Posing
Stretching
Obviously if you live by the sea you're going to see a lot of gulls. I normally give them a quick look, when I'm in the bay, hoping that there's something unusual. There are about 23 different species of Gull on the British list, depending on what are called species and what are sub-species. Evolution in progress! Yesterday was a good day with an attractive Mediterranean Gull sitting on the railings. They are slightly larger the the much commoner Black-headed Gulls and the adults have all white wings, while Black-headed Gull wings have black trailing edges. In summer they get black heads and perversely Black-headed Gulls get chocolate brown heads. This one's been ringed (they call it banded in America) as part of a scientific study. I couldn't read the ring without trapping the bird but I got some photos that showed some of the writing and numbers on the ring, so it might be possible to find out where it was ringed. Mediterranean Gulls have spread north and west through Europe and a few now breeding in southern England and there's a good colony near Calais. The best place to see then in Kent is Copt Point, Folkestone where numbers sometimes reach three figures.
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