Ring-billed Gull OMFL!!!



Meeting up with Neil Hagley this afternoon at Shawell Balancing Lake almost the first gull I looked at was an Adult Ring-Billed Gull. Just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating I ask Neil to have a look at this gull in my scope and he came to the same conclusion. GET IN!!!
So over the next half an hour we ticked off all the salient features of the bird and then phoned out the news.
As this was probably only the sixth record for Leicestershire and Rutland as you can imagine I took quite a few digishots of the gull.
Joined later by the Groby crew (Allen, Andy F and Paul) just before the Ring-billed Gull flew off towards the tip, it wasn't long before the group picked at least 3 Yellow-legged Gulls and 3 Caspian Gulls (2 Adults and 1 2nd-winter bird) in the large gull flock.
So to put this sighting of the Ring-billed Gull in context, it's probably only the sixth time it has been recorded in the county.It was a county tick for myself, Neil and the Groby crew and Ring-billed Gulls are still quite a rare bird in Midlands, so you can realise that everybody who saw it had a big grin across there face!?!

Comments

Good find Dave. Will it hang around for the weekend twitchers, I wonder? I've completely lost track of who's seen Ring-billed in the county and who hasn't, but many people must still need it.
Kevin Groocock said…
Nice one, Dave.

Do you watch the A5 pools from the road verge or is better access available? I always very vulnerable in this area due to the heavy traffic.

http://diaryofabirdingmedic.blogspot.com/
Anonymous said…
Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh!!
davidearlgray said…
Hi Kevin, sorry to say but the only decent place to watch the gulls is the roadside hedge next to the very busy A5.
I would imagine a few more people being at this site in the next few days?!
davidearlgray said…
PS: Kevin I will add a link to your blog in the next day or so.
Kevin Groocock said…
Cheers, Dave. May have a look again later but work keeps getting in the way!
Anonymous said…
Nice find Dave...i bet thee is well chuffed...!

ps...Andy...i think most keen-heads saw the rutty lag one bird didn't they? I know that 'that' bird played silly bugers with a few folks but eventually most, if not all, caught up with it...

Beast...
Anonymous said…
I didn't Beast... but then again that's neglect on my part - I went one day too late!
davidearlgray said…
Beast like John the rutty bird bugger me around and I missed it, so to find one yesterday was the icing on the cake and will live long in the memory!
Anonymous said…
Oh...didn't realize you and Dave missed the rutty one John..[i can never keep track of who's seen what where when]...etc
Me n Chris were doin what gulls there were at ebr late afternoon yesterday...fuck all m'lud!
Apart from 9 smew and single goosander all we saw of note was a bloke who appeared to be talking to a hedge..!!! He wasn't talking to the hedge as it transpired...he was talking thru the hedge to his fucking rampant shit machine of a dog on the other side...cunt!

Beast...
davidearlgray said…
Beast I see somethings don't change at EBR!!
Anonymous said…
He wasn't trying to talk the hedge into reducing in height was he?
Mark said…
"So over the next half an hour we ticked off all the salient features of the bird and then phoned out the news."

Bloody hell Dave where I come from that would be classed as supression!

Nice find Dave. About as rare as one of John's jokes being funny in these parts
davidearlgray said…
Steady Mark! ;-] I know it was a long time to get the news out but some people down here are a bit touchy if you don't grill every last feather and not 100% certain of the ID!!
My aim is now to find an Ivory Gull in Shetland so Rob has to eat his hats!
仔仔 said…
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