Seaforth nr,
An adult med gull today and this pied 3rd w herring gull but no sign of the second winter american herring gull . This bird did not receive much support from birdguides but interestingly RBA took a more favourable view putting it out as a probable ahg.

Seaforth NR,

A possible second winter American herring gull was seen briefly today. It was vigourously bathing for about 5 minutes before flying off around midday. First seen by PK and seen by me and TC also. The Strikingly all dark tail and the remnants of a heavily barred rump was seen well. A large gull, longish bill, smoky underwing ,and the grey mantle colour being as pale or a shade paler than the close by argenteus herring gulls. I and some very expierienced gullers including gullers from America think this is a very good candidate for Smithsonianus.

Also today 3 adult med gulls and an adult yellow legged gull.

Prescot reservoirs,

This 1st winter iceland gull was showing well today. If its the same bird as last week its tail seems ok now? An adult med gull, 2 adult yellow legged gulls, 26 goldeneye, 16 pochard ,37 oystercatchers, 6 buzzards and 800 pinkfeet over.

Moore nr,
At least 5 iceland gulls on show this morning. A second winter bird that was seen on the 7th Feb and 4 juvenile/ 1st winter birds were present. The iceland gull with the damaged tail that was at Prescot reservoirs on wednesday was here, showing its missing central tail feather. 3 adult yellow legged gulls also but no sign of any glaucous gulls today. An adult med gull was on pumphouse pool.
The lesser pecker showed briefly early afternoon and a look on richmond bank later produced a couple of this mornings iceland gulls, raven and a female merlin shot through.

The 2nd winter iceland gull seen over richmond bank.

This rather large, stocky bird (probably a male) and looking short winged had us thinking glaucous gull but slender bill and round head shape makes this an Iceland gull

Note the missing central tail feather in this poor record shot.

This is the prescot reservoirs bird with the very bleached out wings.

Prescot reservoirs,

A juv/1stw iceland gull was on no4 res today, the second one this year. It was first seen yesterday by BH. A very white winged bird and it has a damaged tail making this bird easy to recognise if it turns up anywhere else. A dark eye and juvenile marked bill ages this bird even though the plumage is very bleached out.

26 goldeneye, 32 pochard and 16 oystercatchers also today.

Watercolour sketch of a 1st winter caspian gull. It would be great to see one at Moore in the coming weeks but for now this will have to do.

Ring billed gull and glaucous gull in this photo.

Richmond Bank,

A valentines day suprise in the form of an adult ring billed gull brightened up this grey gloomy morning. Found by the Seaforth crew, it took a couple of phone calls from Tim on the opposite side of the Mersey to locate it in the thousands of gulls on the bank, as it was stood straight on to us. A very small juv glaucous gull was also present and at first I thought it was an iceland gull but on closer inspection the short primary projection, big tertial step and bright pink bill with black tip confirmed this as a glaucous gull.

We had 4 adult yellow legged gull with others having up to 8 shows the start of a michahellis movement which happen at this time last year. Also a small increase in lesser black backed gulls today.

Retrospective gull,
This gull was seen at Birchwood pool on 15 November 08. It was filed away on my computer with lots of photos I did not have time to process at the time and then forgotten about. I have been having trouble lately trying to turn herring gulls into caspian gulls and probably annoying others in the process but once again I think this is a 2nd winter caspian gull.

Moore NR,
First bird of the day was this argentatus herring gull below.It had yellow legs which caused me to mis identify it as a michahellis but on more careful inspection by others the yellow orbital ring and eventually the primary pattern confirmed it as a yellow legged argentatus herring gull. 2 good adult michahellis were seen later, one with a metal ring on its leg.

This adult med gull was a smart bird, getting close to full summer plumage seen on the frozen birchwood pool.

Up on the tip a 2nd w iceland gull showed well and another more subtle 2ndw iceland gull with pale eye was seen briefly also. A leucistic herring gull was an interesting bird . A 2nd w glaucous gull was seen very briefly by others and a 1stw was seen from birchwood pool over the tip. A good selection of gulls today but apart from the 2nd winter iceland gull most birds were seen for just a few seconds which was a little frustrating. Another juv iceland gull was seen by others on Richmond bank later.

See http://www.freewebs.com/merseybirders/birdersdiary2009.htm and http://www.crosbybirding.blogspot.com/

Chris D had a male lesser pecker on Lapwing Lane earlier and a look around Moss side in the afternoon produced 30 + yellowhammers, lots of tree sparrows and a willow tit .

Moore,

It was bitterly cold today. A juv iceland gull which was a brute of a bird, an adult yellow legged gull and an adult med gull was the best of it.

Waxwings in Warrington, Gulls at Moore,
40 plus waxwings showed well at Battersby Lane today . It was then on to Moore for a couple of hours Gulling. No white winged gulls seen today which considering there was about 30000 gulls around the tip today it was very unusual.Very few gulls choosing to come on the pool but this 1stw yellow legged gull showed well.