ad Ring-billed Gull at Fishmoor Reservoir, Blackburn, Lancashire, Uk.

1st January 2002.

The 2nd record for the ELOC recording area.

(including an account of the 1st ELOC record in 1994).

by John Wright.

(Note: the diagnostic pale iris can be clearly seen in this image. Other features include; the bill depth, and thick dark sub-terminal band, restricted tertial crescent and upperpart colouration nearer to that of B.H. Gull, than Common Gull. The extensive mottling of the head, extending down the neck to the upper breast is indicative of winter plumage.)

After a typically ‘merry’ New Years Eve I struggled out of the house in the early afternoon of New Years Day and decided to get some fresh air at Fishmoor Reservoir.

  Arriving at 2pm I settled in on the Western shoreline and checked the gulls already present.  Despite being quite early for the roost at least 300 gulls were present – no doubt as a result of the lack of tipping at local rubbish dumps.   It soon became clear that a steady stream of large gulls were arriving, bathing and then flying West (seemingly heading back to the coast with the easy pickings from the tips temporarily unavailable).

  I soon located a 1^st winter Iceland Gull which followed the same pattern and after a quick bath and preen it moved off.  Happy that the new birding year had got off to a good start I turned my attention to the increasing flock of Black Headed and Common Gulls that was gathering in the North West corner of the reservoir. 

  A couple of dog walkers had taken to feeding the local Mallards and pigeons each afternoon and the smaller gulls had quickly learned to anticipate their arrival.  As soon as the feeding began a large group of gulls left the water and the usual excitable gathering took advantage of the food on offer.

  As the gulls returned to the water it was clear that the excitement had attracted in more small gulls and the flock size had noticeably increased.  As I scanned through the group I was amazed to see an adult ‘Common Gull’ with a clear ring on its broad bill.

  I think it would be true to say that I have checked several thousand Common Gulls at Fishmoor over the years and even the most extreme individuals could not match the pattern showed by this bird.  In fact the only time I had seen a bird with a bill pattern like this was in February 1994 and that bird turned out to be a Ring Billed Gull !

  A quick check of other features also led to the same conclusion – the mantle of this bird was pale, it showed a reduced white tertial crescent and the three visible white primary tips were less conspicuous than on nearby adult Common Gulls.

  I quickly rang Bill Aspin hoping that he would be able to secure video footage of the bird and tried to see if the bird showed the diagnostic pale eye of adult Ring Billed Gull, which is always difficult to detect at any distance.

  At that point the whole flock took flight and headed off up the reservoir.  I quickly tried to find the bird in flight to check the upperwing pattern but it had disappeared and I could only hope that the birds would return.

  Thankfully the flock turned and quickly headed back and landed closer than they had previously been. 

A rapid scan through the flock revealed that the putative RBG had returned and was showing well.  A pale eye was clearly visible and I was content with the identification of East Lancs second Ring Billed Gull.

  At this point, Bill Berry walked past and I was able to show him his first Ring Billed Gull which was very satisfying.  I rang Birdnet and Bird Line North West to release the news and then my phone ran out of credit ! 

  Thankfully, Bill Aspin soon arrived and he was able to secure footage of the bird and he had his mobile which allowed us to contact other local observers – only an hours daylight remained and a number of observers raced to get to Fishmoor before dark.

The bird behaved impeccably for the rest of the afternoon and was even joined by a 1^st winter Glaucous Gull for a few minutes.

  A number of observers managed to see the bird including Barry James, John Metcalfe, Mark Breaks and Dave Bickerton. 

As dusk approached I then tempted fate by commenting how unusually settled the gulls were.  At that point a number of birds took off  - most quickly returned but the RBG wheeled away with a few other gulls.  This presented a useful opportunity to study the upperwing pattern of the bird. 

  Unfortunately and somewhat surprisingly the RBG then headed West at 16.10 never to be seen again !   

 Description.

  Ageing – No signs of immaturity were shown in the wings or tail so ageing as an Adult was not problematic.

  The important features displayed by the bird at rest were as follows -

  Eye – Iris Clearly pale

  Bill – Robust with a clear-cut black subterminal ring.    

  Mantle – Noticeably paler than nearby Common Gulls, the bird could be picked out on this feature alone. 

Head streaking - Heavy mottling on the head, neck and upper breast. Whilst not diagnostic, this was another pointer towards RBG.

  Tertial Crescent –  The bird displayed a much reduced white tertial crescent in contrast to the thick white tertial crescent shown by adult Common Gull.

  Primary Spots – Although rather subtle the three white primary tips visible in the closed wing were smaller than those shown by the accompanying adult Common Gulls.

  In flight, additional features noted that helped to confirm the identification included - Primary Pattern – Only one small white mirror was noticeable on the outer primaries.  The wing tip was also more extensively black that adult Common Gull.     

Adult Ring-billed Gull

Fishmoor Reservoir, Lancs, UK.

4th Feb-11th March 1994. 

The First record for East Lancashire.  

John Wright.

  On the afternoon of 4^th February 1994, Bill Aspin and I arrived at Fishmoor reservoir, Blackburn, to check the Gull roost.  As usual we settled in on the Western bank and scanned the arriving gulls as they gathered in the NW corner of the reservoir.

  Eventually, I picked out an unusual Common Gull to which I drew Bill’s attention.  Coincidentally, he had also just picked up the same bird and agreed that it was worthy of further study.

  In comparison with nearby Common Gulls the bird had a very stout bill with an obvious subterminal black ring.  Common gulls can show a complete black ring but neither of us had seen one with a pattern as strong as this bird displayed.  This, combined with the depth of the bill we considered that this feature fitted Ring Billed Gull.

  Neither of us was particularly experienced with this tricky North American species and we were nervous about jumping to this conclusion without more evidence.  We tried to see the eye colour, knowing a pale eye would be diagnostic of RBG, but the 'squint-eyed' look displayed by this bird and its distance from us prevented us from making a conclusive judgement.

  We carefully noted down any other differences between the putative RBG and nearby Common Gulls.  Firstly, we knew it would be important to accurately age the bird.  When the bird preened, no signs of immaturity were seen in the wings or tail, which clearly indicated the bird was an adult.

  Whilst it was the bill that had grabbed our attention, the bird displayed an even more distinctive feature – the colour of its mantle.  The paleness of the mantle was striking, being paler than argenteus Herring Gull and actually approaching Black Headed Gull.  Once noted, this feature allowed the bird to be readily picked out even when the bill was not obvious.

  Another feature noted was the mottled head streaking which was more obvious than on any of the Common Gulls present.  We also felt that the head shape displayed by the bird was quite distinct being ‘squarer’ and less rounded than on Common Gull.

  After watching the bird for some time, we also noticed the bird showed a thin white tertial crescent.  Once noted this was distinctive because a broad white tertial crescent is a noticeable feature of adult Common Gull.   One concern was that the bird was not particularly large, appearing similar in size to a large Common Gull. 

  As darkness approached we felt there was no chance of seeing the eye colour, so we left the bird and rushed back to the car hoping we had noted enough features to clinch the identification.

  Luckily, Bill had a copy of the excellent ‘Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification’ in the car.  We anxiously checked the features highlighted in the text and pictures against our own notes.

  We were amazed to find our bird demonstrated the full suite of characters highlighted and we felt confident of our identification despite not having seen the eye colour or the bird in flight. 

  We rang a number of local birders and released the news on Birdline North West.  Thankfully, the bird stayed until the 11^th March and although sometimes elusive, it was seen by a large number of observers from around the county. 

  Bill and I were particularly happy when Paul Holt saw the bird and confirmed that it was a typical RBG, putting its small size down to it probably being a female.   

  I did not see the bird well in flight until February 19^th and I noted that it appeared bulky in comparison to Common Gulls, with only one obvious white mirror giving a blacker wing tip.

I finally saw the diagnostic pale eye on 6^th March, when the bird was seen very well roosting on a small grass strip adjacent to the Corus (formerly Walkersteel) factory roof, where the Gulls roost.  This day was particularly memorable because the RBG was joined by a 3^rd winter Iceland Gull and an adult Glaucous Gull.

The only slight disappointment was that we never discovered where the bird was feeding during the day. 

To find a North American bird on our local patch (only half a mile from Blackburn town centre) was a personal ambition for both of us.  The fact that the bird then stayed for nearly a month and was enjoyed by many birders was particularly satisfying.