The Lincolnshire Bird Club

The 1stW Iceland Gull found by Paul Sullivan was still present this morning. To view the tip, go to the timber yard side of the river (accessible down Skirbeck Rd) and take the first right after Skirbeck Church (if you are coming from the town direction).

Phil

The NW wind was so gusty during the late morning that it was almost impossible to hold binoculars or set up a scope so no success. It wouild have been of much greater value if the original record from 19th had not initially been so positive about it being Glaucous and subsequently once established as Iceland for it to have been listed as a 1st winter bird! At least we would have known what to look for.

I shall continue to to look across to the tip as its very much on my patch. The directions you listed were spot on for people who do not know the area well. Interestingly I have no records for either Glaucous or Iceland for this winter at this location.
Was it actually on the tip site itself this morning or did you see it over the river as it was a low tide and many Gulls had congregated on the mud on the south side. I pressume it readily associates with other Gulls or is it very much an individual?

Kind regards

George

Hi George,

Despite there being no work on the tip the gulls were foraging on the top of the tip by the 2 yellow bull dozers. They were also coming down to forage on the river bank mud, although the Iceland Gull did not while we were there this morning until 10.00-ish.

Phil

Is anybody going to see if the gull is still there tomorrow? If so, can anyone give me a lift from the filling station on Sleaford Road?

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Corrected the ID from field immediately via my mobile, didn't mention age at all. Anyways if you see a big white gull, that'll be it. The gull associates with the other gulls and has been seen on the tip, river, and riverbank. The gulls will also sit on the first arable field downriver on though i have not seen it on there as yet,
Paul

The Iceland Gull flew upriver at 1.30 pm today and landed on the mud on the north-east side of the river. It showed really well for 3-4 minutes, before flying across the river and over the tip.

Do you think it will have flown over the tip and far away? Will it be worthwhile going this afternoon?

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JRC and I saw the Iceland Gull at 10.30 to 11 this morning on the west bank of the river as viewed from the first bench by the woodyard. Interestingly although the tip appeared to be operational all the gulls were on the river bank. There were loud bangs like bird scarers coming from the tip. Not heard these before at other landfills, is this a regular feature at this tip?

We had excellent views and the bird was overall much whiter than we expected. The iris was extremely pale suggesting based on Grant 1982 Gull ID Guide that this bird is probably a 2nd winter moulting into its third calendar year. Anyone have any idea exactly when the eye colour changes?

Also a partial albino adult winter Black headed Gull with a pure white mantle and wings. Looked pretty odd!

Phil.
Re the partial albino Black-headed Gull. Did this bird still have black primaries? We regularly get Black-headed Gulls at the Apex roost with the normal grey colouration replaced by creamy white but still with black primaries and a black spot on the side of the face, there was one this evening and two last week. The only scarce gull present this evening was a 1st winter Yellow-legged Gull.

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Andy.

Yes it had black primaries but the smudge on the side of its head was very pale grey.

Sounds like a 2nd win based on what you're saying Phil, i would expect a 3rd win to show more grey and a 1st win to have a dark eye and bill. The disproportionate amount of 2nd winters has been a feature of this winters invasion for some unknown reason. Maybe a result of 2nd wins being more pelagic, or wintering in the area where the big storms originated??

I was also in the area of Havenside Country Park yesterday looking at the Gulls. I failed to see the 3rd calendar year Iceland Gull so well described by Phil Espin. However, I did see a 2nd calendar year Iceland Gull but, unfortunately, for only a few seconds before the entire flock was spooked by the bird scarers going off. This bird was quite dark and, in flight, showed primaries that were at least as dark as the secondaries. Paul Sullivan and another Birder both also saw this bird and agreed that it was not the 3CY that they had seen before. Despite waiting for some time the 2CY bird was not seen again. It may have 'kumlieni' genes. Certainly worth having a search for when the weather improves. Which bird did Phil Hyde see?

Phil, bird scarers are used regularly at Kirkby Tip.

Can I also throw this open to Forum readers - the use of 'winter' and 'summer' plumages to describe Gulls can be misleading. Phil writes (this bird is probably a 2nd winter moulting into its third calendar year.) Since the 1st of January the bird has been in it's 3rdCY. Gulls can be in winter plumage from September and in summer plumage from January and there can be several months difference between individual moult cycles. With adults the terms basic plumage and alternate plumage are more useful - Black-headed Gulls with 'black' heads at the moment have moulted from basic plumage ( non-breeding plumage) into alternate plumage ( breeding plumage) even though it is not yet chronologically mid-winter!! It seems that with Iceland Gulls eye colour changes late 2CY-early 3CY. Kumliens should have a dark eye into 4CY.

Hi Ed,
I saw the now correctly aged 2ndW / 3CY Iceland Gull on Sunday morning. Unfortunately we did not see a 2nd bird on Sunday but obviously its easy to miss, especially when the tip is being worked and bird scarers are going off (which wasn't the case on Sunday).
Phil

Paul Sullivan has now posted a photo of the 3CY Iceland Gull at Boston which shows the iris very well. It makes an interesting contrast with the bird from Grimsby docks, also a nice photo from Anthony Bentley. Interesting to compare the eye colour between the 2 photos of birds that are presumed to be the sames ages. The Grimsby bird's iris is much darker. On his Pewit blog which has many excellent photos of the Grimsby bird, GPC attributes this to a "Kumliens' gene type". As Edmund points out Kumliens retains the dark iris into 4CY.

I googled " Kumliens gene type " to find out more. After GPCs entry which is the top hit I got this:

http://birdingfaroes.wordpress.com/2012 ... hilosophy/

The photo of a big flock of white winged gulls is fascinating and the text sets out the problem very well.

Boston Iceland Gull showing well today, and I have uploaded images to album, and a short video on my 'blog' at http://andrewchick.blogspot.com/2012/01 ... -2012.html or on YouTube at http://youtu.be/Pk0gdhGja0M

The total lack of any primary tips shaded with grey brown speckling can clearly be seen in the image http://www.lincsbirds.co.uk/album/displ ... pos=-16419 - so no Kumliens gene type in this bird...

Andrew

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Andrew Chick
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