A Plebian Guide to Gull Identification

Some Gulls are large while others are small, no matter what size I loves 'em all 💓.

Plumage can vary depending on age, at times sending birders into a rage 😧. 

Colours may be white black and grey dear fellow with legs grey/green pink or yellow.

(If there happen to be young 'uns in town, do look out for charcoal and brown).

Some Gulls feed around rubbish tips while others nick your Fish n Chips 🐟.

Gulls are pretty bad at singing, in fact I think they are rather minging.

BHG is so unpleasant they sound like something quite putrescent.

Experts differentiate between coverts and tertials whereas I lack 

the skill and inclination to delve into feathery sublimation.

This is all I can say for today so have yourselves (wait for it)...

A Happy Laridae 😄😁

More follows until you pay the ransom money 😎.

Soil Hill to Mixenden

Courtesy of DP on a dull overcast morning but only minimal moisture and wind.

1 Wheatear, c10 Meadow Pipit, 1 Blackbird & 3 Common Gull. 

Two visits were made to the avian celebrity site and both produced negative results.

HX golf course proved a challenge with only a few species encountered. 1 each Jay & Mistle Thrush, couple Chaffinch, Robin. 

Mixenden Res: 3 Goldeneye, 1 Moorhen  & c20 small gulls mainly Common. A Sparrowhawk flew through the bushes creating panic amongst a couple of Goldcrest, Blue/Gt Tits and a Robin. 3 Blackbird on the long hedge.

A Walk Of Two Halves

Plenty of small gulls on the Raggalds sports field, mainly Common. Plenty of water on the Flood unadulterated by birds.

The hill from hell produced a lurvely juicy Wheatear a real surprise in a strong SW'ly.

23 Lapwing were on the S slope top with a bunch of Starling.

I was kept waiting for 5 minutes by a Black Redstart which just won't do at all. 6/7 Common Gull were flying about with 3 Blackbird also in the area.

Ogden provided a deathly quiet perambulation. 1 each GSW, Bullfinch & Nuthatch, Blackbirds. 2 LBBG & c22 small gulls.

Only 2 Meadow Pipit were encountered up unti reaching Mixenden Res which supplied 2 Goldeneye, 1 Tufted Duck ditto Moorhen & a smattering of small gulls.

Sunday and Monday

Sunday 25/10. Had a boring wind blown walk through Littlemoor Park around High Cross Lane then down Shaw & Corporal Lanes. See where I'm going with this? Not a bird mentioned, I'm just filling out the post. Few Goldfinch, 1 Meadow Pipit, couple Blackbird. A couple of gulls here a caaawvid there. Chronic 💀.

Monday 26/10. An up and down session for sure in horizontal rain at times, but at the end I'd almost been blown dry.

Soil Hill: 1 Black Redstart giving good views as it hopped about around and under the trailer. It also flew briefly in a downpour, coming to rest behind a wall. 3 Blackbird present and c16 gull sp. in flight.

Ogden wasn't good. 1 Bullfinch, couple LTT. 1 LBBG, few BHG, couple or three Common gull. However I did experience a first in all my many years of birding (I'll be 38 next week). Flying SW were 6 Grey Heron in a tight group.

Mixenden Res: 1 f or eclipse male Goldeneye flew across the length of the reservoir fairly close up to settle out in the middle.

Loads of gulls were present, mainly Common but also 4/5 larger species. I thought I'd got 1 maybe 2 YLG however I can't say the birds in the photos are they. Goddam size of white spots and amount of black on primaries grrrrr. They didn't reveal their legs at all.

Soil Hill to Mixenden

8 Lapwing at Mountain also a bunch of Starling.

SH: I got very good views of 1 Black Redstart and I think the other bird is still present given the flitting about I saw. Putting their size into perspective a Blackbird was in the same spot looking bulky. Also 8 Meadow Pipit & a second Blackbird.

Ogden was almost inert. Usual Gulls in small numbers. 1 Bullfinch ditto Green Woodpecker & 7/8 LTT.

The golf course coughed up 1 each Jay, Kestrel, Mistle Thrush & male Stonechat.

Surprisingly c13 LTT were flying around trees at Hunter Hill bottom and 8 Fieldfare were in a field but soon flew off.

Mixenden Res: Plenty of small gulls with 3/4 big uns thrown in. A pr Tufted Duck & 3 Dullards.

Soil Hill and Ogden

Just a brief glimpse of one Black Redstart at the farm seen after two visits. I bumped into DJS who confirms there are still two there.

Couple Blackbird along the Ned Hill quagmire. Coal Lane had 5 Chaffinch & 3 smaller finches in flight showing no features but they did call a few times. I clocked them as Redpoll but with some uncertainty. A pr Pied Wagtail were also present.

Ogden Res was busy with numerous small gulls and one Herring. The only notable woody types were 8/9 LTT & a GSW.

42 Common Gull & 1 Rook were in a field at the bottom end of Taylor Lane.

Queensbury South Action

Many Goldfinch out back this am and also across the road. I got a garden tick in the form of Coal Tit. The bird flew from DPs feeder onto my wall and perched just 6 feet away from my eyeballs 👀. This inspired me to walk through Littlemoor Park and around the golf course.

The park was a tad anti climax but the perimeter delivereth. c64 Fieldfare were seen both in flight and perched 3/4 times. This is the longest I've had to wait to see my first Autumn migration of the species.

14 Lapwing were in a field near the lorry park. BHGs numbered around 21. Also 2 Pied Wagtail, 8 Rook & 5/6 Meadow Pipit throughout.

Sunday & Monday

Sunday 18 October. I couldn't get to see the 2 visitors together up Soil Hill this am due domestic duties so I went out back for a good cry 😭. 4 Goldfinch flew across and as I looked beyond them I could see 2 Raven perched atop the Black Dyke Mills chimney. This is a first in the 20 years I've been here, so I was mollified. Thank you Miss Molly 👩. The local crows soon twigged and mobbed them as they took flight.

Monday 19 October. I got 1 Black Redstart on arrival upon the Hellish Hill which was being blasted by a strong wind. The bird was hiding under the trailer but there may have been the second bird present because I heard loud calls for around 20 seconds.

The only other birds seen were a Grey Heron & a Blackbird.

Ogden was poor, so much so I staggered up to the Tooth which produced ironically a pr Raven. The usual Gullage on the water. Couple Jay, 1 Mistle Thrush.

Mixenden Res just had c42 small gulls & a female Tufted Duck. 6 Blackbird & a bunch of Chaffinch.

Opened the back door on arrival home to be greeted by a squadron of Goldfinch.

Raggalds to Mixenden Res

Raggalds Sportsfield: 26 Lapwing & c77 small gulls.

Soil Hell was shrouded in mist so it was a struggle to see anything. Just 1 Skylark ditto Pied Wagtail & 7 Meadow Pipit.

Ogden Water: 6 Blackbird, 1 GSW, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Coal Tit, c9 LTT, couple Chaffinch.

I got another Treecreeper which appeared more the norm for UK. It was an obvious brown and the supadupa cilium was a subdued small affair.

1 Herring & 2 LBB Gull on the water along with a fair number of Common & BHGS.

 

1 Stonechat & a Mistle Thrush at the golf course.

8 Chaffinch, 1 Pied Wagtail & 2 Mistle Thrush at Hunter Hill bottom. Mixenden Res had just 8 small gulls. The woods were quiet.

Pr Jay in flight near Lee Mount.

Queensbury North

0810-0915 hrs. Headed down Station Road to see if there were any incomers. There wasn't unless I'm so inept at migration I missed thousands.

1 Buzzard, 2 Jay, 1 Lesser/Common Redpoll (Want some fun? Try splitting their flight calls).

4 LTT, 2/3 Blackbird, Starlings, couple Dunnock, 3 Robin, few Woodpigeon, Wrens & Tits.

Possible Northern Treecreeper

One I'm going to investigate further. I saw this Treecreeper, a very pale bird with a notable white supercilium at Ogden Water this lunchtime. It was so active that I thought there were two of them at one stage. 

A pr of Crossbill flew over while I was involved in photography and a couple of Coal Tit were in the vicinity. Not far off were 8/9 LTT. Also present 1 each Nuthatch, GSW & Green Woodpecker.

Usual large & small gulls on the water.

Prior to this Soil Hill provided 17 Lapwing atop the S slope. A Raven was on the Radio Mast and a Grey Heron on the track. A pr Stonechat were by the old ruin with 4 Meadow Pipit & a Pied Wagtail nearby. The Ned Hill swamp held 5 Blackbird 9 Goldfinch  & a Chaffinch.

The golf course area produced 1 Dipper, 8 Goldfinch & a Jay.

Mixenden Res held 11 Common Gull & a pr Tufted Duck.

I've had much worse days than this!

Queensbury South

1410 hrs just an hour to stretch my legs and stop myself from biting the ceiling. Not much doing at all just a few of the expected.

3 Pied Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit, couple Goldfinch. 1 Common Gull, c13 BHG.

A few Jackdaws, Blackbird, Starlings & House Sparrers.

This is the latest Autumn date I've known for Lapwings not to be in the usual fields.

Not So Wildlife

 

Usual Route Curtailed

Rain stopped play late morning so it was just a session up the hill from hell and Ogden Res.

The site where the Black Redstart patronises is busy with two guys building the wall by the red container so it was no show.

The N'ly blow scoured the area of birds in general. A couple of Meadow Pipit, 1 each Kestrel & Pied Wagtail were the only critters seen

The Ned Hill track is now a linear swamp, birders beware!

Ogden Res provided the only highlight; a pr Greylag Goose which decided it wasn't for them and left after 15 minutes or so.

Others: 1 Common, 5 LBB & c15 BH Gull. 1 each Jay, Bullfinch and a Woodpigeon enjoying a bath in the overflow.

Queensbury to Soil Hill

I fixed the fault on my occular 'noculars so took advantage of the decent weather.

Greenfinch at Fox Hill, Skylark at Mountain.

c42 small gulls on Raggalds Flood.

Soil Hill: The Black Redstart is still there in the usual place.

20 Lapwing on the S slope which later moved down to Green Lane.

A Sparrowhawk flying very low by the radio mast was being hounded by 3 Mistle Thrush.

3 Stonechat were on the main track.

I avoided the Ned Hill section because Quad Bikers have been rockin and rollin up and down the hill turning it into a quagmire, making some parts a safety hazard.

Not much down at the bottom; 1 each Snipe, Grey Partridge, Moorhen & Kestrel.

Meadow Pipits thinly spread throughout the area.

Raggalds To Mixenden Res

Raggalds Sports Field: 15 Lapwing, 2 LBBG, numerous BHG with a few Common Gulls thrown in along with a Starling or ten.

  

Soil Hill: 6 Stonechat, pr Grey Partridge, 1 Raven over > NW. Also c20 Jackdaw, 1 Goldfinch and a few Meadow Pipit.

Ogden Res: 1 Cormorant, 3 LBBG, 3/4 Common Gull, c12 BHG. A few expected arboreal types (maybe a Chiffchaff calling 2/3 times).

A pr Stonechat were at the golf course with a Green Woodpecker in the trees.

Mixenden Res: 2 Cormorant, 1 f Goosander, singing Nuthatch.

Final event of the day, I broke my binoculars. Lovely, terrific. 😭

The Usual Route

Raggalds Flood had a bunch of Canada and a few small gulls on it. Rather optimistically, I checked for the Black Redstart but it didn't show in the wind and rain. I got my first Greenfinch in a while hereabouts.

Two Roe Deer were near the Ned Hill track which could now support a mini submarine. Pr Stonechat, 3 Linnet, couple Goldfinch & Meadow Pipit.

Ogden Res: 1 Moorhen on the main lake for a change. 1 Cormorant, 3 LBBG & the expected small gulls, mainly BHG. 4 Blackbird & singles or small numbers of Goldcrest, LTT, Chaffinch, Coal Tit.

It nosedived after that: 2 Jay at the golf course only.

Mixenden Res: 1 Jay, 1 LBBG & c30 BHG.

Soil Hill to Guess Where

Soil Hill 1010 hrs.  The Black Redstart put in a good performance this morning and has got matey with a Wheatear. The latter wasn't in the mood for photographs however.

Ned Hill track is best negotiated with a pair of trawlermens boots or a Kayak. A pr Stonechat were flitting about further down in Coal Lane. 5 Robin were singing throughout the hill walk. 1 Goldfinch, 3 Pied Wagtail and a couple Meadow Pipit also present.

Ogden Res: 4 Moorhen by the plantation pond. 1 each Kingfisher, LBBG & Cormorant, 2 Common & several BH Gulls, 13 Canada.

Common arboreal types did alright. 1 Tawny Owl called briefly. A Lesser/Common Redpoll flew overhead calling a few times. 3 GSW, 5 more Robin, 1 croaky Raven over NW.

Nothing on the golf course area but 4 Stonechat were at Hunter Hill bottom.

Mixenden Res: 5 Goosander, 8 BHG, 17 Canada, 1 Pied Wagtail ditto Nuthatch.

Queensbury South

Before I left the house I looked out from the back yard towards Black Dyke Mills to see c60 small and a handful of large gulls involved in a shouting match for no obvious reason. A dozen or so mingling Crows were vociferous too so I tried looking for a predator without success.

Down the road apiece approx 1035 hrs. 16 Common & 22 BH Gulls. 4 Skylark, ditto Meadow Pipit & 3 Pied Wagtail.

1 LBBG, 4 Rook, 6/7 Jackdaw, 1 each Jay & Mistle Thrush.