Earlswood Lakes - March 11

 The weather has turned cold, and all thoughts of spring shelved. Having been to see my sister in Tidbury Green (hoping her Ring-necked Parakeets might put in an appearance) I was well placed to visit Earlswood.

By the time I'd got about half way around Engine Pool I had nothing much to show for the decision. I had noticed that a "pair" of Herring Gulls which had landed on the water on the other side of the lake seemed to be slightly different in the shade of their upperparts, but not enough to interest me more than that. But later I would get a second chance.

In the meantime I walked around Terry's Pool where I noticed a moth struggling in the water of the moat surrounding the pool. I gallantly grabbed a small stick and managed to rescue what turned out to be a Small Quaker. 

Also present around the lake was the pair of Wigeon on Mereside Pool (it will be interesting to see whether the female remains loyal to what I assume is the resident male come the summer), a couple of duelling Kingfishers, I didn't see them well enough to determine whether they were the same sex, and a singing Treecreeper.

Back at Engine Pool I found that the two large Gulls I'd seen earlier were still present. After a lot of deliberation and no opportunity to see their leg colour, I concluded they were an adult Yellow-legged Gull and a fourth calendar year Herring Gull.

It may be that the former will later land on a raft and prove to have pink legs. The size of the white primary tips did worry me a bit. But here is how I plumped for Yellow-legged Gull:

Seen against the light it looked almost like a LBBGull

The same bird (on the left) with the light behind me looks hardly darker than the Herring Gull

The eye-ring was red. Supposedly eliminating Herring Gull

Another shot of the eyering.

Back-lit shot of the two together, YLGull on right this time.

PS: I am grateful to Mike Wakeman for correctly pointing out that argentatus Herring Gull, that is the Scandinavian race of Herring Gull, can also show a red orbital ring. This calls the identification into question so I plan to return to Earlswood on Friday to try to relocate the bird and this time see it in flight or get a view of its legs to resolve the issue. I have withdrawn the identification of it as a Yellow-legged Gull pending the chance of a better view.