Our keen eyed Birder-in Chief, Chris Hubbard, has been out and about at dawn and dusk, eyeing up the gull roost at Stanford. This has paid off, now read on...
I was out checking the gull roost late afternoon on Monday 26th October. I had already found
an adult Mediterranean Gull and the light was starting to go a little. The gulls started to
move west towards the dam which gave an opportunity for a final close in check before
dark.
The first bird I got on was a small, dark looking gull which stood out clearly against the
Black-headed and Common Gulls. Once the scope was on it, I immediately identified it as a
first-winter Sabine’s Gull. A little bit of panic than ensued as I wanted to get some record
images through my scope but I had lost by phone adapter. I managed to do this, got home
and put the news out.
The bird was still present the following morning when it then left the roost. It then returned
every evening (up to and including Friday 30th) over which time many visiting birders enjoyed the bird.
Stanford's Sabine's in all its glory
Key identification points:
- Small gull – somewhere between Little and Black-headed in size
- Grey / brownish upper-parts with some scaly effect but not extensive and only noted briefly in the morning light
- Grey / brownish neck and whitish face extending to breast
- Bill small and blackish
- Diagnostic tricolour wing pattern in flight and when preening
- White secondary skirt and white under-parts
- Elegant in flight– tern like
- Slightly forked tail when seen in flight
Sabine’s Gulls are a highly pelagic bird, normally migrating south through the Atlantic. This
bird is likely to have been displaced following the recent storms.
This is the 10th record for Leicestershire & Rutland, the 18th record for Northamptonshire and
the first ever for Stanford Reservoir!
Chris Hubbard