Did you see a Caspian at the weekend ?

Did you see a Caspian at the weekend ?

Well i did ...

And so did 99% of  The Wanstead Massive !!

Here is the one i saw at Dungeness ..

Now Dungeness is the best place in Kent for gulls and Caspians are regular winter visitors ..

Wanstead Flats however isn't renowned for its rare gulls but on saturday Bob found a mega on Jubilee Pond a Caspian Gull !!

The news broke and all but one of The Wanstead Massive came to see the stunning beauty ..

Road blocks, Camera crews and signs were put up to help people find it easier ...

But one of The Wanstead Massive went to the Swimming Pool instead, by the time the mistake had been rectified it was far to late ..

The gull had flown off and the crowds had dispersed ..

  

The above image shows the lone Wanstead Lister searching for the gull but it never returned !!

Whilst at Dungeness it was business as usual with a Caspian so close you could stroke its head !!

   

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Red 65P5 ~ Dungeness, Kent - 15.11.15

Its still here ...

It didn't come in yesterday and very nearly the same today, what light there had been and that wasn't much had virtually gone, all afternoon and nothing of note, then up pulls MC, I do my thing and generate a frenzy and as if by magic it appears ...

Caspian Gull ~ 65P5 ~ 1st. W

Ringed as a pullus on 21.05.15 by

Jacek Betleja

At Kozielno, Paczkow, Poland.

Seen again on 10.07.15 in Poland

Since then its been in the U.K.

Caspian Gull ~ Ad ~ Dungeness, Kent - 14.11.15

On arrival at Dungeness around midday, the roost near the wooden tower held a few hundred gulls and a adult Caspian Gull ..

Due to heavy rain and strong winds it was an afternoon at The Puddles but no amount of trying could get the adult to come in, as it turned out it was the highlight of the day .. 

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Red 85P5 ~ Dungeness, Kent - 08.11.15

Not sure what the odds are on finding a Caspian Gull at Dungeness but it must quite long ...

So what's the odds on finding a ringed Caspian Gull at Dungeness, double or more !!!

How about two ringed Caspian Gulls, from the same colony ?

Well thats exactly what happened on Sunday and if you'd had a tenner on it, it would easily of paid out 10 grand !!

Never mind losing 10 big-ones take a look at this stunner ..

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ 85P5

Picked out by RB ...

Ringed as a pullus on 21.05.15 by

Jacek Betleja

At Kozielno, Paczkow, Poland.

Seen on 10.09.15 at Stanwick, U.K.

Two Polish ringed Caspians on Dungeness Beach, amazing !! 

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Red 65P5 ~ Dungeness, Kent - 07.11.15

This ringed Caspian Gull was originally found near the fishing boats on Tuesday 27th of October by MC & DW, later that week it was seen again, yet come the weekend 31st~1st it failed to show at The Bucket ..

I thought it had been and gone, yet again in the week it was seen, so come the weekend and Saturday morning it was found in the roost at the point ..

Out went The Bucket ..

In came the Bling ..

Caspian Gull ~ 65P5 ~ 1st. W

Ringed as a pullus on 21.05.15 by

Jacek Betleja

At Kozielno, Paczkow, Poland.

Seen again on 10.07.15 in Poland

Since then its been in the U.K.

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 07.11.15

The forecast of rain and strong winds gave hope to good numbers of gulls coming in from the storm and it turned out to be just that ...

In at The Puddles came 3 Caspians during the afternoon, one was so brief that no images were taken, one kept returning for more and a ringed bird ..

Here's a selection of images of the bird that stuck around for most of the afternoon ..

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W

Here it is on the right with a red ringed Caspian to its left

RB had another 2 casps in the roost earlier in the day which took the days total to 5 Caspians ... 

Caspian Gull ~1st. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 01.11.15

The weekend afternoon sessions fell over the high tides which normally means most gulls have next to nowhere to stand and move away from the beach area to the main roost near the wooden tower, holding them on the beach can be difficult, if they are flushed by the public they move to the roost.

Both days the beach held on to reasonable sized flocks despite great efforts from dimwits, dog walkers and swimmers but it wasn't until late on Sunday just as a fog bank came in that Andy L called a Caspian in coming ...

   Bold streaks to the neck, dark masking around the eye and the scapulars markings are mainly small diamond shapes which are normally more anchor like. 

Overall the birds plumage is slightly darker than the norm, due to the neck streaks, the mantle and upper scapulars with the dense small diamonds, big tail band with bold barring and upper tail covert markings all combined make for a great looking bird.

Darker individuals have less distinctive paler inner webs or (venetian blinds) to the inner primaries.

From below the bird has a slightly darker belly and flanks.

With some odd dark markings, but a fairly clean panel from the greater coverts.

Compared to the usual early November Caspians that turn up in the U.K. this one is on darker side, searching images on the net for dark type birds with some from Romania looking similar  ..
But could there be some michahellis influence as the mantle pattern just seems weird for caspian ?