Roger and I had decided to go
to Rutland Water again today as the first-summer Ring-billed Gull had come in
yesterday at about 19:30.
When we arrived on site we had
a look on lagoon one before going to four.
We found five Shelduck, a Little Egret, two Oystercatcher, a couple of
Dunlin and four Common Terns otherwise it was quite quiet.
We walked to dunlin hide on
lagoon four and set up our scopes in anticipation of long wait as it just after
16:00 and didn’t expect the gull until around 19:30.
There were a few waders on the
lagoon and we eventually found two Oystercatcher, two Avocet, a Little Ringed
Plover, five Ringed Plovers, fourteen Dunlin, a male Ruff, a Greenshank and
three Redshanks. There were also twelve
Shelduck and four more Common Terns.
John Wright then joined us in
the hide and he hadn’t been in too long when he said the Ring-billed is
in. We were soon watching the bird
flying with a number of Common Gulls and it performed pretty well until we left
juts before 17:00. This was the earliest
it had been reported and was a pleasant surprise as the time passed much
quicker watching the gull than waiting hopefully for it to arrive. In flight it was clearly a little larger than
the Common Gull and showed a distinctive mid-wing panel, which was also visible
on the underwing. When it rested on
either the water or in shallow water its black-tipped pink bill was obvious,
which was clearly larger than any of the Common Gulls present. Its head was also more angular and the breast
fuller giving it a distinctive jizz. The
mantle was pale grey as were the tertials, which were also finely edged
white. In flight the pale wing panel was
always visible, contrasting with darker secondaries and primary coverts. The tail was rather interesting with central
area being whitish with the tail band broken.
There was also so some faint streaking on the back of neck and nape.
Whilst watching the gull I
also noted a single second calendar year Yellow-legged Gull five Yellow
Wagtails and a couple of White Wagtails and there were several Arctic Terns
visible on lagoon three.
It had been a very successful
afternoon after Friday’s disappointment.
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