Gull portraiture in the Snow - Preston Docks - 18th-19th December 2010

Now being back in Preston for Christmas, I have tried to get down to Preston Marina as much as possible to get some pictures of the Iceland Gull that arrived about 3 days after I last went back to Bangor. At the start of the autumn, I exclaimed to Bill Aspin that the two main targets for the winter were Lapland Bunting and Iceland Gull. I have never before been able to connect with Lapland Bunting until my trip up the Great Orme in September, and Iceland Gull has been a bogey bird of mine for years! I arrived at the docks armed with bread and camera. The Iceland Gull wasn't playing ball, so I decided I wouldn't leave with nothing, so began taking portrait shots of the resident 'common' gull species.

Preston Docks - 19th December 2010

The commonest species by far was Black-headed Gull, and the vast number of these birds allowed them to be a little more obliging. The cold weather may have helped this as they needed the food. I was pleased with a lot of the photos I got, including a few that included snow flakes. I love taking photos of birds in the snow as the sunlight reflects off the blanket of snow and lights the birds from underneath giving them a unique light that can only be caught in the way (as well as from surf in bright sun)
adult winter Black-headed Gulls

Herring Gull were by no means as common as Black-headed as there were only about 20 birds and of those, only 4 came to bread. The adult bird below had a metal ring that read - GA40230. I will post details when I receive them.

above - GA40230 - Adult Herring Gull

I would estimate that there were 6 Common Gulls present over the weekend and this 1st winter bird has to be one of the prettiest immature gulls I have ever seen. I adore 1st winter Common Gulls as they have so much character.
The Iceland Gull gave up its location when I was beginning to give up hope until someone feeding a massive number of gulls attracted the gorgeous bird to the water below. The light was fading, so I wasn't able to get some stunning photos like you can observe on the Fylde Bird Club website. I am however pleased with the few decent photos that I did get. Although an immature bird, I was impressed with how stunning a bird it is, and am pleased I have finally seen one. It was also the bird that has taken me to 223 on my yearlist, meaning that 2010 is now my record year.