Caspian Gull Influx Continues

What an incredible past week for gulling.  Having already seen four Caspian Gull on the Axe this autumn (30th Aug, 2nd Sept & 12th Sept), I was not prepared for what the last few days have brought... literally a fall of Caspian Gulls!  

As I type this I have seen eight different Caspian Gulls this autumn, bringing my 2025 total to ten birds.  I have probably missed another three or four birds (all Tim W) that have been seen within last week, so that brings the Axe's 2025 total of Caspian Gulls to 13/14 individuals. The previous best annual total was of six birds in 2023, and the all time Axe total of Caspian Gulls has just broken the half-century mark (with 27% of them occurring in 2025!).

So, my birds since the two on 12th September are...

This not-so-well marked first-winter off Coronation Corner late afternoon on 13th, which was nice to share with mid-Devon birder Roland who was keen to see one...

Back left in the line of three, those plain greater coverts really stood out!

 

Really nice shape to this bird 

 

Its open wing showing slightly dusty underwing coverts but overall pale

 

This absolutely banging first-winter off Coronation Corner late afternoon on 14th...

There is simply nothing I can say about this one except PHWOAR!

 

Crazy that those two gulls are the same age!  

Then two (my fourth Axe Casp-double) late afternoon on 15th, including this tall first-winter...

A very long and elegant bird, although all my views were only from this angle

 

At the time I thought this could have been one of the birds I had on 12th, which was also lanky, in a similar state of moult and sat in exactly the same place.  However a closer look at my photos has revealed some differences in the plumage, most notably in the tertials...

Notice the difference in the white, particularly on lower three tertials

 

The other bird on 15th was finally a different age-class, a striking second-winter...

Not the cleanest of mantles but a great shawl on it!

 

It actually stumbled over here, which caused it to flap and allowed me to take this handy shot!

 

Talking about different age-class, one of the birds I missed was a stunning looking 3rd-winter from 11th. Despite seeing so many, it was still a bit painful to not see this one as we don't get many older birds here.

As well as the Casps, finally we are getting some young Yellow-legged Gulls having not seen many at all this summer.  I have seen four in the last few days, including these two on 14th...

This one looked a bit Caspian-like in head and bill at times, but prolonged views helped show its true shape

 

This one was a bit of a brute!  Quite GBBG-like in overall structure and head shape

 

It remains to be seen whether this is just a short-term influx or something more prolonged.  Will numbers drop away before the winter arrives, or are we set-up for a winter festooned with Caspian Gulls?  

Also, is this a one-off for 2025 or is this the 'new normal' for Caspian Gulls in this part of the South West? To me it all feels very different, like a big change may have happened, but I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if we do go back to them being scarce again - just not sure when that might be!

There are a couple of interesting points I do want to add (yes the words 'interesting' and 'Caspian Gull' can go together!).  

• Speaking with some of the hard-core Gullers from the east of the country, they report that not only are they not seeing a similar surge in Caspian Gull numbers, but Casp numbers are actually down compared to recent years.  

• This influx appears to be fairly localised to West Dorset and East Devon.  Yes the Exe Estuary have had a few over the last few weeks, but no numbers like here or at Portland Bill where a similar influx has been documented.  Cornwall County Recorder and good friend Bob B tells me that none whatsoever have been reported in Cornwall recently! 

 

So I wonder if the above two points simply suggest that the Caspian Gulls that would usually be making landfall in Kent/Sussex/London/Suffolk have been blown up channel and been dumped here instead?  If so - let's hope they stay!  I am also in no doubt that the excellent feeding conditions in Lyme Bay over the last few weeks have helped, with huge feeding flocks often visible out in the bay, made up mostly of large gulls.

Will try and start looking at birds that aren't gulls soon, however with this much quality about it's hard to ignore the Estuary at any time of day!