Tag Archives: Black-headed gull

Weymouth trip birding roundup

28 Thursday May 2026

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The main reason for my trip to Weymouth and Portland from 7 to 14 May was to celebrate a BIG birthday and, for me, there’s no better way to celebrate than to spend time in Nature, watching the birds, butterflies and other creatures that make my heart sing. The fact that I was able to add eight new bird species to my 2026 list was a welcome bonus but certainly not a necessity – I get just as much pleasure from seeing the ‘ordinary’ birds (the Skylarks and Stonechats and the Pipits feeding their families) as I do from seeing those I don’t get to spot on my home turf. And, in fact, I didn’t even see one of the biggest birding highlights of this trip, a Bittern that was booming from deep in the reed beds during two of my visits to RSPB Lodmoor. I didn’t manage to get many great photos of the birds I saw but here are a few …

One of the artificial islands used for nesting by Black-headed gulls and Common terns (and, it seems, the occasional Canada goose). The air around these little islands is always alive with birds coming and going, and the noise is often raucous.

Though Reed and Sedge warblers and Reed buntings sang constantly from the reed beds, they were rarely visible. I got a lucky fleeting glimpse of this Sedge warbler.

Each time I went to Lodmoor, I was treated to Swallows like this one, as well as House and Sand martins zipping about overhead, and also coming down to gather mud and bits of vegetation to help build their nests.

On several days, at both Lodmoor and Radipole, I watched Marsh harriers flying back and forth, sometimes soaring, often just skimming the tops of the reeds as they hunted for food.

From the coastal path above Portland’s west cliffs, I spotted Guillemots and Razorbills, several gull species and Gannets, as well as these Kittiwakes, an adult on the right and a juvenile below left.

If you’re interested, the birds that were new sightings for me were Common tern, Bar-tailed godwit, Sanderling, Little tern, Whimbrel, Kittiwake, Great white egret, and that booming Bittern.

Paddling Black-headed gull

07 Saturday Feb 2026

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Having written just three days ago, in my post Paddling Herring gull, that I’d not seen a Black-headed gull paddling on the grass, imitating the effect of heavy rain hitting the ground in order to encourage earthworms to rise to the ground surface, the very next day I watched this bird doing just that. The video is just 30 seconds long but I watched the bird for about 5 minutes and, though, as you’ll see, the gull has a moment of being somewhat uncoordinated, it was mostly paddling quite forcefully. I didn’t see it have any success in that time. Mind you, I didn’t see any of the surrounding flock of Black-headed gulls, foraging conventionally, find any worms either.

Wednesday wash day

06 Thursday Nov 2025

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We don’t see very many Mediterranean gulls in Cardiff Bay so it was a real treat yesterday to see this one at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve yesterday.

The resident Black-headed gulls often use this area as a good place to wash, plunging into the water, giving themselves a good shake, flapping their wings … you get the idea. And, if you don’t, here’s a short video.

The Med gull is the one that looks to have a completely white body and wings, though it actually has a very fine dark line along the edge of its wings. In my photos, above and below, the Med gull is the bird at the back, with a Black-headed gull in front so you can compare the two.

Tracks in the mud

08 Wednesday Mar 2023

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After a morning’s rain, yesterday remained very dull and grey. Rather than let that put me off taking photos, I decided to use the conditions to my advantage, looking at scenes with a black-and-white eye rather than colour, focussing on shapes and textures. The huge banks of mud outside Cardiff Barrage are always interesting but my eye was caught in particular by the tracks being made across the flat areas of mud by Black-headed gulls searching for food. Their meandering twists and turns reminded me of a drunk returning home after a heavy night at the pub!

230308 gull tracks in mud

45/366 A brown-headed gull

14 Friday Feb 2020

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Love is in the air for the Black-headed gulls, as many have already completed the change to their breeding colours, their head plumage morphed from (mostly) winter white to the chocolate brown (not black) of summer. It’s little wonder people find identifying (not sea)gulls confusing when they are so misleadingly named.

200214 brown-headed gull

Here’s a link to a blog from 2016 that shows the change process in photographs.

41/366 Gulls at the beach

10 Monday Feb 2020

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Storm Ciara has been blasting us with gale-force winds, heavy showers and stinging hail again today but I managed a brisk walk down to Cardiff Bay without getting drenched (though I did have to shelter from the wild weather for 30 minutes as a squall roared through – it was loud and dramatic).

200210 black-headed gulls (1)

The sheltering gave me the chance to watch the Black-headed gulls tackling the weather – their aerial control was incredible, though even they were struggling at times, and the majority of the gulls were hunkered down on the beach and mudflats, prospecting for mid-morning snacks.

200210 black-headed gulls (2)

357/365 Immature BHG

23 Monday Dec 2019

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I have nothing exciting to share today despite a long walk around Cardiff Bay, as there was a strong, bitterly cold wind blowing and most of the birds were hunkering down. Luckily, this immature Black-headed gull kindly posed for me and, as I feel I often take these lovely gulls for granted, I decided to make it my choice for today’s post.

191223 black-headed gull

 

333/365 A Bay full of birds

29 Friday Nov 2019

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What a wonderful long walk I had around Cardiff Bay today! Here are some of the birds I spotted along the way.

191129 1 goosander

There were nine Goosanders in total, four in the River Ely where it flows in to the Bay and another five further east, in the Bay proper.

191129 2 turnstone

My favourite little Turnstones, again four along the Ely embankment and more near Mermaid Quay.

191129 3 linnet

Linnets, a small flock of six flitting about the grassy slopes of the Barrage.

191129 4 pied wagtail

Pied wagtails – I lost count of these cheery little characters who appeared wherever I wandered.

191129 5 Great crested grebe

One of several Great crested grebes that live in the Bay, constantly diving for fish.

191129 6 black-headed gull

I was getting ‘the look’ from this Black-headed gull, in the pond at the wetlands reserve, for not supplying food!

191129 7 coot

This Coot was also hoping for food.

191129 8 chiffchaff

This Chiffchaff was a surprise – it’s either very late migrating or has decided to over-winter in Britain, as some now do. Interestingly, I saw a Chiffchaff yesterday too, in a different location.

191129 9 kingfisher

The best possible end to my walk – a Kingfisher peep-peep-peeped in to the pool near Hamadryad Park and perched on a branch over the water.

A well-travelled Black-headed gull

08 Friday Feb 2019

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When I was in Barry earlier this week, I noticed one of the Black-headed gulls at The Knap was colour-ringed so I took its photo and reported my sighting by checking who was ringing what where on the European Colour-ring birding website.

Today I heard back from Paul Roper of the North Thames Gull Group (NTGG) and the information he supplied is fascinating. This bird was ringed as an adult (‘third calendar year or older’) at the Pitsea Landfill Site in Essex on 12 March 2016 but it doesn’t seem to spend much time in England. As Paul commented in his email, ‘This one is particularly interesting as it appears to breed in Finland and goes there via Germany’.

190208 Black-headed gull

Another thing that intrigued me was how site faithful this bird is in its choice of where to over-winter and Paul confirmed that, from their records, many birds ‘do seem to stick to a site faithfully in the winter’. From sightings dated 11 November 2016, 15 August 2017, 5 February 2018 and my sighting on 4 February 2019, we can see that, once it’s finished breeding in Finland, this little Black-headed gull heads back to Britain to spend its winters in Barry, in south Wales. You can see a map of its movements on the NTGG website here. There must be something about the fish and chips in Barrybados that keeps bringing it back!