the early moults of Black-headed Gulls (again!)

to run a blog on gulls, you do have to be  a bit obsessional. And it's probably fair to say I have been a bit obsessional over seeing summer-plumaged Black-headed Gulls in February! Wellm you'll all be excessively pleases to know I saw another in Stratford-upon Avon over school half-term! Basically, between 1-5% of Black-headed have full summer plumage before the end of February, making them regular but still unusual, and when you're stuck away from a landfill, sewage farm, reservoir or coast and in the middle of some horrible corner of suburbia, they can be one of the few reminders of the wonderful world of gulls, which is why I love them dearly!

(Black-headed Gull, © Michael Booker)

I thought my first date of 13 February was impressive, but then I found this photo on a friend's blog, and discovered I'd been beaten by two weeks! Michael Booker took this photo on 28 January in Hampshire. To see more of his photos and his blog click on his name above or go to the 'photographers' page on the right-hand side. 

In other BREAKING NEWS, I've just heard of a potential first Caspian Gull for Wales. The main surprise is that it's the first Caspian Gull for Wales! On a quick google search I found one other report from 13 Oct 2011, though as no photo was taken the finder did not, I believe, submit a description. I find it bizarre that Caspian Gull should be so rare in Wales, but then again many areas are underwatched and birds must surely be overlooked. I'll be interested to hear the fate of this bird...

Black-headed Gull - (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - summer-plumaged

I saw my first full summer-plumaged Black-headed Gull of the year over Seaford, East Sussex today. I have seen quite a few in the past month or so beginning to get their chocolatey hood but this was the first to have fully acquired plumes.

(Black-headed Gull- © John Bridges)

Black-headed Gulls with a partially developed hood such as this are quite common in winter (e.g out of 200 or so Black-headed Gulls at Arlington Reservoir, East Sussex yesterday I saw at least 10 looking similar to this.

(Black-headed Gull-  © John Bridges)

But birds with a full chocolatey hood are the best of them all! That ridibundus I saw today was my first full-hooded bird since they began moulting at the end of the summer. Moult into winter plumage typically takes place from July-October, with the head feathers among the first be replaced. The return moult typically starts in late January/Early February, but in mild winters (and until a few weeks ago this was a mild winter for most) head moult can begin in late December. The earliest fully developed hoods, according to Malling and Olsen, appear about mid-January, but studies in S Scandinavia have shown only 1-5% of adults have a fully developed hood by the end of February, meaning my bird is still an anomaly this early in the year.