With the gull numbers building up gradually I thought I would see what might turn up. On arriving I could see a reasonable number of gulls on the sand spit but more obvious was an adult Little Egret very actively fishing on the sand spit. At time holding it's wings out to stop the glare on the water and at other times almost running around trying to catch it's prey.
A single Wigeon was new in and a Little Grebe was present along the west side. However a first winter Caspian Gull on the point of the sand spit caught my attention and I managed some still shots and some video. Also present was an adult Yellow-legged Gull among the several hundred Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
A little later I scanned the distant group of gulls on the east side of the sand spit and felt fairly confident that there was another Caspian Gull (probably a juvenile/first winter) present but hard to be sure given the distance.
Little Egret fishing.
Little Grebe - Assumed to be a juvenile.
Caspian Gull - The top three photos were taken by phone scoping.
Caspian Gull - The lower two photos were taken somewhat later (in poor light conditions) using my digiscoping rig.
A short video clipof the bird
A number of features led me to the conclusion of a 1st winter Caspian Gull. Long legs; pear shaped head with long narrow bill; white head with "shawl" at back of neck; white underparts; white rump with only faint streaking; some arrow-head feathers against pale grey on the mantle/scapulars; solid dark tertials with white edging.
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