The Mild Winter Continues

Just a quick 'since my last post' update tonight...

There's not much new appearing on patch at the moment, except for a few Red Kite that have all managed to avoid me.  A lucky local took an amazing video of six flying low over Beer Head caravan park a couple of days ago - a truly enviable winter count.

So what I have seen?  Well four Woodcock were much appreciated at the start of last week, especially considering this isn't proving a great Woodcock-winter.  I managed some good flight views but on the deck views remain almost impossible at this regular site for them.  Nearby the four Cattle Egret have been showing daily in Colyton, although I could only score a hat-trick here...

Will never tire of these!

The single Brent Goose I blogged about a couple of posts ago has attracted a mate, and they are both spending most their time on Bridge Marsh. Sometimes with the Canada Goose flock but other times happy with just each other for company...

Not a usual mid winter sight here on the Axe

It's been encouraging to see good numbers of gulls on the Estuary over the past week or so, with pre-breeding gull passage clearly starting to kick into action.  For example I have seen more Lesser Black-backs today than I've seen on any day so far this year and Common Gull numbers are on the up.  Am disappointed not to have seen a Casp yet this year, or a Yellow-legged, but I did see this a few days ago...

An intriguing beast!

...but I don't know what it is!  

I would usually put a bird with a mantle of this tone into the 'Probable Herring x Lesser Black-backed hybrid camp', but this gull didn't really match any of the previous examples that I've seen of these.  For example normally the Lesser Black-back traits are more obvious, with yellow-tinted legs, a small bill and they tend to be diminutive.  This is a big strong bird with nice pink legs and never really took me down the Lesser Black-backed route...

Really dark mantle

My hunch, despite the limited white in the birds primaries, is that it's an argentatus (Northern) Herring Gull, a 4th-winter (which may explain the aforementioned restricted white).  

After sharing images of this bird online there were concerns the mantle was actually too dark for an argy, although I have to say it's not something that bothers me, having seen some really dark argentatus at Spurn. However I am not confident enough to call it as definitely one, so in the 'dark-mantled gull' category it will have to reside. A real shame it didn't show me an open wing!!

I do hope the next blog post features a gull I can actually ID...