ** MEGA ** ~ Dungeness, Kent - 12.10.14

Straight off the plane from Poland and headed down to Dungeness for the afternoon ..

Easterly winds and raining, so we set-up at the puddles. The usual snacks went out for the gulls but all we had in was a 1st. W. YLG ...

It was now raining quite hard, it was early evening and noticed DW on the concrete road, He was heavily into a bird amongst the flock, after five minutes he's still going at it with his camera, and was now joined by Andy A ..

Pulling up bumper to bumper a quick scan and a smart 3rd. W. Caspian stood out, a quick exchange of words took place ...

DW ... 3rd. Winter

Me ... Yep 3rd. Winter

DW ... What do you make of that odd bird to the left of the casp ?

My reply was what spun it in the wrong direction !! ... Doh !!

Me ... That's got Laughing in it !!

DW ... Must have ...

AA .. Laughing X Ring-billed ..

And so we F*@k up the id !!

It wasn't until I got the images on the PC, then it all finally clicked ...

Dodgy record shots .. omg

Audouin's Gull ~ 2nd. W

For some better images ...

Click here 2nd. W. Audouin's

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ 01P4 ~ Dungeness, Kent - 04.10.14

The forecast was spot-on, Dull, overcast and rain mid to late afternoon ...

As we arrived it was dull, and in the distance dark clouds. Richard convinced me to start on the beach, reluctantly with the rain clouds coming we did ..

Within ten minutes of setting up, I found this Polish ringed bird ..

1st. Winter ~ 01P4

Rung by Jacek Betleja at the Kozielno colony, Paczkow, Poland - 15.05.2014

The rain started and got progressively worse, exactly as forecast, we held out for awhile before packing it in ..

Not before reaping the rewards of a confiding bird ..

This is so far the 5th individual~  all 1st. Winters that i've found this season '14/'15, With Richard Bonser finding the the 6th and first 2nd. W 

see here Richard's 2nd. W bird