Really miserable weather this afternoon when I visited the Meadow for the gull roost with very strong winds and persistent rain making viewing conditions very difficult. There was no sign of the ruff though I may well have missed him. The gull roost, as is typical in poor weather conditions, was very good with lots of large gulls to search through. There were a couple of very smart YELLOW-LEGGED GULLS and I also spotted a very dark first winter bird which I suspect is one of the Finnish very dark argentatus herring gulls but I've sent off the photos to Ian Lewington just to check that it wasn't a smithsonianus (American herring gull). Unlikely I know but they are characteristically extremely dark and it wouldn't do to let such a rare slip through the net. I've yet to hear back from him but I'll update the blog with his comments when I receive them. Given the conditions and the light the photos are absolutely appalling so anyone other than hardcore gull enthusiasts should look away now.
This is the orignal digiscoped videograb...
...and this is it with the brightness and contrast tweaked
Here's one of the two yellow-legged gulls, looking
very smart and standing out from the crowd
very smart and standing out from the crowd
Finally for those who really can't get enough of dodgy video taken in a howling gale and nearly pitch darkness here's two minutes of unedited hardcore gull footage
I did warn you!
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