I found this new 2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull at my local patch, this morning (21st August 2016). Staunton Harold Reservoir is a good place to find this species especially at this time of year. Late summer, early autumn sees Yellow-legged Gull migrating into Britain and birds are returning to their favoured wintering areas. Often young birds follow adults and sometimes they can linger for many weeks. So far this summer/autumn period I’ve seen three separate birds at Staunton Harold Reservoir, hopefully more to come and maybe a Caspian Gull at some stage. The bird shows a grey mantle, lack of white primary tips, comparatively few brown scapulars and coverts and a finely flecked head and mask, all these features point to the bird being a 2nd winter. I think 2nd calendar year would do, but the flecking on the head is definitely a feature of 2nd winter. Also note the pale washed out “lemony pink” legs and heavy bulbous bill with adult features appearing at the tip.
2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull – Note the white upper tail and black tail band
