And so it begins...the gull season!

During the last few days, early morning fogs made it very difficult to go seawatching. So, to make the most of my time, I´ve been reading gull rings in Peniche. With a good assortment of local yellow-legged gulls from Berlenga island and some lesser-black-backed gulls from central Europe, it´s enough to keep me busy.

On the 3rd of September, there was a black ring on the right tíbia N(F|5), with a thick fog and a sea of brownish gulls in the water, I just took some shots at this pale headed gull. I knew it would belong to the Netherlands, being a tibia ring, but I did not think of Caspian, I thought it was a Lesser-black-backed. It´s not that I'm not aware how to id a Caspian gull, but I guess I was not focused enough! I sent the report to Roland-Jan Buijs, that reply right away with a message confirming it was a Caspian gull from the small colony near Lelystad. Very cool!! 
Looking at the photos all the Caspian features are there, in particular, that obvious pear-shaped head...oh well...lesson learned!

Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans), 1cy. N(F|5), 3rd September 2020, Peniche, Portugal

Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans), 1cy. N(F|5), 3rd September 2020, Peniche, Portugal

On the morning of 4th September, again, at the river mouth in Peniche reading rings. A young Audouin´s gull showed up for a drink. Although the species its quite common at the south coast (Algarve), on the west coast, and particular in Peniche, the sightings are quite scarce.

Audouin´s gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii), 1cy, 4th September 2020, Peniche, Portugal.

Audouin´s gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii), 1cy, 4th September 2020, Peniche, Portugal.

Audouin´s gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii), 1cy, 4th September 2020, Peniche, Portugal.

​After the Audouin's gull, just a few minutes later, a pale young gull shows up. It was a 1cy, (very pale) Herring gull. I never saw a bird this pale before, but I can´t fit the bird in anything else but on the pale side of variation of young Herring gulls. Feel free to comment if you feel different.

Herring gull (Larus argentatus), 1cy, 4th Spetember 2020, Peniche, Portugal.

Herring gull (Larus argentatus), 1cy, 4th Spetember 2020, Peniche, Portugal.

Herring gull (Larus argentatus), 1cy, 4th Spetember 2020, Peniche, Portugal.