The Real Deal?

Yesterday, I managed to get myself up to Lincolnshire. It'd been a bit of a fraught time, as while in Egypt last week, I'd been told about a decent looking juvenile thayeri candidate - a bird that I was mega keen to see. Sounds a bit ungrateful given all the quality in Egypt, and it really does paint me out to be one sad gull-induced bloke.

Anyway, it all came good as just northeast of Brigg I managed to locate the bird early morning, sitting in a ploughed field with a load of Herrings and LBBs. Bob was pretty chuffed, having missed it on Saturday and he offered me a handful of Brazil nuts in celebration.

It showed fine, both on the deck and in flight, and overall I was pretty happy with it - a little snouty, but if that was all I was fussed about then it wasn't too far from being the real deal. I really liked those dark centred juvenile scaps - something Josh and I had been chatting about in Egypt - as well as the really uniform chocolate brown tertials. I've been a real basher of several recent claims (including this winter's bird at Enniskillen that shows remarkably hoary scaps), and having seen only seen the adult at Killybegs in 1998 and the Barnatra bird of 2005 (both accepted by the IRBC but do not make me sleep easy!), this in my eyes is the best Thayer's to have turned up in Britain and Ireland (along with the original Cork bird, and the juveniles at Newport Dump in 1998/1999 and Killybegs in 2003).

Quality Red Sea migration

For the last three days of the trip, I chilled out on the southern Red Sea coast. As well as wandering around in the tropical, picture postcard mangroves of Wadi Lahami failing to see Goliath Heron (having visited this site on 3 trips, I've only seen it once) there were a shed load of passerines going over too - predominantly flava wagtails, Red-throated and Tree Pipits and Short-toed Larks. Once in the nearby gardens of Lahami Bay, though, colour and quality popped up all over the place. It was genuinely exciting birding...

male Red-spotted Bluethroat - dozens of these hopping around the flower beds of Lahami Bay

presumably another svecica, this time a female

Red-throated Pipit complete with tick

superciliaris Yellow Wagtail; a properly smart bird

Black-headed Wagtail... but would this feldegg get through the BBRC with a throat like that? I'd like to think so.

This feldegg is exactly what you see in the text book; though many birds had assortments of white head fleckings

an inquisitive, confiding Eastern Stonechat... probably armenicus?

male Caucasian Stonechat, presumably ssp. armenicus

large flocks of Short-toed Larks heading north with vitesse

Collared Pratincole enjoying an early evening visit to the swimming pool for a quick drink

As touched upon above, there were some really interesting identification challenges too, that I'll come onto in later posts. Particularly interesting were the varieties of Yellow Wagtails and the stonechats that were seen - seemingly all armenicus from what I can tell. The females, particularly, seem to be indistinguishable from maurus in the field, from what the ringers in Israel say about not being able to see the white in the tail unless its specifically spread in the hand.

Mourning Glory

I got back earlier this evening from a week long trip to Egypt with Josh and Staines. There'll be a fair few posts in the near future on bits and bobs that we saw - migration was in full swing on the Red Sea coast (both passers and raptors) and the Nile Valley WP specialities at Abu Simbel were also taken in.

Since I last visited in 2007, the first African Mourning Doves had been found at Abu Simbel by Belgian birders. And these birds had been lingering over the last year or so. I saw a couple, including one bird being particularly vocal and display flighting. They could be found in the gardens just to the north of the temple, and it's tempting to speculate how long they've actually been around, though numbers haven't augmented since they first turned up so perhaps they're not as successful at colonising as Collared Doves!

Also, another new bird for me within the Western Palearctic was Three-banded Plover. In fact, this quality species is now a breeding species and can be easily seen at Tut Amon near Aswan. We found a territorial pair on islands near the shore of Lake Nasser. The area is private so if you go be sure to contact the local birders Haitham (haythamibra@yahoo.com) and Hosny (goodhosny@yahoo.com) if you want a stress free, easy trip to this area. We also had a decent boat ride down at Abu Simbel where, given the time of year, we were happy enough with a couple of nice Yellow-billed Storks and some rather nice African Pied Wagtails along with loads of migrant waterbirds. I'll leave you for now with a few shots...

Andalucian Ibis in Essex

With too much time spent inside this week, and with the Mediterranean style weather, it was time to convert that into some bird action. So with school out, I whacked it up the A12 to Baddow Meads near Chelmsford, Essex, and shared a lovely couple of hours with my Iberian friend, ringed 8J9. Nobody else present - just me and a Glossy Ibis in the sun. Happy days.

So what's the deal with 8J9? Well, predictably it comes from Spain - ringed as a chick at El Rocio, Coto Donana, on 7th May 2007. It was still in the area three years later, being seen near Huelva (just 45km from where it was ringed) on 2nd April 2010. Next sighting wasn't until early 2012 at Borth, Ceredigion, from 2nd to 25th February, before heading straight through Britain to Heybridge, Essex, from to 16th March... and then appearing at this site on 24th March.

Kumlien's Gull - too hot to handle?

Last Saturday, I headed to Rainham to see the 2nd-winter Kumlien's Gull that had been frequenting the tip and adjacent River Thames. Then during the week (on 19th and 22nd) this bird transferred itself to Beddington. So it was a real surprise that at 12.10pm today that I picked up a 'white-winged gull' crusing over us all at Pitsea tip while we were waiting to take a second catch. Within seconds, when it decided to bank and drop, it was obvious it was the same Kumlien's Gull that had been hanging around the London area (as the dock off tail band and primary patterning is a real giveaway): -

Pretty chuffed with things, as everyone managed to get onto it pretty quickly, the excitement started to reach fever pitch. The compactors had started to slow down on the main tip, so there was a feeding frenzy in the trapping area. And then, as if by magic, this northern beauty decided to take a sneaky peak. With some skilful cannon netting, this 2nd-winter Kumlien's Gull can now hopefully be tracked conclusively with its new bling: -

This was apparently the first white-winged gull that the NTGG had ever caught, so there was inevitably some rather good feeling around. Is this also the first ever kumlieni to be ringed in Britain? The bird itself was remarkably docile, and was quickly processed as the weather was rather warm to keep birds for too long. So here is what this bird looked like up close and personal: -

pretty pale eyed; very little dark flecking

birders who saw this individual at Rainham commented on the obvious retained, darker greater-coverts - still noticeable in the hand

A lovely tail band

Grey feathering appearing on the mantle

Note the dark outer webs, especially to P7-10; also this shot illustrates the transluscent ghost mirror coming through on P10

3cy Black-headed Gull

It's not uncommon to identify Med Gulls in their 2nd-winter in the field on the basis of their obvious dark primary markings. However, I've not exactly been calling every 2nd-winter Black-headed Gull that I see as such. But they're pretty doable so long as you get a good view. And when you've got one in the hand that's certainly the case. Photos from last Saturday at the tip.

slightly dark-tipped bill compared to adults in the same catch; less extensive summer plumage on head compared to most adults. However, this feature possibly more moult timing rather than age related? Though a recent Dutch Birding article on long-lived B-h Gulls suggested that lack of full summer plumage could also be a feature of senility.

Note the subtle black markings in the primary coverts as well as the obvious black mark on the alula

Very obvious dark markings in secondaries as well as the inner webs of the inner primaries

Probably nothing special here for you ringers, but for a field birder like me it's always good to see these things close up. Looking forward to the last catch of the season this coming Saturday!

Kumlien's Gull at Rainham

I had a few spare hours this morning before Karen and I headed down to see my niece in Surrey. So spurred on by reports and text messages yesterday, I made my first visit to Rainham since that gull last February. Pulling up at the stone barges, there was a lot of large gull action and I started off with a bit of ring reading as birds on the pier were just asking for their rings to be read. I then switched attention to the birds on the water, and amongst them was Dom's Kumlien's Gull from yesterday that had presumably just come off the tip: -

If I'm honest, one of the reasons that I wanted to see this bird was to confirm my suspicions about its previous residence. Upon seeing Dom's shots last night, I texted him to say it could well be the Dover bird - a thought that David B also had when I saw him this morning. However, despite trying to conclusively say that it is the same bird, I am struggling to say more than it superficially resembles the Dover bird. The Rainham bird still retains some blotching on its uppertail coverts, while the Dover birds uppertail coverts were completely white. In other respects - including its body and underwing - I also think the Dover bird was more advanced when I saw it two weeks ago.

Also, there was a second-winter Iceland Gull present - presumably the bird that has lingered in the area (and that I saw at Crayford earlier this year). Amongst the ringed gulls that I found was this first-winter that I suspect will have been ringed in a Suffolk breeding colony last summer: -

Compared to Crossness - where if I'm lucky I'd see either John A or Ian M - Rainham was an absolute birder fest. Loads of eyes inevitably meant more birds, and it was good to catch up with Sean H, Keith H, David B and Jonathan W amongst others.