Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 27th February 2008
Same bird as featured on the previous page: Here the snouty facial impression is obvious and note the over pale appearance of the bird compared with the muddier Herring Gull behind of similar age. The differences couldn't be more obvious.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 27th February 2008
Continuing with the same bird as above the pallid colouration continues to be apparent. The long neck shows a slight kink which at rest adds to the high chested appearance. The legs here, and compare with the Herring Gull just behind, are pale pasty fleshy/pink and slender.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 26th November 2007
Another obvious and stunningly beautiful Caspian Gull. This one from early in the winter season shows the require suite of characters perfectly:
White, almost unmarked head, with small dark beady eye
Slender bill
Powdery pale and plain grey scapulars with just a ghosting, compared with Herring Gull, of dark shafts and anchors
Solid centred wing coverts with neat whitish fringes and tips lacking the piano key affect of Herring Gull
Solid dark brown tertials with neat white thumbnail tips
White ground colour with limited brownish/grey mottling to the breast sides and flanks
A classic
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 26th November 2007
Same bird as above. Compare with the Herring Gull behind and the differences couldn't be more obvious. From this angle the tertials look almost black.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 26th November 2007
Yet another striking bird: All of the classic features of the bird above can be seen in this individual which shows even less internal feather markings to the scapulars and appears nothing more than a few dark anchors and transverse bars.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 29th February 2008
A subtly interesting bird. The head looks totally out of place compared with the heavy mottling on the underparts. Note here that the inner greater coverts and inner scapular has been replaced by pale grey next generation feathers with obvious internar markings. This bird is excluded as being a Yellow-legged Gull on a number of characters, such as the bill shape, head shape and patterning (there isn't one), the wing coverts patterning and the general feel for the bird.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Hole Haven Creek, Essex 29th February 2008
This is the same remarkably striking bird on the previous page for the 14th February. Included here again to point out the shape of a Caspian Gull when sat on the water. As the wings are rather long on Caspian Gulls they have a tendancy to appear higher from the waters surface giving a slight inverted Banana shape. In addition again look at the small looking head with absolutely no streaking and small beady eye; the greater coverts are solid with pale tips and even dark solid tertials.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 31st January 2009
A very large bird.
All of the required field marks to ID the bird as a Caspian are instantly visible; overall cold appearance due to the largely white underparts and the pale grey scapulars. The wing covert patterning is classic whilst the tertials are very dark with neat white tips. Note also the bulging rear belly, streaking the lower hind neck and long thin legs. A classic bird.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 7th February 2009
This close up of a very confiding bird superbly illustrates all of the required features:
- Overall frosty appearance
- High breast
- Powery grey scapulars with dark shaft streaks
- Broad whitish tips, now looking worn, to the wing coverts creating the double band across the wing
- Long thin pasty coloured legs
- Dark brown tertials with neat white fringes
- Small head with dark eye forward in the face
- Long and slender bill
- Head and neck streaking at it's heaviest on the lower hind neck
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 7th February 2009
Another bird at the same location as the bird above.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 7th February 2009
A close up view of the head of one of the birds below. The lack of Gonydeal angle is clear as is the sloping forehead and small beady eye. There is pale grey head streaking though the overall appearance is white headedness. A stunning bird.
Caspian Gulls - 1st winters, Private Site, Essex 7th February 2009
Side by side comparison of the two closest birds.
Caspian Gull - Larus cachinnans
First-years : page 3
Caspian Gulls - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 14th March 2009
The inner greater coverts are showing heavy wear as are the tips of the inner tertials. The bill is becoming predominantly pale based. The below image shows a typical Caspian Gull tail pattern
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 7th November 2009
Even by early November this Caspian Gulls is showing significant wear and abrasion to the the tertials and wing coverts
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 9th January 2010
A classic and very distinctive bird. White headed with bold hind neck streaking, long slender bill which is becoming paler based.
The tips to the greater coverts are rather extensive creating a larger than average white tailing edge but the tips of the median coverts show a secondary white band across the wing.
Note the tertial pattern.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 13th March 2010
A classic and very distinctive bird.
The white head, along with white of the breast, contrasts strongly against the heavy hind neck streaking, the long slender bill, the low sloping forehead and the mix of scapulars make this bird instantly identifiable even if the lower half is obscured. How I would have loved to have obtained a photo of the whole bird.
Caspian Gull - 1st winter, Private Site, Essex 20th March 2010
A classic and very distinctive bird.
Note the head shape and profile; the relatively plain, unmarked Scapulars; the white ground colour; the broad tips to the median and greater coverts and the tertial pattern.
Smashing.
Caspian Gull, First-winter, Essex 2nd January 2010
Same bird above and below.
Caspian Gull, First-winter, Westcliff Seafront Essex 14th March 2010
An out of the blue bird this one. I found this smart bird whilst looking for Rossi the Ring-billed Gull. It is the first to be recorded along the seafront west of the pier and is long over due. The only other seafront bird was east of the pier in early 2009 when one was found by Pete Livermore near Adventure Island.
