Caspian Gulls ~ 1st. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 31.12.16

Today in dark, overcast conditions it was a good day at The Puddles ...

Nobody about, No disturbance and the gulls stayed settled all afternoon ..

In amougst the feeding frenzy gathered around the bucket of goodies were 3x 1st. Winter Caspian Gulls which were the regular bird, the semi regular bird and a new bird ...

All taken at 3200 iso ...

Regular bird #1

Semi-regular bird #2

New bird #3

Caspian Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 18.12.16

Today was back to dull and overcast with no wind virtually.

Two of yesterdays caspians were about the boats and car park areas with a very brief adult.

Getting set-up today proved a nightmare with the re-shaping of the beach, high tide and a fishing comp meant that the only place to get the gulls settled for least disturbance was the car park area ..

One of todays 1st. W birds ...

Here are the birds for the weekend ..

Casp #1

Casp #2

Casp #3

Caspian Gulls ~ 1st. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 17.12.16

With at least 3 Caspian Gulls around the fishing boats this afternoon in glorious sunshine, and with no wind the sea was flat and took on the deep blue colour of the sky, something i'm not fond of in my images unless the kelvin is adjusted ...

Herring Gull ~ 2nd. W ~ Dungeness, Kent - 10.12.16

 A very dark, overcast day with south-westerly winds.

 A reasonable amount of gulls came in for the offerings, but it was later in the afternoon when this bird showed up ..

First was a rather big 2nd. winter bird that had a slightly dropped wing which didn't restrict its flight but that wing looked stiff as it flew ..
Total got the id of this one wrong, my first impression was cach but a few features didn't quite fit and even though knowing something wasn't right I still stuck to cachinnans.
A few of you steered me in the right direction RB, DS & AB thanks for your input ...

Herring Gull ~ 2nd. W

A big bird when alongside another Herring ...

Here the dropped wing is noticable ...

Just look at that superb tail pattern !!!

Then last thing in came a 1st. winter when the light had completely gone ..

Azorean Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Larus michahellis atlantis ~ Sao Miguel, Azores -Nov' 16

Azorean Gulls ~ Larus michahellis atlantis all photographed on Sao Miguel in the last week in November, main sites where Ribeira Grande, Caloura and Lagao de porto ..

The following images are all 1st winter birds ..

Smaller, shorter legged with shin-pads.
A good proportion of the birds retain most of there juvenile plumage, moulting straight to 2nd. W..
Overall the plumage is dark brown, with moult restricted to if any the scapulars  which are replaced with darker grey 2nd gen, a few median/lesser coverts also ..
 The upperwing shows little or no primary window, and the trailing edge created by the solid dark brown secondaries are typical michahellis .. 
Dark tail-bar with uppertail barring .. 

Click here for different ages ...
2nd Winter
3rd Winter
Adult Winter


Azorean Gull ~ 1st. W

All to eventually end up looking like this .....