Caspo

I would do pretty much anything to avoid looking at Gulls. Sorry Gull lovers. When news of the return of the Snaresbrook Caspian Gull hit my timeline last weekend I immediately took the piss out of people going to see it. Moths to a flame, or words to that effect.... And then, naturally, I toddled straight over there myself. Before breakfast in fact. Gosh it's a smart bird. Assuming that this is the same bird (which given known Gull site fidelity is overwhelmingly likely) this is its fifth winter locally and it is now a spanking adult in every way. I thought it was last year as well but perhaps I was mistaken.

In truth some Gulls are OK. I quite like Laughing Gulls, Med Gulls and Audouin's Gulls for instance, and Heermann's Gull, well now there's a bird for the ages. Many Gulls are of course not OK. Not at all. Particularly ones I can't identify which is of course most of them. Unfortunately there are tons of these everywhere, particularly on Wanstead Flats in the winter where they loaf around daring me to scope them and work out what they are. This is one of the reasons I don't carry a scope locally, it might lead to things....

I do quite like challenging birding though. Digging out a recalcitrant Warbler, scanning through vast flocks of Sea Duck in the hope of pulling out the one that is slightly different, slightly American for instance. Flocks of Gulls should be no different but for some reason - cowardice most likely - I have never really knuckled down and got to grips with them. Which is odd as I found I could very easily pick the Caspo out from all the Black-headed Gulls on Eagle Pond.