Friday, July 17, 2009
Or perhaps, once-was-dodgy-but-as-it's-hanging-about-long-enough-it-got-an-ID-gull-of-winter part 1.
Not much of a ring to it though.
It was still there for the fourth day yesterday, and it's a Yellow-Legged Gull. Bear in mind that the moult is incomplete, and the primaries are expected to project more. Also, my trusty Canon seems to slightly darken the mantle colour. Either way, here it is...
A Gull doing posing.
Another picture of the same gull.
That will be the same gull then.
A slightly different picture of a gull you have already seen pictures of.
You bored of gull pictures yet?
A gull doing buggering off.You may have the impression that I am not particularly excited by this (perhaps by the lack of swearing and exclamation marks), but I am. Although a YLG is not a patch tick, or even patch year tick, it still comes under the category of a proper bird. Even though it's a gull.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Yes dear reader, a proper bird on my patch.
What constitutes a proper bird? Obviously one that you don't see every day. Preferably one that you don't see every month. Ideally one that you don't see every year. Green Sandpiper fits the latter description, and as far as this patch goes it is a proper bird.
Yesterday lunchtime I was farting about with my highly advanced photographic set up, taking umpteen shite pictures of gulls. The are quite big, they stay still, they are quite close and they don't move much. Whilst messing about with settings, which just produce photos of varying degrees of shite, I heard a small high pitch sound and a movement which made me think 'funny bloody starling?!?'. (Look, most people with a tidal mudflat have waders - I have feral pigeons, crows and starlings ok?).
Closer examination found this.

A Green Sandpiper doing proper.