Weather: dull, cold, still. From 11:45am.
Another trip out to the Isle of Dogs (last time was 13th January) for the regular & long-staying ring-billed gull which I'd missed the first couple of times because I'd always got the tide wrong. This time I was determined to get there at low tide & after riding the buses because the tube was down for engineering, & the DLR, I made it in time.
Off at Island Gardens & along the river walk up to the Glenaffric Road slipway, lots of gulls foraging on the muddy banks: Black-Headed Gull; lesser numbers of, but still numerous Common Gull; a few Lesser Black-Backed Gull with a few Woodpigeon & Carrion Crow also; & the occasional Herring Gull, & mainly first winter birds also.
At a viewpoint area to the left of the slipway, overlooking a section of exposed bank, I scanned through the gulls in order to pick out the ring-billed, which was no easy task because of the number of common gulls & their variability of plumage as Spring creeps around the corner. In particular a few had quite prominent rings on their bills but the weaker-looking bill finally told that they were not what I was after. During the time spent here however a few Goldfinch flew over, & a few Mallard moved through. Finally though I did pick out an individual with fewer flecks on its head, a deeper chest, a stronger bill with a ring & the diagnostic pale iris of the Ring-Billed Gull, a UK first, which spent some time preening before wandering about the back foraging. Whilst I watched it, a couple of fellow birders came back from further up the river, they were following a first winter Mediterranean Gull which they picked out amongst the black-heads, & which was a nice bonus.
After watching the ring-billed for several more minutes I headed off but not before also seeing a lone Pied Wagtail & several Cormorant coming into fine spring plumage with white head-dress & thing-patch.
12 species, none new but one UK first.
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