A Dismal Sunday Afternoon

It's Sunday afternoon. Instead of being out there birding I am tapping at the keyboard while rain once again batters the windows. At first light I was slotted neatly into my seawatching chair at Cogden, and by 08:00 already bored stiff. Two Common Scoters, plus a handful of auks and Gannets, was pretty dire for an hour. Sure, it might have livened up later, but I somehow doubted it would. I am becoming increasingly intolerant of mega-slow seawatches. A change of scenery then...

Water Lane Fish Farm, inland from Burton Bradstock, has recently hosted a gorgeous Grey Phalarope. Might it still be present? I went to look. It was. Because this bird is such a gem, and so tame, a few more photos were inevitable. Cue Grey Phalarope overload...

Feeding happily in its usual spot at 08:20

It came right over to say hello...

Breadth of the bill nicely evident in this one.

Notice the blackish, pointy, as-yet-unmoulted juvenile rear scapulars

I spent a few minutes with the phalarope, then walked further along the path to view other ponds. Being a fish farm you would imagine the place must be a bit of a magnet for birds, and probably it is. I never see Green Sandpipers locally, so it was good to encounter a couple of them here...

One of two Green Sandpipers. A bit distant, and that excessive eye ring is photographic effect; it had a wholly white rump, and no hint of Solitary-ness.

Another obvious fish farm bird is Cormorant. They keep their distance (understandably) and I couldn't really see enough detail with bins, but wondered if they might include the so-called 'continental' subspecies, sinensis. So I took a photo...

'Continental' Cormorant    Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis

Judged purely on the angle formed by the rear of the gular patch and the gape, this is a pretty obvious sinensis. When I lived in Devon, sinensis was a county rarity requiring a description. I don't know what the Dorset status is, but the latest Dorset Bird Report (2018) doesn't even mention sinensis, and The Birds of Dorset (2004) makes only passing reference to it. But I'll bet there are loads about. Let's face it, who looks closely at Cormorants? I suppose we ought to have Double-crested Cormorant on the radar though...

So, is our local fish farm a welcoming environment for water birds? Not really. As this Heron discovered to its cost...

The grim reality which frequently results when 'nice' habitat is also a commercial enterprise.

Yes, the habitat might be attractive to birds, but it is hardly welcoming, and I can think of countless more pleasant places to go birding.

West Bexington for example. It was dead blowy when I visited yesterday afternoon, so I mooched along the beach and sat down on the shingle overlooking the mere. With all the recent rain, this seasonal water body is filling nicely and becoming attractive to passing gulls...

Gulls were dropping in, staying a few minutes, and passing on.

At a range of 200+ yards the gulls seemed unconcerned by my presence, but were only lingering briefly even so. Just long enough for a quick wash and preen, then away. Nothing unusual yesterday, but at one point there were 10 Med Gulls, which are always a treat.

Three Med Gulls in this photo.

I realise that an obsession with gulls might be incomprehensible to some, and recently I've been giving thought to what the attraction is for me. And I think I now know. It's nothing complicated, and there are clues scattered throughout this blog. Just looking at the last 12 months, what are some of the birdy subjects which have caught my attention? Getting to grips with Siberian Chiffchaffs; trying to identify a wintering White Wagtail; having a go at nocmig for the first time. Also, the kind of birding I particularly enjoy: mostly plodding around relatively underwatched localities trying to turn up my own birds, rather than chasing other birders' birds. None of those things is the easy option; each is a challenge. And there it is. While I do enjoy most birding, I most enjoy birding that presents me with a challenge.

So gulls have an obvious attraction. They are difficult. Every time I get involved with a big gang of gulls it is a challenge for me. There will often be birds I struggle to identify. The incredible variation of size, shape and plumage within some species is just mind-boggling. Factor in the genetic uncertainties produced by interbreeding and it is all a bit of a minefield for the unwary.

Gulls are also humbling. If you cannot accept the possibility of making ID errors, forget gulls. If you worry about 'looking bad' among your peers, forget gulls. If you think you have a reputation for infallibility, forget gulls!

On the other hand, if you have a little humility, are keen to learn new stuff, and enjoy the satisfaction and fulfillment which comes with a hurdle successfully cleared, gulls are just the thing...

On Friday I spent some time on the Axe Estuary. Almost straight away I was delighted to come across this obvious adult Yellow-legged Gull...

Not as close as I would have liked, but a lovely, bog standard adult Yellow-legged Gull

It was a perfect example of the taxon. Hefty, noticeably darker mantled than nearby Herring Gulls, with bright yellow legs and bill, a red eye-ring (not orange as in HG) and a clean, white head. As Yellow-legged Gulls go, this is about as easy as they get. However, a bit later there was this bird on the upper estuary...

The one with its head turned towards the camera, and...er...yellow legs

And here it is much closer, in company with a Herring Gull

So, is this bird a Yellow-legged Gull too? As mentioned in relation to the first individual, typically they are big, white-headed lumps. But in the lower photo our bird is quite obviously smaller than the Herring Gull. It also has quite a streaked head. Its legs and bill don't look quite as yellow as those of the first bird. There are hybrid gulls (eg, Herring x Lesser Black-backed) which can superficially resemble Yellow-legged Gull, and indeed YLG itself will sometimes interbreed with other LWHG (large white-headed gull) taxa. So is this bird the result of such promiscuity? I would say not. I am happy that this is a perfectly normal Yellow-legged Gull, but I had to study it pretty carefully to be sure. We don't see that many YLGs in East Devon/West Dorset, hence the caution. So yes, this particular bird was a challenge for me, but in the end I reached a satisfactory conclusion and learned a few things along the way. At the risk of boring NQS readers rigid I may well outline the ID process in a future post...

Anyway, it's now 16:41 and almost dark. What a dismal afternoon. Still, writing this post has been fun, and for once probably better than actual birding would have been!