Brown-headed Gulls age by age

While in Thailand a couple of weeks ago, I managed a couple of hours at Bang Poo where there were excellent photographic opportunities to get amongst large numbers of Brown-headed Gulls. It's just shy of an hour from Bangkok in decent traffic, and the Thais have turned feeding gulls into a much loved past time - so much so, there are stalls that line the pier that offer gull food that the locals then purchase and lob out for all the brunnicephalus.

larid loving Thais at Bang Poo

So, what do Brown-headed Gulls look like overall? Marginally larger and sturdier, longer-legged and slightly heavier billed than Black-headed Gulls. Adults are obvious, first-winters not so much and also interesting to see some evidence of presumed second-winter birds. Loads of individual structural differences too. I managed to pick out a couple of first-winter Black-headed Gulls in amongst them, which were decent enough in flight but then blended in much more when on the deck. So here goes with the details - all photos taken on 23rd December 2012 at Bang Poo.

Adults
Piercing, pale irises and large white round mirrors to the two outer primaries - primary coverts and bases to the primaries crisp white, contrasting nicely with mid grey on the rest of the upperwing. Quite handsome really, at least when they're not something you see everyday.

 

 

 

This bird shows a small mirror to P8, apparently present in 10% of adults (black otherwise)

Inbetweeners
These birds are presumably second-winter birds, and from the knowledge I've gained ringing Black-headed Gulls, usual sub-adult plumage traits such as dark-centred primary coverts also apply to Brown-headed Gull. Here are a some examples.

Obvious dark smudge on primary coverts suggestive of a sub-adult bird

 

Retained dark secondaries and restricted mirrors in P9 and P10 (with the latter growing) - bird showing atypically late moult

First-winters
If you had a lone small (presumably female) bird that just wouldn't flap its wings, then you'd want to see more. You'll see that there is proper structural difference between individuals - some almost Med Gull bill girth, with others much more slight like Black-headed Gull. In fact the smallest Brown-headed Gull is just a couple of cm larger than the largest Black-headed Gull, so although some heavy-billed large Brown-headed Gulls are so different, if you're unlucky then you could have slight issues - though not too sure whether the WP record really stands up to modern day larid scrutiny. In flight, however, they're quite obvious with solid dark inner as well as outer webs to the outer primaries and the white primary bases creating that wing flash seen in adults.

A large, advanced 1st-winter

A more meak looking individual

 

Quite a sturdy-looking, thick-billed bird

Note the contrasting white upperwing coverts with solid black on both webs of the outer primaries

And just for good measure, here is a first-winter Black-headed Gull that was in amongst the Brown-headed Gulls - its small size was evident (to an extent it was like picking out a Bonaparte's Gull from Black-headed Gulls here in the UK - more buoyant flight) as well as the obvious pale centres to the outer primaries.



1st-winter Black-headed Gull, Bang Poo 23rd Dec 2012

International bling

Today I took Peter A around locally, as for some reason he was wanting to see a patch that was worse than his. And on this line, we succeeded royally by failing to see much. 11 Yellow-legged Gulls on the River Thames and nearby flooded fields and the most confiding Shoveler Peter had ever seen - on the lake at Southwark Park - were the highlights. However, the company brightened up the day and it was good to show someone around while talking about way out west.

So back to yesterday, where I've just managed to send all my rings to the relevant ringing scheme coordinators. Loads of bling, mainly red (NTGG birds), but there was also an international contingent including a brute from Norway, a newbie from Belgium and a familiar Dutch guy.

Great Black-backed Gull - ringed as a chick at Ryvingen, Karmøy, Rogaland, Norway on 25th June 2009 then seen at Oostende, Belgium on 9th ovember 2009 and then Koksijde Strand, Belgium two days later. Since then though, this is the first report. Note that as a 5th calendar year bird, it's not quite in adult plumage by way of a dark gonys

Belgian ringed Herring Gull - birds of this ringing scheme are relatively regular in southeast England

Herring Gull '1A' was born in Zeeland, The Netherlands back in July 2007 - and nice to bump into it again. Same time, same place! Full history details on this previous post 

So with yesterday and today's ring reading, the 2013 score of rings I've read goes from 0 to 12. There'll be plenty more for sure.

On the tip with casps and company

It was good to be back in the gull action, as a couple of weeks in Thailand really leaves you large larid dry. So with a cold snap predicted, today was perfect timing to get back amongst it and try and see some interesting stuff on the tip. It wasn't quite as roar as I'd envisaged, but there were certainly some interesting birds present amongst the 20,000 or so gulls highlighting with a couple of nice 1st-winter Caspian Gulls: -

Bird 1 - a pretty classic bird, with perhaps more covert wear than usual and a couple of tertials dropped too. A new bird on the tip today.

 

 

Bird 2 - a worn, abraded bird where you can visibly see the primary wear in the middle photo, as well as the heavily worn tail and the chewed tips to the greater coverts. This bird was around last weekend too.

 

 

There was also an interesting looking adult Herring Gull, that can only really be described as an omissus-type based on a combination of argentatus style primaries (this bird having an extensive white tip to P10 as well as a large white tip to P9 with a back subterminal band), yellow legs and an attenuated profile.

 

Med Gulls were ever present in amongst the Black-headed Gulls - half a dozen or so seen, all adults including a green-ringed Belgian bird, and already some birds moulting head feathers through.

Plenty of bling elsewhere - Norwegian Great Black-backed Gulls, Dutch and Belgian Herring Gulls as well as the usual haul of locally ringed birds. And an enjoyable day topped off by a lovely meal this evening with my parents and Karen. Thanks to everyone involved today.

Great Knots colour-ringed and en masse

Still going through the left over things from Thailand. On Christmas Eve, in the Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale area, Great Knots were a common sight which was great. Across the saltpans, probably thousands present although quite skittish and always alert. Really distinctive jizz, despite their comparatively none descript winter plumage.

 

 

In amongst the masses of this species, was a colour-flagged bird green over orange 'EP'.

colour-flagged Great Knot, Pak Thale, Thailand 24th Dec 2012

Simon Buckell kindly sorted me out with a list of possible flagging schemes on the Asian flyway -  where it was quickly apparent it was a Chinese flagged bird - and then duly sent the details away. And a quick reply revealed: -
'this GK was banded at Yalujiang, China on 15 April 2012, with a capture body mass of 212g. The bird was also attached with a radio tag in spring 2012. The radio tag on the bird should have been lost during moult... and the bird was last seen at the ringing site on 19 May 2012.' Thanks to Simon and Clare Morton for promptly getting all this info together.

More waders from the land of the smiles

Reality hit today. I was back at work. However, the Thai trip memories are still pretty vivid and during the last few days of the trip, I managed to add a couple of quality waders to the already impressive list at a small bridge over a sandy river to the east of Takua Pa, Phang Nga province. These two were freshwater wader species, the first one aptly named due to where it lives, on rivers.

River Lapwing, 1st January 2013

The River Lapwing is listed as near threatened by Birdlife International on the basis that it's predicted to decline quite rapidly over the next 100 years or so due to human pressures on river ecosystems and dam construction. It has a relatively limited distribution in SE Asia too, and was actually a new wader species for me so a nice bird to see.

Grey-headed Lapwing, 1st January 2013

On the same stretch of the river as the 3 River Lapwings were 5 Grey-headed Lapwings - pretty impressive, large, thick-billed and long-legged beasts. Forgotten how decent looking this species is since I last saw them a decade or so ago.

Lapwing habitat near Takua Pa, Phang Nga province

Mangroves of the south

Birding in southern Thailand in December is tricky; quite slow and hard work. Peter Ericsson told me this, and when I bumped into another British birder at the end of the mangrove boardwalk at Krabi he shared the same view. Nevertheless, mangrove habitats are being depleted around the world and host a specialist array of species in Thailand. For example I was fortunate enough to get cracking views of Brown-winged Kingfisher from a boat in the mangroves at Krabi; a species I'd seen in Malaysia a couple of years ago, but no way as close as here.

Brown-winged Kingfisher, Krabi 3rd January 2013

There were also plenty of Black-capped Kingfishers, Striated Herons and White-bellied Sea Eagles and Brahminy Kites patrolled the skies. Although my quest for Mangrove Pitta was a forlorn one, despite a real concerted effort, they just weren't calling this early in the season and will have to wait for another trip. However, the search did reveal a Yellow Bittern, a couple of Ashy Tailorbirds and two delightful Forest Wagtails at Phang Nga.

Forest Wagtail Phang Nga 2nd January 2013

Southern Thailand is however awash with Brits, Scands, Russians, Germans and Aussies of the lowest common denominator - so much so that you really couldn't get much of authentic Thailand on the coast itself. Just a load of unsustainable tourism catering for dumbasses. But head away a short distance and you soon find yourself on your own again...

Karst scenery at Khao Sok NP

I returned to London a few hours ago, and in the gloom of the British winter, the bright skies from the 'land of the smiles' seemed an all too distant memory. Along with the copious amounts of prawns and Tom Yum soup. At least I've got more gulls to sort through here than in Thailand though!

Laem Pakarang waders

I've been on the Andaman coast for a few days now, staying in Khao Lak. The waders at Laem Pakarang have more than made up for the slow going elsewhere. Like the last post, you may want to call me ungrateful - with broadbills and barbets in the forest (I have seen a couple), these have played second fiddle to my wader fixation. Pride of place goes to a Grey-tailed Tattler that I found on New Year's Eve (and still present today); not a common sight here by all accounts and the first one I've seen for a few years.

There are also loads of other waders too, especially in the high tide roost - testament to the ferocious power of nature, waders use rocks dredged up by the Boxing Day tsunami to roost on (as well as the more conventional sandbar). 40 or so Terek Sandpipers, loads of Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers (much more straightforward identification wise than watching the two species in Kuwait two winters ago - race differences in Lesser are remarkable!), 100+ Pacific Golden Plovers, a few Red-necked Stints as well as commoner stuff like Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstone and Grey Plover. Really enjoyable wadering in a quiet and remote setting.

Greater Sand Plover Laem Pakarang

Pacific Golden Plover Laem Pakarang

And nice to end up in the nearby beach shack, with a cold drink. Being a Geography teacher, I'm all too aware of the plight of this area as I teach the Boxing Day tsunami 2004 each year, so it's heartening to see the area packed out with tourists and locals getting on with things.