Wednesday 1 February 2012

Kumlien’s at Dover


 



The very first day of posting finds me not in “the valley” but on a trip over to Dover harbour after a hastily arranged early finish from work. The reason for the visit was to see the second winter Kumlien’s Gull that had taken up residencearound Prince of wales Pier since Sunday but, only pinned down yesterday. Today, however it had decided to frequent the Admiralty Pier where it was showing well at close quarters. The only problem was that it was extremley windy with a stong East North Easterly that was bitting cold plus the Gull ws alwasys between us and the sun making photography hard work. There are currently as many as 65 Kumlien’s in the country and this is the only one in Kent (most are in or around the Scottish islands). This is the first Kumlien’s Gull that I have ever seen and although not considered a full species, was an extremely interseting looking bird and a must for anyone intersted in the larids. Kumlien’s is considered a stable Hybrid between Thayer’s Gull and Iceland Gull and can vary in colouration. Thayer’s is a western Canada breeding species whereas Iceland is more Greenland and eastern Canada but are believed to hybridise at the overlap.




2nd winter Kumlien's Gull

2nd winter Kumlien's Gull

2nd winter Kumlien's Gull

2nd winter Kumlien's Gull