From the Archives: An Azorean Yellow legged Gull in Oxfordshire 8th October 2009

Ian Lewington the County Bird Recorder for Oxfordshire found, on 5th October, what is colloquially called an Azorean Yellow legged Gull at the large landfill site located between Didcot and Appleford in Oxfordshire. This gull is classed as a sub species of Yellow legged Gull Larus michahellis michahellis being given the trinomen L.m.atlantis. It is possible that in the future birds from the Azores population of atlantis which are the most distinctive of all, will be classed as a separate species and therefore this individual was much in demand from those of us who like to keep lists and see rare birds.

I personally like gulls and certainly wished to see this bird as, conveniently, it was relatively near to my home and I had narrowly missed seeing an immature in Cornwall a year ago. This latest individual was distinctive and much more attractive than an immature, being an adult in winter plumage. 

Azorean Yellow legged Gulls unsurprisingly come from the Azores population of L. m.atlantis.They are the darkest taxon and the most distinctive in winter plumage with the densest head streaking.What is more surprising is that a gull, which is thought to be mainly sedentary, found its way to a landfill site in the heart of Oxfordshire, about as far from the sea as possible in Britain.

Thursday the 8th October found me at the site around 9.30am, ensconced in a tiny layby overlooking a ploughed field where many of the gulls go to rest after feeding on the landfill, and indeed there already was a large flock of gulls in the middle of the field. The Azorean Yellow legged Gull had been seen here the day before but there was currently no sign of it amongst the many gulls in the field. It is relatively easy to distinguish as it has very heavy and dense brown streaking on its head, creating a hooded effect. 

I was joined by two other birders who had travelled down from Nottinghamshire to see it but we still could not locate the gull although we kept checking the flock as gulls were constantly coming and going, presumably flying to and from the landfill  site.

There was another nearby location the gull was known to frequent which was a small lake  adjacent to the landfill where gulls would often come to bathe and preen after feeding on the landfill. However one can only be in one place at a time so I arranged with the two birders from Nottingham that they would check the lake while I remained keeping an eye on the field. We duly exchanged phone numbers and agreed to call each other if either of us found the gull.

Nothing happened apart from numerous sightings of Red Kites flying over the fields which got some other out of county northern  birders very excited as they do not often see them. Here in Oxfordshire they can be said to be almost common.There were also a lot of Skylarks in the field and a small flock of Lapwing but that was about all. By noon, with no sign of the gull, either on the fields or on the lake, I decided to admit defeat and drove back to work.I was not long back in the office before my mobile phone rang. With some dread of anticipation in knowing what was coming I answered it. Sure enough it was one of the Nottinghamshire birders from the lake telling me the gull was showing really well! We have all experienced similar situations but this did not stop me from berating myself at my foolishness in leaving but I resolved to try and clear my desk of all pending tasks this afternoon and go back the next day. 

This time I was more diligent in my planning and as part of the process checked the timings of sightings from all the previous days on Birdguides and it appeared the gull was not seen in the morning and would first appear at the lake around lunchtime, to preen and bathe before flying to the nearby fields to rest with the gull flock.  I therefore arrived much later the next day, at around 1130am and was startled to see how many birders were present today.

Most were ensconced on the northern section of a bridleway that ran past the fields, scoping the gull flock through a hedge. I assumed they were all looking at the gull but on joining them it was a similar story to yesterday. There was no sign of the gull. I retreated back to the road and my perilosuly parked car and drove a little way down the road and checked another gull flock, again with no success. I decided to go to the lake and try my luck there as this, as I knew only too well, was where it was first seen yesterday.

While making my way to the car I encountered Gary Bagnell, a casual birding acquaintance from Sussex who is a hardcore twitcher. He was accompanied by a lady called Lucy, carrying a large video camera, who was making a film about twitchers for BBC 4. I only know Gary slightly but he greeted me and asked if I knew anything about the gull. I told him what I knew and said I was going to the lake and to save him and Lucy a long walk would be happy to give them both a lift in my car. We piled in and after getting across the unmannned level crossing, ringing the bell to get the signalman to open the gates, we were soon by the lake.

Ian Lewington was already there as this is his local patch and he told me the gull had not been seen so far this morning but there were two first winter Caspian Gulls on the lake. Myself, Gary and Lucy stood here and with some other birders and waited for the Azorean Yellow legged Gull to hopefully show up.

I kept scoping the gulls on the lake checking and re-checking but still there was no sign of the elusive gull.Where on earth was it? Eventually I found one of the first winter Caspian Gulls which I  managed, with some difficulty, to get everyone onto. Garry had some problems finding it, mainly because he was not aware of what to look for and I had to find it in his scope for him. I returned to scanning wth my scope and after some time found the second Caspian Gull. All well and good but not much else happened for quite some time after this minor excitement. 

First winter Caspian Gull

Then, finally, on yet another scan of the lake and its gulls, there was the Azorean Yellow legged Gull at the far side of the lake, floating on the water with a group of Lesser Black backed Gulls. It stood out amongst its companions, highly distinctive due to its densely streaked head, pale, almost white eyes, dark slate grey coloured upperparts, and bulky bill with a distinctive dark band across the middle. I remembered this last feature from the photos Ian had posted on Surfbirds earlier so I was absolutely sure I was looking at the right bird. In situations such as these you always feel a slight trepidation just in case you might be wrong but I knew I wasn't. 

Azorean Yellow legged Gull

I announced to my fellow birders 'I have got it' and immediately the already tense atmosphere fizzed up a gear and the adrenalin buzz around me hit stratospheric levels. I was surrounded by a dozen birders all asking for directions at once which I happily gave. Again Garry could not locate the gull in his own scope. I told him to look through mine. Yet even though my scope was focused directly on the gull he managed to locate the wrong bird, probably because he had inadvertently nudged my scope as we changed places. 

He told me I had been looking at a Lesser Black backed Gull. I took over again and re-focused the scope on the correct bird. 

'Have a look now and don't touch anything!' 

Gary peered through my scope. A word of affirmation from Gary told me that we now had a successful outcome and he then went to find it in his own scope. 

Once everyone had seen it I was thanked profusely by one and all which was gratifying. It remained on the pool for no more than fifteen minutes and took off just as a passing lorry obscured our view and thus we were unable to follow the direction in which it flew.

We briefly went back to scanning the lake, but I knew the gull had either flown back to the landfill or to the nearby fields. However everyone was happy with what they had seen and most left but I wanted to see more.

I spent the early part of the afternoon commuting between various gull flocks resting in the fields by the road, a very fast and dangerous road with virtually nowhere to park safely, but there was no sign of the gull. While checking the gulls from a layby I was approached by Lee Evans and quizzed about my earlier sighting on the lake, with him claiming that there was an aberrant Lesser Black backed Gull which could easily be mistaken for the Azorean Yellow legged Gull. He suggested that we had all been mistaken and had been looking at the aberrant gull and not the real thing. Doubtless this was because he had missed seeing the gull at the pool and just could not accept the fact. I understand from others that this is a favourite tactic of his  and I confess to not liking my bird identification skills questioned  by the likes of Evans. I also learnt that later in the afternoon he tried the same thing on with a well known birder and they nearly came to blows over it.

By 4pm I gave up on the fields and went back to the lake and stood with another birder. His pager bleeped an alert, he looked at it, turned and told me the gull was back in the fields by the bridleway, so we adjourned there and joined about fifteen birders looking at a very large flock of gulls in the middle of an extensive fallow field. Unfortunately the gull was not immediately on view when we got there, having walked down into a fold in the field but eventually it re-appeared giving excellent views as it walked around, alone, at the right hand edge of the gull flock.

This time it looked paler on its upperparts although still darker grey to my mind than a normal Yellow legged Gull. I also noted more feather detail on its head. It was more densely streaked on the front half but not nearly so much on the rear and the streaking was at its densest on the throat and upper neck. forming a sharp demarcation from the all white breast. Its white eye, contrasting with the dark streaking, imparted a menacing impression. Bold white crescents on the left and right rear scapulars contrasted neatly with the slate grey upperparts. 

After around forty minutes it took off high to the north showing  dark grey undersides to the wings as well as a large area of black on the upperwing tips with only one white mirror on the outermost primary and small white tips to the other outer primaries.

All round it had been an excellent day and I  made a note to go back for another look next week if it remained in the area.

I went back no less than five times and had great views everytime. I just could not get enough of this beauty. It was still there as of 31st  October  and possibly will spend the winter here.

I wondered how long it would be until its head became all white making it  harder to distinguish from the other Yellow legged Gulls. 

On 31st October I also finally got to see its legs as it walked around in a field near the lake. They were dull yellow with a  greenish tinge.

I last went to see it on 28th November when it put in a thirty second appearance in the afternoon for the briefest of washes on the lake before flying off. It was not seen again after the end of November

The episode recounted above of my finding the Azorean Yellow legged Gull and showing it to Garry Bagnell has been recorded for posterity as part of the BBC 4 programme 'Twitchers-A Very British Obsession'