Kumlien's Gull ~ 2cy ~ Littlehampton, West Sussex - 18.05.14

An easy decision to make, go and have another look at the Kumlien's Gull on West Beach, Littlehampton and with absolutely nothing else on offer it turned out to be a great afternoon ...

Still with a complete set of juvenile feathers.

The juvenile feathers are now well worn and faded.

See how its faded since this image from 01.03.14

Kumlien's Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Littlehampton, W. Sussex - 01.03.14

After the morning with the Little Gulls, we moved on for another try at the two white wingers at Littlehampton in West Sussex ..

The last visit see here was a productive one with only dorsal views lacking in the keepers, so today was about trying to gain some ..

The light was better than before and the wind was now more southerly all good but the birds position in the sky whilst doing what you want it to do according to direction of the sun gives unwanted shadows ...

Kumlien's Gull ~ 1st. W

Happy with this one

These are reasonable

This one has a nice pose but the background is awful & a shadow over the top wing ..

Kumlien's Gull ~ 1st. W ~ Littlehampton, W. Sussex - 23.02.14

It was well overdue for a visit to Littlehampton in West Sussex for the Kumlien's Gull which is staying faithful to the river mouth at West Beach ..

The bird found by Harry Ramm is a stunner and was on show from the moment we turned up, giving great views and performed well for the camera ..

From midday it was overcast, which rendered the birds eye dull and difficult to get a catchlight, still settings were not to bad ..

 1/1600 ~ F5 ~ iso 640

  By mid-afternoon the light had improved and the settings were now much better ..

1/2000 ~ F8 ~ iso 640

Although the light was fairly stable, settings varied for most of the afternoon ..  

Im pleased with the selection of images taken during the afternoon ..

Kumlien's Gull ~ 1st. W

A great afternoon ...

With a nice bird ...

Hardly anyone else there ...

In reasonable light ...

It doesn't get much better

Kumlien's Gull - 1st. W ~ Ardglass Harbour, County Down, Northern Ireland ... 05.02.12

Kumlien's Gull

What a absolute beauty !!

The plumage of a 1st. winter bird is exquisite, subtle markings on the coverts and then fading out through to the primaries, slightly heavier markings on the scapulars make for a real stunner !!

I've tried to capture this in the images

This bird showed well all day ..

Kumlien's Gull ~ 1st.W 

See i told you !!

A beauty