Mersey Gulls - 14 February 2013

I had been planning a gull watch for a week or so but I just couldn't get the right weather and tide window. Today was perfect though, a bright morning with no more than a breeze blowing and the temperature hitting a whopping 8ºC. Plus the afternoon high tide that gave me a few hours from mid morning to view the birds.

I am not a gull expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know a spectacle when I see one and the massive gull flocks on the Mersey at Richmond Bank, provide a truly spectacular sight. Today, this large sandbank was split into a very orderly mix of 6,000 large gulls to the left and 9,000 Black-headed Gulls to the right. The birds were largely well settled - other than pockets flying to and from the nearby tip - but on the few occasions that they flushed briefly, the sight and sounds were awesome.

I scanned the Black-headed gulls for some time before I found the bright red bill of a Mediterranean Gull. I was surprised to see how advanced the winter moult was, with head colour about 75% into its black breeding plumage. I only found the one but it was a good find amongst so many closely packed roosting birds.

The larger gulls were mainly Herring, with a good scattering of Lesser Black-backed, Great Black Backed and a few Common Gull. Close to the shoreline and separated from the main roost, was a sleeping Glaucous Gull and I had to wait some time before it popped its head out long enough to confirm the tick.

There was an Iceland about too but I didn't get it before the eye-ache got me! So when it came, I was happy to see the tide rush backwards and cover the sand bank. In no time at all, 15,000 birds had noisily taken to the sky. An awesome spectacle and more Mersey magic!

Glaucous Gull (immature) at Richmond Bank

The last of the gulls leaving at high tide