Getting to Poppleton there were several hundered large gulls in a field at SE.553.533 where after scanning through several times I picked out an interesting looking second winter bird. I observed this bird for around 5 mins before it flew off towards the tip.
During the time I watched it, it remained frustraitingly distant so I couldn't get any photos, luckily however it reappeared later in a field off the A1237 at SE.558.498 where I was able to get the following photos
What stood out the most in this bird when I first got onto it was its head. A long straight bill with an all white head and sloping forehead instantly got me interested. Further observations showed amongst other features
- Long pink legs
- Small mirror in p10
- very pale underwing
- dark tail band set against pale upper tail/coverts
- largely dark tertials with a white rim (much broader than a 1w bird)
Extremely pleased with a second sighting allowing me to get photos!
Also present in the same flock as the Caspian was this 3w Iceland gull
They were both viewable in one scope view at one point! This photo shows the Iceland in the far right of the shot and the Caspian in the lower left with its wings open!
So that takes York's total of Caspians upto 4, can we catch Sheffields 7? Only time will tell!
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